The Pentium Era - South to North

Gu Gong looked at his watch. He put the beef in the refrigerator to drain the acid. Only twenty minutes had passed. There was indeed plenty of time. He took a sip of tea and began to talk slowly.

Gu Gong said: "Steaks seem to be various, but in fact there are only three types. One is original cut steak, one is non-original cut steak, and the other is mature steak. Original cut steak is very common. We see it in supermarkets. Here, you can also eat raw steaks at most steakhouses.

"The original cut steak is beef. Oh, let me explain again. Not all the meat from the cow can be used to make steak. The meat that can be removed to make steak is only three parts, which are the back of the beef, the front and rear parts of the beef loin. , the rib eye is in front of the loin, and the sirloin is in the back. It is also called sirloin and New Yorker. The rib eye and sirloin are connected together, but they are the front and rear sections.

"Below the sirloin is fillet. Fillet is a long strip from thick to thin like a tadpole's tail. It's the piece you bought earlier. You will know when you pick it up and take a look. Lao Qi is right, the whole strip is The shape of filet is very similar to cucumber strips, which is easy to mistake. Filet is the most tender piece of meat on the cow, so it is suitable for frying.

"Going back to the original cut steak, the original cut steak is to deacidify the meat from these three parts first, then freeze it, and then cut it after freezing. The shape of the cut steak will be better. The original cut steak is divided into two parts. One is marinating, the other is not marinating, there is no marinating and no pre-processing. The pre-processing of steak basically refers to aging, which will be discussed later.

"Steaks that are not marinated leave room for the chef to cook in the future. He can make it into various flavors according to the requirements of the guests, so most steakhouses will purchase this kind of raw, unmarinated steak."

"There is also a kind of raw-cut steak that you often see in supermarkets. It is marinated with soy sauce, black pepper juice, vegetable juice, etc. This kind of steak is especially suitable for frying and eating in ordinary families. It does not need to be fried. Why don't you season it yourself? Most people buy steak in the supermarket.

"Non-raw steak is also called seasoned steak. It's just like negative growth. It just sounds nice. In fact, the key is the first word. The first word completely reverses the meaning of the latter. Negative growth is not growth, but actually a decline. Non-raw steak , in fact, it is not a steak, but a fake steak. There are two main methods of counterfeiting, one is fat injection, and the other is splicing.

"Fat injection means, don't you all like Snowflake Steak and Frosty Steak? They inject fat into raw cut steaks, even steaks made from shoulder blades, cucumber strips, etc. to create fine fat patterns that will make you I mistakenly thought it was snowflake steak. The frost is so beautiful. In fact, if you look closely, you can see that the oily texture is very unnatural.

"There is another even worse method, which is splicing. Even though splicing sounds nice, it actually means taking various parts of ground beef and using adhesives such as edible glue to make it into the shape of a steak. In supermarkets, there is no label indicating the original cut. , those steaks that are very cheap are all non-original cut steaks. Don’t buy them. If you do, you will be fooled. In fact, what you buy is just a beef patty, not a steak at all.”

"Okay, Gu Gong, once you say this, we will know better and won't be fooled."

Bao Tianbin said, Ah Hua also nodded, he said:

"I said that when I went to the supermarket, I saw some steaks that looked thicker than other steaks. The price was still cheaper, which made people think it was a good deal. It turned out that they were the beef patties that Gu Gong said."

Gu Gong smiled and continued:

"Let's talk about aged steak. As I said before, aging is a pre-treatment method for steak. It is also divided into two types, one is dry aging, and the other is wet aging. The aging process itself is also acid removal. The process, because of its temperature requirements, is also around zero degrees.

“Wet aging means cutting fresh steaks, sealing them in vacuum packaging bags, and then placing them in an environment around zero degrees Celsius to mature them using the beef’s own natural enzymes to achieve tenderness and juiciness.

“The advantage of wet aging is that there is less loss of ingredients and the production time is short. Generally, you can see a good aging effect in a few days. If the time is too long, more than six or seven days, the steak will deteriorate and rot.

"We go to a steakhouse now and if he claims to sell aged steaks, he usually uses the wet aging method. The wet aging process is too simple and is almost like a scam. It's like a gimmick used by businesses to deceive consumers. Some people They even criticized that all raw-cut steaks are wet-aged steaks. Wet-aged steaks are just a false statement.

"Why do you say that? Because all steaks are transported in the cold chain. Isn't the transportation process itself wet aging? In fact, there is a difference. The difference is that there is no freezing process in the middle. If it is frozen, the meat quality will completely change. No more, the tender and juicy texture of wet-aged meat is gone.

"The highest level of steak pre-processing is also the top method. You can even try out the skill, which is dry aging. You may understand what dry aging is when I say it this way. It's like making ham. There is no difference. With salt.

"Dry aging originated from hunters in the United States and Canada. After they captured bison, they couldn't finish the meat, so they had to dry the meat in a natural environment. Because the local climate is dry and cold, the beef will not spoil. It was found that , the beef tastes better after air-drying, just like we eat air-dried meat, this method has been passed down.

