Butcher in Tokyo

[Obese-Wan Kenobi]

Sorry, double post...

Hi,

I am going to Tokyo this weekend and would like to know if you have any recommendations on Butcher shops there where I can purchase some A5 (Grade 4 and above) Wagyu? Preferably Kobe or Maezawa grown. Around 10 kilos.

Thank you in advance.

OB1

[cteavin]

You know you can order that online and have it shipped to your home directly in a cool pack. Do you speak Japanese? If so and you're interested, I'll post the couple I use.

[Obese-Wan Kenobi]

Hi, thanks! I don't speak Japanese but my brother-in-law does and he lives there. Please post the couple you use. Also, if you'd be kind enough to post those online stores?

Best regards.

[Obese-Wan Kenobi]

Hi cteavin,

Anything? I'm leaving today

Thanks.

[helenjp]

Since I don't buy that kind of meat,I can't give you any exact or reliable information, but I worry that insisting on a large quantity of top-grade wagyuu from the most prestigious area will net only people who are happy to TELL you that's what they sell...

Online, the prices for this kind of meat are about 8,000 yen per kg, give or take 10%...and on up to easily twice that. The only places that I could see that would ship 10 kg in a block (and that works out at over twice the weight for a yield of 10 kg of dressed meat) sell only to registered members. I think you can register, but possibly not quickly or for free???

Here are some sample online sellers. I have tried to avoid the laughably bad ("wagyuu, as on TV!!!), but know NOTHING about any of these companies. May give you some idea of prices.

Niku Shogun

This page shows 10-30 kg lots at the top of the page. An online dealer, they have both retail and wholesale arms, but you have to register to buy wholesale products. How easy that would be, I don't know.

Umaimon-do online store, sirloin, stated A5, "bought from all around Japan" - no specific origin given.

Yakiniku Teikoku this page shows Matsuzaka beef, packed in wooden gift boxes, note the prices are for small amounts like 100-300g. Same shop also sells lots of meat from a single animal, around 2 million yen for about 650 kgs of meat.

[Blether]

OB1, what cut are you hoping to buy, and how much do you expect to pay ?

ETA: oops, you beat me to it, Helen... but I'll ask the question anyway. I'll also add that in the retail arena in Tokyo, Nisshin World Delicatessen (known to long-term ex-pat residents as Meat Rush, the name it started under) at Azabu-Juban, will give you good quality & service & reasonable pricing. You might want to give them a day or two to fill a 10kg order, or they might have what you want in stock. They have a lot of foreign customers and will serve you in English.

Edited October 30, 2010 by Blether (log)

[Obese-Wan Kenobi]

Thank you helenjp an Blether,

That helps me a lot

I think it's fair to pay $600-700/kg. I think.

I wanted to get rib roast cuts. Preferably the loin end (9-12). Those would be about 4-5/kg. each.

Best regards.

OB1

[Obese-Wan Kenobi]

Hi! Thanks for the help. I'm back home now and I was able to buy my beef. I ended up at Nisshin cause it was walking distance from where I was staying, so perfect!

They didn't have Kobe nor A5's, so I settled for a nice looking A3-6 from Kumamoto. The 10kg. cost about 150K Yen. It held up well for the short flight home.

Best regards.

[helenjp]

Glad to hear that...I wasn't sure Nissin would be able to help, so glad you got something you're happy with.

[Blether]

... They didn't have Kobe nor A5's, so I settled for a nice looking A3-6 from Kumamoto. The 10kg. cost about 150K Yen. It held up well for the short flight home.

Good stuff. How did you go about packing it for the journey, and did you check or hand-carry ? How many hours was it ?

