Steak Lover, Top's, Are They Loosing It ?

[dingdongrb]

Dukes seem to be in the range of 500-800 per meal (just by checking on mealsonwheels website), Maybe raybona should check this site out to get an idea of what the restaurants charge.

Here's an example of one might pay having a steak dinner in NYC... (Menu was photographed about 2 months ago)

[FolkGuitar]

People in the West used to love a good steak back in the 1800s and there were no "hormones" to blame. If they had Thai beef they would have all turned into vegetarians!

"You and Slim go round up the strays and Cookie'll get started on the fondue and gazpacho. Let's see.... hardtack and pemmican... that four grams of fat, three grams of carbohydrates, and seven grams of protein. " (Not in any cowboy movie I ever saw....)

[john b good]

dunno if you guys have a Foodland up your way, but the Thai-French beef cuts are always excellent, and cheap!

No Foodland in Chiangmai.

Chiangmai needs a Foodland AND a Villa and then the town will have a better selection and likely more competitive prices.

We are stuck at the moment with Tops and Rimping and neither can cut it.

Couldn't get Singha soda water in Rimping most of April, only had one box of Leo in stock last week, half the time they are out of NZ & Australian cheeses.

Then they are out of Branston's pickle more often than they have it.

There are a hundred more examples if you look closely.

AND when you send them an e-mail (written very politely) they just ignore you.

TIT in Chiangmai

Edited July 5, 2008 by john b good

[Mapguy]

Why does no one mention Northern Farm (south side of Huey Kaew near the Canal Road? They seem to have a somewhat limited but fairly good selection of beef plus some lamb. The store is a bit odd, not really a market but a sort of "speciality shop" for farang. Are they mainly restaurant purveyors?

And what are the recipes for the pinapple and papaya marinades.

Finally, everyone here has low cholesterol, right?

[mcgriffith]

Northern Farms has a good selection of AUS and NZ imported meats, as well as cheeses.

Meat of course frozen.

To be honest, I'd rather eat a toughish fresh Thai steak, than something with freezer burn and ice crystals, of unknown age and handling.

I rarely eat beef now; this just isn't a beef country.

But ahhhh, a good French bistro steak frites, with a nice red......

[iainiain101]

I must be going to the wrong Tops! I buy the local Tenderloin Grade 'A' at 420 Baht a kilo at Tops (airport) and it is superb.

It is so tender my 1 year old daughter doesent even need it to be diced to bite through it with her 6 teeth!

Iain

[Samuian]

I must be going to the wrong Tops! I buy the local Tenderloin Grade 'A' at 420 Baht a kilo at Tops (airport) and it is superb.

It is so tender my 1 year old daughter doesent even need it to be diced to bite through it with her 6 teeth!

Iain

Yep, sometimes I even believe there got to be a Parallel-Thailand.....

Concerning Papaya or Pineapple "Marinade":

Either of the fruits, or the fruits (FRESH!!!) Juice is used to "marinate" the meat, to soften/tenderize it, not using MSG..!

here is one recipe:

Papaya is an excellent source of vitamins A and C and potassium, but the fruit also contains the enzyme 'papain'. This protein-digesting (proteolytic) enzyme is very abundant in the green, unripe papaya (as used in SomTam!) and because of this it is used in the meat industry as a very successful tenderiser.

You can usually purchase two types of papaya, Hawaiian 'solo' and Mexican — the difference being that the Hawaiian variety is slightly larger and golden in appearance, the Mexican being smaller with a more pink hue to the skin. When selecting a papaya, ensure it is ripe. Green is mean, yellow is mellow1— that is, if you prefer your fruit fresh. Papaya is also available in tins as large chunks, usually in its own juice or in a light syrup.

Ingredients

*

2 x 8oz sirloin or rump steaks2

*

1 large papaya or 1 x 500g can of tinned papaya

*

1 tablespoon garlic3

*

1 tablespoon of barbeque sauce4

*

1/2 cup brown sugar

*

1/2 cup soy sauce

*

1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper

*

1/2 cup olive oil, or 1/4 cup if you are adding juice or syrup from tinned papaya

*

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

*

salt and pepper to taste

All the measurements are approximate amounts. You should use your own discretion.

Method

1. Take the papaya and slice it in half or in quarters if necessary, and remove the seeds. If you have chosen to use a can of papaya chunks, drain the fruit of the juice or syrup. This can later be added to the marinade.

2. Place the papaya in a large bowl and mash it up with a blunt object. A potato masher would be perfect for this. If you haven't already removed the skin, do so now.

3. Take the remaining ingredients and mix together with the papaya in the bowl. This is your marinade.

4. Pierce several holes in the steak with a knife or fork so that the flavour and the enzyme will penetrate deeply. Don't worry about making too many holes; they will close up on cooking.

5. Push the now-holed steak into the marinade, ensuring that the mixture soaks into the meat. Try kneading it like dough for two or three minutes.

6. Cover and refrigerate for no more than two hours — otherwise, the steak will dissolve in the mix too much and not suit most people's tastes.

7. Once the meat has marinated, remove from the refrigerator and prepare your steak as you would ordinarily. If you feel that the meal may be a little on the tough side, this marinade is perfect for tenderising. The enzyme helps break down the meat so it can be cut easily with just the flat end of a fork!

source:

from About.com:

Papaya has one of natures strongest tenderizers. Use Papaya on tough cuts of meat and get great results.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

* 1 papaya, thinly sliced

* 2 tablespoons soy sauce

* 2 tablespoons sugar

* 1 teaspoon salt

* 1 teaspoon pepper

Preparation:

Cover the bottom of a glass baking dish with half of the sliced papaya. Layer on the meat evenly and top with the remaining papaya slices. Combing soy sauce, sugar, salt and pepper and pour evenly over the whole pan. Cover with plastic wrap and press down firmly. Refrigerate. Marinate beef overnight, poultry for about 2 hours. Because of the natural enzyme papain in papayas this marinade is great for particularly tough cuts of meat.

Source:

Edited July 10, 2008 by Samuian

[slapout]

If you have to put a tenderizer on beef your beef cuts are either not aged and/or they come from older cattle which were probably not fed out. Aged grain fed bef (not cow) has a entirely different taste to any beef I have found here in CM, includeing the imported. Once in a while Rim Ping gets 21 day aged Thai-french cuts in but have not seen it for a while. When they did have it the price was about 1/2 of imported and it was quite good. It would not grade out choice but for Thailand the Thai-french was worth the cost (about 300 baht a kilo)

[mcgriffith]

After reading this thread a few days ago....I went to Rimping (Nim Daily) today and bought some Thai tenderloin, priced at 290 B/kilo.

Had the butcher cut about a 3" thick piece.

Pan seared it, cooked medium rare.

Really quite decent flavor. Very low fat content, so no, you can't cut it with your fork.

But altogether good.

It's funny how they price tenderloin at less than half the cost of strip loin, ribeye, etc. Those cuts had huge amounts of fat (not marbling- fat).

[jaideeguy]

Yeah, buying a decent steak in LOS is hit or miss. mostly a miss. I've tried them all over and found that northern Farms seems to be the most consistent. I think that their beef is locally grown, but they properly cure it and i think they pen and feed it before slaughter. I have visited their chill room, where they hang it and age it.

Altho I prefer a tender medium rare steak on special occasion], i have grown to appreciate the local tough beef and make stews with it.

One warning about using papaya enzyme.......don't over do it as i did last week. I marinated some shank meat for a couple of days with spices and peelings of a green papaya and slow cooked it and after a couple of hours it turned to mush that we fed the dog with.