Wagyu beef is considered to be the finest beef in the world, but which particular cut is the best?
As with regular beef, the best cut is considered to be the sirloin meat, which is used to make succulent, tender steaks. There’s a range of prime cuts that follow behind the sirloin, such as the marbled loin, the chuck flap, and the bottom flap.
Read on to learn more about the world’s finest beef, and which parts of it make for the best culinary experience.
A Matter of Meat
Wagyu beef has been a symbol of luxury for several years. It’s the most expensive beef in the world, sometimes being worth as much as two hundred dollars per pound of meat.
In fact, a single Wagyu cattle can sell for as much as thirty thousand dollars. To put that into perspective, standard cattle sell – at the most – for around two thousand per cow.
As with many luxurious items, it’s the rarity that drives up the value. You can’t get Wagyu anywhere in the world, or from any cow – it’s extremely specific.
To put it simply, ‘Wagyu’ means ‘Japanese cattle’, of which there are four main variants. The prized meat that sits atop the roster is known as ‘Kobe’.
This is the top-tier beef that is often referred to mistakenly as Wagyu. The easiest way to remember the difference is as follows.
All Kobe is Wagyu, but not all Wagyu is Kobe.
Kobe is dramatically rare, an aspect that has unfortunately led to global deception. Outside of Japan, it’s almost impossible to obtain real, fresh Kobe beef, but that doesn’t stop people ‘selling it’.
One article explored this at length, explaining how restaurants will put up simple, regular beef, and pass it off as Kobe.
It’s quite simply a matter of law – Kobe beef can only come from the Hyogo prefecture in Japan. The cattle and the term itself are trademarked terms in the country, and it’s super-exclusive.
Ultimately, this is where the best cuts of Wagyu beef originate – from the Kobe cattle. It’s said that the finest pieces come from the sirloin, the fleshy loin, the chuck flap, or bottom flap.
What makes the Wagyu so perfect is the distribution of fat among the muscle. To some, the ‘marbling’ of fat is a beautiful sight, and it contributes massively to melt-in-the-mouth tenderness.
Relish the Rarity
In the steak world, one of the best cuts is the Filet Mignon. This tiny offering is extremely limited per cow, with a yield of just ten pounds per animal.
From the turn of the century, there were global bans on the importation of meat. It was made difficult to take beef across borders, mainly due to outbreaks of ‘mad cow disease’.
One of the main corridors affected by this was between America and Japan.
It became impossible to send American beef to Japan, or obtain Japanese beef in the United States. This is almost certainly where the ‘deception’ aspect started to arise.
In 2001, a ban was implemented that would remain strong for well over a decade. In 2014, it was tentatively listed, with real Wagyu beef being made available for export from Japan.
An article in the Evening Standard, a British newspaper, detailed the return of Wagyu. It described the resurgence as “dauntingly expensive”.
Matters were more severe in other countries, though. In 2019, a two-decade ban was finally lifted, opening the door to China and allowing them to import Wagyu beef.
However, it wasn’t all success stories around the world following the amendments of the law. There were widespread claims that people were attempting to replicate the Wagyu on farms globally.
As we’ve explained, Wagyu beef is extremely exclusive, with the Kobe variant being trademarked in Japan. In 2020, the Japanese farming ministry proposed the introduction of a new law.
This law would criminalize unauthorized exports of Wagyu sperm or DNA. They were seeking to target smugglers, and slap them with hefty fines should they break the law on Wagyu.
While you can import Wagyu beef, it’s just that – the meat itself.
An article published in CNBC in 2019 expressed the reality of imported Wagyu beef. The author had experienced one of the rarest steaks: an A5 Olive Wagyu.
The steak itself had cost them $240 and came in the form of a ribeye. In the words of the author, the meat was extremely rich, incredibly juicy, and “tastes like gold”.
You can try Wagyu steak in many of the great steakhouses across the United States.