Several weeks ago I was invited to attend a taste the products of Snake River Farms at a public relations event at a Makati restaurant. Snake River Farms is a very well known premium brand of meats, based in Boise, Idaho. About a decade or more ago, they imported the Wagyu breed of cattle from Kobe, Japan to the U.S. and cross bred the Wagyu with the Black Angus breed of cattle, yielding beef that is predominantly Wagyu, but with a substantial Black Angus component. Mrs. MM likes the term “wangus.” While the invitation to sample the meats of SRF was certainly tempting, I have never attended PR events of this sort since I started this blog. It’s a good rule, I think. In the last few months, I have received invitations to similar events, restaurant openings, product launches some 2-3 times a week, and I always send a similar “thanks, but no thanks” email response… However, I DID want to cook and taste the steaks and other meats SRF had on offer. So what I did was contact the local importer and distributor, and asked if they would SELL me some steaks and other meats. To this request they graciously agreed, and I had to purchase the products in their standard wholesale or restaurant level portions and packaging, at standard pricing… Now we were cooking…
Alternatives Food Corporation, carries several brands of meat, but it was the Snake River Farms product list that i was particularly interested in. After much deliberation, I ended up with Wagyu Sirloin steaks, a slightly less tender cut of meat, but I was going for texture and flavor as well, and I also purchased some pork, up in the next post. The sirloin steaks were defrosted slowly in the fridge, seasoned with salt and pepper and thrown onto a hot grill for just a few minutes on each side and served sliced. They weren’t the softest melt in your mouth wagyu you would expect from say a tenderloin cut, but they were utterly delicious. A beautiful deep dark red meat that screamed of a good pedigree and flavor and texture worthy of a few oohs and aahs. Next time I will try a different cut of meat, but so far, so incredibly good. I believe this cut of meat is more recommended for a roast type of preparation, and the error in selection was completely mine, but I think the steaks turned out very well. And if given the chance, I will definitely order several of the other cuts of wangus on offer. The photo above shows the wagyu with some bernaise sauce, at a dinner I did after the blogger’s dinner. For the blogger’s dinner, the steaks were served plain or with a mushroom sauce, accompanied by a carrot and potato mash and a cauliflower gratin. I didn’t get a photo of that plate so you will just have to imagine it… Snake River Farms Beef is now on offer at several Metro Manila restaurants and I am hoping the folks from Alternatives Food Corporation will leave a comment here with a list of those establishments so you can try the terrific steaks out for yourself. Meanwhile, if you have a restaurant, or wish to buy SRF in wholesale quantities, please contact Alternatives Food Corporation at 631-7228 or visit their website in the link up above.
16 Responses
just the way i like my grilled steak… medium rare and just seasoned with salt and pepper! mushroom sauce, mashed potato and
carrots…delicious! my husband is now grilling steaks at the backyard so i better help him prepare our dinner! i just love reading your posts, mm! thanks for sharing this to your readers…
Is the wangus related to the fish? Hehe, corny, yes. THe color of the steak is just perfect. I like red but blood-free. MM, did you combine the potatoes and carrots in the same mash or two separate ones? And may one ask how much you bought the meat for?
That cut would make an amazing roast, but the flavor was worth the quick sear.
Thank you for the contact number for the source. I checked their product list, I wonder if they’d be willing to import more spices, especially vanilla beans.
This is you birthday dinner, Manila version, isn’t it? Happy Birthday, MM.
The flavor was truly superb, and again, such a nice, deep red. But, maybe because I’m a bigger carbo than protein fan, what I enjoyed most about this course was the carrot-potato mash (call me easy to please)! I don’t like carrots on their own (except as cake, which I love), but it lent the potatoes a delightful sweetness.
Checking this blog during my lunch break? Truly a bad idea!
Wow the wagyu sirloin looks perfectly cooked…cant wait to try them one day…Ill try to call the numbers you gave me :)
it looks great and im sure that it taste amazing
do they sell wagyu beef than kobe beef?
happy birthday MM
nestor, kobe is simply wagyu breed of cattle but raised in kobe japan. The minute you take the breed out of kobe, people just refer to it as “wagyu.”
am curious… how does this snake farm american kobe rate against the japanese style kobe..
since japanese kobe is crossed with japanese dairy cattle and the american is crossed with the black angus..
