Coming to Terms with Thai Beef

 Ever since I've been in Thailand my Western friends and acquaintances have had nothing good to say about Thai beef. There seem to be three major criticisms: first, it is sold too fresh. Due to the traditional lack of refrigeration, Thai beef is not aged but tends to be sold on the day of slaughter; sometimes it is still warm and twitching. Second, the butchering tends to be random; the cuts we are familiar with in the West are generally not recognizable. And third, of course, it is chewy. All of these criticisms are valid.  However, I believe there are things one can do to make Thai beef not only more palatable but positively delicious.

My home sits in the middle of the rice paddy. These days, development is coming to the area but has not yet quite arrive. So in the meantime, what used to be rice paddy is being used by cattle to graze. They eat good grass (and other stuff like my mangoes) and look strong and healthy. This led me to think that maybe we are getting spoiled. Beef from home is grain fed, marbled and super tender. That’s what we are used to and that’s what we demand. But what about good grass fed beef; that which most of the world eats? Maybe we simply have to treat it a little differently. Ok, it will never taste quite like home, but it is good, fresh and flavorful. So in pursuit of these ideas I am undertaking the challenge of coming to terms with Thai beef.

Last Friday’s special was the first salvo in the mission: roast beef au jus. There were certainly a few tricks involved in preparing it, including meat selection, aging, trimming, and final cooking procedures. Most important of all though was patience; some things just take time and you cannot rush mother nature. I must say however that I thought the roast beef came out rather well as did my customers for there was none left. In fact, I thought it surpassed imported beef in terms of taste and overall flavor.

The special for Friday 12 February 2016 (after 1700hrs) will be a continuation of the challenge, this time with beef stroganoff. This is a dish I have never prepared with any beef, so it will be a bit more of a challenge than it might otherwise be.

Come on out and judge for yourself!