Majordomo - Chinatown

Certainly you could make it cheaper yourself but the good pork they buy isn’t that cheap and most people don’t have a smoker or a fryer.

What kind of pork are they using?

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Whatever’s cheapest from Sysco.

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I have no dog in this fight but I was interested to learn that at one wholesale location in SoCal Niman Ranch pork shoulder (Boston butt) goes for $4.95/lb with a whole shoulder still only costing about ~$37.

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Hmm seems a little light to me, Pork Shoulder - CooksInfo. Still not that expensive unless they are using Kurobota pork, SRF Bone-In Kurobuta Pork Shoulder — Snake River Farms. I think you are paying more for the cooking skill than the ingredients. As far as pork roasts go I prefer the shoulder, the Boston butt, to the loin. Much more flavor, much less liable to dry out. I have a Kurobota collar in the freezer right now…thinking of marinating it with shio koji and slow roasting it when I finally get some time off. At any rate I don’t have a dog in this fight either.

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I thought the same thing! I couldn’t get an exact weight since I was ordering ahead of time by the case and was surprised that one case (with two butts) only weighed a hair over 15lbs total. Definitely going to factor that into my next purchase. The Niman Ranch loins were about the same size as your average commodity pork so I’m not sure what accounts for the difference in the butts. Breed maybe?

I absolutely prefer shoulder to loin, too. Probably my favorite cut of meat. That Kurobota collar you have plans for sounds like a real contender, though! Please post about that when you get around to it (and thanks for this update). I’m dying to find a wholesale price on Snake River products as someone outside the industry.

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It wasn’t even that delicious if they’re serving the same pork shoulder (except larger) that they had on the menu before. In addition the side of Majordomo’s fried chicken might as well not be there (some of the worst fried chicken I’ve had in years). Yah, $325 (plus tax & tip?) is not a good deal.

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Screw that, if its the same size portion from before the truffles you barely have enough for a party of 4 to each get maybe two bites.

(new) smoked prime rib french dip, au jus, pickled onion rings
Thinly sliced prime rib was nice and beefy and I really liked the toasted, beef-fat-buttered bread. And the pickled onion rings are back but seem to have a thicker coating than before.

sugar snap peas, lemon vinaigrette, horseradish
Just as bright and refreshing as before.

roasted duck crispy rice, black truffle, turnip, leeks
The duck and rice were perfect as before. The duck is incredibly tender and softer than felicity huffman’s prison sentence. It really reminds me of the texture of prime rib.
This version came with a truffle puree(?) and fresh black perigord truffles shaved on top. There was truffle flavor throughout but wasn’t overpowering.

I’m pretty sure I would still love this dish if it was covered in natto and stinky tofo so I think, as @attran99 commented, this does seem like truffling the lily a bit.

date cake, okinawan black sugar and whiskey syrup, whipped cream, kinako

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Niman is a step down from the ranches the Momofuku group buys from direct.

Where does Majordomo source their pork from?

Second on this question! I’d love to take a crack at sourcing whatever they use, too

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Yah, whenever a restaurant sources pork from a superior farm they like to plug it on their menu. When they don’t I assume it’s from a conventionally raised pig farm, nothing special and not humane.

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Personally have no idea where it comes from but from listening to the DC podcast a lot what Robert is saying sounds exactly like what DC would do . Get a good quality product then go direct to use his buying power to get the best deal.

How Robert knows this I have no idea.

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Robert wrote something about Sysco. I don’t know what he was responding to or about.

Making stuff up is pretty easy.

He was probably responding to my initial question on where they get their pork from. He was being sarcastic as Sysco is a mass food provider for many restaurants.

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They source this pork shoulder from Peads & Barnetts, which shows up at the local Hollywood Farmers Market (and other markets) so we can do a direct cost comparison. :wink:

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Funny!

I thought he was responding to you but he replied to @aaqjr. :crazy_face: Yeah, Sysco doesn’t seem superior.

Thanks @Chowseeker1999!

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$9.50 / lb. in 2013. I believe they buy from a handful of similarish independent SoCal ranches.

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