Kobe beef ◆

Bœuf de Kobe (Tajima)

What it is

Kobe is not a breed but a certificate: Tajima-strain Japanese Black, born, fattened and slaughtered inside Hyōgo prefecture and clearing the grading thresholds of an association founded in 1983, which certifies fewer than three thousand carcasses in a year. The Tajima line's fat melts at around 25 °C — below blood heat, and below the temperature of a warm hand.

In the kitchen

Portion it at 50–80 g a head and cut it thin: the fat that makes it remarkable is also why a 300 g steak of it is uneatable past the fourth bite. Seconds a side on a very hot dry pan, salt at the table, and never marinate it.

Goes with

Wasabi Soy sauce Salt Garlic Shiso Ponzu Daikon Black pepper

Same species

Abura-kasu Amourettes (spinal marrow) Spider steak Bastourma Flank steak Beef

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