Automatic rice is nice at this new BBQ joint

A rice machine recently became a star attraction for Beijing foodies. With the push of a button, the precise amount of fluffy, warm rice desired will be dispensed into diners' bowls.

The machine belongs to the newly opened Misumi Yakiniku, a Japanese-style barbecue restaurant that focuses only on meat and rice.

Executive chef Liu Wuzhou has been cooking Japanese cuisine for more than 10 years, specializing in barbecue. He thinks the special thing about Japanese barbecue is that the meat is not seasoned before it's put on the grill, so diners can taste its original flavor.

According to Liu, the beef at Misumi is from Australia. Each animal from which it comes weighs more than a metric ton.

"When the ox turns 1, it's fed a special formula of grains for 200 days so that their meat is tender and has a milky flavor," he says.

The electric grill at the restaurant is specially designed to deliver the same effect as its charcoal counterpart. It can maintain a very high, even temperature, so that the second the meat is added to the grill, its juice is sealed in.

There are several rare cuts available at Misumi, such as marbled rib meat and meat from inside the ox's abdominal cavity.

"One ox has around 3 to 4 kilograms of rib meat, and the marbling is so pretty," Liu says.