I’ve recently found a local butcher shop that carries kobe beef and have been able to savor different cuts of it.
I’ve had sirloin & tenderloin cut kobe at about $15/lb. and a ribeye cut kobe at about $29/lb.
I am soo hooked on the tenderness of the kobe beef that anything else is unfamthomable. Yes, not even peter luger’s or anything dry aged.
Now, am curious about this snake farm kobe.. how does this rate against the ribeye cut of kobe… which by farrrrrrrr … the most tender piece of steak i’ve ever had.
Robstar, I have had Japanese Kobe perhaps a half dozen times, and the American one perhpas 3 times. I would still go for the real Kobe if I could afford it, but at 5-10x the price of the American Kobe, the value is in the American beef… For my 40th birthday, a very good friend sent over a 3 kilo or so hunk of real kobe beef, freshly flown in from Japan… and I have to say, it was the best piece of meat we have ever eaten in our household. Ever. It probably cost the same as a second hand SUV in the U.S. about now… :) As for Snake River, they carry the ribeye cut as well… and I think you might want to try the tenderloin as well!
I’m glad you enjoyed Snake River Farms product!
The establishments that carry Snake River Farms are Florabel, Fire Place at Hyatt Hotel and Casino, Josiahs Restaurant, 9501 Restaurant, Itallianis, Myron’s Steak House, Senju at Edsa Shangri-La, Gaudi, Aubergine, Tsukiji, Cirkulo, Thousand Cranes, Mr. Rockefeller, Tower Club, Mezzaluna, Massimos, Sugi, Chelsea, M Café, Madison Grill, Bistro Filipino, Chef’s Quarter, Duo Steakhouse, Zuni, John N Yoko, Ruby Tuesday, Mini Shabu-shabu, Ilustrado, Sumo Sam, Brumms Winery and Restaurant, Black Angus Steak House (Cebu), Mulberry Suites (Cagayan De Oro) Café Bobs (Bacolod), Nanohana, Sakae Sushi, Seven Corners at Crowne Plaza, Old Manila at Manila Peninsula, 21 Prime at Discovery Suites, Discovery Shores, La Bellevue and Yurakuen at Manila Diamond, Mandarin Deli at Gateway Mall, Gaster Deli (for retail packs of burgers, rib eye, and kurobuta ham), Terry’s Deli (for retail packs of rib eye).
Hi MM, Happy Birthday and Thank You very much for writing about SRF. One of my colleagues is in the process of sending out a list of establishments that carry the SRF brand of product. If anyone cares to look at the SRF website, they show a marbling score chart. There are three grades of SRF product; Gold, Black, and Silver. We mainly carry the Gold (score 8-9) and Black (score 5-6) and encourage the hotels and restaurants that serve this product to incorporate the grade levels on their menus. The Japanese Wagyu gets up to a score of 11/12. The Americans put more emphasis on flavor and like the bite of the US Wagyu, so this product works well for Steak lovers, specially the kind that like the 1 lb portions. Hope this explains some and look forward to what you have to say about the Rib Eye when you get to try it.
Btw, have you tried St. Rogue Red Beer? It was developed by a Brewery in Portland specifically for SRF Beef.
How about using the lardo way of curing the pork jowl….probably wont take as long or be as complicated as guanciale …MM I agree about carbonara and matriciana being distinctly better with guanciale. Its got a depth of flavor that’s all its own…it’s one ingredient you can’t run out of in Manila if you want to enjoy your pasta the real Roman way…more pork power!!!!
Market Man, you just earned my respect all the more that you actually make a conscious effort to avoid PR events. I mean there’s nothing shady about it but it sometimes affects the integrity of the blogger. some people feel obliged to speak well of a product they got for free and that really sucks especially when your blog has a following. well, nothing bad about attending a PR event or getting something for free but still having the conviction to write exactly how you feel about it, whether good or bad. that’s why you and anton are my favorite bloggers — coz you don’t sell out. i hope it stays that way.