I had bought a pack of frozen water buffalo meat from India a while ago. I’ve always only seen these in ground meat format but this time I spotted a sliced meat package and decided to get it.
Buffalo meat from India is very competitively priced and sometimes called carabeef. You’ve probably eaten it before as it’s often used in dishes like rendang since it’s halal and cheaper than beef.
I decided to cook it last night as my studio had a 5 hour total blackout which resulted in the package of frozen buffalo meat defrosting and dripping smelly blood all over the fridge. It was starting to look like a particularly gruesome *crime scene*.
You will need:
- Buffalo meat
- Eggs
- BBQ sauce
- Olive oil
I first used some olive oil to pan fry the buffalo meat. It cooks very easily when grilled for 1 minute on each side. However, water buffalo meat is supposed to be one tough mother. It sure lived up to its reputation.
I also cooked a couple of sunny side up eggs to go with the steak.
Thus, I continually basted the meat with BBQ sauce using a pressure fryer. I used Frontera Border Barbecue Sauce in the Original Sweet & Smoky flavor. The name is a bit of a repetition since frontera already means border in Spanish. It’s like calling Timor Leste as East Timor – timor already means east in the Indonesian language so East East sounds a bit off. 
Back to cooking (and eating), the buffalo meat was tough – really tough…
The buffalo steak tasted really good with the egg though especially when the runny egg yolk mixes with the BBQ sauce. It’s wonderful but obviously new cooking methods needs to be applied since the meat was tough to the point of being near inedible.
I had to use a very sharp steak knife and masticated each piece until my jaws were so sore I was sure I won’t be able to talk for 3 days.
It was so tough I was afraid I’ll need someone to perform the Heimlich maneuver on me each time I swallowed. I wish there was someone with me so if I choked while swallowing the half-chewed buffalo meat, at least I won’t die unnoticed for several hours.
I was seriously worried and wondered if was possible to do it myself in case of an emergency and called my better half while eating to verify I was still alive and not blue in the face with a piece of buffalo meat stuck in my throat. -_-
“at least I won’t die unnoticed for several hours.” <– what the….. HAHAHAHAHA !!!
Haha! I was seriously concerned Rose! 🙂
I had to force swallow each bite!
Wahhhhh!!!! Home cooking again? Hmmmm…very domesticated these days, eh? Muahahahahaha!!!!
They say the best beef noodles (and I would say, in the world) in KK make use of buffalo meat – VERY nice! Probably better in soups and stews – can simmer till nice and tender.
Ummmm…why did the egg yolks turn wrinkly like that? Never seen that before…
Indeed! Haha! We went grocery shopping again yesterday night! 🙂
Got some Belgium endives (RM 16) and Holland celery roots (RM 20) – new stuff to try in the kitchen.
Yeah, the Inanam, KK “gu bak mee” (beef noodles) uses buffalo too, some of the stalls at least. I’ve had them while I was there – great stuff.
The egg yolks is coz I used a very hot pan (different one) and poured EVOO and left it there for a long time coz I was tending to the steak – thus when I poured in the eggs, it blistered from the heat.
Okay this is scary, no buffalo meat for me next time :x. I agree with you, runny egg yolk does make a good combination with steak, you may add some fresh greens to balance up the meal too! 😀
You just gotta be careful while eating! 🙂
It’s nice in rendang or if sliced very thinly though – then it won’t be that tough.
I wanted a diner style meal – so just steak and eggs! Haha!
HB. I made braised beef brisket before and it does take a few hours in a dutch oven pot. I also use bar bq sauce in it. It turn out very good indeed. For pork like pork butts cooked same for few hour and when it done very tender you can pull meat apart for pull pork sandwich or burrito or taco.
Yeah, I want to do that too! 🙂
Pulled pork sandwich sounds good.
Can’t do it with buffalo meat though – it’s incredibly tough!
awh, cannot eat, thanks for sharing the guide
Yeah, my better half doesn’t eat beef or lamb either. 🙂
She can eat tiny portions though – not a religious thing, just the gamey taste.
