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Chambarete is known in English as Beef shank.
Also called
🇺🇸Beef shank🇺🇸Osso buco↗
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Mexico's name for the beef shank, the lower leg between the knee or elbow and the hoof. Mexican butchers sell it in thick slices cut across the bone, with the marrow in the middle (chambarete con hueso), or boned out (sin hueso). It is lean but full of connective tissue, so it is never grilled: it simmers for two to three hours until the collagen melts and the meat pulls apart, while the bone gives the broth its body. That makes it the backbone of caldo de res, the everyday Mexican beef soup with corn, carrot, chayote, cabbage and potato. In English it is beef shank (shin in the UK). Cut across the bone it is the same slice Italians braise as ossobuco, usually from veal. In Mexico, chamorro usually means the pork shank.
Names by country
| Country | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸United States | Beef shank | US butcher's name; sold whole, boneless or cross-cut. |
| 🇲🇽Mexico | Chambareteprimary | Beef shank. SAGARPA 2013 buyer's guide, via Calderón Alonso et al. 2021 (Nacameh 15:1). Sold con hueso (cross-cut, with marrow) or sin hueso. Chamorro usually means pork shank. |
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