Dry-aged steak: Aged beef with an intense taste
Dry-aged steak is a true culinary masterpiece. It is the crème de la crème among meat dishes. It has an intense taste and a tender structure. For all these reasons, The Uptown Meat Club offers a select dry-aged meat on its menu. We are happy to tell you more about the maturing process and which pieces of meat are best suited for this special treatment.
What is dry aged meat?
Dry aging is a process in which the meat is aged in the air for a long time. This special treatment gives the meat a fine structure and an intense, nutty taste. Due to its exclusive character, dry-aged meat is not a dish that you just put on the table every day. It is a true culinary delight, ideal for special occasions. Your taste buds will be blown away!
How exactly does the dry-aging process work? The maturing process takes place in a special cabinet or room where the humidity, air circulation and temperature (between 0°C and 1°C) are strictly controlled. During the lengthy process, the moisture evaporates from the meat and the natural enzymes break down the muscle tissue. This concentrates the flavor, giving the meat more bite. A hard, black crust forms on the outside that prevents bacteria from entering the meat, and this is cut off afterward. To be allowed to call a piece of meat ‘dry aged,’ it must have been aged for at least 21 days. In general, the longer the maturing period, the higher the quality of the meat.
Dry aged steak is a gourmet meat
You will mainly find dry-aged meat at exclusive butcher shops. Do you have doubts about your cooking skills? It can be a little daunting to prepare an expensive piece of dry-aged meat yourself. Fortunately, there are plenty of dry-aged steak restaurants in Amsterdam and beyond where you can treat yourself to this delicacy.
Which meat is suitable for dry aging?
Not every meat is suitable for dry aging, but beef is by far the most suitable–the cuts from the back, such as ribeye and sirloin steak, in particular. This has everything to do with the slaughter process. Cattle are slaughtered dry, which means that the skin is removed from the carcass. Under the skin is a layer of fat which is beneficial for the ripening process. Lamb also lends itself to dry aging, provided the maturing process does not exceed two weeks. An animal that is absolutely not suitable for dry aging is chicken. Chicken has a short shelf life and will rot if you try to age it. This is why you never see dry-aged chicken breast on a menu
Preparation method
You can prepare dry-aged meat in different ways: You can steam dry-aged meat in the oven, grill it or roast it. It is important that you handle the meat delicately at all times. At The Uptown Meat Club, we prepare dry-aged meat in a frying pan over a medium heat. Due to the low moisture content, dry-aged meat should never be cooked at high temperatures. If you do this, the meat can become very tough. That is of course a sin!
Discover the dry-aged steaks from The Uptown Meat Club
The Uptown Meat Club has a nice selection of dry-aged steaks on the menu. All the meat comes from our own maturing cabinet where we hang the meat for about 30 days. For dry aging, we only use the best cuts of meat, especially those that contain a higher amount of fat.
The dry-aged sirloin steak, Chateaubriand (beef tenderloin) and dry-aged Côte de boeuf are the gems of our menu. These meat dishes come in medium-sized portions of 500 to 800 grams. Is your mouth watering yet? We are happy to welcome you in our restaurant near the Vondelpark. We will of course provide appropriate wine advice to complete the culinary experience.
Dry-aged meat, completely halal
Did you know that you can also eat completely halal at our meat restaurant in Amsterdam? All our meat, including our dry-aged selection, comes from a Halal-certified slaughterhouse in the Netherlands. Combine the piece of meat with grilled vegetables or our buttery mashed potatoes.
The Uptown Meat Club is the dry-aged steak restaurant in Amsterdam.
Where do we get our meat?
At The Uptown Meat Club, we use the best quality meat from the Frisian Holstein cow. This popular breed of cattle can be seen grazing in many places in the Netherlands–you’ve most likely seen them. Initially, the cows are kept for the production of milk, and eventually also for the meat. These are the so-called dual-purpose cows. The use of dual-purpose cows is less damaging to the environment, provides a better life for the cows and a lot of flavour to your steak! So, a triple win.