Kobe beef - definitely the most famous of the beefs in Japan, but as a result
there are a lot of imposters and a lot of misinformation
so today we're gonna set the record straight
We've taken the train down to Kobe City where we're getting a chance to interview a member of the Kobe beef association
So you guys don't need to just trust what we're saying,
We're gonna learn the facts about what makes Kobe beef Kobe beef and then we're gonna take that information and
We're gonna go eat lots of beef
I'm excited to learn aren't you excited to learn? Yeah, the learning part is the most important part of this video. Yes
Let's - to the learning! Learn. Learn.
So the first place we're eating at is Ooi Niku Ten and instead of getting it in steak format
Which is what everybody usually thinks of, we're actually trying shabu-shabu today
Which is a very good way to eat your Kobe beef as well
We wanted to share this with you guys because although they have steak available here
A lot of people just only go for steak
But Kobe beef can be used for many different things. Even like sukiyaki, they do boxes
you can do like
sandos and stuff. There many creative ways for you to have Kobe beef. And I am really thrilled because I have never had Kobe
beef shabu-shabu style and I'm thrilled because I didn't have breakfast
I said to Simon, "my spider senses are tingling"... it has arrived
Oh
This is so beautiful, ah, have you saved my life. Are we are we able to eat this?
This looks like those display models that they put on for beef
Now the question we have to ask is, did they bring any plates for Martina?
See what they didn't tell you is that the bib isn't for dropping food on but is for catching your drool
It's time for my first taste of Kobe beef and shabu-shabu... My lips are so wet
It's just glistening and dropping so beautifully
What have I been doing with my life?
This is so...
fantastic for shabu shabu. That's some of the most delicious that we've ever tasted.
it's almost like the combination of the quick cook in the water and then a little bit of a dash with some ponzu just makes
It taste so bright. No Martina is wrong. This is overwhelming
Spiritually overwhelming. Okay. I had Kobe beef a few times before I feel like I've never had this before
Every time is like the first time (It's just like the first time)
It's almost like the the fattiness of the meat almost tastes like it- like it's got cheese in it. Because it's so buttery?
It's so rich. Is the time for round two? And we still have like 30 pieces to go
And now to try it with sesame
I've had Kobe beef before but it's like the first time I ever tried it
I feel like there's some kind of deja vu happening right now. Maybe.
Spiritually overhwelming. Okay. The creaminess of the sesame, it's like so thick it's an amazing like mouthfeel
when you're actually eating it. Almost peanutty-ness. Very peanutty, yes. It's the flavor of the beef is actually what's powering this entire thing
Yeah, it's crazy. It's not covered in salt. It's not covered in eight days of marinade. It's just straight-up delicious beef
I don't know which one I like more. I don't know either. Both of them are tremendous. Yeah
So we've only had a few pieces of meat and now we're moving on to vegetables and Simon and I were like
But - but all the meat! But it was explained to us that a little bit of the meat helps flavor the actual broth that it's being cooked
in. The dashi, right?
and then she adds the vegetables like some tofu and mushrooms. And it
Absorbs the flavor of the meat that was boiled in it before. So clever.
Oh, gosh. I'm so sorry to interrupt but um, it feels like we're a little off track here?
Yeah, who cares this video is called the truth about Kobe beef, not the truth about Kobe vegetables.
I know eh? Back to the good stuff. Back to the beef! Gosh. It's funny because
She asked, like, hey do you want anything else? I'm like, yeah, I want more meat. Then she's like, oh, you got enough shots? Yes
Well, you can definitely do some more meat, right? We need different angles of the meat. It's always safe
to have more footage than less footage because if you run out of footage
what do you do? Like, Dan, when you don't get the shot let us know. Yeah be like
"I didn't get the-"
Dan: I got plenty
Shut your mouth Dan! You shut your mouth Dan
With the ponzu, yes, it makes the meat taste very fresh
Yes
because it's like putting lemon on a fish. It is. I really brings out a brightness to the actual flavor of the meat. The
acidity cuts the fat nicely. Yeah, but when you have it with the sesame sauce, it actually brings out the buttery side
It's like the nuttiness enhances the butteriness of it.
