Good mornin' everyone! :D

[J-P]

My name is J-P (Jean-Pierre), and I had just stumbled upon this forum. I live in Bancroft Ontario (for the moment) and really enjoy the BBQ.

About myself:
I own a number of websites (which I will not promote here without permission) and a couple forums. One of them is tropical fish related and the other is cooking related.

I have a some sub-par e-books floating around out there and tonnes of recipes.

I currently work at No Frills as part of the night crew. Prior to that, on the day shift, I used to BBQ every day. 1) to keep the heat out of the house and 2) to save on the electrical costs of running the stove.

I used to own a restaurant as a franchisee but that went belly up 2 years ago due to a misunderstanding between head office and myself.

Prior to that I had lived in Japan for 6 years and came 3rd in our regional competition cook off. Now I find myself doing much research and going back to my roots as an internet marketer and focusing on cooking. Being on the night crew doesn't help though. Some day I hope to break out of that and really get back to the grill.

Cheers, and thanks for having me here
J-P

[roastntoast]

Welcome to BBQtalk J.P

Jules

[Fire_Mgmt]

Welcome aboard!

Being new myself, it's great to see all of the friendly advice that people give over here. Good luck with your present and future business ventures.

[kevinv]

welcome aboard

[expatbill]

Welcome to the forum.

[mikita21]

Welcome aboard, J-P! are you cooking competitively, at all? Some good contests coming up in ottawa and in Quebec, and an amateur thing in Ottawa on Fathers Day weekend. None of those so very far from you, and you sound like you have the ability.............and maybe the itch...........

[thebarbecuemaster]

how was the bbq in japan? good to meet you!

[J-P]

Thanks for the welcomes. As I work full time nights no I am not in the circuit. As for BBQ in Japan goes it is REALLY good. BUT having said that, their cuts are different from ours.

A little history: Japan is a sea faring nation. Their seafood is second to none. They have perfected their technique. Poultry is dating back over 1000 years. You can't just go to the grocery store and get a chicken. You have to have a specific kind of chicken and the dipping sauce can be 100's of years old. Literally.

Beef and pork are a different story. Pork stems from the Americas, while Beef stems from Korea (in terms of cooking styles). They have done a good job at raising the cattle, but there is not much difference in the grilling technique. The way it goes is: Fast, simple and delicious. Once you get outside that realm, forget competition.

I Came 3rd with some porkchops. What held me back was the fact that it was a little too complicated. The men gave me top marks. The women (the cooks) gave me low marks. Too much prep time, too many complicated ingredients. The cook time was good. Served 100 people in under 1 hour. Over there, you have 3 choices really, (shio) salt and or salt and pepper, (tare) a custom dipping sauce, or (miso) a custom blend of rub / dip (in terms of grilling anyway). I did the milk based marinade and got too many questions / it is too complicated.

Another insight to Japan was that chicken breasts are not the most expensive cuts (unlike here). Over there it is actually the thigh. When dealing with the hard and fast flame the fat renders better in the thigh than the breast. Also the "dark meet" is prized. That includes pork as well.

Taking American BBQ / Grilling to Japan didn't work out so well. Taking Japanese BBQ / Grilling to America didn't fair any better. Some day I hope to fuse the two together. But for now... I am a lurker and leaching

P.S. My wife and I were poised to open a restaurant (over there) called Koi. Koi meaning the fish (as I am into that fish) and as it deep, flavorful and strong. Which is traditionally the way I cook. Very much the opposite of Japanese simple cooking.

[thebarbecuemaster]

there is a fancy kind of beef i forgot the name having writers block how expensive was that-i remember now kolb beef how was that

[expatbill]

It's Kobe beef, and it is prohibitibly expensive. The closest thing in North America is Wagyu beef, from the same breed(Wagyu) as kobe. A wagyu brisket will run $8-10.00 lb. plus shipping.

[J-P]

Kobe and wagyu. 2 different cows from 2 different prefectures.

Ok... lets put it this way. If you wanted an average steak it is $100 and it was ok (cut from frozen). Kobe and Wagyu .. are butter. Like really. I have no idea where the cuts came from, but at $25 an oz.. it was great. Then you start up the bill and similar to beer it all starts tasting the same. Greasy.

One or 10 of those slices are fine. making a night of it is BAD... a really bad idea. They are sliced to about 2mm thin and quick grilled. You can't ask for any better tasting or any worse for your health. It is something that you would do once every 2 years or so (aka 1 month's salary).

If I knew the cuts, I could direct you more. I'll have to ask my wife and maybe she can request a chart from a butcher. I only know the most popular. When it comes to Kobe beef served in restaurants, that is a different story. That is sort of like mystery meat.

[thebarbecuemaster]

thanks for the information,
i'd stick with the shrimp if id live in japan and with chicken. do they have lamb chops in japan?

[J-P]

Yes and no. They can get it but it is special order. NZ leg and ribs are not as expensive as you would think. The also import a lot from Australia which is much cheaper than local. Pork in the chain restaurants is labeled as Canadian (yea for the maple leaf!).