Top cuts of Hanwoo beef include chuck roll, clod, and shank. Chuck roll is tender and great for grilling. Clod is leaner, ideal for soups and stews. Shank is tough but perfect for slow-cooking.

Top cuts

Chuck Roll 목심
Recommended: Stir-Fry, Boiled in Sauce, Soup, Hotpot, Bulgogi, Raw.

Chuck is comprised of muscles from the 1st to 7th neck bones (cervical vertebrae), produced by cutting from the long loin between the 7th neck bone and the 1st backbone except for clod and brisket and plate. M. rhomboideus outside of the lligamentum nuchae (tendons) is also cut off, and classified into chuck.

Clod 앞다리
Recommended: Roast, Hotpot, Boiled in Sauce, Steak, Skewered, Bulgogi, Stir-fry.

Clod is a cut from the shoulder area of the cow, including muscles like the biceps brachii and latissimus dorsi. It’s prepared by making a precise cut along the shoulder blade, removing the bones, trimming excess fat, and separating the shank. This cut includes the chuck tender, oyster blade, bolar blade, rib blade, and upper oyster blade, making it versatile and flavorful for various cooking methods.

Shank 사태

Recommended: Roast, Hotpot, Boiled in Sauce, Soup, Steamed.

This is made of the small muscles covering forearm bones of the fore legs and part of the humerus, and leg bones of the hind legs. It is produced by separating below the fore legs and the round and then removing ligament and fat. It includes fore shank, hind shank, heel meat, center of heel meat, and conical meat.

Middle cuts

Tenderloin 안심
Recommended: Roast, Steak

After removing the kidney fat inside the lumbar vertebra, the head of the tenderloin is cut off parallel to the lower pubis. The muscles (M. iliacus, M. psoas minor, and M. psoas major) are then separated from the ilium and lumbar vertebra, followed by careful removal of excess fat and trimming to ensure a lean and tender cut.

Loin 등심
Recommended: Roast, Bulgogi, Skewered, Stir-fry, Hotpot

The carcass is cut between the last rib and the first lower back bone. Then, it is sliced parallel to the center to remove the ribs. The backbone and neck bones are removed, and the carcass is cut vertically between the 7th neck bone and the first rib bone. The back muscle and forelegs are separated from the shoulder blade, and excess fat is trimmed. This results in cuts like upper loin, middle loin, lower loin, and chuck flap tail.

Strip Loin 채끝
Recommended: Roast, Steak, Stir-fry, Skewered, Hotpot

Cutting along the 13th rib between the last backbone and the first lower back bone, then separating between the last lower back bone and the hipbone. Removing the upper hip bone along with the side muscle. Cutting parallel to the belly line at the end of the 13th rib, removing a thin flank within 5 cm of the long back muscle. Finally, trimming off any excess fat.

Ribs 갈비

Recommended: Roast, Steamed, Soup, Boiled in sauce.

The ribs and loin are prepared by separating the forelegs and cutting off the muscles in the loin, brisket, and plate areas around the ribs. The ribs are then separated from the backbone, with excessive fat removed. This cut includes chuck short rib (1-5th), short rib (6-8th), short rib (9-13th), rib finger, and brisket bones. Additionally, due to the characteristics of primal cuts, the hanging tender, outside skirt, and neck chain are also included.

Brisket 양지

Recommended: Roast, Steamed, Soup, Boiled in sauce, Hotpot.

This cut involves removing specific muscles from the hind leg and separating the thin flank from the hindquarter. From the forequarter, muscles are cut along the rib gristle and breast bone, and separated from the ribs, with fat removed.

Includes brisket point end, brisket point end-deckle off, short plate, inside skirt, thin flank, internal flank plate, and flank steak.

Bottom Cuts

Top Round 우둔
Recommended: Stir-Fry, Skewered, Boiled in sauce, Bulgogi, Hotpot, Raw.

The round cut consists of several muscles from the inside of the hind leg, specifically the M. adductor femoris, M. semimembranosus, M. gracilis, and M. semitendinosus. This cut is prepared by excluding the shank around the leg bones while including the top inside round and eye of round. The round cut is known for its lean.

Bottom Round 설도
Recommended: Roast, Steak, Soup, Stir-fry, Skewered, Boiled in sauce, Hotpot, Raw

This cut comes from the sacrum and thigh bones of the hind legs, excluding the round. It includes muscles like the gluteus medius, gluteus superficialis, biceps femoris, and quadriceps femoris. The preparation involves removing ligaments and excess fat while keeping the rump, outside round, outside round head, knuckle, and tri-tip.