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Another one is Kobe beef. Real Kobe beef is from the city of Kobe in Japan and is only served in a handful of resturaunts in the US (I think 1 in NYC and a few

Another one is Kobe beef. Real Kobe beef is from the city of Kobe in Japan and is only served in a handful of resturaunts in the US (I think 1 in NYC and a few in LV). So next time you see Kobe beef on the menu- you know it’s most likely a lie.

berbec 8y ago
I got Wagu at Morimoto's in Philly. I've never had beef I could cut with my tongue.
tptacek 8y ago
You can get A5 wagyu all over the place in the US. The "tell" that you're looking at fake "kobe beef" is when you could take the dish and swap "kobe" for "angus" and the dish would still make sense; so, for instance, a "kobe burger" always going to be silly and shady, and nobody would ever buy "certified angus nigiri".
- tru3_power 8y ago
  Yup and honestly the two times I’ve had Kobe I really couldn’t tell the difference between the same cut as non Kobe(yet still A5 Wagyu)- except for when the bill came.
- gotocake 8y ago
  I’d add that if you don’t like ultra-rare beer then it’s kind of a waste. I’m not a fan of anything that isn’t medium, and by that temp a lot of the fine marbling is effectively lost. In short, when I finally had some real A5 I realized it was totally wasted on me. If you liked carpaccio though, it would probably be amazing. I think too often people attach value judgements to grades or things, to wine and the like, when the truth is thst individual taste is highly variable. If you like a sensibly priced bottle of wine, rejoice, it’s a good wine for you. If you’re someone who skews to the high priced bottles then that’s going to be rough on the wallet, but again that’s your taste. The biggest mistake we make with food and drink is to “want the best” instead of wanting the best for us. There is subsitute for trying lots of different types of food and drink and choosing what you like the taste of most, not what’s most applauded by experts or in vogue.
  - tptacek 8y ago
    There's a chapter in "The Man Who Ate Everything" (which is excellent) about "Kobe", and you could sum it up as: it's a good product that is not simply a "better version" of other steaks, and if not prepared specially (as in, in dishes designed for A5 beef), it's pretty much a waste.
    - gotocake 8y ago
      In my limited experience that’s a perfect way of putting it. I might have to read that book too, it seems interesting.
      - tptacek 8y ago
        Highest possible recommendation. It is one of the great food books.
  - mikekchar 8y ago
    I eat wagyu fairly often (I live in Japan and like to buy local). Of course it's Shizuoka wagyu since that's where I live, but as others have said the difference between various regions are not that great (I go to Takayama fairly frequently and eat Hida gyu, which is rated as highly as Kobe gyu these days and it's not that much better than Shizuoka yume wagyu). IMHO eating wagyu as a steak is a waste for essentially the reason you state. The fat softens at that temperature and because there is so much of it, the texture suffers. I'll take a long aged, lower fat, dry cured cut over that any day of the week. Where wagyu really shines is yakiniku. When it is cut thin, the fat has somewhere to go and the flavour and texture are amazing. This is one of the reasons why if you buy wagyu steak at a teppen yaki place, they will typically cut it fairly thinly. Wagyu is not actually that expensive in Japan. I mean it's expensive, but not the ludicrous prices that people pay overseas. IIRC 100g of Shizuoka bara (stomach -- think the same cut as bacon) is about $6. Sirloin is up around $16. That's still nearly $70 a pound, but if you aren't making a steak or a roast (for which it is really completely inappropriate) it's fine. When I do yakiniku at home with my wife, between the two of us we eat 300 grams of meat and that includes the pork (Shizuoka black pork is amazing). I really like wagyu, but there are other traditions for preparing beef that are just as good (in a different way) and not as expensive. Edit: I forgot to mention that I typically make a roast here using thigh meat (momo) and bard it with stomach. That is a fantastic combination and I can make a 1 lb roast for less than $20.
jghn 8y ago
The steakhouse in the Encore casino being built outside of Boston made the news recently for being on that Kobe shortlist
joevandyk 8y ago
If anyone’s curious about the difference between Wagyu and Kobe, my company has this article on the subject midway down the page: https://www.crowdcow.com/article/akemika2t/japanese-a5-wagyu-event https://www.crowdcow.com/article/akemika2t/japanese-a5-wagyu...
Quiark 8y ago
When I was in Kobe I had a hard time figuring out which restaurant sells the real thing.

