Larry’s Things .net

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Inspired by the Blumenthal show,  I’m going to look into whether I can replicate the perfect steak. Sources:  “Handbook of Food Science, technology”Muscle tissue consists of 75% water.   Of that,  1% is permanently bound within protein molecules.   10 to 15% of that is ”immobilized” and is located close to the 1% of the bound water .   The other 59% is free water between the extracellular space and is easily lost.A decrease in pH (more acidic), decreases the amount of water binding groups in the muscle tissue, and thus decreases it’s ability to hold water.Muscle tissue contains mostly actin and myosin.From the BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/tv_and_radio/perfection/experimental_kitchen_low.shtml), it looks like 55 deg C is the temperature at which myosin shrinks and causes it to lose water.   This seems to be unavoidable, unless you want to eat raw meat.   The other temperature is at the 60-65 deg C range, where collagen begins to break down.   This seems to be the key point as collagen is the tough material that’s apparently holding the muscle tissues together and making it chewy.  So from the Blumenthal show, and the various other sources,  bringing temperatures up quickly will cause water to be expelled (inevitable), but will not give enough time for collagen to break down.   Focusing on the temperatures between 55-60 deg C and giving the meat a long time in that temperature range will allow for enough collagen to break down to give a more tender taste.Update : ok, so I got myself a 12 oz piece of “well aged” steak from St. Lawrence Market.   Cut out the excess fat, lightly seasoned with salt and pepper,  and placed it into a plastic oven bag (along with the cut out fat - for the fatty flavour), and cooked it inside a toaster oven at an average temperature between 60-65 deg C .   Two bimetal spring type oven thermometers were used at the same time to ensure some form of accuracy.  In hindsight, the 2nd thermometer should’ve been a digital thermometer.    This was cooked for around 4.5 hours.   At the end of that time, quite a lot of liquid seemed to have exited the steak and a test cut showed that the steak was thoroughly cooked to a pinkish colour.   The steak was then finished by quickly searing it for 30 seconds on each side, and rested for around 4 minutes.   Texture was ok…  not mouth meltingly good (I’m comparing this to steak served at the Harbour 60 in Toronto) .   The flavour of the steak was ok, most likely due to the aged nature of the beef rather than the cooking method.Overall, I’d say this was a failure.   In hindsight, I might try for 2 hours instead. 

- nice and relaxed atmosphere in the Las Vegas Venetian courtyard

- service was prompt and professional

- we only had the sorbet and the “mocha porter” .  Both very tasty desserts.

- a little on the pricey side, but definitely nicer than sitting next to some sweaty fat tourists gorging themselves on the buffet

- authentic tasting Pho noodles.   Taste is similar to the top vietnamese restaurants in Toronto.

- opens late daily, until 11:30 pm .  On the weekends, it’s open until 2:30am.

- staff looks tired and worn out.  Probably because we showed up at 10:45 pm.

- lots of seats available, but they seat based on number of waitresses available…  I still had to wait 5-10 mins before getting seated, even though there were plenty of empty tables.

- definitely recommended to those looking for a break from the buffets

- bowl of noodles - “Pho Chay”  $9.95

- the place automatically puts a 10% tip onto the bill

The thing that really pisses me off with North Americanized japanese cookbooks is that they don’t mention the miniscule details that are necessary to make authentic japanese meals.   For example, the soup stock, or dashi , which is a fundamental core of a lot of japanese foods - you get this wrong, and everything tastes like crap.    For this blog entry, the dashi is made with iriko, which is a small dried anchovy-like fish .    Your basic cookbook will say something like:

X amount of water

Y amount of iriko

Z amount of kombu

Dump ingredients into pot of water, then boil.   Strain out contents and discard solids, and enjoy the soup stock.

What they didn’t mention is :

- You have to tear off the heads and abdomens of the iriko.   These impart a bitter taste to the stock.

- bringing it to a roiling boil will also make things taste bitter and have an “off” taste

- you must scoop out the bubbles - these will contribute to the off taste

- the kombu should be lightly wiped wiped with a cloth - but do not remove the whitish residue on them as a lot of the flavours are in these residues.   I suspect that these are a form of natural MSG , which is not a bad thing, since these glutamates also show up in mushrooms and tomatoes.

Living in North America doesn’t get you easy access to the basic ingredients, especially the good quality stuff that the conscientious japanese cook would use…  so you’ll have to make do with whatever you can get.   I haven’t had a chance to try out which iriko brand and sizes are better….    but so far, as a general rule,  smaller iriko will impart a lighter more delicate taste, whereas larger iriko will impart a stronger, smokier taste.