Wagyu beef is at the forefront of fancy gastronomic experiences. This meat is usually found on the tables of high-end Japanese restaurants, so don’t expect to see it at your usual fast-food chain. Foodies, especially those after the best-tasting meat, know too well that they need to pay high prices for good food, making you wonder how expensive is wagyu beef? Does this highly coveted meat truly worth it? Continue to read this article to find out what makes the sought-after Wagyu beef expensive.
What Is Wagyu Beef?
The word Wagyu is a combination of the words “wa” (Japanese) and “gyu” (cow). However, this does not imply that any Japanese cow is eligible for wagyu beef. Wagyu beef strains are carefully chosen and genetically tests to determine that only the best meets the process. Since so much emphasis is placed on breeding, the cattle and its meat are always under superior quality control. An imposed breeding process makes the Wagyu beef juicy and well-marbled, outperforming the meat market industry.
Four cattle breeds qualify for the production of Wagyu beef. All of these breeds are found and bred in Japan: Japanese Black, Japanese Brown, Japanese Polled, and Japanese Shorthorn.
Wagyu cows are almost not like any other of its species. Wagyu beef is known because of its marble fat, also known as intramuscular fat within the muscle. The output is a stunning pink and white marble appearance, which is synonymous with premium Wagyu meat.
How Expensive Is Wagyu Beef
Wagyu is classified based on how much meat the cattle can produce and how much marbling there is. The farmer breeds the cows until they reach ten months, after which they are transferred to a fattening farm. They are held in small farms and nourished a combination of fiber and a high-energy supplement made from rice, grain, and pasture until they become 50% fat.
The bright, marbling and slightly sweet flavor of high-grade Wagyu are chased after around the world. For this reason, many wonder how expensive is wagyu beef? A wagyu cow can also be priced up to $30,000, and meat can retail as much as $200 per pound.
So if you want to get a taste of this rare meat, your wallet should be prepared.
Wagyu Beef Health Benefits
Wagyu’s health benefits are already scientifically proven. Wagyu beef contains more monounsaturated fats than most other meats. Monounsaturated fats are shown to lower LDL ‘bad’ cholesterol and boost HDL ‘good’ cholesterol levels. Monounsaturated fats are also identified as “heart-healthy fats.”
It has up to 300 percent higher monounsaturated fat than conventional beef. It is contributed to the meat’s remarkable and unusual fat marbling. It also contains a lot of omega 3 and 6 fatty acids.
Monounsaturated fats help to lower LDL cholesterol levels in the body. The trouble with LDL cholesterol is that it dumps all of your cholesterol into your bloodstream, where it holds to the arterial walls.
Arterial blood clots are linked to heart disease, strokes, and high blood pressure, as well as a slew of other undesirable side effects.
Wagyu Beef Marbling Secret
The marbling on Wagyu is well-known. This marbling enhances the flavor of the beef that most prestigious restaurants do like in Ocala, Florida, while also increasing the price. The volume and consistency of marbling are used as a major criterion of its grade in many countries. Marbling wagyu beef is one of the factors that determines how expensive is wagyu beef?
The fatty white markings present in the beef are referred to as marbling. Consider these to be beefy flavor clusters that affect the tenderness and ultimate flavor of the meat. Wagyu beef has slightly more marbling than any other premium cut of beef in the United States, and it tastes great.
It takes a lot of effort to raise Wagyu cows to the extent that cattle will sell for hundreds or thousands of dollars. Farmers in Japan hand-feed baby cows with milk bottles when they are born. After which, they are sold to another farmer, who will supply them with a specific diet of hay, grain, and rice to make them grow.
Is Kobe The Best Wagyu Beef
Kobe, a variety of Wagyu meat that is the most popular, is at the summit of the Wagyu scale. Outside of Japan, this extremely rare meat is only served to an elite few.
However, there are a few restaurants that serve this delectable beef. Because of the restriction and difficulty in raising Kobe cattle, Kobe beef is much more difficult to find than the regular Wagyu beef.
This type of meat only comes from Tajima-Gyu livestock bred in Japan’s Hyogo prefecture. This renders it far more costly than regular Wagyu due to its scarcity. Kobe is the highest-level meat that is often misidentified as Wagyu. Note that not all Wagyu beef is Kobe beef, but all Kobe beef is Wagyu beef.
A Matter of Kobe and Wagyu Meat
Wagyu beef has become a sign of a luxurious lifestyle. It’s one of the most expensive beef on the planet
The best restaurant that serves Kobe beef can be found in Japan’s Hyogo prefecture. The cattle and the word itself are licensed in the country and are extremely limited. The juiciest bits of Wagyu beef come from Kobe cattle, which are raised in Japan. The sirloin, the bulbous cutlet, and the cow flap, or bottom flap, are the best cuts.
Wagyu beef has a buttery and delectable taste since the fat melts at a reduced temperature, unlike most beef. All those fat also allows the beef to be tastier than your standard steak. It also has a more enticing scent since it carries more fatty acids.
So, if you’re planning to launch your restaurant business and want Wagyu beef on your menu, you have to be prepared for the permits and the cost of the meat. Know more about Wagyu beef here.
Conclusion
You wouldn’t need a six-figure salary for a meal like this unless you’re treating the whole clan with wagyu beef for the main course. On a steakhouse table, the wagyu steak’s price is surely worth all the pennies you paid. Hopefully, this article has given you enough information about the different processes affecting how expensive is wagyu beef.