00:00:01 John Daub: Welcome to Aomori City. What you have in front of us—look at this. This is some really delicious Japanese Kuroge Wagyu, some of the best Wagyu in Japan because it's got that beautiful marbling. Look at that. It's got a little bit of seasoning on there too. And here we have on the other side a different brand of Wagyu. We're gonna be trying two from Aomori Prefecture, this is the prefecture on the very north of Japan's main island. And we have three Japanese sake we're gonna try with this. I'm just actually gonna have this one called Denshu, which is one of my favorites, with this, and then kind of describe to you the taste. I also have some of the local garlic. Believe it or not, they farm garlic here in Aomori. And of course that goes really well with yakiniku (grilled meat).

00:00:50 John Daub: Oh my gosh, I'm so excited about this. I have not had lunch. I'm starving. How you doing everybody? So in this livestream, I'm going to be sharing with you a little bit about the Wagyu brands of Aomori Prefecture, and then have this on the grill. Now there's lots of different ways to try Wagyu. There's sukiyaki, there's teppanyaki, grilling it on top of a table. There's yakiniku style. You could just eat it raw apparently, and sushi too, which I've done before in the past. So yakiniku is one of the more popular ones. It's also controversial because we had an argument when I was in Yonezawa that if you grill it, you lose some of the fat into the grill. Is that not a waste? Well, we're going to try that today.

00:01:32 John Daub: First off, I want to introduce you to this beef. This is the Oma. This is the Kuraishi. Okay, this is the Kuraishi Gyu. That's the name of a brand of Wagyu from south part of Aomori just near Towada. Let me show you the map where it is because I think it's pretty significant to know exactly where the beef is from. Towada City is kind of a larger town in Aomori Prefecture. Again, Aomori Prefecture right here is on the very north. That's where I am, that blue spot. And just... There's Lake Towada. And just to the side here is Towada Town. And this is just south of here is where this beef brand is from. Also, this garlic is from a place called Takko, which is just near there too. So it all comes from almost the same place. So it's pretty significant to know the same region.

00:02:32 John Daub: The other Wagyu we're going to be eating today is from the very north. And I'm going to explain that to you because it has a pretty interesting story, I think. I want to say thank you too because Shimachi Yakiniku O, this is where I'm eating this beef here. It's about two, three minute walk from Aomori Station, which is pretty convenient. All right, let's get into it. Enough talking. I'm really hungry. So check out this grill here as we barbecue. Look at the pieces of the delicious... Look at the marbling on that. The hiss of the grill.

00:03:29 John Daub: How long do you usually wait for the flip? Is it okay now? It's okay now. Wow, it's true. You don't want to over-grill the Wagyu because I like to say just activate the fats. Are you done? Oh, you don't need the sauce, right? Just the wasabi. Oh, the wasabi. There's different sauces that you can try with it. Okay, so I'm just going to try this here. Wasabi. All right, just let's look at this here. So this is wasabi that I'm putting on here. Check this out. Okay. Oh, this is going to be electrified. There's a little piece of wasabi on this Wagyu here. Oh, this is going to be fun. Itadakimasu. I'm so hungry. That's good.

00:05:15 John Daub: Wow, this brand of Wagyu just... It's hard to differentiate the different brands of Wagyu. I mean, is there any difference between it being from a certain area? I like to think that if you're eating in a certain regional place in Japan, if you're in a local area, you want to eat the local food. And sometimes it's hard to eat it. They'll say, so I can't eat it. I'm really happy that Shimachi Yakiniku O, this restaurant, has Aomori based beef, local beef, which I think is important for me to eat for all of us when we come to a regional area. It's hard for me to finger exactly what is different between this and other Wagyu beef. So I've got to eat more pieces of it, obviously. I'm going to add some of this spicy tare as well into the dish. This smells delicious. So good. There's three different kinds of sauces I'll show you that in a second.

00:06:35 John Daub: The grilling is incredible, the smell that I'm getting right now. It's hard for me to describe grilling beef. This is more than grilling beef, it's yakiniku. Oh that is so pretty. I'm gonna do another one and show you that I grill on top of here so you can just put it in here when you're doing yakiniku. You can just put it right here into the sauces, that's what I normally do. In fact if I'm not the one grilling and I'm talking with my friends, you know what happens? I'll be just talking with my friends and then people—there'll be a grill master, one of the friends around the grill—and he just takes the pieces and puts it in people's different sauces and stuff. And while you're talking you just pick it up and eat. Not everybody is minding the grill, so that's how it sort of works. Let's try the tare.

00:07:35 John Daub: It's very good. You know with Wagyu it kind of just goes into your mouth. You also swallow fat. There's a lot of marbling in it but when you chew it it hits your tongue and then it just sort of melts on there. And the really good Wagyu it does that but more than that there is some the pink part of it that's called akami (red meat), it's the meaty part of it. It's not just the fat but that meat also is so tender because of course it is surrounded by the fats. But each bite is really delicious and you can't... I always have a problem eating a lot of Wagyu because you can get full on it pretty quickly because of all the oil. It's a little bit of an oil though compared to the Angus beef, the very red beef that we might get in the United States. Wagyu is a very special dish.

