Wynn Magazine - Las Vegas
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/914167
51 striation of marbling. It's rare for customers to come in knowing about Snow Beef, and our staff is trained to educate them. People always think Snow Beef is Kobe because of the marbling, and in this case a picture is worth a thousand words." On his trips, Hashimoto tries all kinds of cuisines to come up with new ideas for his seasonal menu, which usually changes right on the first day of the season. "Traditional Japanese food has so many aspects, from intricate kaiseki to street food, and I always bring back influences. But with Snow Beef I don't play around—we serve it two straightforward ways—because I want to showcase the beef itself. But I change the sides to reflect the changing seasons, so in fall and winter I use a lot of root vegetables, apples, pomegranates, , and we cook a lot of them on the robata grill." This is a very traditional method of open fire cooking often used for yakitori, which uses binchotan, a type of Japanese hardwood charcoal that burns cleanly and at very high temperatures. At Mizumi, Snow Beef is offered as either a starter or main course. The appetizer is done tataki style, raw thin slices presented tableside and then cooked in front of guests on a hot stone, "so they can appreciate the visual of the raw beef." As an entrée, a 4-, 6-, or 8-ounce steak is pan-roasted simply in the kitchen and served with seasonal sides. Japanese steak is always bone- less, and because it is so rich, even four ounces is a lot for one person, so the larger portions are usually for splitting. Hashimoto also creates a tasting menu that varies on a daily or weekly basis, but he always offers the option of upgrading the protein, be it seafood or quail, Kobe or Snow Beef, in order to encourage guests to try it. "You get a good deal on the tasting menu versus à la carte. If we get repeat guests who have had it before, they might want to try it a different way, and I have seared it and served it on rice as nigiri sushi, or skewered it and cooked it over the charcoal robata grill." Snow Beef may be a once-in-a- lifetime meal, but that doesn't mean you can only have it once. 過培訓，會把個中區別講解給客人聽，在視覺上的直觀比較很重要。人們 通常認為雪花和牛就是神戶牛，因為油脂花紋看起來差不多，這時候用照 片就能充分說明個中區別。」 Hashimoto會在日本之旅中嘗試各種日本美食，為他的季節性菜單加 入新的想法。新菜單通常在新季節開始的第一天推出，比如9月21日。「傳統 的日本料理內涵極其豐富，從繁複精細的懷石料理到街頭小食，我總是能 在其中找到新靈感。但唯獨對於雪花和牛，我不會玩弄烹飪花樣，只會用兩 種簡單直接的烹飪方式去處理，因為我想要展示牛肉本身的美味。但我會 改變配菜來呼應季節的變換。因此在秋冬季，我使用了大量的根莖類蔬菜， 以及蘋果，石榴等等，用爐端燒的方式來燒烤。」這種爐端燒方式在傳統上 通常用於烤雞肉串， 所使用備長碳在燃燒時能產生高溫而且很少油煙。 雪花和牛在「泓」日本料理作為開胃菜或主菜供應。用於開胃菜時會 先稍微炙烤，切成薄片奉上，然後由廚師在客人面前用熱石烤熟。「這樣 客人們可以欣賞到生牛肉的美。」菜式份量是2安士的可分享份量。作為主 菜的話，可選4、6或8安士的牛扒，煎熟後配以時令配菜奉上。日式牛排通 常都是無骨，而且因為味道豐富濃郁，4安士的份量已經足夠一人食，更大 的份量則可以大家分享。 Hashimoto還設計了小份量的品嚐菜單，包含每日或每週的特選菜 式，還有加入了更多蛋白質菜式的升級版，比如海鮮或鵪鶉，神戶牛或雪 花和牛，以鼓勵客人嘗試多些菜式，也是非常實惠的選擇。「相比起單獨 點菜，這個品嚐菜單其實更實惠。如果有回頭客之前已經品嚐過這些菜 式，可能想要試些不一樣的，我會把肉煎一下配上米飯做成握壽司，或是 用爐端燒的方式做串燒。」雪花和牛可能是一生中品嚐一次的味覺盛宴， 但你可以用更多方法來享受它的極致美味。 PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERIC JAMISON Devin Hashimoto大廚是 為數不多參觀過北海道 「和牛大神」農場的人 Chef Devin Hashimoto is one of only a handful of chefs to have met Hokkaido's "Wagyu Meister."