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Meat and Potato Workshop in Vietnam Promotes Versatility of U.S. Red Meat

Published: Mar 02, 2016

Guest chefs grade participants’ dishes at USMEF’s U.S. Meat and Potato Culinary Training Camp

USMEF teamed with the U.S. Potato Board in a U.S. Meat and Potatoes Culinary Training Camp at the Novotel Hotel in Halong, Vietnam. The two-day workshop, funded by the USDA Market Access Program (MAP) and the Pork Checkoff, provided Vietnamese chefs with new menu ideas for dishes using U.S. beef, pork and lamb.

Sabrina Yin, USMEF director in the ASEAN region, and Tran Thai Nhu Van, trade representative for the U.S. Potato Board, explained the culinary advantages of pairing U.S. red meat with U.S. potatoes and many of the numerous dishes that can be prepared with the products.

“This pairing isn’t necessarily new to the chefs, but what we stressed at this workshop was that if the chefs really understand meat and potatoes, they can combine the flavors to create popular dishes for their customers,” said Yin. “In other words, it’s not just ‘meat and potatoes.’ It’s using certain cuts of U.S. beef or U.S. pork and preparing that cut so it is complemented by potatoes.”

Yin also explained the U.S. beef grading system to the chefs, compared grass-fed and grain-fed beef, detailed the different cuts and specifications of U.S. beef and pork, discussed U.S. processed pork and deli meats and briefly introduced U.S. lamb, which is currently ineligible for export to Vietnam.

ASEAN chefs learned a host of menu ideas pairing U.S. beef and pork with U.S. potatoes

A meat cutting demonstration followed, as guest chefs Norbert Ehrbar and Kurt Kahrs demonstrated the right way to cut and prepare U.S. red meat. This session featured U.S. pork loin rack and pork spare ribs, as well as U.S. beef chuck roll, plate finger, chuck tender, top blade muscle, brisket, and heel muscle.

At a special “Great American Hamburger” session, Yin talked about the different cuts of beef that can be used to make hamburgers and how to safely handle and prepare ground beef.

Chef Kahrs cooked authentic American meat samples for the chefs with an Asian twist: U.S. beef plate finger with Korean gochujang and Japanese miso marinate with U.S. crinkle-cut potatoes and red cabbage slaw in flour tortillas. A U.S. beef heel muscle sandwich with U.S. hash brown potatoes illustrated the versatility of U.S. red meat. For pork samples, Kahrs made U.S. pork spare ribs with spicy corn and U.S. hash brown potatoes.

Participants then cooked U.S. meat and potato dishes, guided by Kahrs and Norbert in a hands-on session.

“The importers were happy that their customers enjoyed the training program,” said Yin. “They told us that some of the participants even ordered U.S. cuts during the workshop’s breaks, so the training really had an immediate impact.”

Chefs photographed and recorded information about the wide variety of meat and potato dishes at the workshop