Bring on the steaks and burgers this season

Steak served with wine seems to be a favorite with many people when they are looking to have a special dinner. A good quality red meat steak seems to be trending in the Hong Kong restaurant scene. And what better way to play up the super taste of a luscious steak than matching it with an appropriate drink.

While a good sommelier could offer expert advice, you might also like to try working out your own pairings, depending on the provenance of the meat and the wines on offer, to say nothing of the strength of your wallet!

Wines differ in weight. At one end of the spectrum we have light wines while the full-bodied ones figure at the other. In matching wine to food, what you are trying to achieve is balance. Ideally, a wine's components are already in balance, but you can tweak it around a bit - for better or worse - with the food you choose to serve with it.

Steak is rich and fatty in flavor and helps smoothen the tannins, making a red wine such as Cabernet feel smoother. Tannins interact with fats, salt and spicy flavors, so much will depend on how the meat served is prepared.

Watch out for the salt though, add as little as possible while cooking a steak. Excess salt could increase the perception of tannins, making a red wine taste harsh and astringent. Salt also helps accentuate the heat of a high-alcohol wine.

Pick a good meat source. We have a number of restaurants here in Hong Kong which take pride in sourcing the best steaks.

At present Wolfgang's Steakhouse on Duddell Street in Central is offering dry aged New York striploin, a United States Department of Agriculture-certified prime-grade beef that has been dry-aged for 28 days in their own special in-house aging room. Also on offer is Wolfgang's set lunch - a full meal and not one for the picky eater as it includes clam chowder, a 6oz prime filet mignon served with sauce, and a cheese topped salad as well as a New York cheesecake, coffee or tea and all for HK$239 plus 10-percent service charge.

If a full steak isn't to your taste, there's always the mighty hamburger. Some of Hong Kong's finest hamburgers are served at Beef & Liberty outlets in Wing Fung Street, Wan Chai, and inside the California Tower, Central, as well as at Stanley Plaza in Stanley. The meats are from Tasmania and grass fed. There is an a la carte menu to choose from this autumn. The chefs take pride in getting their burgers just right. A lot of research has gone into meat-to-bun ratio, meat patty recipes, grind coarseness, and the Maillard reaction factor - the process that creates brown pigments in cooked meat in a very specific way through manipulating dryness and temperature.

The highlight of the moment at Beef & Liberty is the amusingly-named El Cabrn, on offer until Nov 30. With more than a hint of the flavors of Ole Mexico, this burger features a beef patty topped with fiery beef chilli, melting cheddar cheese, crisp house pickles, spring onions and a generous helping of sour cream. Full of flavor, it's priced at HK$118 per burger. If you're visiting, ask them about the Sublime Society of Beef Steaks - it's an entertaining tale!

And if your dining partner isn't a meat eater, Beef & Liberty's group chef Uwe Opochensky has a number of specialized new veggie-filled autumn dishes as part of a still-developing Leaves & Liberty program. Check out the new cauliflower and cheese bites (HK$58) - breaded and fried roasted cauliflower slathered in gruyere and parmesan cheese, and served with rocket pesto. The beetroot burger at HK$98 is a personal favorite. And they have craft beer and speciality drinks too.

The Tomahawk at the Big Bay Cafe in Kerry Hotel serves the king of steaks at the moment! Sourced by executive chef Matthew Bennink from his native Australia, the black angus beef comes directly from Rangers Valley. Add HK$488 to the dinner buffet price to get a 1.5kg portion of Tomahawk steak cooked to order and carved at the table. The steak is smoked with apple wood chips before being grilled, and served with roasted ratte potatoes, shaved truffle, soft rosemary potatoes, beef jus and hollandaise sauce. For guests preferring a la carte, the Tomahawk steak costs HK$988 plus 10-percent service charge for each 1.5kg portion.

(HK Edition 10/27/2017 page10)