Chef Chris Pandel is cutting a piece of raw A5 Japanese Wagyu into paper-thin slices.
Perhaps better known for rustic Italian fare — you may remember Pandel’s cuisine at The Bristol and Balena — Pandel is now helming the kitchen at Swift & Sons, a new steakhouse in the West Loop. This morning, we’re sampling what many argue is a culinary Holy Grail: Wagyu.
Chilean, Australian and Japanese Wagyu, to be exact, all of which sit plump on Swift & Sons’ menu. The trio, at five ounces a portion, comprise the three priciest steaks on offer — a 36-ounce dry-aged long-bone rib chop excepted.
That proper breeding has led to a worldwide spawn of farmers raising their own prized Wagyu cattle. The first bulls were imported to farms in the U.S. and Australia in the 1970s; the latter took top billing at this year’s World Steak Challenge in London.
“It’s an unrealistic expectation of beef,” Pandel says, smiling.
The Wagyu experience is all about the marbling, which Pandel describes as a higher-than-normal “amount of intermuscular fat within the animal.” In other words: more white than red. The high fat content makes for ultra-rich and ultra-tender beef. The good kind of fat, Pandel assures me.
The bite: layers of meat and — mostly — fat melting in on themselves, giving way to a sublime, buttery mouthfeel infused with iron and salt. A delight so rich, it must be enjoyed sparingly. Think less is more.
How you want it: preferably on the rare or medium-rare side.
But which one should you order? Let’s take a closer look.
A quick explainer on the Japanese meat grading system: letters are the yield grade, on a scale from A to C. The number is the quality grade, which is judged on marbling, meat color and texture and fat color and texture. A5, then, is the best of this style of animal in the entire world. This beef comes from Japan’s Miyazaki Prefecture, a region (similar to that of Kobe) known for producing the highest quality Wagyu.