[Obese-Wan Kenobi]

Blether,

First I had them cut it into 1 inch steaks. It came to 33 steaks. Asked to have it vacuum sealed, but they couldn't do it, so that was a problem... on to plan B. If they could vacuum it, I would have just frozen them and wrap them in a plastic bag with no worries of leakage in case they thawed. So plan B was I bought small styrofoam coolers from Daiso and fit 4 steaks per box. I froze the meat the night before and the day of my flight I packed the meat in the coolers with those liquid ice packs. Sealed the lid nice and tight with tape hoping it would hold the leaks and packed it in my luggage. The meat was out of the freezer from 5:30AM until I got home at 1:30PM. Opened my luggage at home, whew, no leaks! Opened the coolers, steaks were still frozen, albeit not rock hard, but 3/4 frozen. And I put them back in my freezer. Success!

BTW, this was checked-in luggage.

Edited November 3, 2010 by Obese-Wan Kenobi (log)

[Blether]

... First I had them cut it into 1 inch steaks. It came to 33 steaks...

Thanks ! That's exactly the sort of detail I hoped for. As I've mentioned before, if I had ever brought haggis and other treats back from the butcher's back in the wilds of Scotland {which would of course be against Japanese import restrictions), I'd have had it frozen overnight, wrapped it in the traditional newspaper and carried it on board, and it would have lasted the 16 hours door-to-door, no problem.

[Obese-Wan Kenobi]

... First I had them cut it into 1 inch steaks. It came to 33 steaks...

Thanks ! That's exactly the sort of detail I hoped for. As I've mentioned before, if I had ever brought haggis and other treats back from the butcher's back in the wilds of Scotland {which would of course be against Japanese import restrictions), I'd have had it frozen overnight, wrapped it in the traditional newspaper and carried it on board, and it would have lasted the 16 hours door-to-door, no problem.

It doesn't thaw in the cabin? I always check mine in as I'm counting on the my theory that it's probably-50 degrees in the belly of the plane when it's up in the air.

Regards.

[Blether]

It doesn't thaw in the cabin? I always check mine in as I'm counting on the my theory that it's probably-50 degrees in the belly of the plane when it's up in the air.

Yes, your thinking makes sense. I have an impatient traveller's innate aversion to checking baggage. It does thaw in the cabin (more so than in the hold, I'm sure) but well-insulated it's still plenty cold even after that length of journey.

(I don't know about you, but I'm mainly teasing the conversation out in the hope of beef photos )

[Obese-Wan Kenobi]

Yes, I did take some pictures. Let me work on that. I took pictures because of the magnificent packaging they did for me and I wasn't able to bring it with me. Japan packaging is the best!

[Obese-Wan Kenobi]

OK, here are the pics.

Hope you enjoy them!

Can you translate?

Regards.

Edited November 11, 2010 by Obese-Wan Kenobi (log)

[Blether]

The four large characters on the wrapping paper are 'Nisshin Ham', the company that runs the store.

The label with the big red characters says "package contains fresh meat" in big characters, and "refrigerate immediately after unwrapping" (literally "immediately after taking out of the box").

The big black letters on the white paper band are "kuroge wagyu", 'black-haired Japanese cattle/beef'.

The cover of the black booklet says "suteeki no oishii meshiagarikata", or "how to eat delicious steak", literally "the way of eating steak deliciously".

Thanks for sharing such a special purchase - that's some serious 'shimofuri' (marbled) meat.

[Obese-Wan Kenobi]

Too bad I couldn't bring the boxes home...

Yeah, it's good marbling, 6, i think. I've already eaten 2 Limiting myself to 1 a week hehe..

Regards.

[prasantrin]

May I ask to which country you were bringing the beef?

I was looking into bringing some things back to Canada from Japan, but I would need certificates and blah blah blah for some of the stuff. I don't really want to bother with all that, but if Nissin or other places will prepare the stuff for me so I don't have to go through the trouble, I might reconsider!

[Obese-Wan Kenobi]

I live in the Philippines. We are allowed to do this if it's for personal consumption. Commercial quantities would also require certificates and other blah, blah, blahs.

Just to clarify, Nisshin was not involved at all in the shipping. I just bought it from their shop and prepared it myself.

I think Canada is a lot stricter than us.

Good luck!