Chef Juliana
Coração de Frango no Espeto
You think chicken hearts are restaurant food or brave-person food. Wrong. Salt, garlic, lime, a hot espeto, and the discipline not to overcook them: that's the skewer everyone eats first.
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Vazio na Brasa
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You don't need a fancy cut to put good beef on the plate. Salt, patience, and proper brasa turn vazio into honest churrasco for rice, beans, couve, and dinner solved.
Main Dishes
Brazilian
BBQ
Outdoor Dining
Budget Friendly
10 min
Active Time
35 min cook•45 min total
Yield4 servings
You see a big, flat cut of beef and hear that little voice: isso não é pra mim. Too easy to dry out, too hard to grill, better leave it to the uncle with strong opinions by the fire. No. Anota aí: cozinhar não é dom, é um aprendizado, and churrasco is included.
Vazio is a forgiving cut if you stop treating it like a steak you bully over flames. It has fibers, a little fat, and deep beef flavor. Salt it properly, start fat side down over a calmer part of the brasa, let the fat protect the meat, then finish hotter to dourar the outside. That's the method. Not mystique. Not a secret handshake at the grill.
This is comida de verdade for the pê-efe: rice, beans, a piece of beef, something green, maybe farofa if the table is in a good mood. The plate works because each part does its job. Arroz soltinho catches the juices, feijão brings the caldo, couve cuts through the fat, and the meat gives you that Saturday smell even on a Tuesday.
The only thing I'll be strict about is the fire. Flames burn. Embers cook. Keep that sentence in your pocket and you'll already be ahead of half the people poking meat with a fork and calling it technique.
Vazio is the Brazilian name, especially familiar in the south, for a flank-area beef cut close to the Spanish rioplatense vacio, tied to the cattle culture shared across Rio Grande do Sul, Uruguay, and Argentina. The word points to the animal's abdominal area, the empty space between ribs and hindquarter, and the cut became prized at the grill because it is cheaper than premium steaks but carries strong beef flavor. In gaúcho churrasco, coarse salt and brasa matter more than marinades, which is why the method looks simple and still demands attention.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
vazio (thin flank cut)
Quantity
1 piece, about 1 kg to 1.2 kg
coarse salt
Quantity
1 1/2 tablespoons, plus more to taste
neutral oil (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
only if the meat is very lean
lime (optional)
Quantity
1
cut into wedges
cooked white rice
Quantity
2 cups
for serving
cooked feijão
Quantity
2 cups
for serving
sautéed couve
Quantity
2 cups
for serving
farofa (optional)
Quantity
1 cup
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| vazio (thin flank cut) | 1 piece, about 1 kg to 1.2 kg |
| coarse salt | 1 1/2 tablespoons, plus more to taste |
| neutral oil (optional)only if the meat is very lean | 1 tablespoon |
| lime (optional)cut into wedges | 1 |
| cooked white ricefor serving | 2 cups |
| cooked feijãofor serving | 2 cups |
| sautéed couvefor serving | 2 cups |
| farofa (optional)for serving | 1 cup |
Equipment Needed
- •Charcoal grill with adjustable grate
- •Long metal tongs
- •Instant-read thermometer, optional but useful
- •Large cutting board
- •Sharp slicing knife
Instructions
- 1
Temper the meat
Take the vazio out of the fridge 30 minutes before grilling and pat it dry. Sprinkle the coarse salt evenly over both sides, heavier on the thicker parts, lighter on the thin edges. Dry meat browns. Wet meat sits there hissing and steaming itself, and then you blame the cow.
- 2
Build the brasa
Light the charcoal and wait until the coals are red underneath and covered with a fine gray ash. Set the grill for two heat zones: one calmer side and one hotter side. Flames are for drama, not dinner. Embers give steady heat, melt the fat slowly, and let the inside cook before the outside burns.
- 3
Start fat side down
Put the vazio on the calmer side of the grill, fat side down if it has a fat cap. Leave it alone for 12 to 15 minutes, until the fat looks glossy, lightly golden, and starts to drip. Starting with the fat protects the leaner meat and bastes it from below, which is the cheap-cut arithmetic I love.
- 4
Cook the second side
Turn the meat with tongs, not a fork, and cook the other side for 10 to 12 minutes over the same calmer heat. Watch the edges: they should tighten and brown, not curl into dry leather. Poking holes lets juices run into the fire, and then everyone stands around pretending dryness is tradition.
- 5
Finish it hot
Move the vazio to the hotter side and sear 2 to 4 minutes per side, just until the outside is browned with crisp fat edges and a deep grilled smell. This last heat is for color, not for cooking it to death. If flare-ups start, slide the meat away until the fire calms.
- 6
Rest and slice
Move the meat to a board and rest it for 8 to 10 minutes. It should feel firm but still spring back under your finger. Slice thinly across the grain, because the fibers in vazio are long and honest about it. Cut with the grain and you'll chew all night. Cut across and it turns tender.
- 7
Serve the pê-efe
Serve the sliced vazio with arroz soltinho, feijão with creamy caldo, sautéed couve, and farofa if you have it. Add lime wedges only if you like that sharp finish. The rice catches the meat juices, the beans make the plate feel like dinner, and the couve keeps the whole thing from becoming just beef with applause.
Chef Tips
- •Ask the butcher for vazio with a little fat still on it. Too clean and too lean looks tidy in the case, then dries fast on the grill. Fat is not decoration here. It's protection.
- •Coarse salt is enough. If someone hands you a packet of powdered meat seasoning, smile politely and keep walking. Onion, garlic, beans, rice, brasa, salt. A gente doesn't need powder pretending to be cooking.
- •No grill? Use a heavy cast-iron skillet or grill pan. Get it hot, brown the fat side first, then finish in a 200°C oven until the center is done to your liking. It won't taste like charcoal, because it isn't charcoal. But it will still resolver o jantar.
- •For medium-rare, pull the meat when the thickest part reaches about 55°C to 57°C. For medium, pull around 60°C to 63°C. No thermometer? Press the center. Soft and bouncy is juicier, hard and stiff is going past the point.
- •Make beans ahead. Soak them overnight so they cook evenly and sit easier, then finish with a refogado of onion and garlic. Mash a ladle of cooked beans into that refogado so the caldo turns creamy instead of watery. That's how the whole plate comes together.
Advance Preparation
- •Salt the meat up to 1 hour before grilling and keep it uncovered in the fridge if you want a drier surface for better browning.
- •Cook the feijão 1 to 3 days ahead. It reheats well and gives you a faster pê-efe when the grill is already taking your attention.
- •Slice the couve and make the farofa before the meat goes on the grill, because once the vazio rests, dinner should move.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 455g)
Calories
870 calories
Total Fat
38 g
Saturated Fat
13 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
24 g
Cholesterol
170 mg
Sodium
1650 mg
Total Carbohydrates
65 g
Dietary Fiber
12 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
67 g
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