The award-winning meat of Ito Ranch Matsusaka Beef is now in the Philippines, giving Filipinos a chance to taste the rarely exported beef.
Matsusaka beef is dubbed the “Queen of Wagyu” as the ranch only makes use of female cows, has intricate marbling, and has a low melting point of 12° Celsius.
During the launch Matsusaka’s Philippine arrival last October 16 in a Mandaluyong mall, the brand’s overseas sales manager Kunio Kosaka boasted that its meat surpasses the rarity of the more popularly known Kobe beef.
While the meat is now available in the Philippines, Kosaka encouraged people to visit Japan and try Matsusaka beef there, calling it an “experience and story”.
Local company Prime Cuts by Doubleday will import the meat from Japan and distribute it to partner restaurants staring with Teppanya and Sicilian Roast, and soon more established in and outside Metro Manila.
According to Kosaka, Matsusaka only works with a single company in each individual market, and they believe Prime Cuts will handle their beef with the care it deserves.
A sister logistics company will handle the distribution to ensure the observation of the precise environment it takes to deliver the meat.
Prime Cuts chief executive officer Lorenzo Vega compared eating Matsusaka beef to touching leather, also sharing his preferred preparation is thinly-sliced teppanyaki style, dashed with salt and pepper.
Because of its fatness and high oleic acid count, Vega suggests the ideal doneness for Matsusaka steaks are medium or medium rare.