Mini-burgers!
February 10, 2012 8:46 AM Subscribe
Where can a novice chef find the ingredients to, and best prepare Kobe Beef sliders at home?
I am trying to recreate some amazing Kobe Beef sliders that I had not too long ago. I do not have a recipe to work from, but they were served on a mini-brioche bun and truffle oil was somehow involved.
So, the questions are where to find in the Bay Area:
Mini brioche buns
Kobe beef or waygu beef
And how should I best cook this? Is there special care that must be taken with kobe beef? Where does the truffle oil come in? I'm not a professional chef by any means, but I can make a mean turkey burger — so that's a start.
Description from restaurant: American Kobe Mini Burgers – Toasted brioche, black winter truffle aioli.
I am trying to recreate some amazing Kobe Beef sliders that I had not too long ago. I do not have a recipe to work from, but they were served on a mini-brioche bun and truffle oil was somehow involved.
So, the questions are where to find in the Bay Area:
Mini brioche buns
Kobe beef or waygu beef
And how should I best cook this? Is there special care that must be taken with kobe beef? Where does the truffle oil come in? I'm not a professional chef by any means, but I can make a mean turkey burger — so that's a start.
Description from restaurant: American Kobe Mini Burgers – Toasted brioche, black winter truffle aioli.
I don't have a Bay Area source for your meat but I would suggest you search out the highest quality independent butcher shops and start there. I think it is highly likely that you will only find waygu beef.
As for the sauce, aioli is essentially garlic mayonnaise. The additions of black truffle could either be from truffle oil or from finely shaved truffles. The later will be more flavorful, orders of magnitude more expensive and much harder (but not impossible) to source. You should be able to find truffle oil in any upscale grocery store. As for recipes, surprisingly enough there is a NBC's Parks and Rec lack Truffle Aioli recipe available.
I got no line on your buns, but if you call local bakeries that serve the restaurant community I bet you will find what you are looking for.
As for cooking the meat, I don't think you need to do anything special as compared to a non-Wagyu beef. Kobe/Wagyu is prized for its well-marbled fat content so that should make for a juicy burger.
posted by mmascolino at 9:08 AM on February 10, 2012
As for the sauce, aioli is essentially garlic mayonnaise. The additions of black truffle could either be from truffle oil or from finely shaved truffles. The later will be more flavorful, orders of magnitude more expensive and much harder (but not impossible) to source. You should be able to find truffle oil in any upscale grocery store. As for recipes, surprisingly enough there is a NBC's Parks and Rec lack Truffle Aioli recipe available.
I got no line on your buns, but if you call local bakeries that serve the restaurant community I bet you will find what you are looking for.
As for cooking the meat, I don't think you need to do anything special as compared to a non-Wagyu beef. Kobe/Wagyu is prized for its well-marbled fat content so that should make for a juicy burger.
posted by mmascolino at 9:08 AM on February 10, 2012
So, when they say "American Kobe Beef", they're referring to Waygu cattle that are born in America and raised somewhat in the Kobe style, and not the genuine article from Japan. It reportedly tastes the same. I've never had Japanese Kobe, but American Kobe is really fucking good.
Also, the flavors and aromas of truffle oil are very heat sensitive, so don't cook it. The heat from the warm bun you spread it on and the patty beneath will bring out the aroma quite nicely without destroying it, so that's cool.
posted by Jon_Evil at 9:26 AM on February 10, 2012
Also, the flavors and aromas of truffle oil are very heat sensitive, so don't cook it. The heat from the warm bun you spread it on and the patty beneath will bring out the aroma quite nicely without destroying it, so that's cool.
posted by Jon_Evil at 9:26 AM on February 10, 2012
Maybe you shouldn't grind up a Kobe ribeye or a Kobe tenderloin, but if you get some Kobe chuck then it will be just like a regular burger but better.
