An all-beef journey at an Asian-infused cantina
MANILA, Philippines — Even for chefs and diners who love beef, one of the biggest challenges is doing an all-beef menu.
But that’s what chef Carlo Miguel, culinary director of Cloud Eats (the “largest cloud restaurant group in Asia”) did with his special event at Sunae Asian Cantina at BGC called “The Best of Canadian Beef.” The four-course wine-pairing event focused just on that: the best available beef from Canada, recreated with an Asian fusion spin.
To celebrate Canada — where the air is clear, the grass is green and reponsible ranching thrives — and to play off of Sunae’s Southeast Asian tastes, chef Miguel was invited to create a four-course menu specially paired with wines from Sunae suppliers Chandon, Philippine Wine Merchant and Wine Warehouse.
One of the fun things we like about Sunae Asian Cantina, Nikkei Food Group owners Jackie and Carlo Lorenazana’s fun bistro-style eatery at One Bonifacio Highstreet Mall, is the way chef Christina Sunae continues to reimagine Asian fusion. The chef, Korean-American but raised in Pampanga by a Filipino family, nimbly mixes her Asian inspirations to come up with, say, a menu composed of vegan Tiger Cracker appetizers, Curry Puffs and burnt cabbage salad.
Of course, chef Miguel does a complete 180 with his beef menu, which runs until Jan. 15, 2023. The chef, who is president of the LTB Philippines Chef Association, has cooked and lived in Sydney and Prince Edward Island, Canada, and returned to the country 20 years ago. So he knows his beef. “It’s not easy, actually, to do three courses of meat, to make it come out with some progression,” he says. “I wanted to take inspiration from Sunae and what they serve here, which is not my normal thing; I’m more European, Italian. So I took inspiration from here, and went down that street.”
The three courses feature top-grade cuts AAA Picanha, AAA bone-in ribeye and Canadian Angus ribeye. I naturally had to ask about the differences between Australian, US and Canadian beef. “I would say Canadian beef is closer to Australian beef than it is to US beef,” he says. “The cows get some grass before they finish them on grain. And they’re not finished on corn, as in the US; sometimes it’s wheat. So the flavor profiles are closer to what I get in Australia on the grass-fed beef, definitely more flavorful than the US beef. When the cows get on grass, it gives them a more flavorful meat, when they balance it right.”
We opened with — you guessed it — beef: slices of sous-vide AAA Picanha that was nicely grilled and paired with a green mango kimchi. The Picanha was mouth-meltingly soft, and the specially made kimchi added lots of zest. This was paired with a Chilean Errazuriz Max Reserva Carmenere, as we would be drinking all reds this evening (the pairings were generally inspired by the dishes, so this Brazilian cut called out for a South American wine).
For his second course, chef Miguel went more Thai with a platter of bone-in ribeye, which we wrapped in lettuce and coriander leaves, served with a Crying Tiger sauce (generally featuring cayenne and crushed red peppers, sugar, distilled vinegar, some garlic, oregano and cumin). We paired this with a French bottle, a Le Grand Noir Cabernet Sauvignon.
This is the carnivore’s delight: a wonderful, juicy steak, wrapped in leaves bursting with a tangy Asian sauce. Doesn't get any better than this.
Or does it? The third course was a bit special to the chef: it’s Canadian Angus served with a rendang puree, jasmine rice, pickles, kafir lime leaf and krupuk.
“The third dish is a play on my wife’s grandmother’s rendang,” he notes. (His wife is half-Indonesian.) “This rendang is full-flavored, I’ve just toned down the heat a little for the Filipino palate.” We loved the krupuk crunchiness paired with the delicious Asian sauce and lightly zesty strips of beef. The best wine of the evening came with it: a Trapiche Broquel Malbec from Argentina that took the flavor profiles to new levels.
This had to be followed with something slightly tart to bring us back down to earth: a wonderful baked calamansi soufflé pudding by Sunae served with a pandan-infused coconut mascarpone.
The thing about Canadian beef is that it comes from similar geographical profiles as US and Australian beef — lots of open grazing land — but adds fresh air and cooler climates, which are “like a natural meat locker” (says the menu) for raising cattle.
In the hands of a chef who’s seen and tasted all the best beef in the world, and thoughtfully given it a fun Asian spin, this makes the Best of Canadian Beef festival well worth a visit.
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Sunae’s menu featuring Canada Beef is available through the holidays until Jan. 15.
Sunae is at 2F Viewdeck, One Bonifacio Highstreet Mall.
