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Or, fun with Japanese food.
Almost no one, outside of Japan, knew what
Kobe beef was, before Iron Chef. Now American restaurants with haught cuisine pretentions seem to require the beast for their menus. So much so that Wagyu, the cattle that is Kobe beef, is being raised in the US and then shipped to Kobe Japan to be "fabricated" there, dubiously earning the meat it's Kobe blessing.
Back to Jersey, which hosts one of the largest Japanese groceries on the East coast, Mitsuwa. On the Hudson, with an impressive view of the City, this place has been catering to homesick Japanese since there's been a Japanese population to serve. As a Gaijin, we are interlopers there; it's kind of fun.
Yesterday Mitsuwa had Kobe beef, cows of it. The stuff runs, wait for it, around $120 per pound. Of course, that's for the choice cuts; every critter has cheap cuts, too. There's a bit that comes from the bottom of the ribs called the "short plate", knows as "chuck short ribs". Cut with the bone, these are English style short ribs. Cut across the bone they're flanken short ribs or "Korean style short ribs". No matter how you cut them, it's one of the toughest parts of the critter.
We got a pack of Kobe beef flanken ribs for about eight dollars a pound. This is normally a stew meat (ahem, braising meat.) Anyway, it's something you want to cook long and slow. At prime rib prices, there's no way in hell this is getting cooked long and slow...
This is how I cooked them: At one quarter inch thick, they looked like minute steaks to me. The cast iron skillet was smoking. This is not an expression, smoke was coming off the thing. Coat the meat in soy sauce and into the branding temp pan. First side cooks for about 45 seconds, flip, the other side for 30 seconds or less. That's it, they're cooked. If you're unsure, you know they're ready to be flipped or taken off when the meat stops sticking and comes loose.
The meat was delectable and sumptuously fatty. Not a lean meal by any stretch. We will be eating this again, but not often.
Almost no one, outside of Japan, knew what
Kobe beef was, before Iron Chef. Now American restaurants with haught cuisine pretentions seem to require the beast for their menus. So much so that Wagyu, the cattle that is Kobe beef, is being raised in the US and then shipped to Kobe Japan to be "fabricated" there, dubiously earning the meat it's Kobe blessing.
Back to Jersey, which hosts one of the largest Japanese groceries on the East coast, Mitsuwa. On the Hudson, with an impressive view of the City, this place has been catering to homesick Japanese since there's been a Japanese population to serve. As a Gaijin, we are interlopers there; it's kind of fun.
Yesterday Mitsuwa had Kobe beef, cows of it. The stuff runs, wait for it, around $120 per pound. Of course, that's for the choice cuts; every critter has cheap cuts, too. There's a bit that comes from the bottom of the ribs called the "short plate", knows as "chuck short ribs". Cut with the bone, these are English style short ribs. Cut across the bone they're flanken short ribs or "Korean style short ribs". No matter how you cut them, it's one of the toughest parts of the critter.
We got a pack of Kobe beef flanken ribs for about eight dollars a pound. This is normally a stew meat (ahem, braising meat.) Anyway, it's something you want to cook long and slow. At prime rib prices, there's no way in hell this is getting cooked long and slow...
This is how I cooked them: At one quarter inch thick, they looked like minute steaks to me. The cast iron skillet was smoking. This is not an expression, smoke was coming off the thing. Coat the meat in soy sauce and into the branding temp pan. First side cooks for about 45 seconds, flip, the other side for 30 seconds or less. That's it, they're cooked. If you're unsure, you know they're ready to be flipped or taken off when the meat stops sticking and comes loose.
The meat was delectable and sumptuously fatty. Not a lean meal by any stretch. We will be eating this again, but not often.