Grilled Water Buffalo Steak

As an appetizer for our Christmas dinner, waiting for the peacock and other food to be ready, I had a one pound water buffalo rib eye steak.

The wild water buffalo is an endangered species that is found in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Thailand. However, the domestic water buffalo, 

which this meat came from, is very common in other areas of the world (98% are found in Asia, but they are also found in South America, southern Europe, the Middle East and northern Africa). As with other wild meat I've tried, I wanted to preserve the natural taste, so the only preparation I made was to put on a little olive oil, seasoned it with salt and pepper 

and put it on our outdoor gas grill. Because it is much more lean than our normal beef, I wanted to avoid over-cooking it. I put it on a very hot grill for about 8 or 9 minutes on one side and then turned it over and cooked it for another 5 minutes on the other side. It looked over-done on the outside, 

but inside was beautifully pink and moist. 

It was very tender, had a flavor much like regular beef, but a tad bit stronger, and was a perfect primer for the rest of the meal.