They really should have trimmed that first cut better,when you’re paying this kind of money there shouldn’t be such a large chunk of pure fat.
I sear on 1 side til brown, and touch the other for just a second to give it a little warmth.
Ponzu is good, just salt is good. Salt and wasabi is good. It’s also good treated like sushi, with some doctored soy sauce - I do mine with soy, mirin, and a little bonito, kombu and a tiny bit of dried shiitake. Serve on rice with a dot of wasabi. The amount of fat on it makes it great with a plain starch, same way otoro is.
Start with the steak cut into bite sizes pieces. Skip the rest and have it while hot.
Wow…that’s really impressive. Can you do me a favor and help with price / weight translations. Are those prices in US dollars? (if so, 100grams = approximately 1/4 lbs so the A5 Ribeye Steak Cap on = $250. per 1/4 lbs or $ 1,000 per 1 lbs? Is that correct???)
I must say, the meat at this supermarket (Jason’s) is superb, in appearance at least. We were in Tokyo a couple of weeks ago, the high end premier meat was maybe 30% cheaper. But not any prettier.
Wagyu is probably more about the fat than the meat - so the white one has the most fat . . . even though you can see they all have a lot of fat marbled throughout the meat (red).
on a tangent - I often think - I’d rather have lardo (italian, pork, but . . . ) than wagyu. This thread has made me wonder if i would like wagyu more if it was served the same way lardo was served (thin shavings and not very much), but since it is “beef” I always see it in much larger pieces which quickly become “too much” for me, even though the taste is great . . . . first world problems.
Correct, the whiter or fattier the meat the “better”. As though as I’ve previously experienced when I bought my first Japenese A5 Wagyu steak, I cooked it like a conventional steak. The flavor while delicious was overwhelming as a steak. Similar to cooking with truffle is the best way I could describe it, where more is not always better.
I recently tried American Wagyu from a local supermarket and the marbling was somewhere between the Japenese A5 and USDA Prime and I found this to be the perfect combination of meat vs. fat to be able to eat as a steak and not be overwhelmed by the flavor. (also as gross as this might sound, the excess fat on the steak is amazing to eat. It literally melts in your mouth)
Good may be in the eye of the beholder, but it is the costliest in the chiller. That meat is so well marbled with fat that it’s a wonder how the muscle maintains it’s structural integrity??
There’s more than one school of thought as to how much fat becomes too much fat.
I think that’s when the master grill man earns his tall hat. It’s a trip to watch the teppanyaki master cut, sear, trim a cut of meat into bite size pieces and present to you at the perfect sear and temperature, internally and externally.
Disclaimer: only had this once in Kobe, once in Osaka. Not an aficionado by any stretch.
Chef presents the meat so the diners may ooooh and aaaah and start the salivating.
Portions the meat according to some internal algorithm and trims the meat to ever smaller pieces. Then a few small slices are carved and served so you can eat immediately. Each bite freshly sliced a la minute.
For anyone who wants a more refined meal with wagyu. I saw a recipe by chef Mathieu Viannay (Lyon 2* Michelin) in a magazine - he proposed a course with 2 ways of cooking - infusion in broth and grilled.
A Japanese inspired very hot broth (beef broth, ponzu sauce and dashi), in which he pours on thinly sliced Wagyu when serving. As for the dressage, sparkle some chopped spring onion, chopped radish and lime zest.
The other half of the filet, he browns it slightly on both side (still bleu) let it rested for 10-15 minutes, and reheat it slightly just before serving by sliced it thinly. Served with beetroot confit (cooked 1hour with aluminium in oven, reheat with butter and cooked with Porto rouge, reduce slightly and lightly caramelise the vegetables) Add some butter cooked shimeji mushroom and some mixed green for decoration, with a cooked sauce (heat up soy sauce, reduced beef juice and cold butter in a sauce pan).
Note that wagyu remains relatively raw when serving in both cases. The piece he chose for the recipe was not a very white filet.
I really want to try the broth one. That sounds delicious and seems a great idea. I just hope I can slice it thin enough.
I have a big aversion to black and blue meat (I prefer my beef medium), regardless of the quality. I can do tartar just about anything, but don’t love beef tartar. I’ve tried it a few times and they were fine, but not a flavor and a texture I crave. With the wagyu, I tried to cook to leave it rare at least, but it can be tricky with thin slices or strips.
I’m not particularly hot with the traditional French beef tartare, maybe the sauce is too overwhelming… A bigger preference for the Italian Carpaccio, maybe because they are sliced finely and I like the pesto that goes with the dish. I like also the Vietnamese raw beef, half cooked in a pho.
You need a boiling broth, better if the bowl or dish is warmed, so you can have it more cooked.
"2 ways of cooking - infusion in broth and grilled.
A Japanese inspired very hot broth (beef broth, ponzu sauce and dashi), in which he pours on thinly sliced Wagyu when serving. As for the dressage, sparkle some chopped spring onion, chopped radish and lime zest.
The other half of the filet, he browns it slightly on both side (still bleu) let it rested for 10-15 minutes, and reheat it slightly just before serving by sliced it thinly. Served with beetroot confit (cooked 1hour with aluminium in oven, reheat with butter…"
