Our gourmet-loving editor from Italy, Enrico, introduces the charm of Kumamoto’s specialty, ‘Akaushi’!
Growing up in Italy, my culinary journey underwent a significant transformation after moving to Japan. The most pronounced difference I felt was in the taste of ‘beef’. While the ‘WAGYU’, synonymous with tender ‘Japanese beef’ full of marbling, is incredibly popular in Japan and abroad, as an Italian, I felt it lacked a punch to truly satisfy my meat cravings. Perhaps that’s why my encounter with Kumamoto’s flagship beef brand ‘Akaushi’ was so memorable. The leaner meat of ‘Akaushi’ was reminiscent of what I was accustomed to in Italy. In this edition of pomodoro, we’ll introduce you to the airport branch of ‘Akaushi Diner Yokayoka’, which has a strong commitment to Akaushi.
Introducing Kumamoto’s Famous Beef, Akaushi, to the World!
Located on the 3rd floor of the airport, in the boarding waiting area, ‘Akaushi Diner Yokayoka’ is a specialized Akaushi restaurant produced by Kumamoto’s meat supplier ‘Akaushi Sanwa Group’. The group initially focused on meat distribution and retail sales, but since the 20th year of the Heisei era, they began raising around 100 Akaushi cattle. “In recent years, driven by a desire to deliver delicious Akaushi directly to customers, we’ve been grilling our beef in our restaurants,” says the airport branch manager, Ms. Fuki Fujita. The most popular dish in their restaurants is the ‘Akaushi Donburi’. According to Fujita, this dish played a pivotal role in raising the national profile of Akaushi. It’s also a signature menu item at the airport branch.
The meat of Akaushi, paired with a sauce and soft rice, is a match made in heaven! Grilling it slowly over medium heat results in a burst of juicy flavor in the mouth. With the rising health trends in recent years, Akaushi is gaining in both popularity and recognition. However, Fujita mentions some challenges, “There are still people who haven’t tried it and equate lean meat with being tough. Furthermore, Akaushi’s global recognition is lower compared to brands like Kobe beef.” “Many of our customers from countries like South Korea and Taiwan have never heard of Akaushi. But most of them love it once they try it. By opening a shop at the airport, which serves as the gateway to Kumamoto, we hope to introduce Akaushi as a representative Japanese delicacy to tourists,” says the airport branch chef, Mr. Shuji Kobayashi.
The ‘Akaushi Minced Meat Curry’ is an airport-exclusive dish. There’s also a retort pouch version available as a souvenir.
You can also enjoy the aroma and sounds of ‘Akagyu’ cooking!♫
They greet tourists with a cheerful smile across the counter.
Akaushi is Healthy! It’s rich in iron and fatigue recovery components like carnosine and anserine.
“Our Akaushi is healthy, safe, and delicious. We pride ourselves on having this perfect trifecta,” says the previously mentioned Kobayashi. “Lately, consumers have been choosing Akaushi mainly for its health benefits. I’ve come to realize anew how crucial it is for meat to be kind to the body,” emphasizes store manager Fujita. The Akaushi raised and offered by the Sanwa Group is known as ‘Kousei Beef’. The distinctive feature of ‘Kousei Beef’ is its delicate flavor of lean meat. Unlike meat that lets one savor the sweetness and texture of marbling, the flavor of lean meat can’t be faked. Carefully reared for its gentle yet rich lean meat taste, ‘Kousei Beef’ was born out of the pursuit of the best balance between marbling and lean meat. It’s lean meat with no unpleasant odor, a clean, sophisticated scent, and a mild taste. According to Fujita, the feed for Akaushi primarily uses local ingredients like feed rice and straw, ensuring that the cattle grow healthily and become a safe ingredient for consumption.
Listening to Fujita and Kobayashi talk about the health benefits of Akaushi piqued my interest. So, I decided to inquire about its nutritional value with Ms. Hiroko Tomoyori, a nutritionist and associate professor at Kumamoto Prefectural University. “One of the benchmarks for evaluating the healthiness of Akaushi is that its lean meat content is over 70%. The characteristic of Akaushi with its high lean meat content is that it contains a lot of iron, which people often lack in their daily diets. Additionally, Akaushi meat is noted to be rich in carnosine and anserine, which are pointed out for their fatigue recovery functions.” Learning that it’s not just delicious but also nutritionally rich, my love for Akaushi has grown even more.
After the Interview…
The enthusiasm of the airport store staff to challenge both domestic and international markets was truly awe-inspiring. I was deeply moved, seeing their proactive stance towards new challenges right before their eyes, embodying the very spirit of the Kumamoto locals known as ‘Wasamon’. When you happen to visit Aso Kumamoto Airport, please do try the Akaushi from “Akaushi Dining Yokayoka”, which continually embraces global challenges with the Wasamon spirit.
