Striploin at 90 degrees: Strip steak · 326

Called striploin, sirloin or New York strip depending on the country — same muscle, different knife path. A single long muscle running along the spine, with a fat cap on one side only. That asymmetry gives it a definite grain and means the order you sear it in changes how it tastes.

Render the fat cap first by standing the steak on its edge — the rendered fat then bastes the meat as it cooks. Colour, sinew, where the fat sits, and thickness are what you check before you pay. Ask for the thickness that matches “Strip steak.” Use 90 degrees and 90 when you cook. Salt after you know the job. Do not play with undercooked meat.

At the counter, read the use on Striploin before the photograph. 90 degrees is the internal heat, “Strip steak” is the dish, and 90 is the stage of the fire. Marbling alone does not split stew from grill. A fat cap of at least 5mm, evenly attached along the length, cooks far juicier than a trimmed one.