Mom picked me up a porter on thursday and I cooked it up over at my parents that night. Not a great steak but at 6.99lb on sale it got the job done. I duded it up with my latest rub combo which I’ve been enjoying. Both of these seasonings go together really well together on a gas grill. I like to cook on wood but it isn’t always an option. This combo gives me some good flavor on meat that isn’t the best grade. It’s a coffee rub and the second is some hickory salt. I like it and made my dad a ribeye the other night using this. He was impressed with the flavor profile. I’ve been using this combo for a few months now. It’s not overpowering and goes well on propane.
Years ago, we air freighted Snake River Wagyu and Berkshire pig to Singapore weekly. Our importer distributed the meat to a couple of 5* hotels that were running an ongoing premium American meat promotion.
Our suppliers would short our order every freaking week. Often, they would deliver only half our purchase order. We were only ordering a few hundred lbs of 4~5 cuts, not a containerload qty.
One summer was particularly bad. A severe heat wave lingered over our hog supplier’s production region, the piggies were off their feed. In turn, they couldn’t reach slaughter weight so the supply chain came to a standstill.
Similar problems affected the wagyu. Our importer would rant an rave and send copies of their hotel’s lavish promotions for the beef and pork that their walk-ins were out off.
The situation was very embarrassing for the entire supply chain. But, what can you do? You can’t make meat out of raw materials. At least, not yet.
That rub in the picure is the coffee rub. I do make my own though. It isn’t too hard buto the bottle stuff works nicely and I simply add hickory salt and sometimes smoked paprika. The first time, many years ago, when I heard about coffee rubs, I was really turned off. It took me maybe a year to try it and it is a great flavor. In fact, if no one told you that it was a coffee rub you probably wouldn’t even guess. It’s very low key. It does make the steak dark and I have had it on some wings too with a bourbon glaze.
Yeah I hear where you are coming from. That’s why I would position this as the elite beef in the US. Think of the bugatti or koenigsegg of beef. People who want to be seen will buy this stuff at a few high end restaurants. Christ, I see “kobe beef” hotdogs shoved in the corner of my local grocery store. Lol
It’s about creating a brand, a stigma, and delivering the best money can buy. I think it can be done but the Japanese have to have balls and they have to realize they can command more money here in the US market.
Tomatoes are like advocados. You have to buy them 4-5 days before you’re going to use them.
Then never, ever, put them in the fridge. They will get ripe, even in winter. It just takes time.
This latest batch were Roma’s from Best Market in Holmdel, and were especially good. Their tomatoes tend to be a little riper than other store bought, so you have to use them faster.
At the end of the article the chef says that for larger steaks he does not prefer Wagyu:
“In Japan, you might be getting your wagyu served sliced, dipped in a light broth like shabu,” Walzog says. “That’s how you would eat it. An eight-ounce [wagyu] steak is going to be overload. Guests come in here and want 16 ounce Kobe ribeyes. But just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”
Even though Apfelbaum has the most expensive imported steaks at his fingertips, at the end of the day, he prefers USDA Prime. “When I eat a steak, I want to actually be able to eat a steak,” he says. “Miyazaki is so rich, I can have just a couple ounces of that, and I’m good. If you get the stuff with a BMS of 12 [the highest marbling grade], it’s so white it can look like a piece of lard.”