00:08:22 John Daub: All right that was really good. We're gonna try some of this sake here. This is Denshu, a local Aomori sake. It is in this traditional cup here. Check it out. Oh I like this sake and Wagyu, that's the way to go. I like the cup too, it's got a nice design to it, little frosting on there. Aomori Prefecture has the most snow in the world. This is... I shouldn't say prefecture, Aomori City does. Aomori City has more snow than any other city in the entire world. And now I'm talking about Cleveland too because I used to live near Cleveland. We get a lot of snow up there but not anywhere close to what they get in Aomori. Come by everybody. This is a tokubetsu ginjo shu (special ginjo sake), that's a clean taste, really clean. There's a little bit of an alcohol bite to it and then it just sort of melts away and then that has a lasting... there's a little bit of an aftertaste that just dissipates. I'm not getting any tones of anything because I just had some garlic in the sauce. That's a very delicate taste.

00:10:00 John Daub: All right let's get back to some grilling here. Enjoy for the next minute or two, complete and total grilling. Play the music in your head. Three two one. Wagyu let there be—two pieces this time. Whoa I am so much in heaven. Yakiniku cooks pretty quickly. Again look at the marbling, A5 grade marbling you can tell because it just got so much fat in there. And some people like it and some people don't. For me I love it. And Aomori is so cold again with all the snow. The culture of yakiniku here, a lot of people like to go out to eat and eat and eat and gather around these hot stoves. Let there be more Wagyu, just a little bit more. Activate the fats.

00:11:12 John Daub: I gave up I can't even describe that this smells anymore. I'm gonna put this in spicy sauce. I'm putting one in the other sauce now too so they're both in two different sauces. Let's try this. Oh this looks so good. I can't... I'm whispering because I don't want to disturb the meat. All right this is a spicy tare. I'm noticing that this brand of Wagyu the akami, the red part of it, has a little bit more of a push to it, a little bit more tension than some of the other brands. Each brand you can kind of taste it, a little bit of a difference but honestly a lot of the beef there's just very gentle differences between one and the other. Oh this sauce is really good.

00:12:57 John Daub: Hold on a second I can pan down you can see the three different sauces that you can dip the yakiniku. But sometimes the best sauce—Nathan writes in I can smell it I bet—you like pushing the steam into the microphone here. Sometimes the sauces are good but sometimes just a little bit of salt is all you really need to bring out some of the fats and the akami, that beef. A little bit of salt brings out that flavor just enough where you can taste that more natural flavor of the Wagyu but the sauces add a little bit more to it. So yakiniku the pieces are... what is this about? I got like 5 or 10 grams or something like that. It's not really that heavy, it's not a lot of beef that you eat for each one of these cuts for yakiniku but that's perfect.

00:13:50 John Daub: What I love about the cuts of yakiniku is that they're bite-sized, they're already cut up. So the great thing about it is one they cook really really fast because you can eat it fast and two you don't... it's cut so you can just try different kinds of sauces and different kinds of flavors. Like this is wasabi. Then we have three different kinds of sauces. And then you have just plain old salt over there on the counter. And then you can just eat it grilled as it is. You can get a different flavor and a different experience for each one that you try.

00:14:33 John Daub: Now I want to show you before we get into the next one, which is the Oma no Kuroge Wagyu. Oma Machi no Kuroge Wagyu. Oma-san? Now Oma Machi is up in the north. That's where maguro (tuna) is quite famous. Again let me try this garlic. I'm getting ahead of myself because I'm so excited here. I've noticed that the garlic from Aomori doesn't have such a bite to it. It's more balanced garlic flavor, meaning it doesn't have that strength that you get from Chinese garlic or from maybe other garlics that I've tried. There's something about the Japanese garlic, particularly from Aomori, that is very balanced, that you could eat it raw like this, that's lightly grilled, and not have a massive garlic aftertaste. Again this is the Takko ninjin (Takko garlic) from just south of Towada City in Aomori Prefecture. It's been grilled in I guess it's like an oil, maybe an olive oil or something. Very subtle. Such a perfect accompaniment with Wagyu or any kind of a steak. You have to have some garlic on the side. So good.

00:16:09 John Daub: All right let's get into some more grilling here. This time I want to introduce you to this Wagyu here. This is a different brand in Aomori. This is again the Oma Machi no Kuroge Wagyu. Oma is very famous for maguro, which is tuna. They fish it off of the Tsugaru Strait up there between Hokkaido. So a lot of you might have heard of Oma Maguro, Oma Tuna, Hon Maguro. But it's also famous for Wagyu too. They got some really delicious foods. In fact you know what? I have a hard time thinking of what is not good in Aomori, except maybe some. I'm thinking of the tempura which is like sea squirt, which kind of tastes like—not one of my favorite foods in the world. But this is certainly going to be a treat. Now it's in a sauce already so I don't think you have to add anything to it. Let's put this on the grill here. I can already hear it starting to sizzle. It's got kind of a sweet smell to it because of the tare that it's on. And there's a little bit of sesame on the tip here.

