Taste of Japan: Wagyu beef a cut above
If “wagyu” simply means Japanese cow, does that mean that all beef in Japan is wagyu? No.
Not all Japanese beef is created equal.
Over the decades, a lot of dairy cattle – mainly Holsteins – have been imported in Japan. Many have also been crossbred with local wagyu cattle. The result: There are three types of beef available in Japan – high-grade pure wagyu, beef from low-grade dairy cattle and mid-grade mixed-breed beef.
In 2019, wagyu accounted for about 45 percent of the beef produced in Japan, dairy cattle comprised about 30 percent of produced beef and mix breeds provided about 25 percent of domestic beef on the national market, according to the Japanese government.
In addition to its domestic beef, Japan imports more than 500,000 tons of beef annually, the government says.
So, how can you distinguish wagyu from all the others at a butcher or a supermarket? Read the label, says Japan Meat Information Service Center’s Tamio Nakamura.
“You can distinguish wagyu very easily by taking a short look at a price label,” he says. “If there is a description such as “Japanese Black” or “黒毛和種” in Japanese, you can rest assured that the meat is wagyu beef.” About 95 percent of wagyu beef sold in Japans stores is Japanese Black.
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By Takahiro Takiguchi | Stripes Japan
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