Wagyu Beef – 🎌 Japan Road Trip 07

Wagyu Beef – 🎌 Japan Road Trip 07

First bit of five-star Wu beef. Look at that. Look at the grain on that. It’s the first time I’ve touched Wu, by the way. And it feels exactly as I thought. Firm, fresh. I just wanted to have a little bit of Wu. It’s so reasonable. This was about 12 Australian dollars. And this is the higher the higher grade Wu. So, let’s just turn the pan on. I’m not going to season it. I would like to. I haven’t got salt and I feel it should have a little bit of salt. Look at the beautiful marbling. I could almost eat this raw. Just see if that pan’s warm. All right. It feels a little bit sacrilege not putting a little salt on it, but uh [Applause] yes. Now, also don’t want to overcook this, but I I do want some caramelizing on it. that material. Probably could have done a little longer on this side. Don’t want to puncture the meat. So, this is cooking in a little sesame oil because it’s the only oil that I’ve got. So, that’s extra meat juices just running off of the the Woo there. Look at that. still trickling out of the the beef fl. If I push that back up, you can see it’s rendering off some beautiful fat. Just cook it a little bit more. It feels very rare at the moment, which is good. Now, what I could do just to absorb some of that beautiful way fat is we we found these little home little homemade gusa and they’re Oh, they’re a little bit warm, so they’re sticking. Let’s get those um guiosas on the cook. We’ll just let it let it rest there now. I might No, I don’t think I’ve overcooked it. Wow. Perfect. Okay. This is my first ever WGO. Have you had WGO before? No. First ever. Nothing like I expected. Nothing like Wow. Now, I’m going to give you this, Michelle, and you try this. Okay. But this is nothing like you expected. This is so tender. It’s so fatty, but now it makes sense, the flavor. It wouldn’t be to everyone’s liking. And it’s delicious. I love it. And actually, I think a bit of seasoning. Yeah. A bit of salt. Little salt because people aren’t going to quite appreciate. Now, this is a This is a French style, I think, isn’t it? So, it has some herbs in it and and the like. So, it’s not at all not at all what I was expecting. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this. It’s beautiful and tender. A lot of people wouldn’t like that. And I’ll tell you why. Because it’s like the perfectly cooked rind of a rump steak. Yeah. The fat is so intense. It’s so there and it’s so marbled. You can see how much white fat ran through that. So you don’t get the beefy sort of flavor a lot of people would expect from beef. You’re getting much more a fat flavor and a really nice succulent, but it’s not having those it’s not having those meaty edges to it. to me when I used to get from my butchers when I was a lot younger. I used to from Nigel, big up to Nigel Herkham. He used to do me like a grass. Well, it wasn’t called gr just good quality beef rump. And the the rump rind that’s on rump on good quality rump tastes a little like this. And I’m I’m surprised. I don’t know what I was expecting even with the seasoning on and it’s butter soft. Let me try again. I’ll have another little try. You get what I’m saying? It’s really more like fat than beef. The more you chew it, you get the beef flavor come through, but a lot of people wouldn’t like that. I think it’s delicious. Boi. This is a bit like when when you have truffles the first time and everyone tells you they’ve got to be wonderful. A lot of people wouldn’t like Do you agree? A lot of people wouldn’t like that. Absolutely. Absolutely. We’re going to have a lot more where you beef of all different qualities and and and flavors, but from different provenences as well. But I suspect that this has changed. It’s like when I ate durian, you know, for the first time. Now, okay, now I know what durian could taste like. And now what? Now what I can expect from higher grades of Wu. There isn’t enough blood protein in the meat. Let’s try it next time. Well seasoned, and see how it changes the the beef and and I’ll hold fire. Uh, interesting. