ironchef
Executive Chef
All I can say is that I am in awe. That meat looks perfect. I have a 30th anniversary coming up next June. Why not? Cheaper than going to Ruth's Crist, and I have much better wine than they do. I'm really glad I saw this thread. Thanks ironchef.
There are lots of differing opinions as the what temperature to cook Kobe, but my preference is medium rare, not rare like some others suggest. The reason for this is because there is so much fat in Kobe, getting the beef cooked to the 130-135 degree range helps the fat melt, which in turn makes the beef even more tender and flavorful IMO. When the steak is too rare, the fat doesn't melt as thoroughly and IMO you don't get as full a flavor. The only exception I'll make when cooking Kobe rare is if it's going to be sliced very thin, and used with something like sushi or served tataki style. If it's going to be eaten like a regular steak where bigger pieces are going to be chewed and consumed, then medium rare I think is best.
But again, to each his own. You can always cut off a smaller piece, cook it rare, and see if you like it better than medium rare. You can always cook a steak more. And your steaks should also taste better than Ruth's Chris. They make their steaks taste good because they use an obscene amount of butter (not that it's a bad thing). With Kobe, you don't even need butter. Just baste it with whatever fat is in the pan with some fresh thyme sprigs and bruised garlic cloves.