Salmon Tataki and the truth about Kobe Beef

Today we are going Asian again, with a lovely dish called Salmon Tataki. Tataki is from Japan and is basically a Sashimi that has been marinated and quickly fried in a very hot pan, just to sear the outside, but leaving the inside raw. Then one slices the piece of fish the same way like a Sashimi, serves it with pickled ginger and Wasabi

One can do Tataki as well from meat, specifically the Kobe Beef. As the name says it already, Kobe Beef is from the Japanese Prefecture of Kobe, and only if it has grown up in this Prefecture it can be called Kobe Beef. The type of beef is actually called Wagyu, so anywhere else in the world where they grow this beef it has to be called Wagyu. There are farms on all continents (ecxept Antarctica, hehehehe) and the qualities are very different as well, depending on farmer, feed and surrounding.

When I visited Kobe I was invited to see a Kobe Beef Farm to see the real deal of the Kobe Beef. I had just bought a couple of pieces for a function and had to fork out 280 $ per kg.....never mind that we had to cut off at least 10% of the thick fat around. It brought tears to my eyes seeing the Japanese Master Chef trimming the beef and yes we took the fat later, melted it and used it for cooking and flavoring. Anyway, back to the farm. There are many myth around the Kobe Beef, that each farmer can have only 2 cows, that they get massaged every day with beer and Sake.....

Let me tell you what is true and what is not true

The truth is that each piece of meat comes with a certificate of origin stating who is the mother and who is the Father of the cow. Then there is a nose stamp on the certificate, yes true! This is like a finger print as every cow has a different nose print. And then there is a photo, the name and address of the farmer, so all is there to guarantee the quality of the meat.

It is true as well that all the meat gets sold by auction and that the best quality can fetch amazing prices which are around 125'000 $ per cow and more. Of course the bringing up the Kobe Cows is expensive as well. Kobe Beef does not walk much and eats nearly the whole day a mix of corn and other good foods to get them nice and fat, so the end result is a huge "Kobe Beef Goose Liver", sort of at least. There is sometimes more fat in the muscles and actual muscles itself

It is not true that each farmer has 2 cows only, the farm we visited had over 100 cows

It is not true that the cows get massaged every day with sake and beer. But yes, the farmers add beer to the water the cows drink in summer for the single reason that beer makes them hungry and they eat more as during the hot summer month, the cows eat less.

The cows getting massaged, but only the cows that go to competitions, they get washed and then massaged with sake and beer as it makes the fur shiny. For the Japanese, if the outer side is beautiful and perfect, then the inside will be of a good quality....pushing the price up when it comes to the auction

So there is the bit of information I have about the Kobe beef. The one thing I forgot to say is that ....the meat is absolutely delicious. It is rich, very rich, but so tasty, so tender like I never had anything like that before.

But back to the salmon tataki, here is the recipe

700 G Salmon Fillet
100 Ml Soy sauce
20 Ml Sesame oil
50 G Honey
20 G Ginger
20 G Garlic
50 Ml Oil
50 G Black sesame seeds
50 G White sesame seeds

100 G Bean Sprout
100 G Black Fungus
100 G Shiitake mushrooms
50 G Frisee
50 G Green Oak
50 G Endive

Cut the salmon in square shaped long strips, the size to cut later a sashimi
Marinate in the soy, sesame, honey, ginger and garlic for a couple of hours
Fry in hot oil till seared and dark all round
Roll in the 2 colours sesame seeds
Cool it down a bit
Cut like a thick Sashimi

With all the salad ingredients make a salad
Season with vinaigrette

Cut the Tataki and plate next to the salad