Wagyu and Konjac, jewels from Gunma

«First of all, I’d like to express our sympathy for the Italian people hit by the earthquake. Unfortunately in Japan we know well what it means». This is the message that opened the beautiful afternoon, last Monday at Arte del Convivio in Milan. Hideaki Mashimo, director of the department of Agriculture of the prefecture of Gunma pronounced these words. He arrived in Italy with an important delegation to present two emblems of the territory he represents, Konjac root and Wagyu beef.

In the audience, six good Italian chefs: Cesare Battisti and Luca De Santi of Ratanà in Milan, Fabrizio Ferrari of Porticciolo 84 in Lecco, Terry Giacomello of Inkiostro in Parma, Andrea Ribaldone of Due Buoi in Alessandria, Marco Stabile of Ora d’Aria in Florence. They’re here to learn the secrets of these two products, which they’ll use to make a dinner on 9th November, also at Arte del Convivio.

After Paolo Marchi’s initial welcome, Anna Meroni, designer and ambassador of the prefecture in Italy introduces the event: «Gunma is a region located in the heart of Japan and it’s the only one in the entire country that doesn’t overlook the sea. It’s a territory with a strong thermal and productive tradition». Distinguishing marks: endless expanses of Konjac plants. Root, tuber or potato? «We chose to call it root», points out Meroni, «even though it escapes classifications due to its atypical texture [similar to small nerves]».

[[ima]]In Gunma we cultivate 90% of the entire production of Japan, that is to say the world: «It has very interesting characteristics in terms of fibres and calcium. Given its lightness, the sense of fullness it gives, the limited amount of calories and the absence of gluten, it’s the perfect ingredient of tomorrow. The production has a cycle of 3 years. The root is cleaned, steamed, peeled, mashed into a paté, thickened with calcium hydroxide and finally kneaded».

It’s now the turn of Nobuya Niimori, Japanese chef at restaurant Sushi B in Milan, who was also nominated ambassador of Gunma at Expo 2015. With him we learn about the flexibility of Konjac in cooking: initially it’s in the shape of blocks or spaghetti. Niimori uses it to make noodles with a pesto of shiso and prawns. But he also uses it to make sashimi, carpaccio, tempura. And you can also roll it out into a thin pastry. Given it’s 90% water, when you dip it into marinades it absorbs them like a sponge.

Then comes the moment of his majesty Wagyu, a topic we covered multiple times, here and here: «It’s a type of beef that is treated in a special way in each of its 3 phases: calf, veal up to 9 months and fattening» say Makoto Hasegawa and Hiromitsu Matsuoka, director and assistant section manager at the Gunma Meat Wholesales Market. They introduce the cattle part of the day and arrived in Milan to present the different cuts, thanks to the expertise of the region, «the first to be granted permission to export the product outside of Japan».

«In Gunma’s farms, each head has a name and is given a blanket for the cold months. It’s an obsessive care. No detail is overlooked. The cattle have a very high level of oleic acid, which helps regulating the levels of cholesterol in the blood. The opposite of what we might think of red meat». We’re here precisely to demolish prejudgement. As with the intelligent reuse of the discarded meat, «which can give extra taste to burgers because it has a sweet aftertaste that enhances umami a lot».

On the counter, the expert butchers place and cut fillet, sirloin and king steak. The latter is a cut we mostly use for roast or boiled beef. The chefs in fact are impressed by its great yield when quickly cooked by immersion in a shabu shabu. Chef Nibuya displays a sequence of Wagyu fillet sushi with heart tartare, Soup of miso wagyu and Konjac, Tartare with sesame sauce and shallot and sweet Ravioli of black azuki beans, chocolate and Konjac outside. All this paired with Mizubasho sparkling sake, produced with the champenoise method. A further chance to realise that what be believe we know of Japan is stuck in the stereotype stage.