From Blade to Beauty
Whether you're a seasoned chef or a cooking enthusiast eager to elevate your Wagyu skills, mastering the art of butchery is an essential step towards creating restaurant-quality dishes.
About the Oyster Blade
Prized for exceptional tenderness, rich flavour and versatility, the Stone Axe Wagyu Flat Iron steak is the perfect cut that balances marbling and flavour. The trick for acing the Flat Iron steak is all in the cutting – as this hidden gem of the beef world is butchered out of the Oyster Blade, located on the shoulder blade of the animal.
In this tutorial, we'll walk you through the step-by-step process of breaking down this premium cut of Australian Wagyu with Shaun Francis, co-owner of Butcher Box Singapore. After opening its doors in 2021, Butcher Box has been offering a selection of sustainably sourced proteins, including multi-award winning Stone Axe Full Blood Wagyu.
Steps
Begin by meticulously trimming away all external fat from the Oyster Blade, then proceed to trim the internal surface, ensuring a clean appearance.
Locate the dense sinew running through the centre of the cut at the thick end of the oyster blade by gradually working the knife downward until you find it and then rotate the knife sideways, akin to filleting a fish.
Continue to carefully work the knife along, mindful not to sever the sinew while also retaining as much of the muscle as possible until the entire muscle is detached.
Repeat the same procedure on the opposite side of the sinew/Oyster Blade.
Upon completion, you'll have two elongated muscles. These can then be sliced into individual steaks, ready to be cooked to perfection!
Shaun’s recommendations for the trimmings
“The trimmings are great to use for beef stock, and if the silver skin is completely removed, they are fantastic to use for ground beef and burgers, etc. We also render all our leftover fat down for beef tallow”.