Discovering Japan – Kobe
Introduction
Greetings from Park Hyatt Tokyo’s culinary team. I’m Ben Wheeler, Chef de Cuisine of New York Grill & Bar. This week we went to Kobe in Hyogo prefecture to visit a farm, auction and to sample Kobe beef with our beef supplier, Executive Chef Thibault Chiumenti, Food & Beverage Manager Yasukazu Yokota and Materials Manager Ryo Nagata.
About Kobe Beef
Tajima beef is from Japan’s Hyōgo Prefecture, of which Kobe is the capital. Beef from this region that meets A4 or A5 grade is known as Kobe beef with the remaining beef otherwise being known as Tajima beef. Each year, approximately 3,000 Tajima cattle are Kobe certified of which a fraction is exported with the remaining contributing only 0.06% of total Japanese beef consumption. Evaluated by highly skilled assessors, each cattle’s meat is graded from 1 to 5, with 5 being best, based on yield, color, marble and texture. The beef that is certified as Kobe is assigned a 10-digit ID number, in order to prove its authenticity and allow it to be traced back to a specific cow.
Kobe Auction
After we arrived at the Kobe beef auction we were escorted to an area to put on our personal protective wear and do the necessary hygiene procedures before entering. There were 26 beef carcasses on auction each ranging from 263 to 474 kilograms. There were many merchants checking each cut of beef before the auction bidding started. At 12 noon, the auction started with the lively auctioneer highlighting the key selling points. The price of Kobe beef starts at twice the price of Tajima beef. Within minutes the individual sales were done the beef was sent to the distributor’s refrigerated trucks.
Tasting
That evening we were kindly invited by the owner of Ohta beef restaurants and his brother to their Kobe beef ranch. He shared that he buys on average 10 beef carcasses weekly from the auction and then sends them to his clean, cut and send to his 3 Kobe restaurants in Kobe. We sampled many different cuts of Kobe beef served as Yakiniku restaurants from smoked shoulder, chuck, liver, tongue, kainomi, tenderloin, round, shank to cheek. Each one melted in our mouths displaying their own unique flavor, tenderness, and fattiness and reaffirming the excellence of Kobe and Ohta beef.
Kobe Beef Ranch
We spent the next morning exploring the different ranches where the Ohta family currently have 2,000 cattle, 200 of which are being reared to be graded as Kobe beef on a separate farm and 1,800 Ohta beef across a few small farms in the mountains of Hyogo prefecture. The cattle have music played to them all day, in order to help them relax and remain calm, while feeding on the highest quality of grains and corn.
A big thank you to Park Hyatt Tokyo and our supplier for arranging this fun, insightful and memorable trip to Kobe!
