The Best (and Worst) of Times for Japanese Wagyu Beef in the US

[照片：Shutterstock]

Editor's Note:拉里·奥尔姆斯特（Larry Olmsted）过去四年来研究他最近发行的书《食品标签》的欺诈行为真正的食物/假食品：为什么您不知道自己吃什么以及可以做什么。这是一段旅程，将他带到日本，阿拉斯加，智利，阿根廷，苏格兰，爱尔兰，意大利，法国，西班牙，葡萄牙，南非以及整个美国和加拿大。今天，他加入我们谈论美国餐饮行业中最持续的标签食品之一：牛牛肉。

For golfers, there is St Andrews; for divers, Palau; and for skiers, the Holy Grail is Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island—the "powder capital of the world." More than 20 resorts ring the island, which sits smack in the middle of the so-called Siberian Express, sort of a frigid version of our Gulf Stream. While this makes for excellent skiing, with more than 50 feet of deep, dry powder possible each season, it would not appear to be ideal for raising cattle. Appearances, however, can be deceiving. Just ask Fujio Terauchi, "The Wagyu Meister," sole producer of Hokkaido Snow Beef, the rarest regional variant of Japanese wagyu.

Wagyutranslates to "Japanese cow," and generally refers to four Japanese breeds: brown, polled, shorthorn, and black. Like wine appellations, the most prized wagyu are raised in accordance with regional rules; the consensus is that the best—including Kobe and Hokkaido Snow Beef—come from strains of the black variety. Many of the stories you've likely heard about wagyu are appealing myths: While farmers are allowed to spoil their herds, few massage cattle, feed them beer or sake, or play them classical music. Wagyu are penned like American feedlot cattle, but, unlike much of our beef, they are antibiotic-, hormone-, steroid-, and animal byproduct–free, and all of their feed must be grown locally.

高级和牛的肌肉内脂肪分散水平使所有其他“大理石花纹”概念感到羞耻。脂肪是一条小线条和点的蜘蛛网，通常被描述为花丝，与红肉混合在一起，以至于总体结果看起来奶油粉红色。脂肪与肉的比例很高，并且每一口都一致，比标准牛排更接近黄油。味道非常强壮，但与此同时，每种叮咬都以柔软而不是油腻的方式融化柔软和脂肪。

In Japan, marbling is graded on a 12-point scale, and Kobe usually scores 10 or higher. Other Japanese wagyu varies more, but can still reach the top end of the range and boast similarly impressive numbers. While Kobe's cachet is well earned, the experience of eating any top-tier Japanese wagyu (scoring, say, 10 to 12) is much the same. In comparison, most American-raised wagyu or hybrids would score between six and nine, while the USDA's highest grade, Prime, rings in at around four.

真正使最佳的和牛与众不同的是遗传学 - 虽然大多数肉牛几代人都杂交，但它们是最纯粹的血统。对于神户来说，双方的每个亲戚都可以追溯到几个世纪，一定是在诺戈县出生的。这种遗传固定完全是关于脂肪的，它的分散更好，但也更好：在包括油酸在内的更健康的不饱和脂肪酸中，研究人员发现，该脂肪酸已被认为是餐馆所描述的“融化”的原因。- 你的口感。The unsaturated fats in wagyu have a low melting point, below 98.6°F, so they literally melt on your tongue, coating taste buds.

Fujio Terauchi在岛上著名的超甜味玉米上饲养纯净的黑色牛纯色的黑牛。苦味会鼓励较厚的外套和不同的脂肪分散体，内部大理石花纹和外部脂肪帽更少。“它仍然非常大理石大理石，但比科比温和。”有些食客们发现它太胖了。“因为这太冷了（饲养奶牛的地方），并且由于玉米，你得到了这种独特的甜味。他一生都致力于抚养它们。”超富牛总是少量食用，因为几次叮咬后，它往往会压倒味觉。Snow Beef类似地是富裕的，但只是一个触摸的啤酒 - 您可以享受比Okobe或其同龄人更多的叮咬。

[照片：Shutterstock]

Snow Beef is so rare, you cannot even get it on the main island, Honshu. Until last year, you needed to visit Hokkaido, or one restaurant in Singapore, to try it. Outside of its island birthplace, just four restaurants in the world serve it, and three of them, including Mizumi, are in the United States. Hashimoto says he even gets guests from Tokyo who are excited to try it for the first time in Vegas. Snow Beef may be the rarest, but it is now possible to try many famous regional variants of Japanese beef on these shores, including Ohmi, Miyazaki, Matsuzaka, and, of course, Kobe. Most experts agree that at the high end of quality, they are virtually indistinguishable, but Kobe reaches the high end more consistently. However, only the best grades of wagyu (A4 and A5, on a five-point scale that rates marbling along with with three other attributes) are exported to the US, so the variety you try is not much of an issue. This is a sea change for red-meat devotees, and a very recent one—there has never been a better time to enjoy the world's most prized beef. Then again, there has also never been a worse time.

