skirt steak vs. flank steak

Tanker Tim

Howdy all,[p]
just curious about the differences between skirt and flank steak.
they look almost identical in the cryovac pack, but here flank steak is almost $1.00 a pound cheaper. [p]
Any inputs?[p]Thanks,[p]TT

Unknown

Tanker Tim,[p]While both cuts are used to make fajitas, the original, and true "carne asada" (therefore fajitas) is made only from skirt steak.[p]Skirt steak is the outer rim of the diaphram (sic?) muscle, whereas flank is, uh, er, unm, somewhere else... Hehehe I've forgotten where, but I *think* it's higher up on a "normally standing" cow.[p]Anyway, the important part is that these two cuts taste (and cook) a world apart! The skirt is one of my favorite parts of a cow when I really want that BEEF flavor. The flank is great for a quick grill with a lot of some other flavor like teriyaki, kalbi, red wine and herbs, etc. It's a winner when it comes to soaking up marinades or brines.[p]The skirt is also a little bit more forgiving WRT over cooking.[p]Be careful though, a lot of stores are trying to sell strips of flank cut similar to pinwheeled skirt as actual skirt steak. I prefer to get my skirt steak trimmed, but not pinwheeled, fresh fom my butcher.[p]It really is the one cut of meat that I go way out of my way to buy from my local butcher.[p]The net result: if you're getting REAL skirt steak at a buck less than flank, that's lilkey to be a good deal.[p]MMmmmm carne asada,
bc