Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/760410
As Japanese food continues to expand worldwide, New York City recently served as a showcase for one of the most popular Japanese food items – Wagyu Japanese Beef. S ixty eight local chefs, students, media and influencers attended a genuine Japanese Wagyu event in New York at the Institute of Culinary Education on October 13, where they learned about this best quality beef and its huge difference from the U.S. and Australian wagyu beef sold in U.S. The session included an overview of how carefully Wagyu cattle are raised like family and the advantages of the premium beef. Toshikazu Ijichi, Senior Managing Director of Japan Livestock Products Export Promotion Council (J-LEC), made a presentation, and Mark Melnick, President of TREX CORP INC, supported him as the interpreter. The fine taste of Wagyu comes from their breed improvement, the loving care that goes into their breeding and their lives on Japanese farms, where they are given individual names and feeding stalls instead of large-scale feedlots. As with all meats, food safety is of utmost importance. Wagyu cattle are registered, with each one having their own ID numbers for traceability. New York Food Scene Learns About Benefits of Japan's Genuine Wagyu at Institute of Culinary Education Event smell that is strongest when the meat's temperature is around 176°F. "The New York food scene is so passionate about different types of food. This was a fantastic way to showcase the benefits of Wagyu beef from Japan," said Ijichi. "They were able to experience the great attributes of this type of beef through the demonstrations and sampling." An impressive trimming, cutting, cooking and slicing demonstration by Akihisa Hagiwara from Starzen International showed attendees how to carve the beef and prepare different recipes with the beef such as Aburi Sushi. Attendees at the event also learned about the three main characteristics of Wagyu beef: The Wagyu Japanese beef cattle are purebred and their breed has been improved over a long period of time without any crossbreeding to produce tasty beef. The foundation of this breed improvement is the pedigree certificate as the purebred. Every Wagyu Japanese beef cow has a name, and its ancestry can be traced back three generations. The characteristics of the breed are confirmed by a grading system, ensuring constant improvements to produce tastier, higher-quality beef. Wagyu Japanese beef is tender and has a smooth texture. This results from the cattle's muscle fibers being juicy and fine, as well as their beautiful marbling of fat. Wagyu Japanese beef fat contains a large portion of unsaturated fatty acids including oleic acid, which is a major ingredient of olive oil considered good for health. Due to the unsaturated fatty acids, the melting point of the Wagyu Japanese beef fat is around 82°F, lower than human body temperatures, and thus consumers can experience the meat actually "melting" in their mouths. When cooked, Wagyu Japanese beef produces the unique so- called "Wagyu Japanese beef aroma," a sweet, appetizing, coconut-like J-LEC set up a popular booth at NYC Wine & Food Festival, serving over 7,500 dishes of Japanese Wagyu roast beef and Gyu Sara (beef plate) from October 14 to 16. U.S. is the second largest importer of Wagyu beef from Japan next to Hong Kong. The Wagyu Japanese Beef mark is the proof of Japan's genuine Wagyu which is strictly controlled to achieve the highest quality. Only beef claiming to be Wagyu with this mark is truly Wagyu beef. Additional information is available at: http://jlec-pr.jp/beef.html In fact, instead of fingerprint tracking like humans use, Wagyu cattle have individual "noseprints" on their pedigree certificates for identification.