Which may not make much sense to the more vegetarian among us who might think a New York strip has something to do with losing your clothes in Central Park to the beat of The Beast Within. But, perhaps more prosaically, the NY strip, sirloin, eye rib, T-bone, and filet mignon are all indications of where from the bovine body the meat has been sliced. Though the terms are not quite the same on one side of the Atlantic as the other.

No, we are not going to draw – even in words – one of those grim pictures you may find in some butcher shops showing where each cut is made, but in the opinion of John Lam of the US Meat Export Federation the rib, short loin and sirloin usually make the best steaks. “That is because those areas of the animal are furthest away from the working muscles – the legs,” he says. “So the meat in those upper areas tends to be very tender, and quite fatty. Perfect for steaks.” Does that mean we pooh-pooh anything that’s labelled rump or chuck? Not necessarily, it all depends on the breed of the cattle – you might still get a decent chew out of a good bit of rump from the right beast.

A popular choice for chefs in Hong Kong seems to be USDA prime steak. Now we all know that a man is not a man in the land of the free unless he hoes into a huge slab of ox every so often. Preferably from his own cattle ranch – though that may not have much in the way of quality control. But the United States Department of Agriculture is very careful about the meat it labels for the best of markets and USDA-approved prime is meat from cattle raised under very strict controls. Which, as Chef Tin Ka Ming from The Steak House, InterContinental, says makes it some of the best around, especially for steaks. “US beef tends to have a richer flavour than other countries’ beef,” he says. “The different raising standards mean more fat, better taste and texture. It’s just good quality beef.”

But unfortunately for the more avid steak connoisseurs, the HK Government got a fright some years back at an outbreak of BSE (aka mad cow disease) and came down hard on what meat could be imported into the SAR. So now only boneless beef from the US passes our borders. Though that is an improvement – for some time no US meat was allowed here at all. And that, says Chef Tin, was probably when the local market started investigating wagyu beef, typically a fattier, richer meat with extensive marbling and more flavour.

Traditionally wagyu is Japanese but Hong Kong is very skittish about the possibilities of BSE from the land of the rising sun, so disallows any imports of Japanese beef. Most of HK’s wagyu comes from the Australians who learnt the art of wagyu breeding from the Asian experts themselves. Unlike US corn-fed cattle, wagyu animals are raised on alfalfa, corn, barley and wheat straw, though it is not only diet that marks a wagyu steak as supreme – the animal’s age, genetic quality and how much it has exercised are all part of the quality mix.

Now, Lam says, because of the barriers to BSE, the import of Australian and wagyu beef has outstripped that from the US. Before the controls, in 2003, HK$615 million worth of beef was shipped into HK from the States and only HK$154 million from Australia. Last year the situation had well reversed – US beef imports only totalled HK$123 million while the Australians made HK$313 million from their beef sales to us. Lam believes it is time controls against US beef are lifted, as the threat of BSE has long gone. If (or when) that happens he is confident US beef will once again be Hong Kong’s meat of choice, particularly for steak.

The Steak House Winebar and Grill (InterContinental Hong Kong, 18 Salisbury Road, TST, 2313 2323)
We had a taste of the US prime rib eye and the Australian wagyu striploin here. Both were grilled medium/medium-rare on the venue’s charcoal grill, the only one in HK. While the wagyu had a more subtle flavour, it was far oilier and fattier than the rib eye. The Steak House offers a variety of homemade mustards seasoned with the likes of garlic, onion and horseradish to accompany the steak, and the horseradish mustard went very nicely with the wagyu. The rib eye on its own had a robust flavour, very meaty and almost smoky: Chardonnay oak-smoked salt from the special rock salt selection gave the steak an extra kick. Despite the posh surroundings this is a fun, relaxed place – you even get to pick your own type of steak knife from a set of 10. Apparently, regulars get their favourite knife placed in an engraved box, and brought to them every time they dine.
Show me the money: Steak entrees start at $490
What else is on the menu: It’s not called a wine bar for nothing, the adjoining room has a large collection of labels on offer, and many varieties of red and white available by the glass. The desserts are legendary – they are huge! The salad bar is also a popular fixture.