The Best Cuts Of Meat For Beef Curry

Curry, curry, curry. It's one of the world's most versatile and enigmatic dishes. While some people think curry is one particular thing, it's actually more of a catch-all term for saucy dishes typically found throughout Asian and African countries like India, Ethiopia, Morocco, Thailand, and Vietnam, and even as far as some countries in the Caribbean. There are vegetarian curries, chicken curries, and seafood curries, but one of the most filling is beef curry — like beef rendang from Indonesia. To learn more about which cuts of beef work best, Food Republic chatted with Maricel Gentile, chef and owner of Maricel's Kitchen and author of "Maricel's Simply Asian Cookbook."

According to Gentile, since curries cook for a long time at a low temperature, using cuts of meat like chuck roast, beef shank, brisket, or short ribs is your best bet. She said this is due, in part, to these cuts having good connective tissue and plenty of marbling (which are those visible white streaks of fat running through meat). "These cuts break down during long cooking and create that melt-in-your-mouth texture we all love," Gentile said. When shopping for these cuts, she notes that "the grain should be fairly coarse, and the fat should be streaked throughout, not just sitting on top." These nuances help give curry both body as well as a deep, intense flavor.

Something to keep in mind is that, because there are so many different curries throughout the world, like Japanese versus Indian curry, knowing what kind of beef each uses will help you create dishes with the right flavors. "Different regions lean into different cuts depending on cooking tradition and how the curry is meant to feel," Maricel Gentile said. For example, she mentioned that the Philippines uses beef shank (also known as kenchi). They also commonly use oxtail in a stew called Kare-Kare, which calls for "a rich, gelatinous sauce."

In Thai cuisine — which became popular throughout the world thanks to gastrodiplomacy and is known for having a variety of curries in its arsenal — you'll typically see cuts of meat like chuck roast or other stewing beef. According to Gentile, these work particularly well for Massaman curry, which is a rich and aromatic Thai dish that was created with heavy influence from Indian-style curry. Because of this, you'll notice Massaman's ingredients vary from other Thai curries and more closely resemble ones used in India, like cinnamon. She also mentioned that Vietnamese Bò Kho often uses cuts like brisket or shin, which creates a deeply rich and beefy broth, while Japanese curry may use thinner-sliced stew beef or brisket in order to cook a little faster. "The cut influences whether your curry is silky and soupy, or rich and clingy to rice," Gentile added.