Caling All Chef's

[HDRIDER]

HI

How come that imported beef is so much better than Thai beef, imported beef is just so tender, i am talking about Aus, and NZ beef, i have tried Thai- French but not near as good as imported, what do they do wrong?? exepct the price

[thaigerd]

HI

How come that imported beef is so much better than Thai beef, imported beef is just so tender, i am talking about Aus, and NZ beef, i have tried Thai- French but not near as good as imported, what do they do wrong?? exepct the price

Very pleased to hear this.

Give me some more days for explanations.

At the moment I am not a sponsor and I am not allowed to say too much, please wait.

Just had tonight a very nice evening sponsoring a bar(not a girlie one) with some wagyu beef burgers from Australia.

Just wait,.......sorry.

Gerd

[chickencurry]

Gerd is being very mysterious - guess we will have to wait.

I agree with HDRider about the beef. That "Thai-French" beef is very strange and seems to me very light in colour - looks more like veal sometimes but nothing like as tender. I find it okay for stews, ragouts, curries and the like (long cooking times) but try to do a bolognese or a chilli with it and it's real stringy.

[hkt83100]

HI

How come that imported beef is so much better than Thai beef, imported beef is just so tender, i am talking about Aus, and NZ beef, i have tried Thai- French but not near as good as imported, what do they do wrong?? exepct the price

Try the "Extra beef" from the butcher shop in Aroonsom Complex (Patong). At the entry from Rath-U-Thit Road to Andaman Beach Suites it's the first shop on the left side. It's not expensive, but quite good... Usable for steaks and the stuff.

[steve w]

it all depends on the animal the beef comes from! have you ever seen a happy,fat cow in thailand?

more likely you have seen the scrawny pale beasts that i have noticed knocking around.

[greenwater]

HI

How come that imported beef is so much better than Thai beef, imported beef is just so tender, i am talking about Aus, and NZ beef, i have tried Thai- French but not near as good as imported, what do they do wrong?? exepct the price

Funny reply until now...and useless.

I don't know the exactly english words but in italian is "frollare" and it is the most important thing to do with the meat.

"Frollare" means the process in wich the meat is stored for days in the fridge to make it tender.

Also the best beef meat in the world (kobe beef) must be stored for several days before cook.

Usually, for beef, the store period is from 18 to 21 days.

It is done by hanging meat in a controlled, closely watched, refrigerated environment. The temperature needs to stay between 36 degrees F and freezing. Too warm and the meat will spoil, too cold and it will freeze, stopping the process. You also need a humidity of about 85% to reduce water loss and to control bacteria and you need a constant flow of air all around the meat, which means it need to be hanging in a ventilated space. The last and most important ingredient in this process is an experienced butcher to keep a close eye on the aging meat.

Thai, until now, dont' do this: so -usually- meat is like a old shoes...

You can find "hanging" meat at DON'S in Rawai...not very cheap (tenderloin is 750 baht/kilo) but tender and good.

[BillH52]

Explaining why beef is tender or not could take up more space than we have here. As mentioned by Greenwater, "Frollare" or 'aging' is one factor. There are several others just as important; without going into detail, some of the significant factors are, breeding, feeding, age, sex, size, living conditions, daily exercise, environment and others. Since meat is muscle, a "tough old cow knocking about in the field" - is going to produce tough, stringy and generally undesirable end product.

In addition, for steak application, aging the meat in a controlled environment for 5 weeks (35 days) from kill date is a very common practice in North America for the better, higher end buyers and users.

[HDRIDER]

Hi

Thx guys,,, but why dont they let it hang a few weeks here in Thailand, as you can se i dont know sh!t about this, but i can for sure taste a Thai beef from an Aussie.

[BillH52]

Basically a matter of supply and demand.

In Thailand, if it's dead, it's ready; plus, beef is not that high in the "entree" hierarchy. Just plain (cheap) meat works fine for most Thai applications.

Quality breeding, feeding and processing drives the price up.

