Oishinbo - Vol. 6 Ch. 51 - The Power of Beef

[MangaDex]

 

[d_a_renoir]

Is what Kaibara said about beef being better from female cows correct, though?

 

[Mugiwara325]

Is what Kaibara said about beef being better from female cows correct, though?

A good question. Most of the information I could find is anecdotal and comes from people in the beef industry, but the notion of 'better' feels so subjective, I wasn't sure how to approach it.

So I'll just explain what I've found here.

Generally, the difference in flavour between cow beef and bull beef can be attributed to the different hormones affecting the muscle structure. Higher testosterone levels are often considered bad and contribute to tougher meat, so many places around the world prefer cow beef. Veal is prized even more because calves will not have matured enough to produce these hormones, so their flavour is lighter and less 'beefy'.

Steers, castrated bulls, also won't produce the testosterone, so they are less active and therefore have fattier meat. But, they lack the estrogen that cows have, which I dunno, I guess that's more preferred for some reason?

Even among cows, Kaibara specified they must not have given birth. These are known in the industry as heifers, and their meat is prized for not having gone through the stress of giving birth.

Ultimately, I'd like to remind that these are all anecdotes provided by industry professionals, rather than scientific studies, though for something like this, perhaps that's good enough.

 

[d_a_renoir]

Steers, castrated bulls, also won't produce the testosterone, so they are less active and therefore have fattier meat. But, they lack the estrogen that cows have, which I dunno, I guess that's more preferred for some reason?

Even among cows, Kaibara specified they must not have given birth. These are known in the industry as heifers, and their meat is prized for not having gone through the stress of giving birth.

Ultimately, I'd like to remind that these are all anecdotes provided by industry professionals, rather than scientific studies, though for something like this, perhaps that's good enough.

Yeah, I figured the mature bulls might have tougher meat or something, but Kaibara said all bull beef have less flavour somehow, and that includes the steers shown in the manga, and I can't find anything about that. All comparison that I've seen online only talks about the fat content and tenderness, and nothing about how it taste.

 

[Mugiwara325]

Yeah, I figured the mature bulls might have tougher meat or something, but Kaibara said all bull beef have less flavour somehow, and that includes the steers shown in the manga, and I can't find anything about that. All comparison that I've seen online only talks about the fat content and tenderness, and nothing about how it taste.

The Japanese word for 'taste' (味, aji) is a fair bit more generic than what it means in English. It can encompass many things from actual flavor, fattiness, texture, mouthfeel etc. Anything that would make something 'feel good to eat'.
So when Kaibara said bull beef has less flavor, what he means is bull beef has less fat content and is less tender than cow beef.
That said, I have seen comments that bull beef has a more gamey or 'beefy' taste, which some people consider undesirable.

 

[Mangawolf2]

From what I found online, extremely excess protein is broken down into glucose, a sugar, and then converted to fat.