After years of experimenting with the tough meat of Bos primigenius indicus (commonly known as Brahma or Brahman, the breed of bovine originating in India that eventually spread to the rest of the world to be enslaved, robbed of milk, and mass-consumed – why oh why did they ever leave the land in which they were worshiped?), I have found the best cut of meat for general purposes:
This is what is referred to as the “neck hump,” or more disgustingly, the “neck boil.” Here is a good photo of one, if you can keep your eyes off of dangling distractions:
This cut of meat is not tender enough for steaks, but is great for stews, curries, and the like. I have never had a good beef steak in Thailand, and it is my belief that, generally, the tenderness of beef runs inverse to your current proximity to India, with a few exceptions (Japan being the most notable). That’s fine, since it’s a trade off for good quality of other meats, fish, and fowl.
I used the neck hump above to make an excellent batch of Japanese curry a couple months ago. When we went to buy it from a roadside stand, we were lucky to get it very fresh:
That’s great you bought the hump and found it tasty because when we used to go for car rides and drive by herds Brahman cattle, I’d make a mental comparison to the American Bison’s neck hump and how the plains indians considered it to be one of the best parts to eat, that and the tongue…..
Have you tried making tongue?
They use every part of the animal here – yes, I’ve had tongue and it’s very good. also not steak material, though.
If Taco Bell can make steak burritos from whatever mystery meat they use, I’d imagine that you could turn that into steak if you tried hard enough. Have you tried to use battery acid as a tenderizer? Seriously though, a pressure cooker might work some miracles.
It turns out great in a pressure cooker, for burrito meat, soups, etc… But that’s not how I want to cook steak steak – it’s either on a flat grill or over charcoal, all the way.
Aftr mulling for a bit, I wonder if you’ve been daring enough to try dry aging beef over there in the fridge. I’m not quite so daring myself, but that’s typically the trick for a tender cut as fresh cut beef is supposed to be ‘rubber bandy’ right off the animal (something about the shock of being killed tensing all the muscles up).
I’ve tried it a couple times, but not with this new cut. When I tried it, it improved the flavor but not the toughness. Maybe I’ll try it again; thanks for the suggestion!