It is distinct from hanger steak (US), also called skirt (UK) or onglet (France), a generally similar adjacent cut also from the plate.

Both the inside and outside skirt steak are the trimmed, boneless portion of the diaphragm muscle attached to the 6th through 12th ribs on the underside of the short plate.

[5][6] The U.S. Food Safety and Quality Service established in 1977 (now the Food Safety and Inspection Service) by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) had designated the cut as "beef skirt diaphragm" (with the adjoining cut being called "hanging tender diaphragm").

[7] But the diaphragms were treated as "offal" rather than meat by the Japanese government, thus exempt from any beef import quota restrictions.

Skirt steak is also traditional in Mexican cuisine, particularly in the north where it is known as arrachera, and is generally marinated, grilled and served in tortillas, and with a squeeze of lime juice, guacamole, salsa, and onions as a taco.