With eye-popping prices showing up on menus across America, you better make sure you know a Kobe impostor from the real deal.

Fact: Real Kobe Beef comes from Kobe, Japan

Fact: Wagyu refers to all Japanese beef cattle

So what in the world is on our menus? Is it Japanese, American or both? Good question.

United States and Japan have had an on-again, off-again ban of importing/exporting beef since 2001, due to mad-cow disease concerns. Right now, we are off-again, which means if the restaurant claims genuine Kobe, then it better be from Japan. Technically, if it is coming from American ranches, like Snake River Farms, who cross Japanese Wagyu cattle with good ol’ American Black Angus and practice, it should be named ‘Kobe style’ or American Wagyu. This crossbreeding is called Washu, which often times is misleadingly labeled and priced as genuine Kobe. You, should know that there are different qualities of American Wagyu, as no standards have been set as of yet. The real Kobe beef, is nothing like what is served on American soil, as it is so intricately marbled that it is hard to see the beef and is often called ‘the white beef’ in Japan.

According to the American Wagyu Organization, the first known import of Waygu cattle to the United states was in 1976 where we acquired four. Later, in the early 90’s, about 40 Japanese Wagyu cows were sent to America and fattened using traditional Japanese methods. As far as American Wagyu, there are a number of companies ready to develop certified programs to be approved by the USDA, however it will be a while, as USDA is style trying to define Wagyu.

Beef-eaters might want to think twice, before taking the ‘Kobe’ plunge.

A restaurant where you are likely to find high-quality Kobe style food is Japonais, a Chicago hot spot, where the Kobe style dishes are a favorite like the Kobe Carpaccio where paper-thin slices of raw Kobe beef seared with hot sesame oil and spiced with cracked red pepper, $10; or the seven-spice Kobe prime rib offers a sea urchin hollandaise with a basket of hand-cut Japanese sweet potato fries on the side, $32.

via nymag