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July 14th, 2020 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 33,735 times • 1 min read
Besides the incredible marbling and exquisite flavor profile, another thing to admire about Japanese Wagyu is the system of 100% traceability for every animal. The nose print certificates, which track every animal's lineage, place of birth and other details, are the carefully-managed centerpiece of this system. Starting in July of this year, we are offering Kobe Beef, and for the lucky few who are able to score some of this rare Wagyu, we...
January 7th, 2019 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 39,554 times • 1 min read
When it comes to Wagyu, there's a lot of confusion and misinformation online. Luckily, through our extensive work directly with producers in Japan, and my background in Japanese language, we've learned a lot and have been able to bring some of the rarest and best Japanese Wagyu to the USA for the first time. Today's post is about a very detailed aspect of Japanese Wagyu, the bloodline known as Tajima (ä˝éŚŹ). To explain what Tajima is, it is...
October 3rd, 2018 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 11,937 times • 2 min read
When Ethan and I started Crowd Cow a few years ago, we had a simple purpose: to find the best beef possible. For us, and to this day, that means seeking out the very best of small-scale, independent farms who are uncompromising in their dedication to flavor, quality and high ethical standards. That search led us to dozens of farms across the Pacific Northwest, where an abundance of rain leads to lush pastures and some of the best-tasting...
July 9th, 2018 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 29,129 times • 8 min read
Wagyumafia's chateaubriand A5 Kobe Beef Wagyu Katsu Sando I just got back from a trip to Japan where I met with some of the best beef producers in three regions I heard about on my last visit. We love Japanese Wagyu and we know you do too, which is why I was excited to meet award-winning producers from regions that are well-known in Japan but haven't yet been made available to people in the USA. I was also eager to explore Japanese...
November 7th, 2017 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 117,859 times • 8 min read
And what are you missing out on if it's the only brand of Japanese beef you know? The term âKobe Beefâ is one of the most famous â almost mythical -- terms in the world of food. Itâs also one of the most misunderstood and misused. Outside of Japan, the phrase âKobe Beefâ has become almost synonymous with âJapanese beefâ or âWagyuâ, but it's not that simple. Let's break it down. Wagyu = "Japanese beef" Wagyu is just a word that means...
November 7th, 2017 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 46,667 times • 1 min read
It's the Olympic Games you've never heard of. Since 1966, Japan's beef industry has held a nationwide competition every five years to crown the best beef in the country. It's called Zenkoku Wagyu Noryku Kyoshin-kai (ĺ ¨ĺ˝ĺçč˝ĺĺ ąé˛äź) but it's known also as "The Wagyu Olympics." There are 11 prize categories, one of the more interesting of which measures the quality of the fats (looking for things like the health-promoting and umami-generating oleic...
November 6th, 2017 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 158,956 times • 1 min read
Recently I had the privilege of spending time with one of Japan's top Kobe Beef chefs, Mitsuo Yamamoto of Steak Sakura (2-11-14 Sennichimae, Chuo-ku Namba Daiichi Bldg. 1F, Osaka) to learn how to properly grill Kobe Beef and other A5 Wagyu (as you probably know by now, there are many types of A5 Wagyu, and Kobe is only one of them). I flew into Osaka, and Chef Yamamoto opened his restaurant early so we could cook. We walked together into...
July 11th, 2017 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 210,628 times • 4 min read
We've been writing extensively about A5 Wagyu to give you some background on the Japanese beef and its well-earned reputation for rich marbling. One thing thatâs become increasingly evident in the course of our research and travels to Japan is the fact that thereâs a scary amount of myths out there about A5 Wagyu from Japan. So we thought weâd do some mythbusting. Myth: Wagyu is banned in the U.S. Fact: It's true that Wagyu DNA and...
July 10th, 2017 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 48,094 times • 4 min read
Crowd Cow broke into the innermost chambers of the Japanese beef world to become America's first-ever direct sourcer-seller of A5 Wagyu from Japan. Here's the story of how we did it. There are not a lot of people out there who have tried Japanese A5 Wagyu. But if someone you know has tried it, you've probably heard about it, in the form of happy ranting and raving. And as you can probably tell from the photo below, this is not the steak most...
July 8th, 2017 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 33,694 times • less than one min read
How much do you know about Japanese Wagyu? Crowd Cow's infographic breaks it down for you.
