In the last post, I showed you the reasons why wagyu is so special and the strict rules to rank them. If u haven’t checked yet, you can check from here!! https://coricori5.medium.com/what-is-wagyu-beef-1-5b3197885956 Today, I wanna show you popular wagyu brands and the best way to cook them!
- Wagyu types
At first, do you know how many types of wagyu are excited? I’m sure a lot of people know about the brands of wagyu, but did you know other than brand, there are four different types of beef? They are separated Japanese Black (Kuroge), Japanese Brown (Akage), Japanese Shorthorn, and Japanese Polled, and more than 90% of Wagyu are Japanese black (Kuroge).
Then, what is the main features of each beef?
Japanese black(Kuroge) -being known for its marbeling, tenderness, and rich flavour. (Brands: Kobe, Ohmi, Matsuzaka..)
Japanese brown(Akage) -having a balanced combination of umami, sweetness, and rich beefy flavour. Mostly raised in Miyazaki prefecture.
Japanese shorthorn -having a good balance of marbling and lean meat, mostly produced in Tohoku and Hokkaido
Japanese polled -lean yet having Wagyu flavour. Cross-bred of the Aberdeen Angus with the Japanese Black.
2. Wagyu brands
Kobe beef, Matsusaka beef, and Omi beef…. There are the three major wagyu brands. In Japan, people call them “三大和牛”(Sandai-Wagyu). They are really popular not only in Japan but also in the world due to the quality of beef. Don’t think only three of them are brands existed…!! Do you know how many brands of Wagyu are existed totally? Choose from 1. 120, 2. 220, 3. 320 ! The answer is…… 3. 320!! Did you expect there are so many brands of Wagyu in Japan? Every brands are created in each regions. Because of this, there are more and more Wagyu brands had being made. However, I cannot show all of brands in this page, so I’ll focus on the three of them!
“Kobe beef”- the king of Wagyu
The №1 beef is Kobe beef!! It is raised in Hyogo prefecture. It has the beautiful marbling, and it makes the amazing tender texture, and the melting point of the fat is as low as 14 degrees Celsius. Thanks to this fat, the beef itself melts in your mouth! Moreover, the sweetness of this beef is unbelievable! You cannot forget how juicy and tasty it is for sure.
The best way to enjoy: ”Sukiyaki” since it can maximise the sweetness and tenderness
“Matsusaka beef”- the art of Wagyu
The rank №2 is Matsusaka beef! It is farmed in Mie prefecture. The melting points of fat is around 17 degree Celsius, which makes the rich texture of this beef. This beef is known for the tenderness from the delicate marbling.
The best way to enjoy: “Steak with salt” to enjoy the taste of beef itself
“Omi beef”- Wagyu with history
The №3 Wagyu is Omi beef! This beef has 400 years of history. The most famous shogun “Toyotomi Hideyoshi” showed it to his allies. This meat is known for its softness from the higher amount of fat in beef.
The best way to enjoy: “anyway but rare” as the flavour of fat is amazing
In this post, I showed you about interesting information about Wagyu. As a Japanese living in Malaysia, I know how it is rare and difficult to get. However, the taste of it is definitely worth the price, and I hope you guys experience them at least once in your life!!! I hope you guys enjoyed it, and don’t hesitate to tell me my english errors:)) I appreciate you guys!! See you soon!