Oh my gosh. Having Kobe beef in shabu-shabu style
I actually really liked because
One of the issues some people have with Kobe beef is that it's too oily for them. If you grill it as a steak then
It's pretty much there in its own oils
But here if you boil it a little bit and then you take the meat away
Some of the oil is left behind. See, I kind of like a leaner piece that's still super tender delicious
I think another thing that I really learned today is
how to stop eating shabu-shabu like a barbarian. (How to be patient?) Because when you and I go for shabu-shabu
We just take a whole plate of vegetables and we just dump them in
Um... Excuse me, sir, chotto matte kudasai, I'm the one who's like you need to slow it in
We need to like get some base flavors and you're the one that's like *BLAMP*
(arigato gozaimasu)
What I'm saying, I've never actually had shabu-shabu done so patiently and so unsloppily before
I think we need to re-do our shabu-shabu video.
Well, we're doing it now aren't we? We're doing it now.
I think the saddest part of eating at a restaurant like this is when you see that there's only a couple pieces of meat left
So this is gonna be
super duper delicious
We're taking the leftover broth that everything was cooked in with the vegetables and the beef with an egg and other veggies. (Oh they have eggs there also!)
It's gonna absorb all the flavors and going to look kind of like a Japanese risotto, you know
And for the last bit of rice that has absorbed
All that Kobe beef juice. I feel like this was an extraordinarily healthy meal
I feel almost like I was promised to eat
Huge amounts of beef and then just not have any vegetables and then just never poop again, you know
But now I'm like, this is way to balanced of a diet. The tofu and the
healthy things and stuff. Come on, Japan. Are you sure what I'm supposed to have spoons with this?
Instead of chicken noodle soup this is beef rice soup. It feels so hearty. But you know
It doesn't have that gamey beefiness
This is a very subtle beef taste because I think the Kobe beef is so buttery and sweet in taste
Mmm, and it goes so nicely with the egg, wow!
Ah! A nice yuzu sherbet end to help cleanse your palate. Mmm. I don't think I could eat a single bite more
I'm so stuffed
Unless it's another Kobe beef meal. Mm-hmm
So we're in Chinatown of Kobe and we got ourselves a little Peking duck wrap
We're eating it here on the ground and Martina
Dropped her duck skin, it fell out
Now I told her she should have just ate it - five-second rule - she refuses
I wanted to take it for myself, but she won't let me either
Come on, guys. You gotta agree with me
Do you want to know why I won't let you?
Why?
Because we're filming tomorrow. If you get massive diarrhea
And you can't eat
He's gonna go for it - you can't stop me!
Apron me! Apronation complete, but I think this is more of a bib?
(This is an apron) And you know he needs it. So yesterday we want of having it shabu-shabu style
Today we're having it the most traditional way in steak format, and I'm very excited even though I just had Kobe beef yesterday
It's like the first time, every time. I just feel like if I'm gonna have a Kobe steak I want my appetizer to be meat
I know. So this is just a perfect situation
Itadakimasu!
Nice little bit of grilling on the outside. Nice and soft, got that buttery taste to it.
Now the reason why we're going on and on about Kobe beef is because it's very popular
But there are a lot of restaurants that are trying to take advantage of it. And we're not just saying that to be snobby.
Getting certified to become Kobe beef is the most difficult certification
you can get.
Kobe certified beef is only Tajima cows
grown in the Hyogo prefecture and only a few of those cows are
certified to be Kobe beef.
And on top of that even if you are a Tajima cow, once they come to inspect it
you may not even make the cut.
It's really happening. Look at this!
Beautiful, beautiful piece of meat
I mean I guess we'll have vegetables. (Love me some garlic.) Yeah that garlic is really... I did live in Korea for eight years
Half of my body's garlic. Yep, garlic and kimchi, our bodies are made up of them.
