Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) will start a special program of spreading “Japanese beef cutting techniques” among overseas chefs, which cut round of beef and other parts of “wagyu (Japanese beef cattle)” into thinly sliced beef specially for Japanese cuisines such as “Yakiniku (Korean-style grilled meat)” and “Shabu-shabu,” one of Japanese hot pot dishes.
In this program, MAFF invites 50 chefs from Western and Asian countries per year for three years from 2016, who are to learn unique techniques of meat cutting, including a slicing-beef technique developed in Japan.
Overseas demand for round of “wagyu” beef is now limited and only a small amount of such parts of Japanese beef is exported to foreign countries.
MAFF plans to stimulate new demands for various kinds of Japanese beef, particularly “wagyu” beef for “Yakiniku” and “Shabu-shabu,” in order to add momentum to an increase of “wagyu” beef exports.
In 2015, Japan set up a new record in exporting Japanese beef, accounting 11 billion yen. However, parts of exported Japanese beef are mostly one-sided to those for beef steaks such as sirloin steak and tender loin.
MAFF considers it as an urgent business to stimulate new demands for other parts of “wagyu” beef so as to further boost the overall exports of Japanese beef.