Wagyu steaks are a hot topic in the cooking world. This specialty beef is prized for its mouthwatering tenderness and buttery flavor. How much do we know about it, though? What is a wagyu steak? What kind of Wagyu steaks you can get? Where do they come from? Are there different Wagyu breeds?
We’re going to answer those questions and more in this article. We’ll even cover how to cook Wagyu steaks at home and where you can get your hands on this incredible cut of meat that is truly unlike anything else on the market.
What Is A Wagyu Steak?
The simplest explanation is that a Wagyu steak is a steak cut from Japanese cows. However, that’s an oversimplified answer to the question.
Wagyu means Japanese cow, and it is prized for its intramuscular fat (marbling.) There are four breeds of Japanese beef cattle that are considered Wagyu: Japanese Black, Japanese Brown, Japanese Polled, and Japanese Shorthorn. Each of these breeds has that marbling that gives Wagyu beef and steaks its distinctive tenderness and incredible flavor that reminds people of butter with the way it almost melts in your mouth.
Japanese Black cattle are the most common breed in Japan and are also known as Kuroge Washu. The Japanese Brown cows are known either as Kassyoku Washu, Akage Washu, or Akaushi. Tosa Akuashi Wagyu is specifically from Kochi Prefecture. The Japanese Shorthorn cows are known as Nihon Tankaku, and the Japanese Polled cattle are known as Mukaku Washu.
However, since Japanese Black cows are so common throughout Japan, there are different strains or names of this breed based largely on where they are raised and slaughtered. For instance, if you’ve heard of Kobe beef, it’s a brand name for Japanese Black cows of the Tajima strand from around Kobe, the capital of Hyogo Prefecture. Then there is Kumamoto Wagyu from the Kumamoto Prefecture. You can also find Tottori Wagyu from, you guessed it, Tottori Prefecture. Shimane Wagyu follows the same naming convention as well.
While that is a lot of names to read, just remember that genuine Japanese Wagyu will be excellent regardless of the name or prefecture. It will be unlike any other non-Wagyu steak you’ve had in your life.
However, you do not have to import beef all the way from Japan in order to enjoy the incredible experience that is a Wagyu steak. That’s because Wagyu was imported into the United States of America during a gap in the ban on exporting live Wagyu cattle and even found its way to Australia. However, are the Wagyu cows in the USA and Australia still the same exact breed of Wagyu?
Different Breeds Of Wagyu
When you consider the price tag of Wagyu steaks, you want to make sure you’re getting exactly what you expect. So it’s understandable to want to know if all Wagyu is the same. The truth is no, not all Wagyu beef is the same. We need to look at the different geographical locations that supply Wagyu beef in order to understand what can be considered Wagyu for proper labeling purposes.
Japanese Wagyu
If you’re looking for the authentic, fully-marbled beef that we have come to associate with the term Wagyu, your options are incredibly limited. You’ll want to look for A5 Japanese Wagyu. The A5 is part of a grading system with the number being how marbled it is on a scale from one to five. On the Beef Marbling Scale which grades on a scale from 1 to 12, A5 Japanese Wagyu is going to be at minimum an 8.
If you’re looking for authentic A5 Japanese Wagyu in the United States, you need to find retailers that are selling steaks imported directly from Japan. All real Japanese Wagyu beef, including Wagyu steaks, comes with a Certificate of Authenticity that has all the information about where the beef came from and its grading from the Japanese Meat Grading Association. Our friends over at The Meatery have A5 Japanese Wagyu for sale that includes this certification.
American Wagyu
So if it’s that hard to get genuine Wagyu outside of Japan, why do we have American Wagyu? Is it a sham?
American Wagyu does contain Wagyu DNA from real Japanese cattle. For close to 20 years, Japanese cattle were able to be imported into the United States. Most of the cattle imported were the Japanese Black cattle with some of the Japanese Brown, also known as Red Wagyu in the States. Unfortunately for beef farmers outside of Japan, the country halted all exports of Wagyu genetic material and cattle in the late 1990s. Nowadays, all American Wagyu is cross-bred with Angus beef, but guidelines for labeling beef as Wagyu only require a minimum of 49% Wagyu DNA. So if you are purchasing American Wagyu, the majority of it available is going to be roughly 50/50 between Japanese Wagyu DNA and Angus beef DNA.
That being said, it’s much more affordable while still being an elevated experience. The vast majority of American Wagyu is rated USDA Prime, so you know you’re getting a great experience. I got to eat an American Wagyu ribeye steak and it was better than any other American-based beef steak I’ve ever had. It definitely has more marbling than a traditional Angus ribeye and is much more tender while still maintaining a beefy flavor due to the Angus DNA.
It may be more expensive than a normal ribeye you’ll find at the grocery store, but it’s an incredible steak that gives you some of the Japanese Wagyu experience while saving you in the bank account.
