there are a lot of imposters and a lot of misinformation

so today we're gonna set the record straight

We've taken the train down to Kobe City where we're getting a chance to interview a member of the Kobe beef association

So you guys don't need to just trust what we're saying,

We're gonna learn the facts about what makes Kobe beef Kobe beef and then we're gonna take that information and

We're gonna go eat lots of beef

I'm excited to learn aren't you excited to learn? Yeah, the learning part is the most important part of this video. Yes

Let's - to the learning! Learn. Learn.

So the first place we're eating at is Ooi Niku Ten and instead of getting it in steak format

Which is what everybody usually thinks of, we're actually trying shabu-shabu today

Which is a very good way to eat your Kobe beef as well

We wanted to share this with you guys because although they have steak available here

A lot of people just only go for steak

But Kobe beef can be used for many different things. Even like sukiyaki, they do boxes

you can do like

sandos and stuff. There many creative ways for you to have Kobe beef. And I am really thrilled because I have never had Kobe

beef shabu-shabu style and I'm thrilled because I didn't have breakfast

I said to Simon, "my spider senses are tingling"... it has arrived

Oh

This is so beautiful, ah, have you saved my life. Are we are we able to eat this?

This looks like those display models that they put on for beef

Now the question we have to ask is, did they bring any plates for Martina?

See what they didn't tell you is that the bib isn't for dropping food on but is for catching your drool

It's time for my first taste of Kobe beef and shabu-shabu... My lips are so wet

It's just glistening and dropping so beautifully

What have I been doing with my life?

This is so...

fantastic for shabu shabu. That's some of the most delicious that we've ever tasted.

it's almost like the combination of the quick cook in the water and then a little bit of a dash with some ponzu just makes

It taste so bright. No Martina is wrong. This is overwhelming

Spiritually overwhelming. Okay. I had Kobe beef a few times before I feel like I've never had this before

Every time is like the first time (It's just like the first time)

It's almost like the the fattiness of the meat almost tastes like it- like it's got cheese in it. Because it's so buttery?

It's so rich. Is the time for round two? And we still have like 30 pieces to go

And now to try it with sesame

I've had Kobe beef before but it's like the first time I ever tried it

I feel like there's some kind of deja vu happening right now. Maybe.

Spiritually overhwelming. Okay. The creaminess of the sesame, it's like so thick it's an amazing like mouthfeel

when you're actually eating it. Almost peanutty-ness. Very peanutty, yes. It's the flavor of the beef is actually what's powering this entire thing

Yeah, it's crazy. It's not covered in salt. It's not covered in eight days of marinade. It's just straight-up delicious beef

I don't know which one I like more. I don't know either. Both of them are tremendous. Yeah

So we've only had a few pieces of meat and now we're moving on to vegetables and Simon and I were like

But - but all the meat! But it was explained to us that a little bit of the meat helps flavor the actual broth that it's being cooked

in. The dashi, right?

and then she adds the vegetables like some tofu and mushrooms. And it

Absorbs the flavor of the meat that was boiled in it before. So clever.

Oh, gosh. I'm so sorry to interrupt but um, it feels like we're a little off track here?

Yeah, who cares this video is called the truth about Kobe beef, not the truth about Kobe vegetables.

I know eh? Back to the good stuff. Back to the beef! Gosh. It's funny because

She asked, like, hey do you want anything else? I'm like, yeah, I want more meat. Then she's like, oh, you got enough shots? Yes

Well, you can definitely do some more meat, right? We need different angles of the meat. It's always safe

to have more footage than less footage because if you run out of footage

what do you do? Like, Dan, when you don't get the shot let us know. Yeah be like

"I didn't get the-"

Dan: I got plenty

Shut your mouth Dan! You shut your mouth Dan

With the ponzu, yes, it makes the meat taste very fresh

Yes

because it's like putting lemon on a fish. It is. I really brings out a brightness to the actual flavor of the meat. The

acidity cuts the fat nicely. Yeah, but when you have it with the sesame sauce, it actually brings out the buttery side

It's like the nuttiness enhances the butteriness of it.

Oh my gosh. Having Kobe beef in shabu-shabu style

I actually really liked because

One of the issues some people have with Kobe beef is that it's too oily for them. If you grill it as a steak then

It's pretty much there in its own oils

But here if you boil it a little bit and then you take the meat away

Some of the oil is left behind. See, I kind of like a leaner piece that's still super tender delicious

I think another thing that I really learned today is

how to stop eating shabu-shabu like a barbarian. (How to be patient?) Because when you and I go for shabu-shabu

We just take a whole plate of vegetables and we just dump them in

Um... Excuse me, sir, chotto matte kudasai, I'm the one who's like you need to slow it in

We need to like get some base flavors and you're the one that's like *BLAMP*

(arigato gozaimasu)

What I'm saying, I've never actually had shabu-shabu done so patiently and so unsloppily before

I think we need to re-do our shabu-shabu video.

Well, we're doing it now aren't we? We're doing it now.

I think the saddest part of eating at a restaurant like this is when you see that there's only a couple pieces of meat left

So this is gonna be

super duper delicious

We're taking the leftover broth that everything was cooked in with the vegetables and the beef with an egg and other veggies. (Oh they have eggs there also!)