posted by TheRedArmy at 9:28 AM on February 10, 2012
posted by TheRedArmy at 9:28 AM on February 10, 2012
Best answer: Daniel Boulud's brilliant db Burger from DB Bistro Moderne (a sirloin burger stuffed with braised short rib meat, foie gras and black truffle) started a kind of "luxe burger war" where people made burgers out of increasingly expensive ingredients. Almost all the time, this was a horrible idea, and no one has really ever matched the original. Part of the reason for this is that certain luxury ingredients are not very good in a hamburger. Kobe beef or "Kobe style" beef from wagyu cattle or American-style wagyu/angus hybrid beef is one such example. What makes this kind of beef good is that it is extremely tender with an extremely high fat content and very pronounced marbling. Most if not all of these advantages are completely lost when you grind up the beef. Grinding is effectively a mechanical tenderizing process. So there is really no point in starting out with beef that is already tender. Rather, you should select your starting beef with an eye for flavor and fat content. For these, you will do quite well with 80% lean coarse ground chuck or short rib meat.
If you want to know how to cook sliders, look no further than the hamburger expert himself, Josh Ozersky.
As for the "black winter truffle aioli," this should be fairly easy to make depending on your skill set. "Aioli" in common American parlance has come to be "fancy restaurant talk" for when they don't want to say "flavored mayonnaise." Technically an aioli should have garlic as a fundamental ingredient, and doesn't necessarily have to have egg (it is possible to emulsify the sauce with nothing other than garlic and oil). But unless you could clearly taste garlic in the aioli, I have my doubts as to whether the "black winter truffle aioli" had any garlic in it at all. Most likely it was really a mayonnaise flavored with black winter truffles. Luckily for you, "black winter truffle" probably means that they came from China, and these can usually be had for around 16 bucks for a 2 ounce jar. Or you can get reasonably inexpensive jars of "black truffle carpaccio" which is a polite way of saying "jar of trimmings packed in oil." In fact, the carpaccio is probably what I would recommend. So you can make this condiment simply by putting some mayonnaise (make your own for the best result, but anything will do) into a blender or small food processor with a nice spoonful of black truffle carpaccio and blend. Add more black truffle carpaccio until you get the flavor you want. If you want a hint of garlic flavor, toss in a touch of roasted garlic (I wouldn't use fresh garlic, as this would tend to obscure the truffle flavor, although a minute amount might be okay).
Make your sliders according to Josh Ozersky's process, top with the black truffle mayonnaise (call it "aioli" if it makes you happy!), and put on a fancy bun. Congratulations! You have now created fancypants sliders. Sell three for 18 bucks.
posted by slkinsey at 9:50 AM on February 10, 2012 [5 favorites]
If you want to know how to cook sliders, look no further than the hamburger expert himself, Josh Ozersky.
As for the "black winter truffle aioli," this should be fairly easy to make depending on your skill set. "Aioli" in common American parlance has come to be "fancy restaurant talk" for when they don't want to say "flavored mayonnaise." Technically an aioli should have garlic as a fundamental ingredient, and doesn't necessarily have to have egg (it is possible to emulsify the sauce with nothing other than garlic and oil). But unless you could clearly taste garlic in the aioli, I have my doubts as to whether the "black winter truffle aioli" had any garlic in it at all. Most likely it was really a mayonnaise flavored with black winter truffles. Luckily for you, "black winter truffle" probably means that they came from China, and these can usually be had for around 16 bucks for a 2 ounce jar. Or you can get reasonably inexpensive jars of "black truffle carpaccio" which is a polite way of saying "jar of trimmings packed in oil." In fact, the carpaccio is probably what I would recommend. So you can make this condiment simply by putting some mayonnaise (make your own for the best result, but anything will do) into a blender or small food processor with a nice spoonful of black truffle carpaccio and blend. Add more black truffle carpaccio until you get the flavor you want. If you want a hint of garlic flavor, toss in a touch of roasted garlic (I wouldn't use fresh garlic, as this would tend to obscure the truffle flavor, although a minute amount might be okay).
