Authentic New York Pastrami on Rye
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There is perhaps no sandwich in the world quite as towering, intimidating, or revered as the authentic New York deli pastrami on rye. Brought to the bustling shores of the Lower East Side by Romanian Jewish immigrants in the late 19th century, pastrami began as a clever, practical method to preserve cheap cuts of beef prior to the widespread availability of refrigeration.
The creation of true pastrami is an exhausting labor of love that cannot be rushed. It starts with a heavily marbled beef brisket (specifically the fattier 'navel' cut). The meat is first submerged in an intensely seasoned salt brine for over a week, effectively turning it into corned beef. But pastrami takes the process two crucial steps further: the brined meat is aggressively rubbed with a thick crust of crushed black peppercorns and coriander, and then it is heavily smoked over hardwood for hours. Finally, right before serving, it is steamed for hours until the connective tissues melt away, leaving the meat trembling, glistening, and unimaginably tender.
When constructed properly, the sandwich itself is a masterpiece of minimalist perfection. It eschews modern sandwich frills entirely. There is no lettuce, no tomato, no mayonnaise, and absolutely no cheese (which violates Kosher dietary laws). It is simply an obscene mountain of warm, hand-carved, fat-streaked pastrami, squeezed tightly between two humble slices of soft, seeded Jewish rye bread, and slathered aggressively with sharp, spicy brown deli mustard. Paired with a garlic dill pickle and a black cherry soda, it is the ultimate taste of New York.
Ingredients
- 1 lb incredibly high-quality, pre-smoked whole pastrami (request a piece from the 'navel' or the fattier 'point' end from a Jewish deli)
- 1 loaf of fresh, soft Jewish rye bread (with caraway seeds)
- 4 tablespoons spicy brown deli mustard (Gulden's or similar)
- 2 large, half-sour or full-sour garlic dill pickles
- 1/2 cup water (for the steaming liquid)
- Optional: a few slices of Swiss cheese (Not traditional/Kosher, but popular in modern variations like the Reuben)
Instructions
Since making pastrami from scratch takes over 10 days of curing and smoking, the absolute secret to recreating the deli experience at home is properly reheating a high-quality, pre-smoked whole chunk of pastrami. Do not buy pre-sliced deli meat; buy a solid block.
Prepare a steaming apparatus. Fill a large pot or a Dutch oven with about 1/2 inch of water. Place a steamer basket or a wire rack inside the pot, ensuring the water level sits just below the bottom of the rack.
Place your whole, unsliced block of pastrami onto the steamer rack. Cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid.
Bring the water to a gentle boil over medium heat, then immediately reduce the heat to low so the water maintains a gentle, steady simmer. Allow the pastrami to steam undisturbed for 1.5 to 2 hours. This crucial steaming process melts the tough connective tissues and the intramuscular fat, turning the meat from tough to incredibly jiggly and tender.
While the meat is steaming, prepare your bread. Authentic deli rye should not be aggressively toasted, but it should be slightly warmed. You can briefly place the slices in a warm oven or lay them lightly over the steam escaping from the pot.
Generously slather the inside of all four slices of the rye bread with the spicy brown deli mustard. Do not be shy with the mustard; its sharp acidity is necessary to cut through the massive amount of rich beef fat.
Once the pastrami is trembling and tender, carefully remove it from the steamer and place it on a large cutting board with a juice groove.
Using a very sharp, long carving knife, slice the pastrami across the grain. The slices should be somewhat thick—about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Hand-carved pastrami provides a vastly superior texture to paper-thin, machine-sliced meat.
To build the sandwich, pile an impossibly high mountain of the warm, steaming pastrami (at least 1/2 pound per sandwich) onto the bottom slices of the rye bread.
Place the top slice of bread on the mountain of meat. Use your palm to gently compress the sandwich so it can be picked up.
Slice the sandwich in half diagonally and serve immediately while steaming hot, alongside a crisp garlic dill pickle.
Chef's Pro Tips
Never Buy Pre-Sliced Pastrami
Pre-sliced packaged pastrami is essentially just salty lunch meat. True deli pastrami must be purchased as a solid chunk, steamed at home, and hand-carved thick while it is piping hot to preserve the fat structure.
The Power of Steam
Even the best pastrami in the world is tough and rubbery when cold. Steaming the meat for hours is the closely guarded secret of every New York deli. It hydrates the meat and melts the fat, making it fall-apart tender.
Ask for the 'Navel'
When buying pastrami, explicitly ask the butcher for the 'navel' cut rather than the 'first cut'. The navel is significantly fattier. Lean pastrami is dry pastrami; you want the fat to experience the true flavor.