Buying guide · Brazil

Brazilian beef cuts

Brazilian butchery has its own names for beef cuts: picanha is the rump cap (top sirloin cap in the US), maminha is the tri-tip, fraldinha is the flap, bife do vazio is the flank steak, contrafilé is the striploin and filé mignon is the tenderloin. Cupim, the hump of zebu cattle, has no direct equivalent. This guide sets each name beside its US and Argentine counterpart and points to the page for each cut.

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Also known as: Brazilian cuts of beef · cortes de carne do Brasil · cortes bovinos brasileirosLast reviewed Nov. 5, 202611 sources

How is the carcass divided in Brazil?

Brazilian butchers speak of the dianteiro (forequarter), the traseiro (hindquarter) and the costela (the ribs and the belly wall), and keep the miúdos (offal) apart. As a rough guide, the dianteiro gives acém, músculo, peito and, in zebu cattle, cupim; the traseiro gives the alcatra, the loin and the hind leg (coxão mole, coxão duro, patinho, lagarto); the costela and the belly give the ribs and the fraldinha. The boundary between blocks varies with the butcher and the region.

The reference for the names is Portaria nº 5 of Nov. 8, 1988, from the Ministry of Agriculture’s SIPA, which standardizes beef cuts. This guide does not reproduce its list: it covers the cuts that have a page on Steakpedia, and each page cites the Portaria for its Brazilian name. Nelore, the most common breed in Brazil, is a zebu, and zebu cattle and their crosses carry the hump that gives cupim; Angus and Hereford do not.

Which Brazilian cut is which?

The table sets each cut beside the name it carries in the United States and in Argentina. Where sources disagree, or the match is only close, it is marked approx.; the pages in the last column have the detail. The alcatra, when sold whole, includes the picanha and the maminha; the miolo da alcatra is its center muscle.

Which cuts go on the churrasco?

The churrasco favors cuts that hold up on a skewer and over strong heat. Picanha, 1–1.5 kg / 2.2–3.3 lb with a 1–2 cm / ½–¾ in fat cap, is cut into three or four thick slices, each folded into a C with the fat outside and skewered over hot coals; coarse salt is the traditional seasoning and the meat comes off at 52–56 °C / 126–133 °F. The alcatra is skewered whole or in thick pieces.

The maminha is lean and goes on the skewer whole; it comes off at 52–55 °C / 126–131 °F and is sliced in two directions, where the grain turns. The bife do vazio (the flank steak) is seared over high heat to 52–55 °C / 126–131 °F; it and the fraldinha (the flap) are both sliced thin across the grain.

Cupim is the hump of zebu cattle, marbled with fat and cooked slowly, often turning on a skewer. Costela is rich in fat and collagen and also asks for long, slow heat.

Which cuts are for steaks?

The loin and rump cuts make the Brazilian steak (bife). Contrafilé is a single, regular muscle with a strip of fat along one edge; it is best from rare to medium-rare, 50–55 °C / 122–131 °F in the center, and is sliced across the grain after resting. Filé mignon is the most tender and the leanest, best at 48–54 °C / 118–129 °F, and it dries out quickly from medium on.

Bife ancho is the most marbled of the premium steaks, and its fat protects it from the heat: it is often taken off a little further along, at 54–57 °C / 129–135 °F. The miolo da alcatra is firmer and leaner, with more beef flavor than tenderness; as a 2–3 cm / ¾–1¼ in steak it takes 2–4 minutes a side over high heat to 52–55 °C / 126–131 °F in the center, and is sliced against the grain.

Which cuts are for slow cooking and everyday meals?

Forequarter cuts work hard and carry collagen, so they want long, moist heat. Acém turns tender when braised, as the collagen becomes gelatin. Músculo takes 2½–4 hours and, cut in rounds with the bone, becomes ossobuco. Peito needs 10–16 hours of smoke or a long braise, up to 93–96 °C / 200–205 °F. Rabada takes 3–4 hours of slow cooking and turns gelatinous when it cools.

The hind leg is lean. Coxão mole (top round) has little fat: the window between juicy and dry is narrow, and above 60 °C / 140 °F it turns firm. Coxão duro has more collagen and suits long, moist cooking, such as stews and pot roasts in a pressure cooker. Patinho is lean and firm and is commonly used for steaks, breaded cutlets and ground beef. Lagarto is a lean cylinder: roasted slowly and sliced thin, or braised whole.

