Steaks on a stone
In a recent show, the Mythbusters tried to “bust” a claim that the most effective way to tenderize a piece of meat was to shoot it out of a cannon. At first skeptical, Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage put meat through all sorts of tests, including wrapping a slab of meat in Kevlar and shooting it through a super high-velocity cannon filled with explosives.
But to their surprise, they found that meat that had literally gone through a test of arms was indeed more tender than pieces that had been conventionally prepared. I’m not sure about the flavor, though. I don’t think meat that has been suffused with the flavor and aroma of gun powder would be particularly tasty.
Anyway, the show reminded me of a dinner I had recently that featured not just tender rib-eye steaks, but a unique way of serving it, which enhanced both the flavors and the visuals.
At the House of Wagyu Stone Grill in Greenhills (look for it in the parking lot across Unimart), all steaks are served on a heated slab of lava stone that’s been sitting for six hours in an oven. Our Wagyu Ribeye Grade 9 steaks came sizzling on the stone, while our servers informed us that the meat would be turned “only once” and it was up to us to slice the steak (“but not into too many pieces because the heat will dissipate so fast,” we were admonished) whenever we wanted. To prevent the meat from burning to a crisp on the hot stone, we were provided with warmed plates where the cooked steak was to rest, and we could cook the slices on the stone slab further if we wished.
In an earlier visit, we were advised that the steaks were simply flavored with salt and pepper, and this was enough enhancement. They did not recommend that we mess up the flavor with steak sauce or other condiments. Still, a media colleague couldn’t help but ask for Tabasco, seeking the extra edge of hot sauce.
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Clients have until Nov. 15 to enjoy a 40-percent discount on the Wagyu Ribeye Grade 9 steaks (but only in the Greenhills branch) as the restaurant’s way of celebrating its first anniversary and thanking its local customers.
On the evening we visited, which was a week day, the large sumptuous interiors were nearly full, testimony to the popularity of steak as a fine dining choice among Filipinos, and perhaps the enduring allure of a huge discount. Patrons in other areas of the metro can look forward to similar promotions on the first anniversaries of the Wagyu Stone Grill’s other branches in The Podium and Eastwood malls. A fourth branch in Manila will also open soon.
Every visit to the Wagyu Stone Grill begins with a walk past a large, well-lit freezer against one wall, the better to appreciate the various steaks available, the more popular being the rib-eye (of various “grades,” with Grade 9 the highest rating), the New York strip and the Top Sirloin, so large it’s good enough for a party of three.
Because in essence every diner is his/her own chef, clients aren’t asked how they want the steaks cooked. “Done-ness” is determined by how long one keeps the meat sizzling on the stone. Each steak comes with a side of vegetables and creamy mashed potatoes, and every diner wears a brown bib to protect from grease stains and unwanted aroma.
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“Wagyu,” said our solicitous waiter, is the Japanese term for “Kobe beef,” world-famous for the meticulous way cattle in this part of Japan are fed, cared for and slaughtered. But the Wagyu Stone Grill steaks, we found out, come from Australia—from cattle bred in Japan but raised in Australia.
Wagyu beef is acclaimed worldwide for its “marbling,” noted for its natural flavor and delicate texture. Kobe cattle are bred from the Tajima-ushi breed and raised according to guidelines set out a thousand years ago in the imperial edicts of Hyogo Prefecture. Herd isolation and distinctive feeding techniques (including the use of beer, I’ve been told, and baths in sake or rice wine), which eschews the use of hormones or chemicals, ensure the distinctive marbling. Indeed, Wagyu is sometimes referred to as “white steak,” with its very high rate of marbling but with lower saturated fat.
As if the steak experience was not enough, our dinner was capped with flavorful desserts (cheesecake, decadent chocolate cake and ice cream) set on the same stone slabs, which had been sitting not in an oven but in a freezer.
We went home sated not just with the flavor and richness of grilled steak, but with the entire experience, including the careful attentions of the wait staff, the comforting interiors and the quiet murmurs of satisfied clientele.
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CORRECTION. In a previous column, I wrote that the check for P5 million given to the Bangsamoro Leadership and Management Institute (BLMI) was handed by President Aquino to MILF Chairman Murad Ebrahim during their talks in Japan.
In actuality, the check was given by Dean Marvic Leonen, chair of the government panel in the peace talks with the MILF, to Mohagher Iqbal, chair of the MILF panel. This was done during the Aug. 22-23 Formal Exploratory Talks in Kuala Lumpur, something which Leonen
announced in the press conference.
Discussed during negotiations at the 10th Formal Exploratory Talks in 2006, the institute was finalized and formally agreed upon during the 14th Exploratory Talks in 2007, with funding commitment from the Philippine government to jumpstart the institute’s operations.
After registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the BLMI was able to receive assistance from donor institutions such as the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which gave the institute funds for the construction of a building. In 2000, the Asia Foundation provided support for a series of workshops to draw up the vision and organizational structure of the BLMI.
