Hanger Steak Tacos

Hanger steak tacos are one of the best things you can do with this cut. Trim away the tough strip down the middle, marinate the meat in lime, garlic and chile for 1 to 4 hours, then sear it hard on a grill or in a cast-iron skillet. Rest it, slice it thin across the grain, and pile it onto warm corn tortillas with onion, cilantro and salsa.

Hanger hangs from the diaphragm, and each animal has only one. It has a loose, open texture and a deep beef flavor with a slightly mineral edge, which is exactly what you want inside a tortilla. That open grain also takes a marinade quickly, so a few hours is plenty.

At a glance: serves 4, about 12 tacos. Prep 20 minutes, marinate 1 to 4 hours, cook about 15 minutes, rest 10 minutes.

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PM Hanger Steak

This recipe uses 2 hanger steaks, about 1 1/4 to 2 pounds in all, enough for about 12 tacos.

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Gray Shipley, who runs the farm, was talking about the cuts he prefers to cook for himself when he said:

“I like to sell the filets and the ribeyes and then eat the, eat the more lesser-known secondary cuts myself.”

Gray Shipley

He was not talking about hanger in particular. But hanger is one of those secondary cuts: less famous than a ribeye, and a steak that pays back a cook who trims it, marinates it briefly and slices it the right way.

Ingredients

• 2 hanger steaks, about 1 1/4 to 2 pounds in all
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 2 limes), plus lime wedges to serve
• 4 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil, divided
• 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped, or 1 chipotle in adobo, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder or ancho chile powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 12 to 16 small (6-inch) corn tortillas
• 1/2 white onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 cup salsa, red or green
• 1 avocado, sliced, or 1/2 cup crumbled queso fresco (optional)

Instructions

1. If the steaks still have a thick strip of sinew running down the center, cut along each side of it with a sharp knife and pull it away, leaving two long pieces from each steak. Trim off any thin, shiny silver skin from the surface.
2. Whisk the lime juice, 3 tablespoons of the oil, the garlic, jalapeño, cumin, chili powder, oregano, salt and pepper in a bowl. Put the steak in a zip-top bag or a shallow dish, pour in the marinade, turn to coat, and refrigerate for 1 to 4 hours.
3. Take the steak out of the fridge 20 to 30 minutes before cooking. Lift it out of the marinade and throw the used marinade away. Pat the meat dry with paper towels so it browns instead of steaming.
4. Heat a grill to high, or heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until it smokes lightly and add the remaining tablespoon of oil.
5. Cook the steak for 8 to 12 minutes in all, turning it every 2 to 3 minutes so every side browns, until a thermometer in the thickest part reads your target. USDA FSIS sets 145 degrees F with a 3-minute rest as the safe minimum for beef steaks. The pieces vary in thickness, so check each one and take the thinner pieces off first.
6. Move the steak to a cutting board and rest it for 5 to 10 minutes. While it rests, warm the tortillas one or two at a time in a dry skillet over medium-high heat, 30 to 45 seconds per side, until soft and lightly spotted. Stack them in a clean kitchen towel to keep warm.
7. Find the grain, which on hanger runs at an angle across the width of each piece, and slice the steak thinly across it. Cut the slices into bite-size pieces if you like.
8. Fill each tortilla, doubled if they are thin, with steak, onion, cilantro and salsa, and avocado or queso fresco if you are using it. Serve with lime wedges.

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Why hanger steak makes good tacos

A taco wants meat with plenty of flavor, a texture that stays tender in small pieces, and a surface that holds onto a marinade. Hanger does all three. Its fibers are coarse and loose, so sliced thin it chews easily, and the browned edges carry the lime and chile into every bite. Skirt and flank are the usual choices for tacos and both work well; the guides below compare the three thin steaks and the other cuts that suit a tortilla.

How to trim a hanger steak

A whole hanger is two long muscles joined by a tough band of connective tissue down the middle. That band does not soften in a quick, hot cook, so it has to come out. Lay the steak flat, run a sharp knife along one side of the band, then the other, and lift it away. Some hangers are sold already split, in which case you only need to trim any silver skin on the surface. The two pieces are rarely the same thickness, which is why it pays to check each with a thermometer rather than timing them together.

How long to marinate hanger steak

One hour is enough to season the outside. Four hours gives a deeper flavor. Much past that, the lime juice starts to turn the surface soft and grainy, so this is not a marinade to leave overnight. If you want to prepare ahead, mix the marinade the night before, keep it in a jar in the fridge, and add the steak a few hours before dinner. Always marinate in the refrigerator, never on the counter.

Grill or cast-iron skillet?

Both give good tacos. A grill adds a little smoke and char. A heavy skillet gives a deeper, more even crust and lets you cook in any weather, though it will smoke, so turn on the fan. Either way, the heat has to be high and the meat has to be dry, or the outside will steam gray before it browns.

Hanger is at its best between medium rare and medium. Many cooks take it off at 130 to 135 degrees F for medium rare. That is below the FSIS figure, and the choice is yours. Cooked much past medium, hanger turns firm and its mineral flavor gets stronger.

Toppings, and when to stop

Keep the toppings simple so the beef stays in front: white onion, cilantro, a spoonful of salsa and a squeeze of lime. Pickled red onion, sliced radish or a little crumbled cheese are good additions; a pile of everything is not. If you would rather serve hanger whole, as a steak with a sauce, the pan-seared hanger recipe listed below shows that version.

Food safety

USDA FSIS lists 145 degrees F, followed by a rest of at least 3 minutes, as the safe minimum internal temperature for beef steaks. Check it with an instant-read thermometer in the thickest part of each piece. Throw away the used marinade, keep raw meat apart from the tortillas and toppings, and refrigerate leftovers promptly. See the FSIS Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart.