Wagyu Chilean Beef Whole Bavette d'Aloyau | 1.6kg

Chilean Wagyu Bavette d'Aloyau - Steaks, Stir-Fry or Tartare

±1.6kg. Serves 6 to 8. Around 10 minutes of cooking.

1. Fresh or frozen
Check your pack. If it is chilled, keep it at 0-4°C in its unopened vacuum pack and cook by the date on the label. If it is frozen, thaw it in the fridge in its pack, allowing 22 to 24 hours.

2. Find the grain before you cook
The fibres run the length of the cut in long, visible lines. Note which way they run now, because the crust will hide them later. Everything about this cut depends on cutting across them at the end.

3. Portion it
A piece this size divides into five or six steaks of around 280g. Cut what you want now and wrap and freeze the rest, using it within 12 months.

Method A - Steaks (pan or barbecue)

4. Temper 45 minutes. Pat dry and salt generously. This cut takes a marinade well, garlic, olive oil and hard herbs, but dry it again before it meets the heat.

5. Heavy pan, griddle or barbecue as hot as it will go, 3 to 4 minutes, with a neutral oil. Bavette is open-grained and wants a fierce, short cook.

6. 3 to 4 minutes a side, turning once. Pull at 52°C. Past medium rare the fibres tighten and it turns chewy.

7. Rest 8 to 10 minutes on a board, uncovered. Then slice at 5mm across the grain you found in step 2, holding the knife at a slight angle.

Method B - Stir-fry (the cut's other life)

4. Slice the raw bavette across the grain into strips of 5mm. Firming it in the freezer for 20 minutes first makes this far easier.

5. Pat the strips dry and do not salt them yet. Get a wok as hot as it will go with a neutral oil, and wait for the first wisp of smoke.

6. Cook in two batches, single layer. 20 seconds untouched, then toss for another 30 to 40 seconds. Lift out, build your sauce in the empty pan, and return the beef for the final 15 seconds.

For tartare. Use the thick centre of the piece, trim it of all sinew, and chop it by hand with a sharp knife rather than mincing it. Chop only what you will eat that day, and keep the meat cold until the moment you dress it.

If fresh
Keep refrigerated at 0-4°C in its unopened vacuum pack and use by the date on the label. You can freeze it unopened at any point up to that date - at -18°C or below it will keep well for up to 12 months.

If frozen
Keep frozen at -18°C until needed. Use by the date on the pack.
Defrost in the fridge, in its packaging, allow 22-24 hours. Never defrost at room temperature or in a microwave.
Once opened or defrosted, keep refrigerated at 0-4°C and use within 24 hours. Do not refreeze once thawed.
A faint metallic smell on first opening the pack is normal for vacuum-packed beef and will disperse within a few minutes in open air.