Koji-Rubbed Steak
First, allow me hand credit where credit’s due; in addition to past times “credit,” I hateful possible blame. I got the sentiment from this article inward Bon Appetit, where they showed how to purpose koji rice to copy dry out aging a steak. They tell they borrowed the sentiment from Trentina chef, Jonathon Sawyer, in addition to we’ll direct maintain them at their word.
Anyway, I tried it out, in addition to had mixed results. The olfactory holding in addition to flavour were vaguely reminiscent of dry-aged beef, but it didn’t direct maintain those same cheesy/funky/earthy background notes. As far equally the texture goes, at that topographic point was no divergence from a regular steak, in addition to it may direct maintain fifty-fifty given it a somewhat firmer texture.
That may direct maintain come upward from letting it become close iii days, instead of two, but hey, I was inside the range. Besides, I’m non fifty-fifty certain anything happened. The sentiment hither is that the fungus on the koji rice, which breaks downwards the proteins inward beans, to brand things similar miso, would operate the same magic on a steak.
While it did hold off similar the koji had “bloomed” a bit, in addition to at that topographic point was to a greater extent than “white stuff” at the destination of the process, at that topographic point was no obvious signs that the meat had been “broken down.” The appearance was darker, in addition to it sort of had that waxy hold off of dry out aged meat, but that could’ve precisely come upward from sitting uncovered inward the fridge.
I flora it a chip suspicious that at that topographic point were no other posts regarding this online, but perhaps it’s precisely besides new. Time volition tell. I’m looking at you, nutrient blogger. In the meantime, whatsoever in addition to all feedback is welcomed, specially if you lot are familiar alongside using koji rice. I’m non certain if you lot should hand this a try, but, equally always, enjoy!
If I were to do this again I would make a few changes:
- Choose a thicker cut of meat. I started with 2 ribeyes just under 1 inch thick, I would choose a 1.5 or even 2 inch think tomahawk cut next time to account for the shrinking and water loss.
- Find a balance between the amount of koji used. Between the 2 steaks, the steak with the least amount of water loss and the least amount of koji, there was more noticeable pink in the center, while they were both equaly tender. I would apply more koji than the lightest ribeye, but not as much as I applied to the other, somewhere in between.
- Cook the steaks for a much, much shorter amount of time or sous vide my koji steaks. This one should have been obvious from the start. Less moisture means faster cooking. I would test multiple areas with the thermometer, and limit the time spent in the pan depending on the thickness of each steak. A thicker steak could do fine for the same amount of time in the pan. Using the sous vide method would provide much more control and likely result it a much more tender steak, and retain more of the koji imparted flavor.
- Take pictures after cutting the D*** steaks. I was so disappointing when I saw those brown centers and horrible gradient of color in those steaks that I didn’t want to memorialize it, but that’s not fair to you, the reader.
- Skip the inoculated rice and go for a koji spore starter. I was hoping to see more koji spore growth, which should lead to a greater change in texture, less moisture loss without the rice and potentially some greater flavor development.