Where is Kobe beef? Anyway, it's not on your plate.

"Restaurants all over the United States claim to offer Kobe beef on their high-end menus, and gourmets pay hundreds of dollars to enjoy the delicious food in front of them. However, this so-called Kobe beef is actually fake. -Olivia Fleming, (a hamburger 40 yuan, a steak 100 yuan ...) (Hamburg 40 dollars, steak 100 dollars ...)

If you want to directly expose fake food, there is a good case in 20 14 years. At that time, a chef in London introduced a "luxury burger" priced high enough to win the Guinness World Record, asking for nearly 1800 US dollars. You're right, a hamburger costs you two thousand yuan, of course, because he claims that the ingredients used are Kobe beef, which is expensive. Of course, there are other rare ingredients, such as Iranian saffron and Canadian lobster. I won't list them one by one, because this restaurant really lacks credibility, and there is no reason to believe that any of them are true.

This hamburger has attracted the attention of the media all over the world. However, no media and Guinness World Records members stopped to think about the fact that the weight of Kobe beef used in luxury hamburgers may be more than the total weight of Kobe beef in Britain or Europe, because it is impossible to import real Kobe beef in Europe. Kobe Beef Marketing and Distribution Promotion Association assured me that not a pound of beef was actually shipped to Europe that year.

In the United States, Britain and other parts of Europe, too many people are easily deceived by fake Kobe beef because no one knows what the real Kobe beef tastes like. To this end, I went to Kobe and dug up more information about Kobe beef. As a result, I found that we were not the only ones who knew nothing about it.

"Even in Japan, China people don't fully understand Kobe beef and will believe all kinds of rumors. For example, they think that the pasture will help cows and let them listen to music. " Sakai Tanaka, a project worker at the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, said that he worked as an interpreter when I went to Japan. Kobe is the sixth largest city in Japan, located in Hyogo Prefecture. This county is the origin of all Kobe beef, and the relevant regulations are extremely strict, just like Reggio's Parma local cheese and other local products. Kobe beef can only come from Tadao, and cattle can only be born, raised and slaughtered in Hyogo Prefecture.

The feed they eat does not contain growth hormone, animal by-products, steroids or antibiotics used in most American cattle feeds. Although natural feed helps to produce natural oil flower texture, it still has some shortcomings. Moreover, cows eat far more grains than grass, and most of them are dry, so their diet is unbalanced. But every step in the process of raising cattle is strictly controlled, from the age of cattle to the evaluation standard, of course, the evaluation standard is much higher than USDA Prime \8592; Excellent grade.

However, the most stringent restriction is the "gene" of cattle. The "terroir" condition of raising cattle is not so much that Hyogo Prefecture has a special environment, but rather that there are few other livestock in Hyogo Prefecture. Hyogo Prefecture is mountainous and remote, isolated from the world for a long time, and has been a natural barrier to prevent animal migration for centuries.

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The word "He Niu" can represent all the animals in Japan, but in addition to exotic species such as Holstein, traditionally, "He Niu" has been specially used to represent four local breeds in Japan, namely, brown hair, hornless, short horn, black hair and cattle. 85% to 90% of Japanese Holstein cattle are black-haired cattle. However, Ma Niu is 100% black-haired cattle. They were born in Hyogo Prefecture, and every cow's parents, grandparents and ancestors grew up in Hyogo Prefecture without exception-their entire family tree must be pure Hyogo cattle. On the wall of Hyogo Agricultural Technology Center, there is a genealogy of Martin cattle dating back to 13 10.

"But the horse area is surrounded by steep mountains, and the terrain naturally prevents animals from breeding across varieties, making the variety of cattle single and consistent for 700 years. Dr. Hideki Iwamoto, an animal researcher at the Agricultural Center, explained. In the United States, in order to adapt animals to the environment, increase production and improve the survival rate, cross-breeding has long been quite common, as have some areas in Japan, but in Hyogo Prefecture, their goal is to produce proprietary meat and strive to create the best beef.

Dr Iwamoto said: "The biggest difference from other areas is that the' blood vessels' here are the most important, and they are carefully managed." This is no joke. There are 6,900 horses and cows in the whole administrative region, of which only 12 are bulls. Every bull will be replaced by the next excellent bull after it has passed its heyday. The ranch will buy bulls, which means that all Kobe cows in Hyogo Prefecture are descendants of these twelve bulls.

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The offspring of these twelve genetically perfect bulls can grow uniform oil lines. They are raised in two batches and two organs, and each unit has six bulls to protect them from getting sick. Just to get into the agricultural park in * * * *, I have to sterilize my shoes, even if I can't get near the building where bulls are kept from beginning to end. Although there are many strict and complicated regulations on feeding methods here, only about half of these 6,900 buffaloes have enough quality to be rated as "Kobe beef", and there will only be 3,000 to 4,000 Kobe cows every year.

In other words, the number of real Kobe cattle in the world is less than that of medium-sized farms in the United States every year. The annual output of Kobe beef is often far below 3 million pounds, and 90% of it stays in Japan without export. Let's take a look at the United States. Our cattle industry itself is already huge, and we import more than 3 billion Jin of beef every year. These imports alone are more than 1000 times of the whole Kobe beef supply.

Kobe cattle in Japan

Kobe Cattle Association has a list of restaurants authorized to buy and cook Kobe cattle, most of which are located in Japan. Of course, Japanese restaurants are not the only ones that can get permission. For example, Oak Gate steakhouse in the United States, Kobe beef in new york charcoal barbecue. However, there is no better place in the world to try this legendary cow than Kobe Plaisir, which is operated by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture and can be said to be the flagship restaurant of Kobe beef.

Kobe cattle outside Japan

This is difficult to distinguish. I think there are only three places in the United States that can be trusted: Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas, No.212 Steakhouse in new york, and Sumikawa in Ginza, Hawaii. Kobe Cattle Association has only certified these three places in the United States. In addition, Antonio Pike, a famous chef in Montreal, obtained the first import license of Kobe cattle in Canada in 20 15, and both Park \\u Restaurant and Lavanderia \\u Restaurant under his name can supply authentic Kobe cattle. The remaining Kobe cattle will only be exported to Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. The Kobe cattle claimed by other places are all false, including Europe.