[Ronin]

I hate to say it folks, but American beef is just too tough and chewy for most Japanese consumers. Aussies got a clue some years back and started growing cattle that was flavorful and also tender enough to appeal to Japanese, who consider beef a delicacy and only eat it one or twice a month. I very seldom buy American beef anymore.

[Squantos]

Got a local rancher that has a herd of Bonsmara cattle thats to die for. Still some good stuff here in the Texas panhandle. Grass fed herds versus mass production . I keep a black angus, side of bonsmara, a cow elk and a mule deer in the freezers. Girl Friday likes to dry age some cuts and do the sous vide thang which is awesome way to prepare it if your local sources are tough cuts.

Stay Safe, eat well....

[familyop]

"I hate to say it folks, but American beef is just too tough and chewy for most Japanese consumers."

Cattle farmers in western U.S. states (most of them retired corporates, movie stars and the like with fenced properties, erroneously calling themselves ranchers) have gone insane with environmentalism and other political correctness. Even their customers insist that tough, skinny, tasteless "grass-fed" beef is much better than grain-finished beef. It's all marketing with decisions driven by emotions rather than analytical thought.

[Jeff Chandler]

American beef is just too tough and chewy for most Japanese consumers.

Two words: rib eye. And I'm not talking about some dry aged super-expensive cut, just your average ordinary supermarket ribeye steak, cooked low and slow over charcoal. Just had some a couple weeks ago and it was almost a religious experience. Cut with a fork, marbling that turned the steaks into tender, buttery slabs of goodness.

But that aside, some of the most flavorful cuts are tough and chewy, and cheap. Braise it to tenderness and it's some of the best eating. If pot roast isn't hoity toity enough for you, there's sous vide.