Astons Prime: After Wagyu, now its Aged Beef!
USDA Prime Aged Ribeye Steak 220g $43.90 nett
Steak lovers can rejoice now that Astons has started aging his own beef.
The Aged Beef Steak has long been the holy grail of steak lovers and is often only available at exclusive Steak Restaurants. The process of dry aging basically involves storing a piece of meat at a controlled temperature and humidity for around 21 days so that the meat undergoes a controlled decomposition. During this time, the protein starts to break down into amino acids. One of these amino acids is glutamate, the magical molecule that tingles the umami receptors on your tongue and producing an irresistable urge for you to say "Shiok!". You might be wondering what is the big deal about leaving a piece of meat for 3 weeks to rot and why it is so much more expensive? After all, you could buy a beef steak and leave it in the fridge for 3 weeks right?
Well, part of the cost of Aged Beef is the fact that you need a really well marbled piece of meat to start with. Without all that fat, the meat will dry out too quickly. So you start off with top grade meat, USDA Prime Ribeye in this case,and then you leave it for 21 days in a controlled environment. At the end of the 21 days, the outside of the piece of meat becomes grey and scary. The outside of the piece of meat is then removed and thrown away. Whatever left is your prized Aged Beef. So it is the combination of using quality beef plus wastage that really drives up the price.
Aston's strategy has always been to offer the best value beef steak in town. We just had the opportunity to enjoy A5 Japanese beef last month and this time round he is out to spoil the market for Aged Beef.
Now, you are seldom going to be able to eat USDA Prime Ribeye steak for less than $50. But Aston has now taken the extra step of getting his supplier (Indoguna) to dry age USDA Prime Ribeye to his specification. Indoguna has already been starting to age beef in Singapore, but Astons supply of Aged Beef is done to his particular specifications.
If you have been following the blog, you would know that my experience with local Aged Beef and been equivocal. Somehow the ones that I have tasted just did not live up to the hype. I think it is because aging beef really is an art rather than a science. It is not always 21 days, somtimes it is more, sometimes less and the only way to know is to have an expert inspect it daily. So this sort of things really does take experience.
Our group of Steak lovers went down to taste test Astons Aged Ribeye steaks and we all gave it the thumbs up. It is juicy, tender and flavoursome with a hint of foie gras flavour. This steak must be taken slightly charred so that it develops the full beefy flavour for that ultimate steak experience. I think it is early days yet and with more experience they should be able to produce an even more tasty steak. Even as it is, we all gave it 4.5/5
My only grouse is that the 220g portion is not thick enough for the steak to get really charred on the outside but still juicy inside. You would need a steak of at least 350g for that. So I am hoping that Aston will be able to offer a 350g Aged Ribeye Pittsburg style steak soon!
Conclusion
Cheapest Aged Beef Steak in town and a must try for all steak lovers. I think this one should be made "Astons Prime's House-Steak" and be a permenant item on the top of the menu.
Check out PChong's take on Aston's aged beef on ShiokHochiak.
Special for ieat readers
For the month of October, print out this blog post and get a drink and soup with every Aged Ribeye ordered. That's got to be the best value steak set meal for $43.90 and there is no GST and no service charge. Every steak is served with your choice of two side dishes.
Astons Prime
176 Orchard Road Centrepoint
#03-45/46/47
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15 comments:
This steak made my transition from civilian to military life much more comfortable.
I left the mainland with little regret =)
Looks like we visited Prime too early ah bro? Now throw in drink and soup combo promotion =x
Do they sprinkle it with the dreaded MSG?
Have you tried Fine Cuts? It was GOOD & only salt/pepper used!
From what i learn, Dry age beef is done by hanging up the whole cow carcass and leave it to age.
The cow undergo aging in the controlled environment and decompose. During this time, water from the cow evaporates, leaving the cow with a concentrated flavour, and also muscles starts to breakdown making the meat tender.
Then it is place into plastic bag and vacuum packed. this is when wet aging starts and while it reaches the diner, the flavour would be so concentrated it explodes in the mouth, giving the mind blowing sensory experience.
And now for this kind of price with drinks and soup, it just can't get anyway better...
Hi Toronto,
I have tried Fine Cuts...I am not sure if their beef is dry aged. They are also very good value for money, especially for wagyu.
As to your question on whether Aston's Dry Aged steaks have MSG...um, yes, natural ones...from the dry aging process, glutamates are created. But no MSG is added...its just steak, heat, and if you like salt and pepper. I even ate most of the steak without any salt and pepper...just au natural.
Can you use a greener way to let us have discount? I mean it's not like the piece of paper we print out can be of any use to them right? It will end up in the bin afterall. Why not you put a code here and we just need to read it out to them? Save our time and money and save the earth too,
wow... this I gotta try!
Ooohh... missed this the other day. Must go try. : )
lunch next week cactuskit? :)
Should be ok! : )
I had this twice, and I can vouch for its taste and texture. It's the perfect way to satisfy meat cravings instantly...
Hemogoblin, you got it incorrect. The processes you described is actually two separate processes one is dry aging and the other is wet aging. I recall reading it on the net and managed to find the website again: http://www.askthemeatman.com/dry_aged_beef.htm.
There was a TV program on arts central called "Ever wondered about food" some years back and I happened to watch the recording last week and it was about roast beef. The slab of prime rib (dry aged) on the show was very dark in colour (maroon) unlike the slice of beef shown here. :-D
chaozhouzi,
the dark color exterior after the dry aging process is over is the jerky like crust which develops. This is always trimmed before the steak is ready for cooking. After trimming, it looks like the raw piece of beef ieat shows in his pic.
Chao is correct that Hemogoblin (sp) is incorrect. I love obfuscating the facts.
Regardless of the method though (controlled rot), the main idea is to break down complex proteins into more flavorful amino acids (like glutamic acid of the monosodium glutamate fame; made from breaking down kelp proteins; which abalone feeding on kelp incidentally also contain lots of). the beef MSG-analog incidentally is known as BMP (so spiking with MSG is not as underhanded as it seems).
You don't need to hang a whole carcass, just primal on-the-bone cuts. No secret, anyone can do it, provided you have large enough refrigerator, and are willing to waste up to 20% from surface dessication.
Interesting article.
One point to note is that true Dry Ageing should only be done with a non-vacuum primal or carcass, once you vacuum it begins an anaerobic aging process that is completely different to that which occurs during wet ageing.
The AVA only allows non-vacuumed beef into Singapore if it is within 8 days from slaughter, so I suspect the USDA Prime that you have mixed results with would have been wet aged.
If you are looking for a true Dry Aged experience, you will need to source high quality beef that has been Dry Aged on the bone, without having been previously wet aged.
Hope this help!
You might also be interested in this article:
http://www.vicsmeat.com.sg/products/beef_main.html
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