Língua, bochecha and the miúdos complete the list: tongue simmers for 2½–3½ hours and is peeled while warm; cheek braises for 3–4 hours until it falls apart.

Which names cause confusion?

Fraldinha and bife do vazio. In the Brazilian market, “fraldinha” is the fralda, that is, the flap (bottom sirloin flap, the French bavette d’aloyau); the flank steak is the bife do vazio (or pacu). Vazio is the whole piece, also called aba de filé, which Portaria 5/1988 subdivides into bife do vazio, fralda and diaphragm. The same Portaria, however, uses “fraldinha” and “entranha-fina” as official names for the diaphragm, which is where the confusion comes from. The Argentine vacío is the whole abdominal wall, that is, the vazio as a single piece, so the parts match only approximately. Steakpedia marks these matches approx. and recommends asking which muscle is meant. At the counter, fraldinha is not the entranha (skirt).

Coxão mole and coxão duro. Coxão mole is the chã de dentro, the inner face of the thigh; coxão duro is the chã de fora, the outer face. The names say the essentials: mole is soft, duro is hard, and the outer cut has more collagen. Neither is the lagarto, a separate muscle of the hind leg.

Maminha and miolo da alcatra. The maminha is the tri-tip, at the base of the alcatra; the miolo da alcatra is its center muscle, the top sirloin. Sold whole, the alcatra includes the miolo, the maminha and the picanha, unless they are sold separately.

Contrafilé and sirloin. The contrafilé is the striploin: sirloin in Britain and Australia, New York strip in the United States, bife de chorizo in Argentina. In the United States “sirloin” is the alcatra. Brazilian filé mignon is the whole tenderloin.

Patinho. It is usually matched to the knuckle (in the United States the same area is also called sirloin tip; approx.). It is often confused with coxão mole, but it is a different group of muscles, lower on the thigh.

What changes outside Brazil?

Outside Brazil the same muscle often travels under another name, or is not separated at all. Picanha is sold as top sirloin cap or coulotte in the United States, rump cap in Britain and Australia, and tapa de cuadril in Argentina. The tri-tip is a named cut in the United States, but many trade specifications elsewhere leave it attached to the rump. Top round, the coxão mole, is often sold as London broil.

Cupim has no substitute: it exists only in zebu cattle and their crosses, so beef from Angus or Hereford herds does not have it. When the Brazilian name is not on the label, asking for the cut by muscle or by trade code (IMPS, in the United States) avoids the confusion.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

11

1. Brasil, Ministério da Agricultura, SIPA. Portaria nº 5, de 8 de novembro de 1988 — Padronização de cortes de carne bovina.
2. Huerta-Leidenz, Nelson. International Nomenclature Guide of Beef Cuts for the U.S.A. and Other Countries Targeted by the U.S. Meat Export Federation. Denver: U.S. Meat Export Federation, 2013. www.usa-beef.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/1064.GUIDE_beef-cuts_ingl%C3%A9s_09oct13.pdf
3. USDA Agricultural Marketing Service. Institutional Meat Purchase Specifications: Fresh Beef Series 100. Washington, DC, 2014. www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/IMPS_100_Fresh_Beef%5B1%5D.pdf
4. AUS-MEAT Limited. Handbook of Australian Meat, 7th ed. (International Red Meat Manual). Brisbane, 2005. www.ausmeat.com.au
5. Instituto de Promoción de la Carne Vacuna Argentina (IPCVA). Cortes de carne vacuna argentina — nomenclatura y usos. Buenos Aires. www.ipcva.com.ar
6. “Fraldinha.” Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre (secondary source; its only citation is Studart, 2006, Rio Botequim). pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraldinha
7. “Flap steak.” Wikipedia (secondary source; cites Aliza Green, Field Guide to Meat, 2005). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flap_steak
8. “Cupim bovino.” Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre (secondary source; its only citation is Studart, 2006, Rio Botequim). pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupim_bovino
9. “Coxão mole.” Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre (secondary source; its only citation is Studart, 2006, Rio Botequim). pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cox%C3%A3o_mole
10. “Coxão duro.” Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre (secondary source; its only citation is Studart, 2006, Rio Botequim). pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cox%C3%A3o_duro
11. “Patinho (carne bovina).” Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre (secondary source; its only citation is Studart, 2006, Rio Botequim). pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patinho_(carne_bovina)