Make your sliders according to Josh Ozersky's process, top with the black truffle mayonnaise (call it "aioli" if it makes you happy!), and put on a fancy bun. Congratulations! You have now created fancypants sliders. Sell three for 18 bucks.
posted by slkinsey at 9:50 AM on February 10, 2012 [5 favorites]
If you're really a novice chef, consider doing a test run with regular (but not total cheapo) beef and supermarket french rolls, then increasing the complexity from there. (I don't know whether you meant you're a good foodie cook, but not really a Chef, or if you meant you are learning to cook but you're still a novice at the whole process)
If you don't find brioche rolls, they're no harder to make than a loaf of brioche (which is not to say "easy" - just follow the instrucitons, except there are a lot of instructions). Divide the dough into multiple little balls - unfortunately I can't predict, it may work better contained in muffin cups than to set a ball flat on a cookie sheet.
posted by aimedwander at 10:13 AM on February 10, 2012
If you don't find brioche rolls, they're no harder to make than a loaf of brioche (which is not to say "easy" - just follow the instrucitons, except there are a lot of instructions). Divide the dough into multiple little balls - unfortunately I can't predict, it may work better contained in muffin cups than to set a ball flat on a cookie sheet.
posted by aimedwander at 10:13 AM on February 10, 2012
Best answer: La Boulange sells brioche buns.
A lot of stores sell Wagyu beef, some even ground. I believe Andronicos frequently has it - you're likely better off getting it ground for you. Finding good meat in this down is pretty easy heck besides the aforementioned Andronico's any Whole Foods would likely have all the ingredients you'd need. I would probably skip the Wagyu and just get some really good quality ground beef with a high fat content (the fat content is one, major, thing which separates Wagyu from "other" beef in a ground context you can usually control the fat content anyway, unlike a steak). I'd probably hit up my friends at The Local Butcher Shop in Berkeley or the Marin Sun Farms booth at a local farmers market and just get some really good quality beef with an 80/20 meat to fat ratio (or even a touch higher).
w/r/t to the aioli. You can make this two ways one is to do it from scratch with eggs and oil (I've done it its delish). I personally cheat a lot and take some quality mayo, add some dijon mustard, lemon, garlic, salt, peper and in this case some truffle oil and you'll get something quite tasty. Not sure it would completely nail what you're looking for but it would still be damn tasty.
w/r/t cooking I'd do it on a flat top (cast iron pan) with the heat at about medium (pan preheated).
posted by bitdamaged at 10:13 AM on February 10, 2012 [1 favorite]
A lot of stores sell Wagyu beef, some even ground. I believe Andronicos frequently has it - you're likely better off getting it ground for you. Finding good meat in this down is pretty easy heck besides the aforementioned Andronico's any Whole Foods would likely have all the ingredients you'd need. I would probably skip the Wagyu and just get some really good quality ground beef with a high fat content (the fat content is one, major, thing which separates Wagyu from "other" beef in a ground context you can usually control the fat content anyway, unlike a steak). I'd probably hit up my friends at The Local Butcher Shop in Berkeley or the Marin Sun Farms booth at a local farmers market and just get some really good quality beef with an 80/20 meat to fat ratio (or even a touch higher).
w/r/t to the aioli. You can make this two ways one is to do it from scratch with eggs and oil (I've done it its delish). I personally cheat a lot and take some quality mayo, add some dijon mustard, lemon, garlic, salt, peper and in this case some truffle oil and you'll get something quite tasty. Not sure it would completely nail what you're looking for but it would still be damn tasty.
w/r/t cooking I'd do it on a flat top (cast iron pan) with the heat at about medium (pan preheated).
posted by bitdamaged at 10:13 AM on February 10, 2012 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
Black truffles are found in the same region of southern France which traditionally makes aioli. However, most "truffle" oils are, in fact, artificially flavoured, not the real thing. If you want real truffles, the easiest thing to do is make the aioli then shave in real truffle to taste. On the other hand, the artificial oil isn't bad at all, and definitely makes a difference in flavour. It's also much, much cheaper than the real thing.
posted by bonehead at 9:01 AM on February 10, 2012 [1 favorite]