I am never not impressed whenever they bring this out no matter how many times I eat Kobe beef. I'm always
Always thrilled, yep
We saw the
certificate or the number. Every single Kobe certified cow
will have its own little certificate number. A ten digit number and you could use a number to look it up online afterwards.
and if you're in America and your restaurant says Kobe beef make sure that you're not getting hornswoggled.
Why did we agree to vegetables Simon?
I'll trade you. Yes?
My vegetables for your meat. Mmm, it feels like a bad deal if I'm being honest with you
Frying up some bread as well!
I mean, why go to a music concert? It's gonna be so loud, it's gonna hurt your ears. Here you could just
sit and smell and have a tremendous meal. This is worth more than any music concert you could think of
What if they serve Kobe beef at a music concert? Whoa!
Level up game! You get this guy to sing. You could see the little pools of
Juice starting to drip away pull away from the sides. Just so glorious to behold. It smells fantastic
How does the chef
not cry every time he makes a piece? Just out of pure joy. Ah, Simon's entered that stage again where
he starts being really weird. You could hear the angels playing music and (Yep, we've entered that stage)
we framed the camera so that we would be in the middle, but I've noticed that the two of us have
slowly migrated towards the Kobe steak. In the middle of Simon we can do this
That knife just goes through so easily. No sawing, just one motion. It all
just slides through
I am just gonna start eating we have seven pieces
We have three sauces and we have veg. Veg! Veg! Veg!. I'm just gonna go straight in for a normal piece.
I'm gonna dip mine in salt, I always like mine in salt. It is my favorite as well!
(overlapping salt conversation)
Now I know what you're thinking, you're thinking, is this gonna be on the final exam?
Well, the answer is yes, of course it is. The shabu-shabu was delicious but having it in a steak is my favourite way
Having the softness in the middle with that crunch on the outside. There's so much
Flavor in there it almost tastes like you're eating a whole hamburger in one little bite. Like it's got the crispy grill
(Yeah) but it's got the buttery oil on the inside (oh my god!)
And the taste of the beef is... it's almost sweet. Kobe beef has its own
Scientifically proven unique taste in which the leanest of the meat is very sweet and the fats have a higher concentration
Of different kinds of acids like oleic acid and whatnot. You won't have this flavor in other kinds of beef at all
It's difficult to explain to you because we've all had beef at some point
But to say that this tastes different people are kind of like, but does it? And we're going, yes it does!
It's like nothing you've ever tried before. So different, it's so tremendous.
How are you having it next? I'm having some veg in the middle. In an attempt to like slow it down?
Just slow it down. I only have six pieces left
Look at this
And the award for the Youtubers who have eaten the most Kobe beef go to...
Simon and Martina!
Oh my god, I can't believe this is happening!
Thank you mama! You're the real MVP!
I'd like to thank - I have such a long list - I'd like to thank uh, the Tajima cow
Yes, um, I'd like to thank the - the Kobe Beef Association
For being so so thorough with your certification. Kobe City! Kobe City, I love you, I wanna thank all of Japan
I wanna thank - I wanna thank the chef
No, no don't cut me off I'm not fi-
But for real this statue is only given to restaurants that have
Authentic certified Kobe beef but this is a real deal
This is more honorable than any Oscar or Nobel Prize. The Nobel Prize for Oscars.
(Noncommittal noises)
So I hope with this video we convinced you that Kobe beef is not only really delicious but it's also very very
special and I hope we've also clarified reasons to why you should
Try Kobe beef when you come to Japan and ways that you can look to make sure that you're actually getting
authentic Kobe beef. If this is something that interests you we're gonna include some more links in our info box as
Simon slowly moves towards his mouth. Are you ready for the final piece? Say goodbye to our beef and goodbye to our viewers.
I will now retire into the mountains and live the rest of my life with the memories of Kobe beef
Goodbye little buddy.
Goddamn
Em if you want to see more about Japanese beef and I don't blame you we got a lot of good videos on them
so click on this playlist here and you're gonna have a ton of be free to eat or if you like these informative videos make
sure you subscribe to more of them in the future. We're gonna keep on doing lots of food videos
you're gonna love em, it's so delicious and
i n f o r m a t i o n a l