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Find Aguja norteña or its closest English equivalent
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Chuck eye steak (aguja)
Aguja norteña is known in English as Chuck eye steak.
Also called
🇺🇸🇬🇧Chuck eye steak🇦🇷🇪🇸Aguja🇫🇷Basses côtes🇵🇹🇧🇷Acém🇮🇹Reale🇩🇪Hochrippenkern
A bone-in chuck eye steak cut thin for grilling, prized in northern Mexico — particularly Monterrey. It comes from the chuck eye roll, the ribeye muscle as it extends into the chuck primal, giving it more marbling than a standard chuck steak. Traditionally cooked hot and fast over direct heat and served well-done.
Names by country
| Country | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸United States | Chuck eye steak | Sold bone-in in US Hispanic markets as agujas or bone-in chuck eye steak |
| 🇬🇧United Kingdom | Chuck eye steak | |
| 🇲🇽Mexico | Aguja norteñaprimary | Defining cut of northern Mexican (Monterrey) grilling culture; also called flecha informally |
| 🇦🇷Argentina | Aguja | Same anatomical zone but used as a braising/stewing cut in Argentina rather than a thin grill steak |
| 🇫🇷France | Basses côtes | Primal-level equivalent; the specific sub-cut is the noix de basse côte (chuck eye) |
| 🇪🇸Spain | Aguja | Spanish butchery uses aguja for the chuck zone; typically braised rather than grilled |
| 🇵🇹Portugal | Acém | Also historically spelled agulha in older Portuguese nomenclature |
| 🇧🇷Brazil | Acém | Brazilian chuck equivalent; the specific sub-cut is sometimes called acém comprido (chuck eye) |
| 🇮🇹Italy | Reale | The chuck eye in Italian butchery — extension of the entrecôte muscle into the shoulder. |
| 🇩🇪Germany | Hochrippenkern | Sometimes called 'Falsches Filet' — the eye of the chuck where the rib-eye muscle ends. |
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