For those that don't know what Kobe beef is, it is a special type of cattle in Japan which is genetically predisposed to having a lot of marbling in the meat. In the U.S., the amount of marbling in a steak is the difference between USDA "Select, Choice, or Prime" beef. The more marbling you have the higher the rating of the beef.
There were 3 choices of beef on the menu. You had "Kobe Beef", or you had "Premium Kobe Beef", or you had "Ultra Premium Kobe Beef". Of course we decided heck, if we're here we are going ultra premium!We knew it would be expensive when we realized that the steaks were weighed and charged in grams! We had 2 steaks, a filet mignon and a ribeye, each 260 grams. I believe the price came out to $115 per steak, which is aroudn $0.44 per gram. Below is a picture of the raw beef. It is the most marbled steak I have ever seen.
From here, the steak is cut up into sections. The trimmed fat is set aside for a later dish. The steak itself is cut into the individual sections each served in succession so you can taste each individual area of the steak separately. Below is a video of some of the preparation. You can see him cutting off different parts of the steak and moving the meat into different piles.
Then the steak is seared very quickly on the teppan grill, and served with just salt and pepper and a little fried garlic. This is the most tender / juiciest steak I have ever had!
The left over fat that was trimmed off from earlier is chopped up and used to make fried rice! That was some extremely tasty fried rice! Yum!
Needless to say, that not a single scrap was left on our plates once we were done. At $0.44 per gram even a tiny speck of meat could be $1.00's worth!
Now below is something interesting. Our hotel in Kobe had this oddity in the restroom. You know you pat on "After Shave" on the areas you had just shaved. So... what exactly are you supposed to spray "After Toilet" on????? HMmmmmmm..... I didn't try it by the way. (You can click the photo below for a larger version if its hard to read)
This was the last chance that I was able to taste good food because for the next few days I caught a cold. My friend had caught one earlier and i guess it was inevitable that I would eventually catch it too. It was a fantastic "last" meal of sorts!
6 comments:
I'm wondering what you actually spent on food in Japan those few weeks. I didn't use to feel poor, but after reading your and Vanessa's blogs...
That is a ridiculous price for beef....but again I am not a fan of beef so I could see spending even one cent on it!
"after toilet" spray...you should have used it! Or got a buddy to use it and tell us what it felt & smelt like....um....or maybe not!
Oh I could have eaten that steak RAW. I love steak and to have the experience of a Kobe steak would be incredible. Can you tell I love food?
I'm feeling a little poor too. Damn $115 per steak? That's like a quarter of my rent this month!! ha
Wow, now that looks like a great steak. At $115, that's steep, but I would've tried it as well. Mmm, making me wish for some kobe beef right about now.
Flat, $115 is a quarter of your rent? God I wish I had that as my monthly rent / mortgage.
Cindy -- Our food bill when we went to nice restaurants was quite extravegant. However, most of our meals were at pensions which are included with the price of the room. So it averaged out not too bad :). But yea, if I'm on vacation I already knew I would not set a food budget. I ate whatever i wanted there!
Kat - I figured you wouldn't be into this one :) And uhm, yea i really did not want to use the after toilet spray. What if it stings??? OWWWWWWW
Flat Coke - Yea believe me we ordered it rare so it looks cooked but inside is nice and juicy and tender. YUM! They do serve Kobe Beef "Sashimi" style too but we didnt get a chance to try that. Maybe next time!
James - Yea the Kobe beef is awesome. IF you like steak, and you're in Japan, you MUST go and have some. It is absolutely fantastic!
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