Dear ladies & gentlemen, I invite you today towards the etiquette of an iconic piece of the western food: the steak. Sirloin, ribs, skewers: how would you ask for the right cooking? How would you cut and avoid the faux-pas? Follow me!
How would you like it cooked?
In English: you have 6 options!
Blue: Seared a few seconds on each side, totally raw on the inside! This is for extreme meat lovers.
Rare: Seared outside, barely red inside, the center of the piece is cold.
Medium-Rare: Seared outside, 50% red inside, the piece is totally warmed.
Medium: Totally pink and warm. Those who don’t like the blood, but still want to enjoy the tenderness of the meat will definitely choose medium.
Medium-Well: 25% pink on the inside only; it is most welcomed in China. You will start to feel the chewing taste of the meat.
Well-done: Totally cooked, brown flesh.
Our Chinese friends are more pragmatic: choose from 1 to 9 !
1 分熟是 “Rare”
5 分熟是 “Medium”
9 分熟是“Well-done”
And you can pick any odd number in-between. Smart isn’t it?
How would you cut the steak?
Cutting
Style 1: the baby style
Your piece is served. Can you cut it totally and eat it piece by piece?
Of course not! This way of cutting is only for children!
You should behave like an adult, check below
Style 2: The USA Zig-Zag
You are too lazy to use both hands? Here is the simple way (sorry dear American friends)
Hold the fork with left hand, knife the right one (the contrary if left-handed). First you can cut a piece, and rest your knife on the plate. Then switch the fork to your right hand and eat the piece. You could repeat the process over and over again. It’s a zig-zag.
Style 3: The elegant European way
This way is considered more elegant.
Hold the fork with left hand, knife the right one (the contrary if left-handed). You cut one piece and then eat. There is no switching the fork or changing hands.
Where to cut
For those having children: you should stop them from cutting from the middle. They may be tempted to do so as it is softer.
The correct way is to start cutting from the edge.
Meat with large bones
Chops, ribs, chicken thighs & legs etc. How to eat them ?
You grab them full hand and eat wildly.
Did you believe my joke? I hope you know us well enough…
With forks and knives please! Hands are (barely) tolerated in (extremely) casual circumstances.
There is some meat left on the big bone that you can’t reach it with forks and knife, and you want to use hands? Well, unless you’re in starvation, otherwise please avoid it.
“I like to chew meat with small bones”
Maybe you do. But no one like to see you chewing them.
In that case, we keep a closed mouth, use the fork to spit the bone out, and carry it to the plate while covering it with our hand.
Finally, take your favourite sauce, a glass of red wine and enjoy the moment!
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