When visiting any foreign country, trying out their cuisine is always on each tourist’s bucket list. Thai food, in modern cookery restaurant-style, is easily muddled by complex spices, diverse ingredients, and exotic herbs that are added a touch of Japanese and European flavors that are assembled to create a single dish. When in Thailand, you can find this must-try traditional Thai food that has been made with authentic Thai recipes. The famous and irresistible wagyu beef is now finding its way to Thailand. Wagyu refers to all Japanese beef cattle which is an acronym ( ‘Wa’ means Japanese and ‘gyu’ means cow). The Thai nation has crossbred Japanese or Australian wagyu and Holstein, Charolais, or Brahman cattle to come up with Thai wagyu. The wagyu beef can be served in several places in Bangkok.
The reasons why Wagyu beef is the best beef
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It’s flavorsome
Wagyu beef is tender and moist, thanks to the high percentage of fat and marbled texture that makes it mouth-wateringly flavorsome. Everyone wants to sail effortlessly in a burger while experiencing and savoring the buttery and rich taste of the meat with every mouthful. For this reason, the Wagyu beef burger will always be superior.
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Marbled texture
The Wagyu beef has a higher marbling score due to its unique genetics of the cows. Intramuscular fat is found in the muscle, hence, the meat contains a higher percentage of fatty acids. Compared to any beef in the world, 100% full-blood Wagyu cattle have the highest marble levels. Therefore, the higher the marbling score, the more tender, flavorsome, and juicy the meat is.
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High in fat
Modern nutrition proves that in moderation, the right fats are both essential and beneficial to a healthy diet. Wagyu beef contains more monounsaturated fats and a higher percentage of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids than other beef. This soft fat not only holds most of the flavor but also has a low melting point that creates the wonderful texture of Wagyu beef.
Reasons why Wagyu beef is so expensive?
It’s a no-brainer that the Wagyu beef costs an arm and leg. Why? The Wagyu beef tastes so tender and is pink in color because the cows are bred for physical endurance giving them more intramuscular fat cells which are distributed evenly throughout their muscle. The Wagyu beef is expensive because;
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How much yielded meat and the marbled fat quality
The higher the grade (A3 to A5) the higher the price. Until the cows are about 10 months old, they are sold to a fattening farmer who feeds them a mixture of high-energy concentrate made from wheat, rice, and hay, and fiber. For almost two years, the cows are fed three times a day.
How to know the Wagyu beef
The Wagyu beef, being the most prized beef in the world has two signifiers;
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A number and a letter
This relates to the quantity or yield of edible meat as opposed to the total weight of the cow. Therefore, if the yield of a burger can be rated A, this means that at least 72% of the weight is edible. Hence, the number is more important to the burger consumers while the yield is typically important to the producers. The number ranges from 1 to 5 (least to highest) and it describes the fat texture, quality, color, and how the fat is evenly distributed throughout the meat.
Conclusion
The demand for meat and meat consumption is increasing rapidly due to the process of urbanization and urbanism in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Thailand. Strategic plans for beef agribusinesses and formal production-marketing contracts for farming beef cattle are the options open to the beef industry in Thailand that provide ground for industry growth and development.