IF IT'S WAGYU BEEF... IT MUST BE JAPANESE!

NO BEEF CAN USE THE WAGYU MARK IF IT IS RAISED OUTSIDE JAPAN


CLASSIFICATION

WAGYU CUTS

There are sixteen cuts in a beef cow, but the most well-known and popular Wagyu beef cuts are sirloin, tenderloin and ribeye: these are the easiest and most tasty cuts, and precisely for this reason are also the most expensive.

Many of our customers have also decided to try the other cuts, which are cheaper but just as tender.

To name but a few, rump is tender with high, extremely uniform marbling and is suited to most types of cooking; chuck rib is tender and has a good consistency, with high marbling, and is ideal for yakiniku, steaks, skewers and sukiyaki; while Chuck Tender is marbled with a light, sweet flavour that becomes stronger when chewed well.

The belly is considered a less noble cut but has a great consistency and a good flavour, due to the high concentration of fat, and is used, for example, to prepare Wagyu hamburgers. We can assure you that once you’ve tried one, you’ll never go back.

Our Wagyu Burgers are a blend of precious Wagyu beef A4/A5 and Piedmontese Fassona. They are extremely juicy, with a buttery consistency and a rich, aromatic flavour.

Another part of Wagyu beef that you mustn’t throw away is the fat. When you have some left over, use it like high-quality butter or lard to prepare lots of recipes, it has a wonderful aroma.

Remember that Wagyu fat is special and that, as it is a mono-unsaturated fat, it is not harmful to human health.

The strict farming methods aim to prevent any kind of stress:
the cows live in very clean barns with sawdust on the floor, which is changed often, they always have spring water available to them (some farms even heat this in the winter) and the feed is of the highest quality. The use of antibiotics is strictly forbidden throughout Japan.

Movement and physical activity are certainly encouraged, and in some farms the animals are massaged and brushed to help the circulation and distribute the subcutaneous fat better. It is said that some farmers even give their cows beer to drink, although it appears that this legend originated around thirty years ago. from an advertisement for a restaurant in which a Tajima cow was given beer to drink.


WAGYU PRICES

Everyone knows that Wagyu beef is certainly not the cheapest on the market. A kilo of this meat can cost over €1,000. These costs are justified by the fact that Wagyu beef must meet strict standards in terms of production area, quality, marbling, rearing methods and the animal’s pedigree.

The prices however vary greatly according to the type of Wagyu, the meat grade (A, B or C and levels 1-5) and the chosen cut. As explained, cuts like sirloin, tenderloin and ribeye are more expensive, while other cuts, which are in any case very good, cost a little less.


COOKING WITH WAGYU

Today, four main popular meat dishes are prepared with Wagyu beef: sukiyaki, teppanyaki, shabu shabu and yakiniku. Do you know what these are? Let’s find out!

Sukiyaki (すき焼き) is a Japanese dish served nabemono style (鍋物, “things in a pot”), similar to Asian hot-pot.

The dish consists of thinly sliced beef, tofu and vegetables which are put to simmer in a low iron pot in a liquid prepared with soy sauce, sugar and mirin. The food is dipped in a small bowl containing beaten egg before being eaten. 

Teppanyaki (鉄板焼き) is a kind of Japanese cuisine developed after the Second World War where a chef uses knives, forks and two spatulas to cook ingredients like beef, lobster and seafood and vegetables on an iron griddle (teppan) and serves the customer at the counter. The customer takes the food directly from the griddle or eats it on a plate.

Shabu shabu (しゃぶしゃぶ), is similar to sukiyaki, but where the meat and vegetables are cooked together and served with different sauces. The ingredients usually include thin strips of beef.

In this preparation, the pan with boiling water or dashi broth is placed in the centre of the table on a hot burner, with various small plates with the ingredients to be cooked arranged around it; the ingredients are then dipped in bowls of ponzu or sesame sauce. The Wagyu is cooked for a few seconds in shabushabu.

Finally, Yakiniku (literally, grilled meat), is a BBQ-style dish inspired by Korean cuisine, where the meat and vegetables (peppers, carrots, mushrooms, onions) are cooked on griddles in the centre of the table.

The typical ingredient is marinaded Wagyu beef, but other types of meat are also used – pork or chicken – as well as fish. 

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