Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Senior]

Back home I used to eat steak at least twice a week. I come from a major grass-fed beef producing nation. Also I grew up on a farm, so meat was a staple part of my diet for every meal. In Korea, pickings are a little more slim. I gave up trying to cook steak at home, early on. It was simply too expensive, and I'm not a good cook. Usually I get my steak fix at VIPs. Their Gorgonzola steak is a solid meal, but ends up being 60,000won, by the time you add in drinks and whatever my girlfriend decides to order.

I came across this article a few days ago, and decided to try it out.
http://steamykitchen.com/163-how-to-turn-cheap-choice-steaks-into-gucci-prime-steaks.html

We went shopping at Lotte mart for the steaks. They have a surprisingly poor selection. Either over priced hanwoo beef or poor cuts of USA beef. Including those weird cuts that are mostly marbled fat and not really steak at all. They had no Aussie beef, which annoyed me, 'cos it will likely be grass-fed. Anyways, I bought 400 grams of what I'm led to believe was chuck-eye, for 10,000won. A decidedly un-gourmet cut of beef. I would have preferred scotch or rib eye fillet, I would have settled for rump, but it seems Lotte mart couldn't stretch that far.

I cooked it using the recipe in the link and the result is quite phenomenal. I even made it scientific. My GF was skeptical of my plan and insisted on me preparing it in the normal fashion. So, I used the salt rub treatment on mine, and just rubbed a little garlic on hers. The end result was quite marked. Two identical pieces of meat came out poles apart. The steak prepared traditionally was how you would expect it. Dry and chewy, with quite a good braise on the outside, but no heft or juiciness to it. The second steak had juices flowing out of it, and was at least 50% juicier and plumper than the other. It was so much better that she insisted we share both steaks together, Korean style.

I made my own "Gorgonzola" sauce using cream boiled for 10 minutes with some Bega tasty cheese melted in at the end. I don't want to seem like I'm tooting my own horn here, but it was some way better than the VIPs steak for less than one third the price. No salad bar of course, but the VIPs salad bar is a monstrosity anyway.

Anyways, moral of the story? I highly recommend this recipe.

[victorology]

I usually go to Emart in Yeoksam-dong but their steak selection is dismal as well. I find Kims Club (near Express Bus Terminal) has a much better selection. Can't say it's the best but they have decent cuts of rib eye.

[kinerry]

Only thing that beats American beef is Scottich beef or a good venison.
Don't fool yourself.

Beef tastes pretty close to the same wherever you go, but breeding and how the beef is stored and handled have a huge influence on flavor. The final flavor is usually the end result of their logistics systems. What they are fed has almost no effect on flavor unless it effect concentration of muscle fiber (hormones can help or hurt depending on how it's administered).

Find a nice Australian beef that is red and newer and you should be ok. Be careful for beef on sale, sometimes it's got huge amounts of fat on the bottom side and it's very misleading.

I recommend Longos steakhouse if you are ever near one, it's half the price of Outback and twice as good.

[Senior]

[big_fella1]

[southernman]

Grain fed steak the best hehe....

You have to be joking. My intial trade was butchering I'm a fourth generation butcher.

I've found the best way is just to go to a small local corner shop that has a fresh meat section ask to go into the chiller pick out the meat you want. I totally agree a good cut with some fat in the middle of is the best or as any butcher will say , I've had this discussion with butchers in about 6 countries i've been to a nice bit of Rump steak.

The problem with steak here is that it in't aged long enough for Western taste. Get the butcher to cut a nice thick slice or slices between 25-40000 Won in my experience.

Take it home and age it in the refrigerator for between 7-10 days, until it starts to go brown all over then cook it yourself. Add the condiments you like, that homemade sauce in a previous post sounds good to try.

Its expensive but for a true meat lover splash out from your local butcher

Grain fed beef is tender but lacks flavor, grass fed beef is a little bit more tough (thats another reason to age it properly) has the better taste. IMO

[balzor]

the best steak you can have is the one you grill yourself, no exceptions. Of course, I'm from Texas so that's all I know

[Sector7G]

[Bloopity Bloop]

[seoulsucker]

The Brazilian steakhouse near SNU rocks. Lots of different cuts, all you can eat, etc. I think that's the best I've had in Korea at a restaurant.

Rooftop BBQs on a proper Kingsford/Weber grill with US beef from the base can't be beat, though.

[djsmnc]

I can't tell anything about steaks. I still have that "Wow, daddy made steak" attitude. Unless it's really messed up or seems a bit unusual for the price, I can't tell the difference.

[Forever]

I usually purchase an "Australian tenderloin steak" from Homeplus for 15,000~16,000won.

Then at home I pour 1 tablespoon of red-wine all over the tenderloin, then sprinkle liberally with mustard powder, dried thyme and rosemary and chinese pepper.

I place it in the oven and cook it for 22 minutes.

Have had many visitors over to eat my steak - and everyone always says "its perfect" just the right moisture, not too salty, etc etc

[Sector7G]

[yingwenlaoshi]

Not posted by me.

[yingwenlaoshi]

Not posted by me.