CookShow&Tell, Wagyu Lunches
F had a sudden pang for Wagyu steak mid-last week and it didn’t help that Vic’s Meat was (and still is) having a sale on 300g Wagyu Scotch Fillets with a marbling score of 8/9. After staring at the website for a solid day, he decided that sacrificing a weekend of snowboarding would be worth it.
F ordered 4 scotch fillets and initially, we were going to have 2 of the scotch fillets for lunch, then the last 2 for dinner. However, we didn’t count on how full we’d be after the first lunch and so opted to have the other 2 for lunch the next day instead. I think if we hadn’t done so, I would have been full until the following Tuesday.
Wagyu Scotch Fillet Sandwich
Wagyu Lunch #1
In working out how to get there (NB according to Google Maps, Merchant St in Mascot does not exist and that Bronti St connects to Wentworth Ave, but Google Street View defies the street name overlay showing a sign that clearly says Merchant St), I realised delightedly that we were practically down the road from Brasserie Bread – a place I’ve been dying to go to ever since Howard wrote a post on it. It didn’t take much to entice F to go. Awesome.
Entrance to Vic
We were a bit confused as to where to go to pick up our Wagyu, but two guys walking out of the entrance gave us some assistance and we found ourselves shortly in their office – waiting with jittery anticipation. I was actually expecting to walk into a big freezer or something to pick up our meat and felt slightly disappointed that it was not so. It was pretty interesting, though, to see the deliveries needed to be made for their restaurant/cafe clients scribbled on various whiteboards.
Brasserie Bread
Walking into Brasserie Bread just made me smile: I love the way they have the neatly cubed bread samples, the wide-open space, and the cafe that looks ever so inviting (or maybe it was just me wanting to stick around for a snack). Then again, I’ve got a soft-spot for bread and its wonderful, warm smell that seems to have a calming effect on me.
I’d like to say “Thank you” to the staff manning the counter that day (I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name!) for the awesome complimentary sour dough and apologise for my stuttering (and most probably nonsensical answers) – I tend to rave on about EST in an overly lengthy way, so in an effort to be concise I managed to brain-fart instead and nothing came out right.
Garlic Bread ($5.50), Sour Dough ($5.50), and Olive and Rosemary Loaf ($7.50) with Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar
Our little “snack” while we cooked. My favourite was definitely the Olive and Rosemary Loaf, while I wasn’t sure if I liked the actual caramelised garlic cloves in the Garlic Bread. All of the bread seemed to go down well with F’s family, as I found them snacking on them with whilst playing mahjong.
Marbling Score 8/9 Wagyu Scotch Fillet, 300g ($25 each)
F brought out the scotch fillets we were going to cook from the fridge to bring them up to room temperature before the pan-searing.
We had to refrain from salivating all over our scotch fillets and would shoot hungry looks at them while we prepared the other components of our lunch.
Draining the Red Wine and Balsamic Vinegar Reduction (with diced onions)
Now, I’m not a cook (though I do fancy myself a pretty good sous chef – of sorts), so when F announced that he wanted to try out a red wine and balsamic vinegar reduction with the Wagyu, I swallowed my misgivings and I left him to his own devices. Though I can’t lie and say I wasn’t just a tad worried when the vinegar fumes kind of stung my eyes while I was making the mash potatoes, leaving me to wonder if its acidity would overpower the Wagyu flavour.
Creamed Spinach and Mash Potatoes
F made his creamed spinach with cream and butter, while the mash potatoes had full cream milk and butter – lots of dairy goodness! Ever since the Dinner for 6 night, I’ve been making my mash potatoes through the sifter then adding heated milk and not very room temperature butter (I fudged here a bit because I kept forgetting that it shouldn’t be cold). Until I find a better way to make mash this light and fluffy, I don’t think I’ll ever make it any other way. *heart*
Finally, we get around to cooking the scotch fillets, which F had seasoned with sea salt. In order to be prepared to eat as soon as the fillets were done, we had placed 2 plates into the oven along with the mash potatoes (awesome as they are, I prefer them warm) beforehand.
F seared the scotch fillets for about half a minute on each side before popping them into the oven at 140 degrees for another 4 minutes (by then we had taken out the plates and mash). The salt ended up giving the scotch fillets this really nice crispness to it.
We made a quick little bet before plating: who can plate the best?
Plating Attempt
Plating Attempt
On seeing the results, we both had to laughed. Clearly we are not graced with the deft touch that Linda or Minh has with their plating.
Despite the presentation, I would have to modestly say it was a pretty awesome lunch. A little bit on the heavy side (I got so sleepy as I was finishing the plate), but oh so worth it: the Wagyu was fantastically succulent and definitely had no chewy bits – even the extra fatty bits were good and didn’t give me that grossed out fatty feeling.
