How to cook wagyu

Cooking steak - general tips
Cooking Wagyu - Western style
Cooking Wagyu - Japanese style

Wagyu can be a delicious addition to a meal but there is an air of mystery on how to prepare this exotic meat.
 

General advice on cooking steak

• Remove steak(s) from the packaging and let sit on a plate to “breathe” after taking it from the fridge
• The meat should be left out of the fridge for about 15-20 minutes before cooking to let it come down to room temperature
• After cooking let the meat rest for 10 minutes or so – this gives it a chance to relax and enables the juices to distribute more evenly throughout the steak
• After resting you can return to the pan/grill momentarily if you would like to add heat back into the dish
 

Cooking Wagyu - Western style

Different cuts of wagyu suit different styles of cooking and differing amounts of “doneness”.

For your good old Aussie exposed flame barbeque grill, choose rump or a lower marble score sirloin. Using a higher marble score for this cooking method will cause flare ups as all the juicy marbling will go up in flames.

If you are going to cook high marble score wagyu as a steak, try a flat grill or iron pan. The fat that comes out will baste the meat as it cooks and create a tasty crust on the outside of the beef.
 

A few tips for Wagyu Steaks on the barbeque or hotplate

• Higher marble scores of wagyu are best sliced thinner so that the heat penetrates the beef during cooking and brings the fat to a good eating temperature
• With thicker cuts of wagyu steak aim for about medium (if you go further than this you the meat will become dry)
• For thinner cuts of wagyu steak try for rare to medium rare
• Basically you are aiming for a balance – cooking the intramuscular monounsaturated fat to a point that the meat is not chewy but also not too hot so that all the fat runs out of the steak
• Don’t forget to rest the meat after cooking
 

How to cook a Wagyu Roast

• Take the wagyu roast from the fridge, remove the packaging and let the wagyu sit on a plate for about ½ hour
• Rub the roast with salt, pepper and mustard or your favourite rub mix
• Preheat oven to 165 degrees celsius
• Brown the roast in a med-hot pan and transfer the roast to a rack elevated in an oven pan
• Swivel the roast 180 degrees at half time for even cooking
• Aim for about medium, any more and it will be dry, any less and the fat will not be that delicous "melt in your mouth" texture that you're after
• Don’t forget to rest the meat after cooking.

Of course an excellent way to cook Wagyu Roast is via "sous vide" but that is a whole other chapter.
 

How to cook Wagyu Corned Beef

For Corned Wagyu about 1.6 - 1.8 kg you will need:
1 onion studded with 6 - 8 cloves
2 pieces of garlic lighty crushed
1 large carrot – topped, peeled and 2cm diced
2 sticks of celery – 2cm diced

• Take the Corned Beef from the fridge and remove the packaging
• Rinse in cold water and pat dry
• If you are fussy about keeping an even shape, tie the beef using butcher's twine
• Put the beef in a pot or slow cooker and let sit for ½ hour
• Add other ingredients to the pot and cover with cold water about 2 inches above the beef
• Simmer for 1.5 – 2 hours or roughly ½ hour per 500gm (check the meat is tender) with lid ajar, or follow slow cooker instructions
• Do not let the pot boil or it will ruin the texture
• Skim any solids or foam from the surface from time to time during cooking
• Remove the beef from the pot and let sit for 20 minutes, slice and serve
• If serving cold, let it cool in the cooking liquid
 

Cooking Wagyu - Japanese Style

In the west we tend to grill or barbeque our beef and slap it on the plate as a whole steak. However in Japan there are some much more interesting ways to enjoy Wagyu. Try some of these simple methods at home.

Hibachi - Japanese tabletop barbeques

Probably the most enjoyable way to enjoy Wagyu is to cook it on a communal hibachi grill filled with binchotan (Japanese charcoal made of oak) placed at the centre of the table. The fats and marinades drip directly onto searing hot binchotan charcoal creating wafts of aromatic smoke that add flavour and atmosphere. Thin slices of Wagyu (approx 1/2 cm thick) are placed on the grill and quickly seared on each side. Serve with a variety of dipping sauces and a bowl of rice to soak up the juices.

Some tips on cooking hibachi style:

• Use only high quality binchotan charcoal as it burns hot and clean
• Place something thick and fireproof under the hibachi so you don’t burn the table
• Light the binchotan over a gas burner in a special holder (never, never use any fuel starters as they will affect the flavour of the charcoal)
• Use only in a well ventilated room or outside
• If you can't find Japanese cuts of beef, cut a piece sirloin or fillet in thin diagonal slices using a sharp knife – the idea is to have pieces of meat that will cook in short moments
• Grill each piece of meat each side until cooked, dip in your favourite dipping sauce and eat – quite simple really
• Lots of fun because everyone shares the cooking
• As an option you can marinate the beef in a little soy sauce or teriyaki marinade before grilling
• Binchotan burns for a long time and high quality binchotan can be extinguished in water, dried out and used again.
• Some suggested dipping sauces are goma (sesame), soy with wasabi, soy with ginger and garlic that has been grated on a sharkskin grater
• Other items like shitake mushrooms, skewers of ginnan (ginko), peppers, thin potato slices, asparagus and other vegetables can also be cooked on the hibachi
 

Teppanyaki

Teppanyaki literally means iron pan grill and is the method by which most Japanese steakhouses cook their wagyu. Although many kitchen suppliers sell specific Teppan grills for both the kitchen and tabletop, you can still make do with your flat grill plate on the barbeque. This style of cooking favours western cuts such as sirloin steaks and scotch fillets. Both high and low marble scores can be cooked in this way.

Here are some tips on cooking wagyu teppanyaki style:

• Take the meat from the fridge, unwrap and let sit on the bench for 20 minutes to warm
• Heat the teppan to an even med/high heat
• Ensure the plate is clean and free from rust and burnt material
• Use oil with a high smoke point such as rice bran oil
• Higher marble scores should be cut thinner
• Oil the teppan lightly and place Wagyu on the grill (you can also add butter for – batayaki, very popular in Japan)
• You can simmer on the teppan with a little sherry to make – sheriyaki
• Turn the wagyu over when you can see the top start to “seep”
• Turn over once more after the meat starts to seep again and remove from the grill 1 minute later
• Let sit for 8 - 10 minutes and then slice in diagonal ½ cm slices before putting on a serving plate
• Serve with dipping sauce of quality soy and wasabi

Other dishes you can grill on the teppan are scallops, prawns, fish, peppers, shiitake mushroom & scrambled eggs.

Side dishes you can serve with teppanyaki wagyu are spinach salad, cabbage saled, rice etc.

 

Nabemono

This single hotpot dish is enjoyed in the winter months throughout Japan. Vegetables, seafood and of course Wagyu is cooked in a clay pot in the centre of the table. Any basic stock can be used and any combination of vegetables. We recommend slicing the Wagyu thinly and cooking only for a short time. You can serve with a dipping sauce of wasabi, ponzu or goma (sesame).

 

Shabu Shabu

Any visit to Kyoto isn’t complete without a visit to a restaurant specialising in Shabu-Shabu. Similar to nabemono, long thin slices of wagyu (normally from the forequarter) are wafted through a light stock. The pot is usually doughnut shaped with a chimney in the middle and made from stainless steel. Typically either soy or goma is served on the side for dipping. Later vegetables and sometimes seafood are cooked in the same stock. You will need to source wagyu specially sliced for this style of cooking.

Binchotan and hibachi grills are now available at Chef's Armoury. Click here for information on our Japanese barbeques.