Untangling Wagyu
The low-down on Wagyu beef, and why it seems to be different all over the world!
Wagyu beef is shrouded in mystique and legend, and there are fables about the Japanese shrine of all beef – the Kobe region. These tales have expanded and broadened until the whole subject is a real minefield of misinformation and confusion. In fact, the only thing that can truthfully be said about the word ‘Wagyu’ is that you’ll undoubtedly be eating tender beef! But to sort out the turkeys from the ducks, you need to know some facts.
And the first thing is that real and authentic Wagyu beef from the Kobe region might not be entirely to your liking! Yes, it’s so succulent and tender that you can cut it with a fork. But it’s also extremely rich in flavour and quite oily, depending on how it’s cooked. In Japan, it’s usually served as thin slivers on the plate. And it’s barely cooked; often it’s presented as sashimi, sliced raw, and is not cooked at all, with the flavour reminiscent of a quality, mild-flavoured calf liver
The Japanese Wagyu breed was initially developed over 500 years ago, as work animals, cross-bred repeatedly over the years, and selected for their stamina and endurance. One by-product of this was their muscle structure, which had become delicately and uniformly interlaced with a network of fat. (Run-of-the-mill beef cattle in comparison have thicker strands of fat and far less of them.) Thus, it was soon discovered that this type of fat-marbled flesh was really good to eat. And then in 1910, the Japanese brought a halt to any further interbreeding programs, and began to concentrate on improving the diet and physical well-being of their Wagyu herds, in order to bring the beef to perfection.
But in 1975, things began to get confusing. This was when four Wagyu bulls were permitted to be exported to the USA, in a closely monitored program. Oddly, it was intended to encourage American farmers to produce quality Wagyu beef to take some of the pressure off the Japanese industry – and 80% of the American-produced Wagyu was then exported back to Japan, until everything came to a halt with the international spread of mad cow disease (BSE) in 2003.
Today things have changed dramatically. Firstly, any breeder, anywhere, is now able to produce ‘Wagyu beef’. However, the way that international conventions have evolved, this might not be quite what it seems. Over the past 10 years, farmers in Australia, the US and the UK have been taking advantage of the trend for high-end luxury meat and setting-up herds of their own. But if you talk to Japanese Wagyu lovers, they’ll just sneer about the quality of the non-Japanese stuff. Because, today, all that’s needed to do this is a couple of test tubes of Japanese bull sperm. The legal name on the menu (or in the shop) is the breed of the bull that fathered the animal. So that Wagyu steak on the menu will have had a pure-bred Wagyu daddy, but the mother could have been a Hereford or a Friesian. It’s perfectly legal, but it’s also somewhat misleading, as a pure-bred animal will not produce the same quality of meat as one that is mixed.
In comparison, over in the Kobe region of Japan, real Wagyu mummies and daddies are making real Wagyu babies. The Japanese animals are kept indoors for most of their lives, and fed an intensive high-grain diet to enhance the trademark marbling. They are given beer to drink in the hot summer months to increase their appetite, and have daily massages to reduce any muscle problems arising from the limitations of space and exercise. Whatever ethical questions arise from the sustainability of this are resoundingly overridden by the high level of personal care they receive – not to mention the demand, which results in prices of up to $800 a kilo in Japan.
Just to put things in perspective, America is a steak-eating nation and each person consumes 120 kilos (270 pounds) of it every year. They really value a good steak! They have three grades of steak; Select, Choice and Prime, the latter being the best and mainly sold wholesale to distributors and restaurants. Prime comes in at around 25% fat, scoring around five on the international Beef Marbling Scale (BMS). The Kobe Wagyu at its lowest supermarket grade begins at five and rises to the most sought-after quality, which scores 12 on the BMS. And the other very special thing about the Japanese Kobe/Wagyu is that the fat is not just any fat – this is a soft fat with a low melting point, due to its high proportion of monounsaturated fats, to go along with high levels of omega 3 and 6. Which means that it’s healthier than normal beef. And also, it’s where the flavour of meat is located, and this makes it the juiciest, richest steak in the world.
Perhaps just too rich for some? A recent survey by the UK’s Daily Telegraph newspaper compared taste tests of pure Japanese Wagyu ($340 a kilo) with two different sorts of ‘hybrid’ raised Wagyu (USA costing $260 and Australian at $110 respectively). All agreed that the Japanese Wagyu simply dissolved in the mouth, but had a strong flavour and was not easy to eat a lot of; it needed to be savoured – no half-kilo steaks here! The $260 cut looked less delicate and the fat felt soft and waxy, but when cooked it had a good beefy flavour and a rich juiciness, as if it had been cooked in butter. And the cheapest, at $110 a kilo, looked extensively marbled and was close to the pure-bred Wagyu in flavour and texture, although without quite the sumptuous mouth-feel.
The bottom line is . . . pure-bred Japanese Kobe Wagyu is an acquired taste, and too rich to just tuck into. The chances are that if it says ‘Wagyu’ on the menu then it’s a cross-breed, but a good one – one of the best steaks anywhere. It all depends on the circumstances. If you want to fill your belly like a cowboy, then this is not the way to go. But, if you’re looking for a leisurely fine-dining experience, just about anything on the menu that says ‘Wagyu’ will make you more than happy. So now you know!
Rob De Wet