What is American Wagyu Beef?
What is Wagyu Beef?
Wagyu is a Japanese cattle breed that produces intensely marbled beef. Bona fide Wagyu is rare and carefully guarded. The breed is unique in that it continues to add intramuscular fat as the cattle grow.
What is American Wagyu Beef?
When purebred Wagyu are crossbred with other non-Wagyu cattle breeds, it yields American Wagyu which features rich marbling and the traditional beef flavor preferred by American palates.
American Wagyu vs Japanese Wagyu
The difference between American Wagyu and Japanese Wagyu comes down to taste profile.
Japanese Wagyu beef has extremely high levels of fat marbling, leading to a very rich flavor best enjoyed in small portions. Japanese Wagyu is often thinly sliced and served in yakiniku or shabu-shabu style dishes for this reason.
American Wagyu beef is the result of crossbreeding traditional beef cattle with purebred Wagyu. The result is a perfect blend of famous Wagyu buttery marbling and the robust beef flavor that American beef is known for.
It is the best of both worlds.
"It has the richness of Japanese beef with lots of marbling, but the flavor is more akin to what we're used to in America. You can give me a pound of the best Wagyu from Japan, or a pound of this, and I'll choose Snake River Farms every time." - Chef Wolfgang Puck |
Kobe Beef vs Wagyu Beef
The term Wagyu refers to a number of different Japanese cattle breeds, and Kobe beef is a type of Wagyu. However, Kobe beef must be from the Kobe city area of Japan, located within the Hyōgo prefecture. Kobe beef is also raised under strict methods that differ from other Wagyu breeds.
Is Kobe beef the best kind of Wagyu in Japan? It may be the most recognized breed of Wagyu in the West, but there are other legendary breeds of Wagyu throughout Japan such as Matsusaka beef from the Mie prefecture, or Ohmi beef from the Shiga prefecture. These strains of Wagyu all have different taste profiles that some may prefer over Kobe.
The History and Origins of Wagyu Beef
LET'S START AT THE BEGINNING
Wagyu is the breed. It means Japanese cattle.
It was made famous in the Kobe region of Japan.
THERE ARE THREE MAJOR JAPANESE WAGYU BRANDS
Matsusaka Ushi - raised in and around Matsusaka city in Mie prefecture.
Kobe Beef - raised in Kobe city area of Hyogo prefecture.
Ohmi Beef - raised in Shiga prefecture.
PLACES VERSUS PRODUCT
Worldwide these brands, along with others, are commonly referred to as Kobe...
...much like sparkling white wine is commonly known as Champagne.
SNAKE RIVER FARMS STORY
We maintain purebred Wagyu cow and bull herds from renowned Japanese bloodlines.
These imported cattle are the foundation of our Snake River Farms program.
We have been improving our herd since 1989.