A round steak is a beef
steak from the "round", the rear leg of the cow. The round is divided into cuts including the eye (of) round, bottom round, and top round, with or without the "round" bone (
femur), and may include the knuckle (
sirloin tip), depending on how the round is separated from the loin. This is a lean cut and it is moderately tough. Lack of fat and
marbling makes round dry out when cooked with dry-heat cooking methods like
roasting or
grilling. Round steak is commonly prepared with slow moist-heat methods including
braising, to tenderize the meat and maintain moisture. The cut is often sliced thin, then dried or smoked at low temperature to make
jerky.
The
rump cover or picanha, with its thick layer of accompanying fat, is highly esteemed in many South American countries, particularly
Brazil and
Argentina, but is rarely found elsewhere.
Topside and silverside
British cutstopside and
silverside together are roughly equivalent to the American round cut. New Zealand cuts also use these terms (or sometimes "outside round" for silverside).[1]
Dishes
Biltong — air-dried beef cured with vinegar, salt, and coriander; made preferentially with round steak
Bresaola — air-dried salted beef made with round steak
London broil — bias-cut roasted steak, commonly made with round steak
Italian beef — thinly sliced round steak cooked in stock
Rinderbraten — round steak stuffed with pork fat and spices
Tafelspitz — Austrian dish of boiled veal, prepared from the top part of the round
Jangjorim — Korean dish of eye of round boiled down in soy sauce, commonly with braised quail eggs (mechurial jangjorim) or
shishito pepper (kkwarigochu jangjorim)
Common preparations
Ground round or beef mince — a type of
ground beef made from round steak and trimmings from the primal round; this is also the name of a U.S. restaurant chain,
Ground Round
Accordion cut — cutting on alternating sides and stretching to make a thinner overall steak
Butterflying — cutting through the center, leaving a small hinge of meat, and unfolding to create a thinner steak
Swiss steak — preparing by making a series of small cuts with a bladed roller or pounding flat, also called Swissing, cubing or tenderizing