Akaushi beef

[RonB]

Our son moved to Austin in August. I was talking to him today and he asked me if I had heard of Japanese Akaushi beef and I said no, but I knew where to ask.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: Akaushi is a Japanese Wagyū breed of cattle. The beef produced by Akaushi cattle is richly marbled with fat and produces a very tender, flavorful, and expensive variety of steak which is sold to high end restaurants.

So is anybody familiar with it? It's pricey, (big surprise), but looks to be very well marbled.

[Spinaker]

I've only read and seen pictures about it. The stuff looks insane. One picture I saw looked like it was marbled with meat, not fat!!
Here is a excerpt I found that explains it pretty well.

"The term ‘Kobe beef’ has a protected status in most countries that respect international trademarks. Japanese Tajima cattle that are raised in the Hyogo-Kobe region in Japan, and registered with the Hyogo prefecture Kobe Beef Agriculture department can be officially recognized as Kobe beef. Wagyu cattle, on the other, hand means Japanese cattle in general. There are several different cattle breeds in Japan and each and every Japanese breed of cattle can be called wagyu beef, because all of those beef cattles are Japanese beef. For example, Tajima cattle is a Japanese cattle breed, therefore if we call Tajima Kobe Beef wagyu, it would be accurate. There are several Japanese Wagyu Breeds such as Matsuzaka Cattle, Fukushima Cattle, Akaushi Cattle, Tajima Kobe Cattle...etc. All of these cattle breeds are called wagyu beef cattle. However, Japanese Kobe beef wagyu is the most famous internationally."

[Craigar]

TheMeatGuyJapan can explain it since him and his family have developed their own herd here in Nebraska.

[Spinaker]

Yeah, I hope he chimes in.

[Potkettleblack]

Sold by the HeritageFoodsUSA folks that I like, but I have never purchased their beef due to astronomical pricing.

[RonB]

Thanx for the info everyone. My son has seen references to this beef in several different locations and wanted some idea if it was worth the price.

[andy.wpg]

An electrician at a building I regularly do work in decided to buy a couple of Wagu steaks for the cottage one weekend. He paid about $60 a steak for them.

When I asked him if they were "$60 good" steaks, his answer was: "They were good, but I've had steaks that were just as good for a lot less money".

For what its worth......

[CaptainMike]

That sounds like a gut instinct for many of us. I like locally raised grass fed (with a little corn to finish). IMHO, aging is one of the keys to great beef.

[EdF]

Aging for sure CaptainMike

[ribeyeguy]

Never heard of the breed before but after Googling it and looking at some images it looks like a very high end Kobe style breed.

This is just my opinion that's based on my tasting experience but I don't really like true Kobe beef. Depending on the grade it can be like Spinaker said, the marbling is more beef while the fat is predominant. If it's cooked perfectly it's an incredibly juicy steak, so much so that you can almost drink it. Fat is the dominant flavor and the "buttery mouth feel" is what I call beef slime, it's just semi-liquid fat.

​​​​​​​Maybe it's my unsophisticated palate but to me a USDA Prime steak is the perfect "rare treat" steak while Choice is my go to grade for everyday grilling. Anything higher than Prime is too fatty and too expensive.

[Jerod Broussard]

Wal-Mart yellow tag on sale Choice ribeye for this dude.