Posted on 11/06/2017 6:34:06 PM PST by Simon Green
Japan might be routinely hailed as one of the best places in the world for food but that has not inspired Donald Trump to deviate from his strict all-American diet, Independent reported.
There was not a trace of ramen, sushi or tempura on President Trumps plate at a casual lunch with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday.
The billionaire property developer instead relished in eating a hamburger sourced from American beef during his first trip to Japan as President.
Mr Trump chose to have his burger well-done as he has become so famed for doing with his steaks.
President Trump played golf with Mr Abe at the Kasumigaseki Country Club - alongside professional golfer Hideki Matsuyama - on his first day in the country. According to an excerpt from the book Lost Tycoon: The Many Lives of Donald J Trump, during a trip to Japan back in 1990 Mr Trump said he would not eat "f***ing raw fish" and instead devoured a hamburger at McDonald's which cheered him up massively.
Alton Brown can cook his burgers medium rare if he likes, but I cook mine to 165F (using a digital instant-read thermometer pen, stopping just below 165 to allow for carry over.) That’s because I don’t want to risk getting sick.
But won’t it be tough and dry at that temp? you may ask. Not if you make sure the fat content of the ground beef is between 20% and 30%.
Alton formed his burgers correctly, gently without packing. that allows air pockets for the juices to hide. As Bobby Flay tells his cooks: form a patty then leave it alone.
I don’t put my salt inside the beef. I salt and pepper the outside before cooking, but that’s my preference. I agree with Alton that good beef needs no interior enhancement with spices or egg or breading. That would be meatloaf.
One more thing. Alton left out an important step: the thumb. If you press your thumb down a bit in the center of the burger before you grill it, it won’t puff up in in the center but will stay flat.
My favorite way to eat it: grilled over charcoal and served without buns, topped off with regular cottage cheese (not low fat!). Not exactly kosher, I know.
Cheered him up BIGLY.
Atta Boy, Big Mac-Donald!
The reason Alton grinds his own meat is because that is one of only 2 ways to safely do burgers medium rare. I do it all the time. It eliminates the risks of cooking a ground meat medium rare on a grill.
There is another way. Sous Vide the commercial grind meat patties to 135 for a cpl hours, let cool then add the delicious char. (Blow torch or red hot grill or in cast iron)
Agreed on the thumb trick.
If some grocer close to you happens to carry Boars Head deli items may I recommend their horseradish cheddar if you are making cheese burgers. Best dang cheese burger you will ever make.
Go Trump ! #MAGA !
Oh and since you actually watched Alton here is another resource for reference. Kenji approaches cooking like science. (It is where I learned the thumb trick)
http://aht.seriouseats.com/2014/04/poll-what-do-you-like-to-drink-with-your-burger.html
http://aht.seriouseats.com/the-burger-lab
Enjoy.
PS. Get into sous vide. The things I have made... are unbelievable. As a lark I made firm yolk runny white eggs just to see if I could.
https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/the-egg-calculator
Again, the advantage of cooking to medium well is for tenderness, which is automatic with ground beef anyway, and juiciness, which is achieved through light packing of the patties and including sufficient fat content.
But I feel strongly that people should eat what they like the way they like it without regard to what other people tell them they should do. Give me steaks medium rare and hamburgers well done.
Hamburger, well done, YES!
Raw fish, NEVER!
President Trump has taste!
I thought that grass fed beef was raised on specially grown feed grass, like alfalfa, as opposed to cattle raised on just any old prairie grass and weeds, then “finishing off” the cattle with feed corn and other high cost feed. At least that’s what they do around here. All you can make out of cattle raised just on prairie weeds is hamburger.
I can grill thick steaks to any done-ness without the gray band of over-cooking just by going low and slow and using a digital thermometer probe and cable, and braising in a crockpot or dutch oven achieves tenderness with tough cuts just like sous vide.
The only reason I might get one is so I can safely eat over-easy eggs.
Japanese food = beach scraps.
PS He also Overfed some fish or something....
It’s worse than we thought!
Oh my gosh! You’re RIGHT! Didn’t anyone tell him to feed the fish just a pinch a day, or they’d have to flush them down the toilet? Ever get the feeling millennials and other liberals will believe anything they’re told? Too bad they’re only told garbage. I’d love to get a hold of a mass of them and kind of reverse brainwash them with the truth.
I have an Anova unit and it is rock solid. Cost if you sign up for their mailing list (Add them to your spam list) is $130.
Forget everything else you can do with it, you can pasteurize eggs and make your own mayo/aioli.
Takes 2 minutes to make it. It is sooooo much better than the store bought chemical soup.
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/10/two-minute-mayonnaise.html
Seriously, put a unit on your Xmas list. You will thank me.
Veggies are a PITA Sous Vide. Asparagus IMHO is better steamed 5 to 7 minutes depending on the doneness you like if you are going for that texture/taste profile or roasted (YUM).
Just like in humans, sugar creates problems over a long-term and dry corn is 72% starch (sugar). Corn-fed beef is really corn-finished beef. Which is where herd management comes in -how long on pasture, and what kind of pasture, what feed(s) when, and the right time to finish the beef on corn or corn products into walking prime rib with that characteristic flavor and hint of sweetness.
After reading the thread I will address a whole bunch of points made by various posters.
President Trump is a. an adult, b. a billionaire several times over and c. the President of the United States of America. If he wants to have a burger for lunch, good for him. I also agree with one of the posters that the fact he is eating American beef may be to send a message on trade issues between our two countries.
Now, onto eating raw fish and raw meat. My grandfather drove a horse drawn delivery wagon for a local butcher many decades ago. He would eat raw beef off the truck. My mother acquired a taste for the same and I remember eating raw hamburger as a youth. I am very fortunate to have a butcher locally who grinds chuck right in front of me. I prefer it at room temperature with a little salt. Yummm ! I’m 65 and have never had issues with food borne illnesses or parasites.
The same butcher also sells double smoked bacon which I also eat without any further cooking and it too is something I consider a great delicacy.
I also enjoy sushi and sashimi and in many cases the flavor of the raw fish has much in common with that of the raw steak.
In all cases it comes down to trust. I trust Bill the Butcher and Sushi Chef Fong. In both cases they eat the same food they sell to me and it is not in their interest to have their reputation sullied by giving their customers food poisoning.
I respect that a lot of you may be going Ewwww right now but I have found that some things that have absolutely no appeal as a food item can be downright tasty once you’ve tried them.
For desert, a little mochi...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmSrULDVRPc
Saito: The Sushi God of Tokyo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkeRhKnROds
It’s 2:00 in the morning and now this thread has gone and made me hungry.
I find it refreshing that he can be himself, and not uncomfortably try to bend to every outside influence that comes along. I think that’s the confidence from being a successful businessman, not a born politician.
We will not cease being allies with Japan if he wants to eat a frikkin’ hamburger.
I’ve been eyeing that Anova unit for three years now. I’ll probably get one eventually but my main cooking focus lately has been on Southern barbecue. I’m approaching perfection with my ribs and Mrs. Chandler needs some of my smoked pork shoulder for her Christmas tamales. What I really want to try is spatchcocking and smoking a turkey. I should be able to pick up a bird cheap soon and cook it in late December —
not too close to Thanksgiving.
Thats what people used to eat until they discovered that corn-fed beef is immensely better.
Yep. I figured out the reason why the French love heavy sauces with beef, or lighter sauces with veal - grass-fed beef is the norm there. You either smother it in sauce to hide the taste, or you use veal, which hasn't yet absorbed as much of the grass-fed flavor.
Impeach him for crimes against culinary sensitivity!
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