Yeah, we dont want to see headlines stating… “Choked by buffalo meat” … hahahaa… No more second time buying this,right? Buffalo meat.. gosh.. just hearing it also can imagine how tough it is already! 🙂
Haha! That would be quite a way to go! 🙂
I would have to perfect a recipe that makes it tender first…
…or use meat tenderizer or break up the fibers with a mallet. 😀
Hi Mei! So happy to get some response. Sometimes I feel i’m taiknlg to myself…hmm..maybe tt’ll be good. Y don’t u try it & tell me?? You can cook a soupy veg dish with chinese spinach (bayam) or chancai (emperor sprouts?), salted eggs and century eggs and lots of chicken stock.Raina…u cooked?? D duck?? Wah, miracles r happening!!Haha thanx 4 ur encouragmt girl!
braise it next time? if there’s a next time 😉
I plan to hit it very hard with one of those tenderizing mallets! 🙂
You could also try the baking soda/vinegar method. It does a great job of tenderizing any meat. Just soak the meat in a combination of baking soda and vinegar for 20 – 30 minutes, rinse thoroughly and pat dry.
Thanks for the tip Mari! 🙂
Yeah, I’m planning to use meat tenderizer for the next time I cook this.
Baking soda + vinegar sounds like a better way to go about it! Cheers!
The buffalo meat is probably better braised or slow-cooking…although I have to admit you may end up with dry and coarse bits of meat instead…!! But again kudos on your experimentation…hahaha.
Once again I have to say I really love reading your cooking/food posts 🙂
Yeah, that’s what most of the recipes says anyway! 🙂
I wanted to eat a steak though.
I should have used a slow cooker to go about it, that would make a nice stew.
Thanks for reading Jyannis! 😀
Oh no…I cannot imagine how tough this meat can turn out to be, dear. Another piece, you better have the meat tenderizer ready..haha.
We’ll need a meat tenderizer for the next batch dear! 🙂
Yeah, or else you’ll have to learn how to do the Heimlich maneuver on me!
I already know how to do it so no worries, can practice if you choke dear. Haha! <3
I dont know why you even bother to try swallowing that tough piece of meat. Worth the choke or not? LoL! Buffalo meat! The name itself scares me..
I have chewed and worked so hard at it so I figured all that hard work will go to nothing if I didn’t swallow! 🙂
Hahaha!
Well, maybe you’ve eaten it before coz the roadside stall nasi campur I go to says they use it in rendang!
You are so creative in the kitchen and would cook anything that moves or flies! This is the first time in my life I read about someone cooking Water Buffalo!!! Did I hear it right?
Please give me your address! I want to move in next door and be your guest.
Yeah, it’s water buffalo from India! 🙂
It’s actually a very cheap meat which they export – they also use the milk but some of them are bred for the meat.
Lots of nasi campur places here use it, you can see the wrapper around sometimes, this is the only brand I’ve ever seen in Malaysia.
Exercising your jaw huh?! ^_^
But the result looks yummy.
Thanks Mel! 🙂
The steak is good coz of the awesome BBQ sauce. It’s RM 20+ for that small bottle so it better be good!
I used half a bottle. Haha!
The buffalo meat costs less than that – it’s meant as a cheap export from India – water buffalo meat. It can be nice if you can tenderize it though!
Dude…always a joy to read your culinary post. That sure was some sorry ass looking Sunny side up, but it’s all good, as Sixthseal’s loyal reader, your cooking skill has improved since Hygen ( that Surveillance company) days.
Hey, we are heading down to to Texas to spend the weekend… land of BBQ Beef ribs. We’ll think of you when we chuck down beer, racks of beef ribs , pounds of briskets and fried Okra aka Texas Pop corn. Cheers.
Thanks buddy! I hope you and FF is having lots of good ol’ fun in Texas! 🙂
Yeah, I’ve heard about the legendary Texas beef ribs!
I also still have the bottle of hot sauce you gave to me – the 180,000 scoville units one called Da Bomb – awesome stuff.
Haha! Yeah, I remember I just did a bit of mostly cooking from stuff like instant macaroni and cheese:
http://sixthseal.com/2006/09/project-best-way-to-a-womans-heart-macaroni-and-cheese-with-bacon-and-caviar/
I lost *A LOT* of posts (maybe around 40+) on cooking alone though – did omelet with a whole chunk of Edams cheese etc.
Cheers mate and send my regards to FF! 😀
That buffalo meat goes well if you cook it in stew or braise it. Hehehe…or in Shalom’s case..she has it raw:P
Wow! Raw buffalo meat! 🙂
I tried it by chewing a bit off but it was too tough and too nasty (it’s frozen mass produced buffalo from India) to swallow. That’s saying a lot coming from me. Haha!
seems nice…i love steak so much…
But it is like too bloody for me to prepare it myself… 😛
Well, a regular steak would probably taste nicer! 🙂
This one nearly cause me to choke to death. Haha!
Buffalo meat from water buffalo isn’t very tender – it requires certain cooking styles to do right. Maybe you can just ask the butcher to slice off your favorite cut!