TASTE OF MEAT IN SIGAPORE

[eduardomi]

Hey guys!

Is it us, or the beef in Singapore tastes "weird"?

We are used to the taste of American/Mexican beef and after trying different brands of beef in Singapore, they all seem to have the same characteristic taste.

The other day my wife and I bought frozen hamburger beef patties from "Fairprice", while cooking them the smell was different, as if they were rotten. The final proof was the first bite, they definitively tasted weird. We thought we bought a "lemon" packet and ignore the fact.

Other day we bought steaks to cook at home and the same smell was identified, followed by the "weird" taste later.

Anyone who have tried american beef, have you guys noticed this? Does beef really tastes different over here? Does anyone know a place to buy other type of beef?

Many thanks in advance!

E+R

[sundaymorningstaple]

It probably doesn't taste like American Beef because in most cases it's not. For many years, due to the Mad Cow Disease, US Beef was not allowed here. Due to that most of our beef here comes from Australia. Especially that which is found in NTUC Fairprice stores.

[vivienshoshanna]

what are the differences about the taste between the US beef and Australian Beef?

[ttujess]

My hubby and I thought the same thing when we first got here. A friend of mine from NZ says it's because US beef is pumped full of chemicals and whatnot and Aussie beef is not. I'm definitely missing those tasty chemicals and growth hormones
We got some steaks from QB foods though and thought it was excellent. The meat there is much cheaper as well; I believe they are a grocery store supplier.

[poodlek]

I don't know about the differences between the beef in Australia vs USA but I've had some pretty awful cuts since I've been here. However, we did get some excellent super tasty steaks and burgers from Espirito Santo butchery at Great World City. I highly recommend them. Best to forgo the hamburgers from the grocery store, I think.

[eduardomi]

Espiritu Santo in Great World City? Where is that? Did you buy the raw ground beed and made the patties yourself?

Thanks!

@vivienshoshanna: The difference is hard to describe but, at first it smells as if the meat is old, or it was left thawed for a long time to then freeze again. Almost "rotten". Its a very particular flavor that sticks with you for the whole day.

[poodlek]

Espiritu Santo in Great World City? Where is that? Did you buy the raw ground beed and made the patties yourself?

Thanks!

@vivienshoshanna: The difference is hard to describe but, at first it smells as if the meat is old, or it was left thawed for a long time to then freeze again. Almost "rotten". Its a very particular flavor that sticks with you for the whole day.

They made the patties, we grilled them and they were fabulous.

http://www.espiritosantobutchery.com.sg/

They're on B2 of Great World City (shopping mall) but you can order over the phone and they'll deliver to you, if you know what you want. We ended up getting a bunch of stuff for a BBQ and what we ate was all good, but we still have a bunch of sausages and chicken wings in the freezer to get to. I don't believe any of it is frozen prior to selling it.

[snowqueen]

You could try The Butcher at Holland Village. We've had allot meat from there for BBQs and Christmas and its all been fine. They have a web site and it's free delivery over a certain amount.

I can't say I've ever had a problem with the ground beef or Steaks from Cold Storage. The NZ steaks are yummy and tender.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Well, there is another way to look at it.....

The US it the 2nd largest importer of Australian beef in the world. So, are you sure what you are eating in the US is US Beef or are you actually eating Australian beef - unless it's actually marked US Beef by the USDA, you cannot assume that you are eating US beef. In fact, you could actually be eating Skippy! Apparently, that actually happened years ago and Yanks couldn't tell the difference! (Of course that might be scopes material as well)

http://www.foodanddrinkdigital.com/sect ... -us-demand

[x9200]

I would not expect the frozen hamburger beef patties from "Fairprice" to taste like beef in the first place so my guess is something was wrong with the beef steak you bought later. I bought recently frozen hamburger beef patties from Coldstorage and it did not taste like food so beef or not beef was here pretty secondary.
As per edible kinds of beef they taste to me the same as the things I can eat in Europe.

[JR8]

Agree with X9200

I would never buy frozen meat from anywhere, never mind - god forbid - NTUC. Fresh is always going to be better.

I have cooked a lot of USDA meet in the US, and Aussie meat in Singapore. There was no discernible difference in result due to origin (as opposed to quality of product, hanging time etc.) that I was aware of. I say that as a somewhat trained pro-chef.

Try making your own burgers with good Cold Storage beef mince as a starting point. It is simple, and will knock the socks off anything you buy pre-made.

[sundaymorningstaple]

I buy airflown steaks from Australia from NTUC all the time. Frankly, I wouldn't shop at the butchers or Cold Storage or The Marketplace and pay 200% more for the same stuff (okay, NTUC doesn't carry quite the variety but it is still decent airflown (chilled not frozen) Aus Beef. It all turns to Sh*t anyway so it's just fuel for the engine.

[x9200]

I expect raw meat to be fine either from Fairprice or CS* in terms of health safety and freshness but it is more likely that you find something not really edible in FP than in CS esp. for the processed junk food. Simply the market FP serves is less demanding. And again, no way to say anything about the meat in this kind of products regardless the chain distributing it.

*)as a matter of fact I recently had to trash some "fresh" meat from CS and it was not the first time I bought there something of questionable freshness.

[nakatago]

whatever happened to knowing your meat? people all over the world used to do fine with wet markets before all these fancy-shmancy supermarkets came to existence...

(sorta trolling)

[sundaymorningstaple]

Frankly, I'd trust the meat from NTUC before the others if for no other reason as they are the largest distributor of food products in Singapore so their turnover is much, much higher, so, with fresh foods, your chances are getting yesterday's display the next day is rare.