Wagyu, is it worth it?

wagyu
#21

Personally, I’d like to try the full 9 yards of actual Kobe Beef some day if I ever make it to Japan, just once, though I’m usually pretty stingy on such things (but hey, if I’m paying for a trip to Japan, what’s an extra $500 for a steak, I guess?)

Even though they apparently in the last few years started exporting actual Wagyu, and even some Kobe, it’s not like I’m going to find that at a butcher or store any time soon since they export so little to the U.S. (I’d imagine it all ends up in the highest end restaurants, that I’ve never been to). There’s still also the problem of a lot of false advertising of something being Wagyu, even Kobe, beef that really isn’t, or is extremely diluted Wagyu and not the same quality, in order to bump prices up. If I’m paying a lot for it, I don’t want to roll that die, and if it’s cheap, well… I kinda accept it’s probably the cheap, domesticated and diluted stuff, but at that point at least I’m not paying an arm and a leg for it.

So, is it worth it? If you find a really good butcher or farm that raises the stuff and you can be sure of the breed and quality of raising, maybe? Depends what you can get for it and how much you want to try great steak I guess, even if just for a moment. You can certainly make an extraordinary steak that will satisfy for less than $7 for the pound of it around here though, and perhaps with the money you could buy and cook enough for some less fortunate souls to have a delicious steak too. Lots of things to consider.

Something to keep in mind, it’s apparently mostly not saturated fat on the real high end stuff (like Kobe), but unsaturated fats, which is part of way it melts so easily (and why some who still think saturated fat is poison think it’s healthier). I actually don’t know what the proportion of monounsaturated to polyunsaturated it has though.

(Scott) #22

I am more of a “knock the horns off and wipe it’s a$$” beef eater. I love rare to medium rare.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #23

Time to quote one of my favorite authors: “He prepared steaks by introducing the meat to the flames and forbidding all further conversation.”

(Scott) #24

I like that one!

(Allan Misner) #25

I can only imagine what @x-Dena-x would say about a big pot of boiled crawfish…

(Little Miss Scare-All) #26

Funny thing is I love seafood a lot. I eat it, it’s just it’s an odd thought to think about them walking about on land.

Tho crawfish gross me out because they often live in swamps. I dont want to eat things from a dirty old swamp lol. The ocean is where I like things. Not even a fresh water fish fan, they taste like mud.

(Allan Misner) #27

Some of the best food on Earth lives in the swamp.

(Little Miss Scare-All) #28

What else?

(Allan Misner) #29

Aligator, catfish, boar, rabbit, deer, etc.

(Little Miss Scare-All) #30

Never had aligator but Id eat it. Hate catfish.

I’d prefer to think of they frolicking about in the forest :heart_eyes:

(Jim) #31

Frolicking Boar sounds like the name for the latest indie hipster band.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #32

Swamp Rabbit is catchy, too!

#33

The only way wagyu would be worth the absurd cost would be if it accumulated monetary interest in my fridge and filed my taxes.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #34

Try it before you knock it. You’ll be very pleasantly surprised how easily you can overlook its appearance. Just a suggestion. Applies to crawfish and catfish, too.

(Little Miss Scare-All) #35

The crawfish? It’s not the appearance as much it is that it lives in stagnant poop water. When I think of places like the bayou, it conjurs images of bugs, subsequent bites from said bugs, and water that leaves a rash if it touches my flesh.

I mean, I’m by no means closed minded and I’d try mostly anything, but that’s my initial thought of craws.

#36

For the record, I doubt lobster has always been so well received even aside from Kosher restrictions. There was a law in Massachusetts at one point saying prisoners couldn’t be fed lobster more than twice a week because of how cruel a treatment it was to do so. It was the ‘poor people food’ for some time, that anyone that could afford not to eat it would largely avoid.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #37

That’s because lobsters were so plentiful and cheap. The same was also true of salmon at the time. Indentured servants complained that they were given too much of it.

(Doug) #38

Nova Scotia, Canada - the oldest oldtimers recall a time when lobster was considered not fit to eat. They threw them on garden soil for fertilizer.

(Jane) #39

They don’t call em mudbugs for nothing!!!

(Christy) #40

Lobster is the most overrated crustacean :-1:

I"d rather have broiled crawfish tails anyday!!