The most important step in frying a steak is even before the meat is put in the pan.
A good steak is beautifully marbled. Atria
Atria’s Finnish beef was successful again in the World Steak Challenge competition. The competition was held this week in Ireland.
For three years, the competition’s toughest series, i.e. the best steak, went to Finland, but this year the award went to Japan.
– We reached the gold level in many series, so we can be satisfied, says Atria Finland’s head of meat business Markku Hirvijärvi.
According to him, one big factor in the success of Finnish meat is our clean nature. Cattle eat grass that has grown in clean land and drink clean water.
– The competition’s jury describes the taste of the steak as fresh and high-quality. On the other hand, the level of meat marbling is often higher in Japan than here.
It is difficult to find properly marbled meat in Finnish grocery stores. The marbling of the meat, i.e. the amount of fat, is classified using a 1-7 table.
Hirvijärvi promises that next summer, consumers will be able to buy 3-4 and 5-6 level marbled meat from the grocery store.
Although Finnish beef and pork meat has been low-fat in recent decades, Hirvijärvi sees a change.
– It could be compared to wine tasting. Tasting the beef begins with the tenderloin or sirloin, which is without marbling. The more you taste, the flavor fat starts to taste better, Hirvijärvi characterizes.
For example, in older food cultures such as Spain or Italy, the flavor fat of the meat has never been abandoned, as it also tenderizes the meat.
When Hirvijärvi wants to feast on a steak, he roasts a tasty and fatty beef sirloin in a pan or, even better, on a grill.
The meat should be brought to room temperature two to three hours before frying. The biggest mistake is to take the meat out of the fridge and throw it in the pan right away. Then the meat gets a sour taste.
Cut the meat into patties about 1.5 cm thick. Heat the pan or grill as hot as you can, rub oil on the surface of the meat and fry the steaks for 2 minutes per side.
– Then we don’t do any spring party moves, but let the steak be alone.
After frying, the steak is placed in foil for 10-15 minutes to rest. And finally, salt and pepper. You may not even need pepper, as long as you sprinkle finger salt on the surface of the meat. The important thing is that the taste of the steak comes through.
Hirvijärvi states that frying a steak is basically very simple, but there are many points that can still go wrong.
The collaboration between Atria and JN Meat International began less than seven years ago. Atria delivers Finnish beef to JN Meat International in Denmark three times a week. From there, they selected the best pieces for the competition.
JN Meat International has also successfully participated in the World Steak Challenge with Finnish meat in 2018, 2019 and 2021. In 2020, the competition was not organized.