COOKING TIP: Dry Aged Steak at Home

Some time ago, I wrote a blog* post describing how one could prepare a steak at home with taste as close as possible to the taste of a dry aged restaurant steak (Dry-Aged Steak at Home (8/2/11). In a more recent (2/27/13) post, I described the history of UMAMI, the FIFTH TASTE. The new taste, UMAMI, is described "savory "meaty" or "delicious". Previously, it was thought that there were only four basic tastes: sweet, sour, bitter and salty. In addition, I listed some of the ways in which the UMAMI taste could be added to food. Recently, I came across a description of how to prepare dry-aged steak at home which uses the method I described previously (post of 8/2/11) plus a way of adding additional UMAMI taste to the steak. (Nathan Myhrvold, Food and Wine magazine Oct 12, 2012, pg. 38.) While the recipe calls for rib-eye steak, any steak of equal size could be substituted. The preparation requires six days to complete so much so plan, appropriately, for when you want the steaks to be ready for eating - the planning and wait will be well worth it.

*thefoodiescompanion.blogspot.com

The recipe is as follows:

INGREDIENTS

Two 12 oz., one-inch-thick, boneless, rib eye steaks

1 1/2 Tbsp Asian fish sauce

Kosher salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

1) Place steaks in a single layer in a sealable plastic bag.

2) Add fish sauce and turn to coat. Press out as much air from the bag as possible, seal and refrigerate for three days.

3) Remove steaks from bag. Tightly wrap each one in a double layer of cheesecloth, place on a rack over a plate and refrigerate, uncovered, for three more days.

4) Unwrap steaks, discard cheese cloth and allow the steak to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Add salt and pepper and grill to the doneness you prefer (I prefer medium-rare - -120F - on a meat thermometer) and allow 10 min resting time before serving  the steak