Holy Cow! (2008-03-09)
We often see the crazy expensive beef sold in department stores' food section, but never once thought of buying it. Well, before we leave this country for good, we owe it to ourselves to at least eat that once to see if it's worth that kind of fortune.
The beef we bought isn't a particular "brand" (such as Kobe or
Matsuzaka etc) we set out to try, it
just happened to be the only shop around when we decided to
splurge. They sell Benihana beef, one of the well-known brands of
Wagyu.
There are different cuts to choose from, but the top sirloin is so
heavily marbled that it almost appears white. Even our fat-loving
palate has to say no to that artery clogging wickedness. At the
end we got a couple of hire(fillet)
steak at 1680 yen
per 100 gram (about US$160 a kilo). Each piece is just about the size
of my palm of about 3/4 inch thick, this will have to be the most
expensive steak I've ever bought in my life.
In order to savor the true flavor the beef had to offer, I simply
sprinkled freshly milled black pepper and Maldon sea salt on it and off
to the pan it went. No sauce, no nothing. Six minutes
later, we had ourselves two beautiful pieces of medium steak.
The meat was buttery soft, and I mean buttery soft. It just
melted in the mouth requiring little effort to chew. Flavor wise,
it lacked the robust beefy intensity we came to expect from a $30 piece
of 3-oz meat. Is it worth getting again? Absolutely
not.
Satou's lunch set
is a much worthwhile option--same tender
beef without the shopping, cooking and washing up.
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