Japanese Wagyu Beef is quite different from other beef around the world and within Japan, there are so many regional brands. It’s hard to know what the difference is between Kobe Beef and say, Yonezawa Beef other than the branding, but there are factors that can change the taste like climate, elevation, feed, housing conditions, treatment of livestock, and water.
This time, we are in Yonezawa and the Okitama Region of Yamagata to learn how Wagyu beef is inspected, graded and ranked, cut and distributed. We’ll also try some of the social dishes famous in Yonezawa like its Gyu Nabe — also known as Sukiyaki.
00:00 Start
00:53 Meat Inspection
01:42 Wagyu BMS – Beef Marbling Standard
04:48 Cutting Wagyu
06:18 Cutting for Supermarkets
10:15 Butcher’s Shop Pricing
11:05 Sukiyaki Lunch
12:45 Wagyu Farm Cattle Ranch
14:08 What do Wagyu eat
14:34 Biogas in Japan
15:58 Yonezawa Beef Dinner
18:27 Yonezawa Station Shinkansen
Places Visited in Yonezawa:
Where is Yonezawa? MAP: https://goo.gl/maps/h4sghH6GMwbCwqsM9
▶︎ Yonezawa Meat Center: http://www.yonesyoku.com/english/index.html
▶︎ Tanaka Wagyu Farm, Biogas http://www.yonesyoku.com/english/index.html
▶︎ Sato Chikusa Meat Processing: http://www.beko.co.jp/
▶︎ Sukiyaki Restaurant: http://www.beko.co.jp/shop/menu.html
▶︎ Kongokaku Yonezawa Beef Restaurant: https://www.kongoukaku.com/
