Coast? Well yeah but...
Kansai region? Oh c'mon now you're just being blatant.
BEEF?
COW?!?!?!
YES! Thank you.
I'll stop being schizophrenic here.
In the three days I was in Kobe, I had Kobe beef not once, not twice, by THREE times.
Yes, every day. I am a glutton, I realize this. Thanks to the Japanese government for the scholarship! Your money is being spent well!
Before beginning my analysis as well as description, I should recommend people not do this. Please, don't eat that much Kobe beef. It's expensive. It's bad for you. And it's madly delicious.
I'm sure we all know the idea of Kobe beef: Japanese farmers managed to breed a species of cattle with high levels of intramuscular fat. Steak, normally, is rated as you all know, and part of this rating is based on this "marbling" of fat, and the highest ranking has the deepest, best little threads and veins of fat seeping through it. These fat pathways melt under high temperature, and that's what makes steak juicy and tender and rich.
Japanese farmers essentially created a new breed of cattle which is known as "wagyu" (literally Japanese Cow, or 和牛) to build on this idea of richness and fattiness in steak being delightful. This is the largest misconception about Kobe beef, as Kobe beef is a specific TYPE of Wagyu, not an actual breed of cattle itself.
In fact the name "Kobe" beef really only comes from farming techniques associated with the Wagyu cattle raised in Kobe, Japan. Most of you know the farming techniques includes daily massages with sake and feeding the cows beer to increase the appetite and relax them.
Clearly this technique has an effect on fat content, as according to some people the ratio reaches 20%meat/80%fat (to give you an example of comparison, a McDonalds hamburger is something like 70/30) Yes, four times more fat than meat in a steak. And a reverse in comparison to most beef.
This is insane nuts. This is crazy.
Does that even sound appetizing? It should!
How many of you have had foie gras? It's like that, but... steak.
Anyways.
The ability then, to produce large quantities of this steak is of course, extremely limited. Combined with large demand for delicious top quality cow, and you have prices for something like 50 dollars a 150 gram steak (that's about a 5 ouncer), or 300 dollars to the pound.
To be truthful, there is all sorts of Wagyu beef in Japan, and in many ways it seems redundant to go all the way out to Kobe to just try steak. Let alone more than once. Especially considering the whole issue with "hyper branding" in Japan. (which I covered in a previous blog here). In fact, it's very possible that Wagyu vs Kobe have almost little to no serious distinction.
But all I know is that Kobe beef is mighty delicious. And it requires proper technique to produce good results.
Let's examine the ways I enjoyed such steak. (photobomb alert)
Day one, I went to a recommended restaurant called "SteakLand Kobe"
For added effect they have TWO signs, and one is just a legit steak.
This restaurant cooks their steak teppanyaki, 鉄板焼き (quite literally iron plank grill, I love japanese!) style, meaning... er... on a big ol flattop in front of you. For 70 bucks, you get all the fixins. First they serve you filler
Seared scallops, shrimp (head and body, DELICIOUS) and a few root veggies
This also comes with salad, soup, rice, Japanese pickles (tsukemono), and smoked salmon of all things
Then the big boy. The steak.
This is not all mine, there was a guy sitting next to me
You'll notice that the steak is... really really pink. More on that later.
They had trimmed off a piece of the fat cap surrounding this steak, which they then fried up and melted down.
Mmmmm... beef fat.
This is then used to cook some beansprouts and cabbage that comes with your meal.
God... that is evil
You can see the juice just running off the beef, pooling onto the plate. All delicious cow. Also notice the glossy threads of fat through the muscle tissue. This is some rich stuff.
I kind of liked how they cut the steak for me... though honestly the pieces were still not bite sized.
You can't see it, but it was served with garlic chips and a dipping sauce.
To me, this idea of pairing up too much with the food itself, which is so rich and flavorful, is unfortunate. Simple is best when you have essentially one of the finest ingredients in the world at your disposal, let it shine.
In my opinion.
But still, you have the option to eat it as you like, and it was cooked perfectly medium rare, the fat melted and smooth. When you chew this stuff, it turns to liquid, because so little of the beef is actually protein at all. Again... very foie gras like.
SO UMMMM THAT STEAK WAS GOOD.
Came with a yuzu sorbet and coffee at the end. The acidity is a good roundout for the richness of the meat.
Overall, very satisfying.
Day two, I cannot say the same.
I hadn't originally planned on eating steak that day (or ever for that matter), but Kobe has a cute little Chinatown area that I decided to have dinner in. They have all sorts of stalls selling Gyoza, ramen, chinese dishes, etc. One of the stalls was serving kobe beef samplings for just 500 yen. I couldn't pass up the deal.
Folks, I am usually for cheap eats, but in this case, I think you frequently get what you pay for. This was not cooked well, slathered with a overbearing sauce, low end stuff. It didn't even come close to day one.
DAY THREE though, man... back on track!
After realizing I had eaten Kobe beef twice in a row, I decided to round out the trip with a 3rd attempt. Three times a charm after all. Except this time, I went to a very acclaimed restaurant named A-1 steak. Openning in Kobe quite some time ago, the restaurant is now a chain within the Kobe area serving up the goods.
This place cooks your steak, to order of course, in a different fashion, something like a combination of grilling and flambe-ing.
For 60 bucks you get soup, wine, rice, those Japanese pickles, miso soup, and STEAK.
Setting the steak aflame!
The platter he sets ablaze with brandy is really steak covered in delicious, caramelized vegetables, served on cast iron heated plates that actually continue to cook it, rendering more of that OH SO necessary fat.
Glistening, omygoodness
Also clearly lovely. Both very delicious, day one and day 3.
But one thing I MUST point out with Kobe beef.
It's not... beefy.
Like when we think of steak, we think of that deep iron tasting rich meat, high notes beefy smell, deep broody, musky flavor. Kobe beef has the richness, but the actual deep dark flavor is missing, in fact, kobe beef's over all flavor profile is extremely sublime and subtle. It's delicious, but it's hard to compare it to normal cattle.
Combining this fact with the actual color of the meat, which as I mentioned is very light pink, and originally, farmers found that people WEREN'T buying the stuff in America, because the concept of what is "beef" is so different in the states from this Wagyu profile. So Wagyu now are actually bred with Angus cattle to produce somewhat of a hybrid in America, darker flesh and more meaty flavor, but a cut from the amount of fat marbling.
Anyways, this entry is massive so...
Um....
Kobe beef is delicious. Wagyu beef is delicious. Beef is delicious. If you love food, you should try it. You can even find some places that make it amazingly, without spending hundreds of dollars a person.
Now, I have adventures to seek out.
Up up and awayyy!
