The Japanese have known the secret of Wagyu beef for centuries, but it wasn't until Japan opened to foreign trade and investment in the late 19th century that gourmands around the world realised what they had been missing out on all these years. That's why today wagyu is one of those truly luxurious ingredients; highly sought after by culinary connoisseurs everywhere. From NYC to Amsterdam, everybody wanted a piece of the pie. Soon enough menus saw everything from Wagyu burgers, wagyu fat and the wagyu sando.
Wagyu’s rise to fame
Wagyu’s rise to fame happened largely due to its famous marbling. The marbling makes for it unique flavour and looks. Go on any social media platform and search for Wagyu and you can find a million videos with people showing you the cross section of a seared piece of wagyu.
Let’s talk about the marbling of Wagyu because meat lovers everywhere know that marbling is key to achieving the ultimate flavour experience.
Marbling refers to the dispersed fat found within a cut’s muscle tissue, giving it superior moisture levels and intense flavour notes. The richer in marbling, the more moistness retained. Marbling is often used as a measure of the quality of meat, and it is one of the key factors that is taken into consideration when grading meat. In the United States, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) grades beef based on the amount of marbling it contains, with the highest grade being "prime" and the lowest being "select."
The Japanese use their own rating for wagyu namely the A rating. Where A1 refers to the lowest score, so the least marbling and A5 being the highest amount of marbling.
Here you can see the different marbling properties by grade.
The Cattle
Wagyu cattle production has been carefully refined over many generations in Japan, resulting in an incredibly high-quality beef. Proponents of these traditional methods are committed to producing wagyu sustainably and organically – the cows graze on both hay and pasture while living stress free lives with individualized care from their farmers. To ensure that only the best quality beef makes it to market, the Japanese government imposes strict guidelines for breeding, feeding, caring for Wagyu's as well as a rigorous certification process all products must undergo before they can be labelled 'wagyu'. The cows eat things like apples, oranges, soybeans, corn and even beer, chocolate and wine. Sounds like my saturday night.
Forbidden to eat
Way before the deliciousness of Wagyu Beef hit our dinner plates, these bovines were living a life far less glamorous. In fact, for almost 2000 years in Japan they served no other purpose than to work - pulling carts containing nobles and aristocrats around or being used as general labor on farms! Similar to modern India in 6th century Japan it was considered wrong-doing to eat meat produced by four-legged animals.
Meji Period
The Meiji Emperor changed the course of Japanese culinary history in 1872 when he ended a centuries-old taboo by daring to eat beef. Not everyone was pleased; 10 monks fearlessly broke into the palace and protested, but tragically four of them lost their lives for it! Undeterred by this opposition, Japan's food culture evolved rapidly over several decades - thousands upon thousands of foreign cows were imported between 1868 and 1919 so that they could merge with native breeds.
1919 marked the dawn of a new era for bovines in Japan! Officials decided to shake things up and breed some foreign cattle like Simmental, Brown Swiss, Devon, Shorthorn with local breeds. The result could only be described as... improved Japanese Cattle! But it wasn't until 1944 that three strains were recognised above all others due to their unique genetic composition - then finally in 1957 Wagyu cows earned official recognition.
United Wagyu Nations
The Wagyu beef industry is one that takes immense pride in not only the quality of its cows, but also their unique lineage. In 1968, trade unions saw fit to ensure these special animals would be carefully monitored and protected from inferior competition; this eventually led to the formation of what we now know as The Japanese Meat Grading Association - a strict governing body for every aspect related to producing this high-grade meat product! Its efforts were so successful that by 1997 it was declared a national treasure within Japan: even export of living cattle became strictly forbidden. Through sheer dedication and passion for upholding luxury standards with unfaltering excellence, today's Wagyu remains nothing less than absolutely world class!
Kobe Beef
Everyone knows Kobe beef - either as the succulent, richly marbled steak on menus around the world or perhaps for its reputation as one of the finest quality meats. But did you know that it is just one type of Wagyu from Japan? 90% comes from Black Japanese cattle and this includes other highly sought after options like Ohmi beef which has less marbling but a deliciously sweet taste!
How to prep
The respectable wagyu preparation is simply a quick sear with minimal fat. In Japan they prefer to do this on a plancha. AdenFilms on Youtube is the biggest library on Youtube for Japanese restaurants that specialise in Wagyu. For some reason I always mentally torture myself watching these videos at 11 in the night.
Market Disruptions
Japanese wagyu is not unique to Japan. The cattle can be raised elsewhere with the same methods to produce a similar type of result. In the past years there has been a disruption coming from Australia where Wagyu cattle is raised. They offer Wagyu for a much lower price than the Japanese but don’t use the exact same methods as the traditional form of raising hence the price.
An Australian Chateaubriand goes for €240 for a kilo in comparison to a Japanese Wagyu which goes for around €600 per kilo for A4. Which is not even the highest grade, Its hard to find a chateaubriand in A5 grade. I bet like a good Bordeaux wine all the top wagyu parts are bought up immediately by the best restaurants or the highest bidder.