00:17:31 John Daub: I don't like my Wagyu rare, I like it medium. The reason why is because when steak or Wagyu is cooked through a little bit more I think that the fats melt a little bit more too and there's more flavor as a result of it. But I can't tell the difference between a rare and a medium Wagyu. I just like it when it's cooked through a little bit but I don't want it on the outside overly cooked. So the thing with yakiniku is that the grills are really hot and it cooks super fast so it's hard not to have it a little pink. But there you go, that's about where I like it. It cooks extremely fast so it's hard to get it cooked and it's very thinly sliced too. But when it comes to steak I don't like it rare, I prefer it like maybe a medium or medium rare. Again red beef I think is better rare because then it's more tender but this is already tender because of all the fats. That's my personal preference. I'm just going to eat it off of this. There you go. Let's try this here. This has already some sauce on there. Oh man.

00:19:07 John Daub: If you put Oma Gyu, Oma Machi no Kuroge Wagyu, this brand of Wagyu next to Oma Maguro, I don't think I would be able to pick one that I liked more. I love maguro and tuna but I also love Wagyu too. I don't know if I could pick. Very juicy. The fats melt just like the other brand. I can't taste because of the tare in there any kind of a difference, a micro difference with the akami, the red part of the beef. But a lot of the Wagyu cattle are raised or born in different areas of Japan and then they are brought over to Aomori for maybe the last six months of their lives or something like this. That doesn't really add a lot of difference between the taste. However the winters in Aomori are extremely cold and that might play a part in the flavor of the beef. But I haven't had in Japan any beef brand that was bad. Not at all. I just think whenever you go to an area in Japan it is really good to try the local beef, to try the local sake, the local vegetables. And that is a reason to travel around the country from one town to another, from one prefecture to another.

00:20:34 John Daub: I'm having just one more piece of Wagyu. This is the last one here. Oh my gosh look at it. One more second. Flip. You know what? I'm just going to put it here to the side. I don't want it... Ah it fell in there. It's okay. I just want to do one more time with the wasabi to show you. This is real wasabi too because it has a very green fresh flavor. There is a big difference between the wasabi that comes in a tube and freshly prepared wasabi. So I'm going to put that on the top here. And then the iPhone overheated because it was next to the grill. I put the iPhone next to the grill and the iPhone overheated. So I took it and I put it in the snow outside the restaurant. That's awesome. It was too hot.

00:22:23 John Daub: That was crazy. I had the phone literally next to the grill and it's so freaking hot there that it overheated. As somebody who travels a lot, when I travel from one prefecture to the next I love to try the local cuisine. A lot of that has to do with the vegetables and it also has to do with the beef. And the beef in Japan no matter where you go it's really fantastic. The Wagyu in Japan, once you start to eat it you can understand why this is such a special thing. It's a special taste. And traveling to Aomori, if you go to any of the ryokan (Japanese inns) you're going to get the local sake. One of my favorite brands of all time around Japan is Denshu and you're going to get the local Wagyu too. It's hard to differentiate the tastes but it's worth traveling around the country for it. And I don't want to eat a different branded Wagyu from a different area of Japan if I'm in Aomori. I want to eat Aomori Wagyu.

00:23:58 John Daub: So I'm really happy that this place had the local Wagyu. It's just weird because I never tried the Oma Machi Kuroge Wagyu brand because it's so famous for tuna that it was really shocking to me that they had Oma branded Wagyu. So it's weird traveling around the country for that. If you have any questions you can leave the comments below, I'm really happy to answer them. Before I go I have this last piece of Wagyu to eat. Little dish here. It's got the wasabi on there. Let's give this a try just to say goodbye.

00:24:46 John Daub: I don't like to eat too much Wagyu. I'd say 100 grams, 150 grams more than enough. It's not about volume. It's about cutting in little pieces and eating them. You savor it. You want it to sit there on the tongue and just savor it. That's good Wagyu. This is incredibly good Wagyu. So give this place a check if you're in the Aomori area and always try the local Wagyu beef. Now I'm gonna be in a livestream in about three hours again to take you into an oden place. There's an izakaya (pub) that serves Aomori oden which is a local type of oden. Oden being like a traditional Japanese dish, like simmered goodies inside of a really salty dashi (broth) sauce. It's soup. It's so good. We're gonna try the Aomori brand of it which is something I've never tried before, made with a really unique miso that I'm dying to learn about. That's served at a restaurant that's not too far away from here. I'll be back in about 5 p.m. to livestream that and show you that just before dinnertime.

00:26:11 John Daub: So I'm gonna process this one. Be back with you really soon. Thanks so much for watching everybody. If you have any questions again leave me a comment below and I will see you in a couple hours. Take the last 20 seconds staring at a piece of meat grilling and sizzling. Because that's why I'm here, to eat meat. This is the greatest livestream ever for me. I don't know how good you guys like it because you're not on the other side of this. I thought there'd be more sizzling. Please iPhone don't overheat. If the iPhone overheats I'm gonna have to put it in my mouth. I think some of the grease from the Wagyu might have popped up onto it. Oh my gosh!