berbec 8y ago

I got Wagu at Morimoto's in Philly. I've never had beef I could cut with my tongue.

tptacek 8y ago

You can get A5 wagyu all over the place in the US. The "tell" that you're looking at fake "kobe beef" is when you could take the dish and swap "kobe" for "angus" and the dish would still make sense; so, for instance, a "kobe burger" always going to be silly and shady, and nobody would ever buy "certified angus nigiri".

tru3_power 8y ago
Yup and honestly the two times I’ve had Kobe I really couldn’t tell the difference between the same cut as non Kobe(yet still A5 Wagyu)- except for when the bill came.
gotocake 8y ago
I’d add that if you don’t like ultra-rare beer then it’s kind of a waste. I’m not a fan of anything that isn’t medium, and by that temp a lot of the fine marbling is effectively lost. In short, when I finally had some real A5 I realized it was totally wasted on me. If you liked carpaccio though, it would probably be amazing. I think too often people attach value judgements to grades or things, to wine and the like, when the truth is thst individual taste is highly variable. If you like a sensibly priced bottle of wine, rejoice, it’s a good wine for you. If you’re someone who skews to the high priced bottles then that’s going to be rough on the wallet, but again that’s your taste. The biggest mistake we make with food and drink is to “want the best” instead of wanting the best for us. There is subsitute for trying lots of different types of food and drink and choosing what you like the taste of most, not what’s most applauded by experts or in vogue.
- tptacek 8y ago
  There's a chapter in "The Man Who Ate Everything" (which is excellent) about "Kobe", and you could sum it up as: it's a good product that is not simply a "better version" of other steaks, and if not prepared specially (as in, in dishes designed for A5 beef), it's pretty much a waste.
  - gotocake 8y ago
    In my limited experience that’s a perfect way of putting it. I might have to read that book too, it seems interesting.
    - tptacek 8y ago
      Highest possible recommendation. It is one of the great food books.
- mikekchar 8y ago
  I eat wagyu fairly often (I live in Japan and like to buy local). Of course it's Shizuoka wagyu since that's where I live, but as others have said the difference between various regions are not that great (I go to Takayama fairly frequently and eat Hida gyu, which is rated as highly as Kobe gyu these days and it's not that much better than Shizuoka yume wagyu). IMHO eating wagyu as a steak is a waste for essentially the reason you state. The fat softens at that temperature and because there is so much of it, the texture suffers. I'll take a long aged, lower fat, dry cured cut over that any day of the week. Where wagyu really shines is yakiniku. When it is cut thin, the fat has somewhere to go and the flavour and texture are amazing. This is one of the reasons why if you buy wagyu steak at a teppen yaki place, they will typically cut it fairly thinly. Wagyu is not actually that expensive in Japan. I mean it's expensive, but not the ludicrous prices that people pay overseas. IIRC 100g of Shizuoka bara (stomach -- think the same cut as bacon) is about $6. Sirloin is up around $16. That's still nearly $70 a pound, but if you aren't making a steak or a roast (for which it is really completely inappropriate) it's fine. When I do yakiniku at home with my wife, between the two of us we eat 300 grams of meat and that includes the pork (Shizuoka black pork is amazing). I really like wagyu, but there are other traditions for preparing beef that are just as good (in a different way) and not as expensive. Edit: I forgot to mention that I typically make a roast here using thigh meat (momo) and bard it with stomach. That is a fantastic combination and I can make a 1 lb roast for less than $20.

jghn 8y ago

The steakhouse in the Encore casino being built outside of Boston made the news recently for being on that Kobe shortlist

joevandyk 8y ago

If anyone’s curious about the difference between Wagyu and Kobe, my company has this article on the subject midway down the page: https://www.crowdcow.com/article/akemika2t/japanese-a5-wagyu-event https://www.crowdcow.com/article/akemika2t/japanese-a5-wagyu...

Quiark 8y ago

When I was in Kobe I had a hard time figuring out which restaurant sells the real thing.