"Dry aging is time-consuming and labor-intensive. It usually takes more than a month or even a year to complete. Now it is usually completed in a special refrigerated aging room. The refrigerated aging room has very high requirements, such as constant temperature, constant humidity, and air flow. , there should also be an ultraviolet sterilizer in the cold room.

“You cannot use frozen beef for dry-aged steaks, because the fibrous tissue of frozen meat has been destroyed and there is no way to mature it. You can only use fresh whole pieces of beef, and then cut them into pieces after aging.

"Put large pieces of beef on the shelf, keep the temperature at zero to 4 degrees, the humidity at 50-80%, and the air circulation at 0.5-2m/s. During these long months, Temperature, humidity and air circulation depend on people to observe the changes in meat quality and make fine adjustments. Therefore, dry aging is very similar to wine making. The level of craftsmanship determines the quality of the finished product.

"The same Wagyu or Angus beef, matured by different craftsmen, will be very different, and the price will be several times different. Therefore, when dry-aged, people pay more attention to its brand or reputation. The top-notch Steakhouses have their own aging rooms, and every piece of aged steak is made under the strict supervision of the chefs, with their own preferences and imprints.

“Dry-aged beef’s outer layer and epidermal fat are air-dried due to evaporation of water, which helps to lock in the internal moisture and maintain the texture of fresh meat inside. The meat texture becomes firmer, and relatively speaking, the oiliness is also thicker. Concentrated, dry-aged beef will be sweeter and have a special nutty aroma.

"Like aged ham, when we want to eat it, we will definitely trim the ham with a knife to remove the oxide layer on the outside. Dry-aged beef will also have a shell on the outside, and this shell needs to be removed. In this way, What you can get, probably only about 70 percent of the meat is edible.

"It takes so much time, effort, and ingredients, so even the most common dry-aged steak is not cheap. It's normal for a good dry-aged steak to cost more than 1,000 yuan for just such a small piece."

After Gu Gong finished speaking, he looked at everyone and spread his hands, meaning, okay, I'm done, do you still have any questions?

Lao Qi nodded and said: "Gu Gong, I have really seen this place. I have been a chef for decades. This is the first time I know so much. I have figured out the steak."

Gu Gong smiled and said: "This is normal. You are a Chinese chef, not a Western chef. A Chinese chef doesn't have to understand steak, and there is no need to understand it. If a Western chef can't even fry steak, it's the same as a Chinese chef who can't. It’s the same as stir-frying green vegetables, they just need to understand.”

Lao Qi smiled, thought for a moment, and said, "You still need to understand. From what you said, it seems that the beef here is cooked and people don't know how to eat beef."

"It really doesn't matter." Gu Gong said, "The shrimp has its own path, and the crab has its own path. Food is for people to eat. No matter how it is made, as long as people eat it happily, it will be fine. If the people who come here, He feels that beef that is dynamic and dynamic is the freshest. He has this preconceived idea when eating it, and he will be very happy when eating it, and that's ok.

"Many things are just a way of saying. Just like us, we can still have a good time eating at a fly and mosquito restaurant on the street and find it delicious. So don't ask yourself to go to a five-star hotel for every meal. Those things , just know it after trying it, it may not be suitable for our stomachs.”

"Gu Gong, what you said makes sense." Liu Ligan shouted.

"Originally," Gu Gong said, "Westerners use beef to make steaks, which is why steaks are so particular. We Chinese have been eating beef for thousands of years. We never make steaks, and the beef is not delicious. Now? We can fry it or braise it, it’s just as delicious.”

As he spoke, Gu Gong turned his head and looked outside. He looked at the row of beef stalls opposite, sighed and said:

"Pity."

"What's wrong?" Lao Qi asked.

"In fact, yellow cattle are not suitable for beef cattle." Gu Gong said, "I don't mean that its meat quality is not good enough. The meat quality of yellow cattle has its own unique flavor. Like I said, even if you take Wagyu meat, If you come to speculate, you can't compare to scalpers.

"The biggest disadvantage of the scalper is that it is too small. It has always been used as a working cow, that is, a working cow, so we say that if a person works hard alone, it is called an old scalper. It is precisely because it has always been a working cow, so Its meat is so firm and is most suitable for stir-fry.

"But if you treat it as a beef cattle, it is not cost-effective. The famous beef cattle in the world are nothing more than Wagyu, Angus, Quinine and Charlotte cattle. Their physiques are very different. Tall and tall, weighing more than one thousand or two thousand kilograms. There are very few scalpers who can weigh one thousand kilograms..."

"The calfs we have in Xiangou generally only weigh six to seven hundred pounds," Lao Qi said.

Gu Gong nodded: "So I said it's a pity. Think about it, with the same feeding cycle and the same feed, the final meat yield will be almost half. Isn't it a pity? Mr. Zhang, your breeding farm, I think the first step , as long as we can breed Xiangou oxen with the same meat quality but tall body, it will be a small achievement."

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