这是因为科比牛肉是美国消费者广泛认可和重视的唯一区域牛，是我国最广泛的食物。同样，菜单拥有“ wagyu”一词，很少保证肉实际上是来自日本的。虽然在美国销售的高级橄榄油中，多达80％是假的（根据加州大学戴维斯橄榄中心和60 Minutes), and more than 80% of the red snapper sold at both retail stores and in restaurants is neither red nor snapper of any kind (according to several studies by大洋洲), almost every single ounce of Kobe beef in the US is a scam—more than 99%. In fact, for most of the 21st century, you have had a better chance of winning Megabucks or being elected president than of eating Kobe—or any Japanese-raised beef—in this country.

尽管很少有食客知道这一点，但由于牛海绵状脑病（BSE），从日本大部分历史中，美国农业部的任何牛肉都被USDA的绝对，完全和无条件禁止，通常被称为疯牛病。在2001年禁令之前，只有少数昂贵的日本餐馆和最高端的牛排馆进口的科比，并且由于它是唯一著名的日本牛肉牛肉，很少有人会烦恼其他牛。该禁令不到四年前就被取消了，迎来了牛肉爱好者的新时代。问题发生在两者之间，当时真正的竞争使每个同类产品的餐馆打开了闸门，突然宣传“神户”和虚假的“ wagyu”。每台300美元的美味佳肴变成了邻里酒馆的科比滑块，Burgerfi连锁店的科比热狗，巴尔杜奇（Balducci's）的黑麦（Rye）的科比·帕斯特拉米（Kobe Pastrami）和无数Celeblity-Chef Chortsants的50美元的Kobe Burgers。除了没有一盎司的是神户。

今天，我们再次拥有真实的东西，但很少。您可以从手指上指望在这个国家提供真正的科比牛肉的餐厅，而且零售店都没有出售。棘手的问题是替代品。标记为Kobe的肉类有时是其他优质日牛，但通常情况下，它的价值要低得多。有时它是由日本起源的国内纯种牛来源的，有时是来自澳大利亚的杂种，而有时则来自“ wangus”，这是一种流行的日本降级牛和我们的安格斯的流行的国内商业杂种。这都是最好的案例。它也可以是普通的旧超市牛肉，当您看到科比滑块或汉堡时，经常是。但是，就像来自其他地方的优质起泡葡萄酒通常无法在味觉测试中等于香槟一样，大多数专家都同意，即使是最好的纯种国内牛也没有日本版本，而且很少能获得最好的国内版本作为替代品。

There is so little Kobe imported that restaurants and distributors are licensed by Japan's Kobe Beef Marketing & Distribution Promotion Association, and内部版上个月报道说，我们的供应已经“增长”，以至于整个美国现在有八家餐厅，为真正的科比牛肉提供服务。当记者面对勒·伯纳丁（Le Bernardin）的所有者时，世界著名的三米奇林星级纽约学会（Michelin Star New York Institution）就其菜单上的“科比”（Kobe）的使用时，餐厅（餐厅）表示赞赏，承认了错误并改变了措辞。但是，勒·伯纳丁（Le Bernardin）确实为高质量的真正进口日本储藏服务。神户稀缺使迈克尔·米娜（Michael Mina）和沃尔夫冈·帕克（Wolfgang Puck）等喜欢牛肉的厨师来源于日本顶级区域替代品 - 帕克（Puck）从宫崎骏（Miyazaki）获得了他的身份，而米娜（Mina）访问了日本，并从马图扎卡（Matuzaka）建立了直接的进口交易。他说：“这是为了给[食客]的经验。由于他们取消了禁令，这将使更多的人有机会尝试这种出色的产品 - 从未尝试过的人。”

大多数美国人，包括富裕的美食家，从未尝试过任何高质量的日本牛肉，即使他们认为自己有。“当人们来自美国时，我总是建议神户，因为我知道这对他们来说是新的，”东京纽约烧烤餐厅的前Sous-Chef说，由Bill Murray电影闻名迷失了翻译。“但是我一直从美国吸引人们，他们说他们有科比牛肉，然后有99％的时间，他们说他们不明白为什么在家中没有这样的味道。”

Real Wagyu与其他类型的高端牛排截然不同，无论是USDA Prime，法国夏洛来裔，苏格兰阿伯丁安格斯或意大利chianina，它也可能完全来自另一种动物。令人难以置信的脂肪分散在这种肉类风格上是如此特殊和独特，几乎任何人都可以一眼就能从世界其他牛排中告诉真正的和牛。吃真正的日本和牛是所有食物爱好者所欠的，而且这个国家从未有过更多的机会，或者是伪造的。如今，您可以在大多数主要城市都有日本的和牛，而且令人惊叹的风味体验非常值得麻烦，但是最好用健康的警告空剂来服务。我们生活在日本牛肉的黄金时代，以及假日牛肉的白金时代。

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