No need to argue till the cows come home

OMI, Kobe and Matsusaka. Three magic words guaranteed to brighten the day of a beef connoisseur, especially if followed by a slab of the above, sizzling on a hot plate.

In the ever-expanding world of wagyu - literally Japanese (wa) beef (gyu) - these brands are the gold standard by which other cows are measured.

What's so great about wagyu?

"Shimofuri," explained Lim Li Wei, chief executive of Emporium Shokuhin.

That's the web of fat distributed across the raw red meat "which contains more omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids than other beef".

The more fat there is, the more of that rich, buttery flavour, and of course, the more money you have to part with.

Matsusaka leads the pack at around $550 per kg. Omi is relatively more reasonable at $380 per kg.

Omi, which is retailed at Emporium Shokuhin along with the Miyazaki brand, is famous for being the oldest source of purebred wagyu with an almost 120-year history, said Mr Lim. "Its high marbling with unique aroma and tenderness is highly prized in Japan."

Said Andre Huber, executive director of Huber's Butchery: "Naturally, Japan has the highest number of pure bred cattle."

They have the purest and best genetics that allow farmers to "figure out the best way to feed the cattle to achieve the greatest amount of marbling".

Differences in origin

Not all wagyu are created equal. The Japanese cows have cousins in Australia and the United States which follow a different marbling system.

In the 1970s, said Mr Lim, Japanese bulls were exported to the US for cross-breeding with Angus cattle. Australia did the same in the 1990s.

But the cross-breeding also means that "the wagyu genetics is not 100 per cent and therefore it is not easy to achieve marbling like the pure bred in Japan", noted Mr Huber. "It produces wagyu with a different taste and texture."

The cattle, which are fed special grain diets and slaughtered when they are 30 to 46 months, "live in a relaxed environment to prevent tough muscles from forming", said Mr Lim.

Mr Huber added that everything from environment to the water they drink determines the quality of the meat.

Even then, how good it is still depends on the grading. The Japan Meat Grading Association rates according to the yield and meat quality.

Other factors are: marbling; colour and brightness; firmness and texture; and fat colour, lustre and quality.

Marbling is classified into five grades, from one to five, with five being the highest.

Australian wagyu, in turn, has marbling scores of four to nine with nine being the highest. US wagyu is graded as Gold, which is prime, and Black for normal.

Which is good for you?

If economic conditions aren't an issue, snap up some Matsusaka from Swiss butchery, or SoHo wagyu from Kagoshima at Isetan. 

But grouping wagyu by prefecture or even beef by country is not a true indication of quality, Mr Huber feels. "Every farm has its own way of raising the animal."

Toriyama Umami Wagyu, for one, takes pride in its marbling and beefy flavour.

In wagyu, the higher the percentage of oleic acid in the total fat content, the juicier the fat. The higher the amount of amino acids in the meat, the stronger the beef tastes.

Toriyama breeds cows which produce beef that has high amino acids while retaining their high oleic acid.

Then, there is also Joshu wagyu that FoodXervices imports. Hiroshi Ishihara, who has three decades of experience in beef, likes Joshu because he knows the farmers and their strict practices.

To get the best from your wagyu, master chef Hiroshi Ishii of Keyaki in Pan Pacific Singapore recommends cooking it teppanyaki-style or pan-fried to medium rare.

Mr Ishihara prefers that the A5 be cooked in shabu-shabu or sukiyaki, so that excess fat can be rendered away. The A3 is ideal in steak form.

To make sure you're getting the real thing, Mr Lim recommends looking for the Wagyu Japanese Beef logo that is provided by the Japan Livestock Industry Association.

"You can also ask to see the certification which comes with a special 10-digit combination that can be traced back to where the cattle was raised and sold," he added.

This article was first published on October 24, 2016.
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