I’m sure you’ve all seen and heard about the wonders of Japanese beef. It puts our Western beef to shame without a sweat. If you’ve never had it, you might wonder, “What’s the big deal?” I thought the exact same thing as you.

It’s Not All It’s Cracked Up To Be...

In college, I shared a house with a Japanese exchange student. While I was a huge weeaboo at the time, I had my doubts about the hype surrounding Japanese Beef. Kobe beef had started to become popular in the West, and food magazines and travel shows were all talking about how AMAZING it was.

“It can’t be that good”, I remember thinking to myself. I ended up arguing with my roommate about the quality of Kobe beef. “It’s not about all this stuff about feeding the cows beer or giving them massages! It’s all about the cut! There’s a reason filet mignon is more tender than other cuts of beef!”

I would LOVE to go back in time and slap myself in the face. Since moving to Japan, I’ve realized just how stupid I was.

It’s MORE Than It’s Cracked Up To Be!

When you take your first bite of good quality Japanese beef, you’ll realize that everything you knew about beef was a lie. It’s like waking up to find that you were living in the Matrix, where they convinced you that dry, tough slabs of brown meat was “beef”.

Japanese beef, known as Wagyu, is not all the same. Sure you can find lower qualities of it, but if you want the KING of Japanese beef, you must always look for A5-ranked Wagyu.

The Japanese Grading Scale of Beef

Wagyu is ranked on a crazy strict scale to ensure the absolute best quality of beef. The scale goes from A5 being the best of the best to C1, which is the cheapest, toughest, most basic beef you can find.

The ‘A’ of ‘A5’ stands for the yield, that is, how much meat you can get from the cow. The ‘5’ shows the quality grade. The quality grade breaks down into 4 critieria: Marbling; Color and Brightness; Firmness and Texture; and Color, Luster, and Quality of Fat.

Marbling

This is the flecks or thin strips of fat in the muscles of the meat. There are 5 grades of marbling, with the higher amount of marbling ranking 5 (the best) to 1 (the worst).

Color and Brightness

This is evaluated by visual appraisal, so there may be tiny differences, however given the utmost quality that the Japanese dedicate to everything, I think the appraisers can be trusted. The beef is ranked from Excellent (5) to Poor (1).

Firmness and Texture

This is also evaluated by visual appraisal. It’s ranked from Excellent (5) to Poor (1).

Color, Luster, and Quality of Fat

The color of the fat is evaluated against a color standard, while the luster and quality are evaluated visually. This is ranked from Excellent (5) to Poor (1).

Absolute strictness in grading

When it comes to grading the beef, it’s graded extremely harshly. Let’s say you have a piece of beef that has an ‘A’ ranking for yield, and an ‘Excellent’ (5) rating for everything except Firmness and Texture, where it ranks as ‘Poor’ (1). The entire ranking for that piece of beef would be A1. That means when you buy A5-ranked Wagyu, you’re absolutely getting the best of the best.

THAT’S why Japanese wagyu is the best in the world. But how does it taste?

A5 Wagyu: Heaven In Your Mouth

When you first start cooking a piece of A5 Wagyu, you’ll notice how much oil is released onto the grill. Make no mistake, Japanese Beef is fatty and rich. However, when you take a bite, it’s a completely different story.

The beef is so insanely tender that you can tear it apart with your chopsticks. There is minimal need to chew, as the beef is so soft, it almost seems to yield in your mouth by itself. When you bite into it, you can feel the beef releasing its fat and juices into your mouth with every chew. The flavor is so extremely beefy that afterwards, you will confuse regular beef for tasteless, dry chicken breast. It’s THAT good.

After eating such high-quality beef, you become “beef drunk”. That’s not something I just made up. The flavor and quality are so good that your brain keeps you in a dopamine high, well after the meal is over. But at the same time, there are pangs of loss as you finish the last bite. Almost like saying goodbye to a dear friend or loved one. It certainly is a rollercoaster of emotions and sensations when you eat beef this good.

Eating A5 Wagyu At Home

Most people think that this kind of beef is only available at a legendary restaurant, hidden down some winding alleyway in the heart of Kobe. But you’d be surprised that you can find amazing A5 Wagyu at high-end grocery and department stores.

We picked up this Wagyu up from a grocery store that caters to professional chefs and restaurateurs. It cost about $27 for a pound, but it’s definitely worth more than that. I almost feel like we’re stealing it!

Usually when you eat Korean-style BBQ, you are served with a plate of lettuce, herbs, vegetables, and meats. You combine all of the ingredients to make a lettuce wrap. I love eating meat this way because you get a huge variety of flavor and textures in one bite.

But with beef THIS good, it's a waste to eat it like that! As I stuffed my lettuce wrap into my mouth and began to chew, I muttered to my wife, “Mottainai”; ‘what a waste’ in Japanese. To take beef this fine and eat it with all of these other things at the same time is sacrilege. Father, forgive me, for I have sinned against your most beautiful creation.

The best way to experience A5 Wagyu is on it’s own with a little salt and pepper or a quick dunk into yakiniku sauce. My mother-in-law makes her own yakiniku sauce that is absolutely fantastic and should be sold in grocery stores around the world.

An Experience Of A Lifetime

A5 Japanese Wagyu isn’t food. It isn’t a meal. It’s an experience. It’s both eye-opening in it’s juiciness; tenderness; flavor; and richness, but depressing in that you realize what you’ve been missing all your life. If you are ever in Japan, set aside one day of your trip to enjoy this fantastic wonder of the culinary world!