The Great Tomahawk Steak Experiment

The friends rounded us up for dinner because they wanted to grill tomahawk steaks for the first time, just to see if they were worth the hype. Okaaaay. Potluck! The hosts provided the mains of beef and such delicious garlic mash. The rest of us brought seafood white beehoon in gravy, fried rice, sotong balls and curry puffs, a salad of stir-fried mushrooms and peppers with pomegranate seeds, homemade spicy grilled chicken, homemade hummus and chips.

Tomahawks are pricier than regular boneless ribeye, mainly because of its weight. The jury’s still out on whether the extra few inches of bone make a difference to the final flavors of the meat. It’s tough for the marrow to melt on the grill. It kinda works for us because everyone at the table knows what to do with them bones and leftover bits of meat. Bone broth time! Bones would certainly help with a hearty beef soup or boiled as stock for whatever congee, fried rice, etc.

Told you this is why we're happy to have friends feed us steaks at home. They can do absolute justice to the most expensive cuts of beef. The hosts trotted out not one but two types of tomahawks marinated and oven-grilled the same way. One classic Australian with the dramatic long rib bone, and the other was a shortened on-the bone American. Both were grain-fed. I won’t bore you with details of origins; the vote unanimously went to the American prime rib on-the-bone. This is probably going to be an ongoing experiment for the year. Hahahahaha. There’re many different permutations to try- grass-fed beef, different marinades, and moving them to cook on the outdoor grill with charcoal and fire. Such fun. 

Both tomahawk steaks were done beautifully medium to medium rare. A meat thermometer is absolutely essential when we grill a whole fish, and definitely for huge chunks of meat. The hosts shoved them into the oven for an hour and made sure the meats hovered at 56°C before taking them out to sit for five minutes. The done-ness was perfectly distributed. The meat was seasoned simply with salt and pepper. And upon serving, only salt flakes were required. Both meats were flavorful, but tonight, the American tomahawk steak checked off all boxes and won hands down. 

There was another birthday cake, for me. 😋 Everyone’s been busy, stressed, and dealing with lots of absurdity. It was very nice to put those aside for a few hours, make a date to chill out at home, and simply enjoy one another’s company and conversation over great food and drinks.