$ · indoor steak searing and plancha-style cooking
Sear an irregular spider steak evenly
Hard sears when a grill is unavailable or inconvenient.
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Araignée is commonly used as-is in English; the closest equivalent depends on the butchery tradition.
On a French butcher's counter, araignée means a small, highly flavored beef, veal, or pork butcher's cut—not the animal 'spider.'
Stokkestijn, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons — Belgian spinnenkop (spider steak)
Spider steak — a small, web-shaped muscle (about 200–300 grams per beast) lying on the inside of the hip socket, named for the spider-leg pattern its connective tissue traces across the surface. Despite its hidden, well-worked location it is surprisingly tender, with deep beefy flavour. A classic French boucher's secret cut, almost never sold in supermarkets but prized in Parisian bistros. Typically pan-seared rare and served with shallots or a marrow butter.
Araignée in a meat context
The standalone French word means spider, but the search intent reaching this page is overwhelmingly butchery-related.
- Cut
- A small, irregular butcher's steak associated with the hip and pelvic area, valued for strong flavor.
- Species qualifier
- Araignée de bœuf, de veau, and de porc refer to related named cuts from beef, veal, and pork.
- English ordering
- Use 'spider steak' or show the butcher the exact French term; it is not standardized in every English-speaking market.
Names by country
| Country | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 🇫🇷France | Araignéeprimary | A classic boucher's reserve cut; rarely available except by request. |
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