China beef

I went to my regular frozen foods supplier today to buy some steaks and lamb shanks. I normally make a trip there to buy things that I couldn’t find in hypermarkets. For example, I bought four lamb shanks for only RM20+ and per lamb shank is only about RM6. I need to pay more than twice the amount from Cold Storage and that too, are not very attractive looking cut of meats. So, I love to visit the frozen foods supplier for fresher supplies as they supply in bulk to restaurants.

Have you wondered where the local restaurants sourced their steaks from? All along, I thought those steaks are from Australia or USA. However, sometime back, imported steaks had some problems due to mad cow diseases and only Australian and New Zealand beef were allowed to be imported into Malaysia.

Well….I discovered that the beef from China costs only half the price of Australian beef. Apparently, most restaurants now serve steaks imported from China. Nowadays, only the bigger restaurants serve air flown steaks from USA. So, I also bought a slab of tenderloin. It is pre-packed and weighs about 2 kilogrammes. The cost of the whole tenderloin is only RM70+. We had it cut into four servings, each servings enough for my family.

Now that I know the beef is from China, I think I won’t dare to ask for medium rare steaks when eating out anymore. I don’t know. I am still doubtful. I will have it cook through because I am used to Australian and New Zealand quality control but not China.

My next problem now is to how to prepare steaks. My growing teens crave for cow, cow, cow and so I am going to make steaks at home. Maybe I will slice the tenderloin into smaller slices, season with teriyaki sauce and other sauces and have them grilled on the spot. I have a an electric grill and we can cook the meats like Korean bbq.

6 Replies to “China beef”

  1. I forgot the name of the shop but it is located at Jalan Kelawai and Nunn Road junction, I think. Actually, it is not even a shop but rather a home.

  2. Wow… thanks for the info. I also enquired of such few days ago from the non-halal section of Cold Storage. They told me that our Govt currently banned meat supply from NZ. Formerly, it was Australia, now is NZ. It must be due to Halal requirements again…dohhh.

    Btw, some people told me that Australia’s mutton is tougher than NZ because the sheeps slaughtered were meant for the wool not for the meat purpose. I saw some NZ mutton or beef ( I can’t recalled which type of meat) at Gama’s Frozen compartment-the box in front of the chicken corner sometime ago.

  3. Hi..lilian, thanks for the information….just yesterday..son H had been asking me where to get cheaper tenderloins and lambshanks….in Penang.At one time he wanted to cook his favourite dish using lambshanks….but it cost more than a 100rm for just a few pieces in the supermarket…..
    This teenage son of mine is always craving for more beef too…especially steaks….though he can cook for himself…buying expensive cuts….will defer his plans of eating his favourite dish. He told me there is a shop too in along Abu Siti lane ….selling imported food. Beef fr. China?….no wonder i see some price difference…thought it was local ones…but i always buy the australian ones….

  4. sweet jasmine – For the life of me, I cannot recall the name of the distributor. They don’t have a sign or anything, just a private home at the corner of Jalan Kelawai. Can you ask Erina of Cooking Island? She knows the owner.

    pixen – And we don’t even get Italian cured meats like salami, prosciutto and all those goody stuffs anymore. So sad. Those deli are selling some ugly huge slabs of fake looking ham only, I think Meaty brand. It looks so fake lah. to make things easy, just put a blanket rule that all imported meats are not halal mah can lor hor? So, we can import all we want and people who are not suppose to eat non-halal, just stay away from imported meats. Simple, right?

  5. Yes… I agreed on that. My friends in Dubai told me that they can get meats from NZ with no problems and also non-halal products. I ate once dried beef slices sold by Eurodeli @ Giant,Penang (and also @ Tesco non-halal sections.) Few days later, no more available – all sold out! I asked them when is their next shipment – answer? No eye deer! My favorite is Viande de Grison (air-dried beef from Grison,Switzerland.) I tasted another version in Thailand produced under licensed by a German company. You can get them @ Tesco – Lotus Supermarket. There, you can find proscuitto, Lardon,etc made in Thailand. Very cheap indeed but still as you know taste & quality of the bovine in both Thailand & Switzerland are totally different! Maybe when you’re in Thailand, try to find this Tesco-Lotus supermarkets – you can try to ‘tar pau’ some back home.

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