To store it for 2-5 weeks in a critically controlled environment is expensive and drives the cost up even more.

If there is a significant demand for beef of this quality level (price range), there is usually someone out there who will be selling it; such as the place mentioned in Rawai.

[huggybear]

HI

How come that imported beef is so much better than Thai beef, imported beef is just so tender, i am talking about Aus, and NZ beef, i have tried Thai- French but not near as good as imported, what do they do wrong?? exepct the price

You can't lump all domestic beef together.

Don, a sponsor here, has his own cattle in the north, and I've had some of his domestic tenderloin against an Aussie and it was the same if not better.

The cattle stock and processing has everything to do with it.

Eating here in Thailand though, rarely do I have a big steak or a cut of beef like we eat in the states.

[harleyclarkey]

Even though I am Irish, I have to agree. I had the best steak in North Dakota right in the middle of a vast cattle area. It was just superb...and I rarely eat steak when out. I just get bored with it. But this one...magic, just magic.

The thing I do know is that proper hanging of the meat is vital. But as pointed out here...you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear. Start with grade A beef..treat it well...cook it tenderly....and Voila. A darn good nosebag.

The steak above must have come from a darn good critter.

[tb86]

HI

How come that imported beef is so much better than Thai beef, imported beef is just so tender, i am talking about Aus, and NZ beef, i have tried Thai- French but not near as good as imported, what do they do wrong?? exepct the price

Funny reply until now...and useless.

I don't know the exactly english words but in italian is "frollare" and it is the most important thing to do with the meat.

"Frollare" means the process in wich the meat is stored for days in the fridge to make it tender.

Also the best beef meat in the world (kobe beef) must be stored for several days before cook.

Usually, for beef, the store period is from 18 to 21 days.

It is done by hanging meat in a controlled, closely watched, refrigerated environment. The temperature needs to stay between 36 degrees F and freezing. Too warm and the meat will spoil, too cold and it will freeze, stopping the process. You also need a humidity of about 85% to reduce water loss and to control bacteria and you need a constant flow of air all around the meat, which means it need to be hanging in a ventilated space. The last and most important ingredient in this process is an experienced butcher to keep a close eye on the aging meat.

Thai, until now, dont' do this: so -usually- meat is like a old shoes...

You can find "hanging" meat at DON'S in Rawai...not very cheap (tenderloin is 750 baht/kilo) but tender and good.

:jerk: gert whats your beef running at per kilo these days?

[thaigerd]

There are so many kinds of beef: Grainfed, grassfed, A cow, Wagyu etc.

But I will not discuss any prices in an open forum here.

Gerd

[JetsetBkk]

...In Thailand, if it's dead, it's ready...

[merijn]

I buy most of my ( imported ) meat in the supermarket at Central and i think this is good meat but for a price.

[TheWizardofRnR]

Let's mention Marbling, which allot of butchers will tell you " No Waste , No Taste !

I find it strange that I started using Thai-French Beef at the original Paradise Bar on the beach road

here in Patong in '88 at my "Cheeseburgers in Paradise" restaurant I did in the bar...

All my customers enjoyed the Burgers , sayin' it was best in Phuket ...also raves on the Roast Beef

The beef I hear talked about here , sounds like people just think all the beef is Thai _French but that isn't true

and these cattle were raised different then the other cattle in Thailand....I've never in my 22years of using Thai French beef seen a pink meat , except if I were looking at Veal in the Thai french Butcher shop in Bkk or Villa on 33 & Suk.

Also I'm not saying it is as good as imported meats but when I 've used their Filet , I always felt the way it was prepared made the pretty boring steak into a delicious treat....Although in the past the things I've seen try to pass for Bernaise sauce,especially from a foriegn cook, Remember : A Great Chef is also a good cook, but not all cooks are great chefs !

Somethin' like that.....Also the meat mentioned at Patong Meats used to be the first Thai_French distributor in Phuket , until the Price became too high priced, the boss's words to me , years back !