Japaneats その9 – 神戸ビーフ (koube biifu) - Kobe Beef

I’d be surprised if you hadn’t heard of 神戸ビーフ – like 和牛 (わぎゅう - wagyu), it’s become a global name. As you can imagine, 神戸 (こうべ - Kobe) in particular is packed with steak houses and gourmet restaurants making the most of its popularity. At its heart it’s just very nice beef, but its reputation is getting larger than life and the prices aren’t too far behind; the question is whether the reality lives up to the hype. Let’s chew the fat a little and see if we can find out.

It’s worth noting that 神戸ビーフ is essentially a very specialised form of 和牛; the latter just means “Japanese beef” and can be sourced from a variety of different breeds of cattle. Some of the most famous are the black cows raised in the north of 兵庫 (ひょうご - Hyogo) in a place called 但馬 (たじま - Tajima) and only a very small percentage of 但馬 beef can be called “神戸ビーフ”. If you’re used to the names being used interchangeably this may seem like semantics but it’s taken very seriously here; there are extremely strict requirements for labelling meat properly.

In other words, 神戸ビーフ is a brand rather than a breed in itself – it’s not enough that the meat has been taken from a pureblood black 但馬 cow. In order to achieve its coveted title, the cow also needs to be born, raised and slaughtered in 兵庫, under a certain weight and of a strict marbling and meat quality. Only by serving genuine 神戸ビーフ can a restaurant be certified with a gold cow statue which will be proudly placed near the entrance. It’s not surprising the brand is protected so fiercely – eating one 神戸ビーフ steak can run you for upwards of $100.

Typically, 神戸ビーフ is served at 鉄板焼き (てっぱんやき - teppanyaki) restaurants, with spotless silver grills and everything laid out just so. Chefs need to train for years to be accredited and they take what they do very seriously; your money is paying for the dining experience as well as the beef itself. While you eat your soup, the chef will show you the cuts of beef, ask how you’d like them cooked and start placing out all the garnishes. Even from a distance, the heat of the grill is enough to start melting the marbling of the steak; the fat is nothing like the kind of stuff you normally have to saw off at a barbeque.

The chef slices up the steak and places it on your plate as it cooks, making sure that each piece is done perfectly no matter how thick your cut is. Courses usually feature vegetables and rice or bread as well, which is just as well – the beef would probably be a bit rich on its own. No part of the steak gets wasted – the fattiest parts are sliced off and minced up on the grill with a very sharp knife then cooked constantly. Once they’ve been crisped up, they’re tossed with もやし (moyashi - bean sprouts) and eaten after the main course.

The chef usually recommends the order to try different garnishes as the pieces of beef come out – 塩 (しお - shio - salt), 胡椒 (こしょう - koshou - pepper), にんにく(ninniku - garlic) and surprisingly わさび (wasabi) all go beautifully well. Regardless of the cut, the meat is melt-in-your-mouth tender, buttery and with an extremely rich beef flavour that lasts a lot longer than regular steak. Despite its appearance when raw, it doesn’t taste or feel fatty at all – the marbling all dissolves throughout the meat during cooking. It’s easy to forget how much the bill is at this point – it really is on another level entirely.

So despite the confusion surrounding 神戸ビーフ and its colossal price tag, I would definitely recommend trying it at least once, either for the flavour or the experience. Whether or not it lives up to its reputation is up to you to decide, but the crowds of people pouring into the restaurant are definitely doing so for a reason. If you’re not too fussed about the real thing, 但馬 beef is much more affordable and I’m told that the untrained palate would have a hard time telling them apart. Whichever option you end up going for, once you've spoiled yourself you might have trouble going back to the regular stuff!