Read our full Meatery Wagyu Ribeye Steak Review Here.
Australian Wagyu
One of the other decently common versions of non-Japanese Wagyu you might find is Australian Wagyu. While almost every single Wagyu steak you will find that is labeled American Wagyu is a cross-breed of Wagyu and Angus, Australian Wagyu has three different designations.
The first type of Wagyu beef from Australia is the Crossbred Wagyu which is at minimum 50% Wagyu DNA. Then you have the Purebred Wagyu that is at minimum 93% Wagyu DNA and parents verified as Wagyu. Then Fullblood Wagyu is 100% Wagyu DNA and both parents verified as being the same.
So there are more varieties of Wagyu available in Australia because of a more stringent certification system along with tighter breeding controls. I have also gotten to try a Fullblood Australian Wagyu ribeye steak, and it was insane. The marbling was quite noticeably more than the American Wagyu ribeye I had, and the flavor was almost sweet.
Now that we’ve covered the major areas where you can find Wagyu beef both in Japan and elsewhere, what kind of Wagyu steaks can you get?
Can You Get Traditional Cuts Of Steak In Wagyu?
Yes, because Wagyu steaks still come from a cow just like any other beef steak. The only difference is that any cuts of Wagyu beef are going to have a lot more marbling than any other steak cut from any other cow in the world.
I’ve talked about having American and Australian Wagyu ribeyes, of course. After all, most people consider ribeye steaks to be the best cut of steak out there. However, you can find just about any other prized steak out there as well, from New York strips to filet mignon to giant Tomahawk steaks. You can even snag top sirloin in Wagyu form!
One of the key differences you’ll find is that it will probably be harder to get custom-cut steaks due to the popularity and rarity of Wagyu meat. It’s not like going to your local butcher and getting your ribeyes or strip steaks cut a different way. Especially if you’re ordering online, your meat will come however the butcher who prepared the cuts decides.
What Does Wagyu Taste Like?
Not all Wagyu tastes the same. An A5 Japanese Wagyu ribeye is going to taste different than an American Wagyu ribeye versus an Australian Full Blood ribeye. However, no matter what type of Wagyu steak you get, you’ll be in for a treat. Even the American Wagyu ribeye is noticeably more marbled than even the best Angus ribeye you’ll find.
The heavy marbling present across all cuts of Wagyu beef leads to a buttery, almost sweet flavor. The Australian ribeye I had was unlike any other piece of beef I’ve had in my life. The American ribeye did have more of a beef flavor due to the Angus cross-breeding, but it was still incredibly tender and had a sweeter taste than a traditional ribeye.
Regardless of whether you plunge headlong into tracking down Japanese Wagyu, go with a cross-bred American Wagyu, or one of the Australian Wagyu varieties, you’ll have an experience eating steak unlike any you’ve ever had. We here at Angry BBQ joked that after eating Wagyu ribeyes, we were going to become the wine snobs of beef. Sure, other steaks will still taste good, but they’ll never be the same after eating Wagyu.
The one thing to note is that if you purchase an A5 Japanese Wagyu steak, you are likely not going to finish that steak yourself. Due to the incredible richness of all that marbling, you may want to stop after only eating three to five ounces.
Do You Need To Cook Wagyu Differently?
So when I cooked my American and Australian Wagyu ribeyes, I used a reverse-sear method. This method helps when cooking a larger steak so you can slowly bring up the internal temperature to close to where you want it before searing the exterior for amazing crust or grill marks. Now if you’re someone who prefers rare steak, you might still go ahead with just searing the exterior without smoking it or putting it in a low oven first. That’s up to your personal preference.
If you’re cooking a thinner Wagyu steak, you’ll just want to do a quick and hot sear on the exterior. It will cook through fairly quickly so it’s all you need.
As far as seasoning goes, you want to enjoy the experience of eating Wagyu beef and the different flavor. That means salt and black pepper. You want the meat to be the star of the show because Wagyu deserves to be the star of the show.
Final Thoughts
Wagyu steaks are not all the same, even though the cows that they came from can all trace back to Japanese cows (hence the name) with the genetics that gives them marbling seen nowhere else in the beef world. Yet even with the differences between Japanese, American, and Australian Wagyu, you truly cannot go wrong with eating a steak from any of these versions of Wagyu regardless of its country of origin. Just remember that you’ll be paying a pretty penny or three in order to do so.
If you’re looking for a reputable source for Wagyu regardless of what country it’s from, check out our friends over at The Meatery! If you’re ever in the San Diego, California area, swing by and say Hi, otherwise you can always head over to their website for the latest and greatest Wagyu and other premium meat offerings.
Have you eaten Wagyu steaks before? Do you have a go-to restaurant or provider? Let us know in the comments!