> Japanese produce and meats are just fussed over to such a degree for which an American consumer has no frame of reference.
The Japanese are famous for high quality Kobe beef, but the truth is most meat in Japan is actually not very high quality at all and Kobe is a relatively rare exception. Same with poultry. Most people don't want to believe it but, despite all the McDonald's and factory farming, America has the best meat on average, and at maximum too.
Not sure where you are getting your information- sources would back up your claims.
Japanese restaurants can serve high-quality chicken raw. Japanese eggs are eaten raw by a majority of Japanese. This would be unthinkable in the salmonella-filled chicken foodstream of the US.
Eggs are routinely eaten raw in the US as well, and pose a negligible risk of salmonella.
Japan breeds special chickens for raw consumption; no matter how you raise them, ordinary chickens --- including those eaten cooked in Japan --- are nasty animals that will make you sick if not handled properly.
Even in ordinary chickens, intact whole muscles should be internally sterile (it's the skin that's the problem on a trimmed chicken), so I wonder if part of the deal with getting a license to serve chicken tartare or sashimi in Japan is that there's a scald step or something to clear the surface bacteria.
I don't, like, know, or anything. I just like talking about chicken.
>Japan breeds special chickens for raw consumption
Are you sure about this? I've always heard from izakaya owners here that it has to do with the processing of the meat and the amount of time that has passed since slaughter. It's also rarely seared when I get it.
I'm not saying it's seared. Before you do a long cook sous vide, if you're concerned about lactobacillus (which won't hurt you but will make your entire product taste and smell like dirty socks), you can very quickly dunk whatever you're cooking in boiling water to kill surface bacteria. Doing that has no discernible impact on the texture or appearance of the meat (except it might turn a thin layer of chicken flesh opaque).
I'm wondering if the raw chicken people might do something similar, since all the pathogens they're concerned about will be on the surface.
I assert that anyone who has visited Argentina or Uruguay would strongly disagree with you that any country in North America would outperform their beef in flavor.
I would easily be disproven if you had some kind of authoritative source.
I would agree with your assertion that Japanese beef is not high-quality compared to Australian or U.S. meat. I think the parent poster was talking about produce, though.
> I assert that anyone who has visited Argentina or Uruguay
I have not myself been to either of these places but know several knowledgable people who have who all say the beef was fine but not as good as American.
> I would easily be disproven if you had some kind of authoritative source.
Check out the movie http://steakrevolution.com/ (it's available on Netflix as well). They talk extensively about why American beef is the best, but when it comes to comparing it to South American beef (including Brazilian) it basically has to do with climate, and what cattle need to be bred for that climate.
> I would agree with your assertion that Japanese beef is not high-quality compared to Australian or U.S. meat. I think the parent poster was talking about produce, though.
Seems you don't know anything about beef if you are talking about Kobe beef. It's just like Bordeaux Wine, it's beef from a certain region ... it says nothing about quality.
Try Miyazaki Beef next time you are in Japan ...
http://www.rareedibles.com/miyazaki-beef/
Then we can talk. It depends on how you define best. Honestly, Japan has on average the best food, the maximum too (see michelin star restaurants). Average food in US sucks (I think you mean US when talking about America...).
Thanks, but you know that Miyazaki is just a region as well right? And Miyachiku Co-Op is made up of hundreds of different breeders (and does not encompass all Miyazaki beef). And I've had it. It tastes roughly the same as Kobe, despite being a different breed. Most Wagyu tastes the same, honestly, there's as much variation between samples of the same type as there are between different types.
Even for a relatively defined palate, it's very difficult to tell the difference between anything above a grade 6 in marbling. But really, we're talking about a very specific kind of beef, and I have no problem admitting that most Wagyu is very high quality. But it's not representative of most of the beef in Japan.
Japan's Michelin Stars are almost exclusively for Sushi and other seafood, which I would never imply is low quality. If you love seafood, which I don't, then yes, Japan probably has a good claim for the best food in the world.
What about Hida? Not as well known in the US but many believe it's better than Kobe beef.
Japanese style beef is just different than the types found abroad. Every piece of Japanese raised beef I see in the supermarket here is beautifully marbled with fat and extremely rich in flavor. High quality Australian and American beef are also imported but are used for different purposes and lack the white flecks of fat.
> What about Hida? Not as well known in the US but many believe it's better than Kobe beef.
I've had Hida and a few others as well, and found them all to be basically the same. Extremely negligible differences that are similar in magnitude to different servings of the same style of beef.
> Japanese style beef is just different than the types found abroad. Every piece of Japanese raised beef I see in the supermarket here is beautifully marbled with fat and extremely rich in flavor. High quality Australian and American beef are also imported but are used for different purposes and lack the white flecks of fat.
Totally agree, I would never want a full Kobe steak! Way too rich. But for a few bites it is quite good. But still does not beat a good NY strip in my opinion.
The Japanese are famous for high quality Kobe beef, but the truth is most meat in Japan is actually not very high quality at all and Kobe is a relatively rare exception. Same with poultry. Most people don't want to believe it but, despite all the McDonald's and factory farming, America has the best meat on average, and at maximum too.