Quick Aged Steaks (sort of) Fish-sauce steak experiment

[gregbooras]

While surfing I found a technique/recipe from the Modernist Cuisine for quick aging steaks with fish sauce. I watched a few videos and read what I could find and I decided to give it a try.

Normally we just eat prime steaks at home, but everything I have was frozen and I wanted to get started. So I purchased two steaks about 3/4 lb. each. One steak I vacuumed sealed and placed in the freezer (this is be the steak I compare the fish sauce steak to). The second steak I placed into a vacuumed sealed bag and put in 2 teaspoons of fish sauce. Vacuumed and then placed in the refrigerator for three days, turning each day. On day three I will remove the steak from the refrigerator, dry and then cover with cheese cloth and then back in the refrigerator for another three days on a rack.

In the end I will thaw the frozen steak and then grill both. This technique is supposed to make the steaks very tender....

I will let you know!




Greg

 

[RG]

I can't wait to see this unfold. I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff! I love tests/comparisons as you all know by now

 

[gregbooras]

It should be interesting to see the outcome of the experiment!

Worse case, one steak may not make the cut

Greg

 

[DivotMaker]

Uh...umm...not sure what to say about this one. ???

I'll be interested to see the results, but once you've dry-aged for "real," I don't think it's anything that can be cheated.

 

[gregbooras]

Uh...umm...not sure what to say about this one. ???

I'll be interested to see the results, but once you've dry-aged for "real," I don't think it's anything that can be cheated.

I have never dry-aged steaks, but have experienced more than a few. Some have been really good and some, I would just pass on.

This is a quick and easy experiment, I will keep you posted.

Greg

 

[DivotMaker]

Nothing like "pushing the envelope" a little, Greg!

 

[Barrel99]

Hmmm....fish sauce. Can't say I ever tried fish flavored steak.

 

[gregbooras]

Hmmm....fish sauce. Can't say I ever tried fish flavored steak.

Fish sauce is a secret that many chefs in all kinds of things including pizza sauce, guacamole and even instead of Worcestershire sauce used in a Bloody Mary.

But I agree I have never had it on a steak before!

Greg

 

[Barrel99]

Never new that Greg. To me it was something only found in Asian food.

 

[DivotMaker]

"CARP"e Diem, Greg! LoL!  ;D ;D ;D

 

[gregbooras]

Today was day three for the steak, so I pulled the steak from the refrigerator, removed from the bag and patted dry.

The steak has no fish smell and it looks pretty good. Next I wrapped the steak in cheesecloth and put it back in the refrigerator for three more days.

Tomorrow I will remove the steak I froze (that has not been marinated) and place it in the refrigerator to thaw.

Wednesday I will cook both steaks and I will share my results.




Thanks Greg

 

[Durangosmoker]

Hmmm....fish sauce. Can't say I ever tried fish flavored steak.

Actually, you might have.  One of the main ingredients in Worcestershire Sauce is anchovies.  I can't wait to hear how this turns out.

 

[paidin]

Nice!  I cant wait to see how this turns out.  I eat fish sauce every day

 

[gregbooras]

Nice!  I cant wait to see how this turns out.  I eat fish sauce every day

Wednesday, unless the weather prevents (I hate cooking in the rain) I will cook up both the treated steak and non treated steak.

Greg

 

[gregbooras]

This is day six so I removed the age steak from the refrigerator and unwrapped. The steak has no smell of the fish sauce and appears to be very firm, almost dry.

The aged steak is the one on top and the non treated steak below.

I will grill both of these up for dinner and then share the results.



Greg

 

[SuperDave]

Hmmm....fish sauce. Can't say I ever tried fish flavored steak.

I have and it was pretty nasty in my opinion.  It was an Asian beef recipe with fish sauce and the end result reminded me of grilling something on the BBQ after doing fish without cleaning the grate.  Hopefully, Greg's experiment turns out better. 

 

[gregbooras]

Hmmm....fish sauce. Can't say I ever tried fish flavored steak.

I have and it was pretty nasty in my opinion.  It was an Asian beef recipe with fish sauce and the end result reminded me of grilling something on the BBQ after doing fish without cleaning the grate.  Hopefully, Greg's experiment turns out better. 

Dave,

Many of the fish sauces I have tasted are so salty and do smell like dead fish. The sauce I use it a high end product that really compliments other things. Right out of the bottle I would say it almost has a more soy smell to it.

Anyways, the proof is in the pudding as they say, tonight's dinner will decide if I repeat this recipe

Greg

 

[RG]

Looking forward to the results!

 

[gregbooras]

Looking forward to the results!

I just put a light salt and pepper and some oil on both steaks. I plan to start cooking the non-treated steak first, I think the treated steak is going to cook faster due to less water percentage.

Greg

 

[gregbooras]

Beef - It's What's For Dinner !

Alright six days of waiting to see if this recipe was a keeper, drum roll please.........

The aged steak while maybe not more tender had so much more depth to the taste. My wife didn't know I did this experiment and once I told her she almost didn't want to try it. The end result she agreed the steak was really good and much better than the non aged steak. Next time I will use a couple of my Prime Filet Mignon steaks (I didn't want to waste great meat if this didn't work).

Steak on top was aged.


Added some herb butter, the aged steak is on the bottom of this photo


The steaks in front are the aged beef.


This photo is dinner, the steak show a bit redder than it was, but man was it tasty.


Greg