The red wine and balsamic reduction surprisingly went really well with the fillet; an initial sharp tang to the tongue and then giving way to the smooth, buttery-ness that is Wagyu. The creamed spinach was also pretty good, I was sorry to see it all gone and made me wonder why there’s even a “ewww… spinach” thing I keep hearing about… And the mash, well, let’s just say even when I said I was so full I was going to pop, I kept eating out of the pot (yes I know, so terribly gluttonous).
In hindsight, it was more of a dinner dish than a lunch, but boy was I glad it was a lunch. By the time dinner-time rolled around, we were both still full and ended up eating some watermelon instead.
Wagyu Lunch #2
My eyes fell on the sour dough while we were discussing what to make for lunch this time and thought it’d be fantastic with the Wagyu. F heartily agreed and we headed off to the shops to hunt for some ingredients.
Wagyu Scotch Fillet Sandwich with side of Buttered Button Mushrooms
We ended up having the following in our sandwich:
- 3 Leaf Mix from Woolworths (Rocket, Watercress, and Baby Spinach)
- Neil Perry’s Aioli
- Lebanese Cucumber
- Vine-Ripened Truss Tomatoes
- Jarlsberg Cheese
While I buttered the sour dough slices and placed them under the grill, F pan-seared the scotch fillets, which he had sliced in half as they were a bit too thick for a sandwich, in its own fat for about 30-40 seconds on each side.
Cross-Section Wagyu Sandwich
The end result, if I do say so myself, was fabulous: the scotch fillets were so soft and juicy, the sour dough crisply toasted, the mild near-melted cheese, and the refreshing salads… they all were so harmonious with their flavours and textures.
I’m craving for another one of these as I type this up.
The buttered mushrooms were pretty nice, but I’m rather biased because I love mushrooms. Sadly, I didn’t eat many mushrooms (just one or two pieces) as the sandwich practically made me loll around in my seat from being so full – I actually didn’t finish my sandwich and had to relinquish it to F (whom, of course, gleefully inhaled it).
For those keeping count, we only had 3 scotch fillets so far. The last steak was consumed basically like how we had it with the mash and creamed spinach, only F kind of borked the reduction and so we had to do without it. While F was busy beating himself up about the borked reduction, I told him not to be silly and that it was fine – it really doesn’t need much to taste good. I happily chewed my unadorned scotch fillet and savoured my last bites.
Not all steaks are made equal and Wagyu is really on a whole other level (especially with a marbling score of 8/9). Both F and I concur that this weekend has inevitably spoiled us for normal steaks – their taste and texture won’t come close to what we had.
Vic’s Meat
10 Merchant St
Mascot, NSW, 2020
Ph: 02 9317 6900
Fax: 02 9667 3048
Web: http://www.vicsmeat.com.au/
The warehouse is open until 9.30am on a Saturday, so orders must be in by 7am.
Brasserie Bread
1737 Botany Rd
Banksmeadow, NSW, 2019
Ph: 1300 966 845
Fax: 02 9666 8307
Web: http://www.brasseriebread.com.au/
Bakery Cafe Hours:
Monday to Friday
7.00am to 3.00pm
Saturday and Sunday
8.00am to 2.00pm
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By squishies
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This article was written on 18 Jul 2009, and is filed under cookshowandtell, Lunch, Modern Australian.
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looking delicious!
.-= Simon Food Favourites´s last blog ..Pendolino: Italian, Strand Arcade, Sydney (15 July 2009) =-.
I have to say, that sandwich has me drooling! So lucky that you got Brasserie Bread and the fab Wagyu at the same time.
.-= Belle@OohLook´s last blog ..Le Pain Quotidien – a Zumbo backup =-.
OOhh love the fish eyeing! and wagyuuuuuuu!! I am soo craving some heavy meating right now mmm
.-= FFichiban´s last blog ..Cafe Azuma – Sydney CBD, Sydney =-.
WAGYUUUUUUUU *faint*
.-= Yas´s last blog ..Late night self-indulgence. =-.
Simon Food Favourites: Hehe thanks! They were =D
Belle@OohLook: Yeah, it only occurred to me when I was looking at the map and saw that it was literally down the road =) So very glad we went!
FFichiban: Hehe thanks, but will be trying not to fish eye it too much =P Hope you got to nom-nom on some meat ^_^
Yas: *giggles* F was pretty much hyperventilating when we got the box – it got worse when he saw the meat!
I must say i had the same experience. But i learned a smart way to do it.. I oreder an american kobe waygu tenderloin from this website texasfoods.net.. It came as a whole tenderloin and i cut it my self i cut about 14 filets out of it way more then i expected.. so i ended up inviting some freinds over for a suprise kobe filet dinner lol… but i must say they were so tender that we cut them with butter knifes and they literally melted in our mouths.. kobe is a must try if you are a steak eater..
Matt: Yeah, I think next time we’ll invite more people to the dinner – we didn’t think it would be that filling! Heheh We know better now. =)
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