Every Day is Sunday

Jeff:  I love a good steak.  And I was lucky enough to marry a meat and potatoes girl.  Instead of going to an overpriced restaurant in Tokyo for Japan’s most famous meat, we decided to head directly to the source.  We hopped a train to Kobe in search of the perfect steak. 

Erin:  I expected Kobe to look like Wisconsin in summer.  I pictured rolling green hills, wide-open pastures, and hundreds of cows being massaged by thousands of tiny Japanese women.  Looking out the window as our train pulled into Kobe, there were tons of skyscrapers but no cows to be seen.  It turns out that Kobe is a suburb of Osaka and looks a lot like Newark, New Jersey.  I was disappointed until I took my first bite.

Kobe beef is a special grade of beef that comes from Wagyu cattle raised in Kobe, Japan.  What makes Kobe beef distinctive is the special breeding of Wagyu cattle.  What makes Kobe beef famous is the way the Japanese pamper their cows. 

On a daily basis, Wagyu ranchers brush their cattle with sake.  Believing that the softness of cow’s skin is related to meat quality, Japanese producers brush the cow’s skin with sake to soften the animal and improve the flavor of the meat.

Also, Kobe beef cows have a diet that includes large amounts of beer.  Apparently the beer stimulates their appetite during the hot summer months when the temperature and humidity make it too hot to eat.  We never found out if the cows prefer lager or ale.

Finally, the cows actually get regular massages.  This is not an urban legend.  The massages are done for the same reason that anyone gets a massage: to relieve stress and muscle stiffness.  The Japanese producers believe that they can improve the eating quality of the meat if they keep their cattle calm and content.

We made our way to Wakkoqu restaurant to measure the effects of all this tender loving care. 

Jeff:  I could taste the sake, beer, and shiatsu massage in every bite.

Erin: Each bite melted in my mouth like butter.

The tiny restaurant had room for only 30 people, and we had our own personal chef cooking up our tasty meal.  He cooked the first half of our steak, sliced it up and presented it to us.  He monitored our progress and waited until we finished the pieces on our plate before starting to cook the other half.  The effect was that we were always eating a deliciously hot steak right off the grill. 

Several people have asked: Was it the best steak you ever ate?

Jeff:  This steak was amazing, but the steak I had at Alberto’s in Bariloche, Argentina has a slight edge in my mind.  The Argentinians cook their steak in a asado over wood charcoals, and the wood adds a unique flavor that takes the beef to another level.  Also, Kobe beef is served in thin slices suitable for chopsticks and (as Erin said) melts in your mouth, but the steaks in Argentina are thick and juicy and the flavor explodes when you chew.  For my last meal, I’ll head to Bariloche.

Erin:  The Kobe beef I had in Kobe was by far the best steak I’ve ever had. I especially like the way it is prepared: bite-sized bits of goodness.  I couldn’t get enough of it.  I even considered postponing our flight out of Japan so we could make another trip to Kobe.  It’s just that good.