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Some things I want to say about Japan that’s beautiful. Apart from this scenery, look at this. [Music] What I love, it’s the trustworthy honesty of the country. A couple have just rocked up on a couple of motorbikes here. They haven’t bothered to take their valuables. They just got their bottle of water and left their she the girl at the back. She hasn’t even closed the bag down properly and they they’ve gone for a walk. They’re over the bridge already going for a little walk and nobody is going to touch that stuff. It’s it’s just ever so safe. You know, we leave the car open, just airing the car a little bit. And if I wanted to, I could leave that car open with the cameras, my wallet, everything in there and go off to the bathrooms, and I know nobody is going to go in there. I know you shouldn’t get a full sense of security. But it is really safe in Japan. People are very respectful of people’s belongings. Now, you might wonder, why have I parked a little bit towards the line? We arrived here last night. We actually slept here last night. So, I just wanted that little extra space to um to the right side of the car. But look where we are. We’ve had a problem with the heat because it’s the hottest summer on record since the 1800s. 40° plus really hot. But up here in the mountains, it’s cooled down really nicely. We’re very comfortable. It’s been about 24° 25° last night and even now it feels like maybe 27 max. There is a highway here. We made one silly mistake. We actually parked here and we slept here last night and it was pretty noisy. There were trucks going along as you can see all night. But I was I was of the opinion that was the only place we could park. But we got up this morning and looked at the map. There’s there’s parking areas over here. You’ll see the car all away from the noise. There’s parking areas the other side and bathrooms. Additional bathrooms over there as well. Oh well, live and learn. And did I say the bathrooms here are spotless. Like the very best hotel bathrooms you could ever want for are here. They’re so clean, so modern, and nobody seems to leave them in a mess. So they’re always they’re as clean they’re as clean when you get into them. Even if a dozen people have been in there, they seem to be super clean. And it’s just a respect thing again. This is the way the world should be. I was just saying, Michelle, that people can leave their stuff. We can leave our stuff. Nobody’s ever going to tamper with it. None of that’s locked. And that’s a a couple on these two bikes. Both Kawazakis. Yeah, both Kawazakis. It’s a older couple. Probably in their sort of late 40s, early 50s, I would say. It’s a great touring route. Decision making time. Are we going to stay in the central mountain district or are we going to go back down to the coast? We’ve got to decide today. See you on the road. We’ve decided that we are going to try and stay in the central highlands of Japan. So, we’re going to go towards Fukushima, which keeps us fairly central. So, we’re not going down to the coast cuz it’s so beautiful. 27 28° and um it is getting a little warmer as we go down. Actually, it’s just gone to 29°, but I do think going this way is going to be a little kinder to us. You agree, Michelle? Absolutely. How beautiful is this? [Music] [Music] [Music] All we need is a place to be and a few good friends for some company. If you’d like to stay, you don’t have to leave. We’ll leave the lights on and the door unlocked. If you drop on by, you don’t have to knock. We’re happy to share whatever we’ve got. [Music]

Wagyu Beef Is NOT What I Expected…
On a quiet day in the Japanese mountains, I finally did it — I cooked and tasted five-star Wagyu beef for the very first time. The marbling looked like art, the fat sizzled in sesame oil, and the aroma drifted out into the cool summer air.
Michele and I sat by our little roadside stop, with bikes and travelers passing by, as the Wagyu melted in our mouths. But here’s the twist: it didn’t taste like the steak I’d imagined at all. Rich, buttery, soft — more fat than beef — yet somehow unforgettable.
Alongside the food, you’ll also see why I love Japan: the honesty of people who leave valuables untouched, spotless roadside bathrooms that feel like hotels, and mountain air that makes even the hottest summer bearable.
This isn’t just about Wagyu — it’s about the magic of travel, food, and discovery.
👉 Join us for the ride, and let’s see if Wagyu is what you expected.

⏱️ YouTube Chapters
00:00 – First look at Wagyu
00:28 – Into the pan
01:00 – Sizzle & sesame oil
02:14 – Dumplings join the party
03:04 – First bite reactions
03:47 – Fat or beef?
04:23 – Comparing memories
05:10 – Surprising flavors
06:02 – Next time with seasoning
06:40 – Honesty in Japan
09:47 – Road trip choice

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