japan’s number one beef arrives in malaysia
In the hierarchy of beef, there is mere beef, there is Japanese wagyu and there is Miyazaki wagyu. And right at the peak – the veritable Mount Olympus of beef – is Miyazaki beef from the Nakanishi farm. And now it is available in Malaysia at – and only at – The Olive at Resorts World Genting.
To understand the significance of Nakanishi-grade Miyazaki wagyu, you need to know the landscape of Japanese wagyu. All Japanese beef is known as wagyu, sourced from any of the country’s four cattle. However, much like French wines and Scotch whisky, the stature of wagyu depends on the terroir – the combination of environment, weather, feed and cattle strain. The most famous are the Sandai Wagyu, the Three Great Wagyu of Japan, which come from the Kansai prefecture – Kobe, Matsusaka and Ohmi. But, as was said in Star Wars, there is another.
That is Miyazaki wagyu, farmed in the Miyazaki region of the Kyushu island and descended from the Kuroge Washu (Japanese Black) cattle breed. Little known outside of Japan – Miyazaki has been won the National Wagyu Award for two consecutive five-year terms by the Wagyu Registry Association of Japan, as well as the Prime Minister’s Award three times in 2007, 2012 and 2017, beating Kobe and Matsusaka. It is known as Japan’s Number One beef, and the secret is its low-intensity farming, where cattle are harvested only 4 at a time, after being fed on a diet of wheat and corn for 900 days, 8 times longer than commercial beef. And within Miyazaki itself, there is a hierarchy. Not all Miyazaki wagyu is created equal, and the cream of the crop comes from the Nakanishi farm, owned by Norihito Nakanishi, the son of the man who created Kobe wagyu.
Miyazaki wagyu, and indeed Japanese wagyu, does not conform to Western butchering terms. There is no ribeye or sirloin or tenderloin cuts – but there is a gold bar, a loin-like cut hidden deep within the shoulder that is the most prized. Available at The Olive for RM450 per 150 portion, Miyazaki wagyu tastes equally delicious raw or light broiled or seared. In raw slivers that are slightly thicker than carpaccio, it has a buttery texture that is unadulterated meaty umami which dissolves on the tongue quickly, leaving only a spectre of beefy goodness. Lightly torched, the delicate char adds some smokiness to the meat that a sprinkling of sea salt transforms into transcendence. It is no exaggeration to say that this best beef this writer has ever tasted. And the best is yet to come.
That best is the ‘gold bar’ itself. Less impressive physically than a Tomahawk, the gold bar has a presence that punches well above its weight class. Expertly seared on all sides, the gold bar is a ticking time bomb of deliciousness. Much like an onde-onde explodes with its gula melaka centre in the mouth, the Miyazaki wagyu gold bar unleashes a nuclear-powered concentrated blast that overwhelms tastebuds. It is not normal for food to be this Elysian, and yet here we are.
For now, Miyazaki wagyu from the Nakanishi farm is available in Malaysia only at Resorts World Genting. The Olive has also been recognised as an ‘Official Miyazaki Outlet’ by the Miyazaki Wagyu Council, one of only a handful in the world. To cement this relationship, Norihito Nakanishi himself arrived in The Olive to hand over the Official Miyazaki Outlet certificate to representatives of Resorts World Genting, witnessed by Agroland Malaysia, the sole distributor of Miyazaki wagyu in Malaysia. At The Olive, Miyazaki wagyu will form part of the a la carte menu. Miyazaki wagyu served at The Olive differs in pricing depending on the grade of meat selected, with the Nakanishi grade being the highest.