It's gonna absorb all the flavors and going to look kind of like a Japanese risotto, you know

And for the last bit of rice that has absorbed

All that Kobe beef juice. I feel like this was an extraordinarily healthy meal

I feel almost like I was promised to eat

Huge amounts of beef and then just not have any vegetables and then just never poop again, you know

But now I'm like, this is way to balanced of a diet. The tofu and the

healthy things and stuff. Come on, Japan. Are you sure what I'm supposed to have spoons with this?

Instead of chicken noodle soup this is beef rice soup. It feels so hearty. But you know

It doesn't have that gamey beefiness

This is a very subtle beef taste because I think the Kobe beef is so buttery and sweet in taste

Mmm, and it goes so nicely with the egg, wow!

Ah! A nice yuzu sherbet end to help cleanse your palate. Mmm. I don't think I could eat a single bite more

I'm so stuffed

Unless it's another Kobe beef meal. Mm-hmm

So we're in Chinatown of Kobe and we got ourselves a little Peking duck wrap

We're eating it here on the ground and Martina

Dropped her duck skin, it fell out

Now I told her she should have just ate it - five-second rule - she refuses

I wanted to take it for myself, but she won't let me either

Come on, guys. You gotta agree with me

Do you want to know why I won't let you?

Why?

Because we're filming tomorrow. If you get massive diarrhea

And you can't eat

He's gonna go for it - you can't stop me!

Apron me! Apronation complete, but I think this is more of a bib?

(This is an apron) And you know he needs it. So yesterday we want of having it shabu-shabu style

Today we're having it the most traditional way in steak format, and I'm very excited even though I just had Kobe beef yesterday

It's like the first time, every time. I just feel like if I'm gonna have a Kobe steak I want my appetizer to be meat

I know. So this is just a perfect situation

Itadakimasu!

Nice little bit of grilling on the outside. Nice and soft, got that buttery taste to it.

Now the reason why we're going on and on about Kobe beef is because it's very popular

But there are a lot of restaurants that are trying to take advantage of it. And we're not just saying that to be snobby.

Getting certified to become Kobe beef is the most difficult certification

you can get.

Kobe certified beef is only Tajima cows

grown in the Hyogo prefecture and only a few of those cows are

certified to be Kobe beef.

And on top of that even if you are a Tajima cow, once they come to inspect it

you may not even make the cut.

It's really happening. Look at this!

Beautiful, beautiful piece of meat

I mean I guess we'll have vegetables. (Love me some garlic.) Yeah that garlic is really... I did live in Korea for eight years

Half of my body's garlic. Yep, garlic and kimchi, our bodies are made up of them.

I am never not impressed whenever they bring this out no matter how many times I eat Kobe beef. I'm always

Always thrilled, yep

We saw the

certificate or the number. Every single Kobe certified cow

will have its own little certificate number. A ten digit number and you could use a number to look it up online afterwards.

and if you're in America and your restaurant says Kobe beef make sure that you're not getting hornswoggled.

Why did we agree to vegetables Simon?

I'll trade you. Yes?

My vegetables for your meat. Mmm, it feels like a bad deal if I'm being honest with you

Frying up some bread as well!

I mean, why go to a music concert? It's gonna be so loud, it's gonna hurt your ears. Here you could just

sit and smell and have a tremendous meal. This is worth more than any music concert you could think of

What if they serve Kobe beef at a music concert? Whoa!

Level up game! You get this guy to sing. You could see the little pools of

Juice starting to drip away pull away from the sides. Just so glorious to behold. It smells fantastic

How does the chef

not cry every time he makes a piece? Just out of pure joy. Ah, Simon's entered that stage again where

he starts being really weird. You could hear the angels playing music and (Yep, we've entered that stage)

we framed the camera so that we would be in the middle, but I've noticed that the two of us have

slowly migrated towards the Kobe steak. In the middle of Simon we can do this

That knife just goes through so easily. No sawing, just one motion. It all

just slides through

I am just gonna start eating we have seven pieces

We have three sauces and we have veg. Veg! Veg! Veg!. I'm just gonna go straight in for a normal piece.

I'm gonna dip mine in salt, I always like mine in salt. It is my favorite as well!

(overlapping salt conversation)

Now I know what you're thinking, you're thinking, is this gonna be on the final exam?

Well, the answer is yes, of course it is. The shabu-shabu was delicious but having it in a steak is my favourite way

Having the softness in the middle with that crunch on the outside. There's so much

Flavor in there it almost tastes like you're eating a whole hamburger in one little bite. Like it's got the crispy grill

(Yeah) but it's got the buttery oil on the inside (oh my god!)

And the taste of the beef is... it's almost sweet. Kobe beef has its own

Scientifically proven unique taste in which the leanest of the meat is very sweet and the fats have a higher concentration

Of different kinds of acids like oleic acid and whatnot. You won't have this flavor in other kinds of beef at all

It's difficult to explain to you because we've all had beef at some point

But to say that this tastes different people are kind of like, but does it? And we're going, yes it does!

It's like nothing you've ever tried before. So different, it's so tremendous.

How are you having it next? I'm having some veg in the middle. In an attempt to like slow it down?

Just slow it down. I only have six pieces left

Look at this

And the award for the Youtubers who have eaten the most Kobe beef go to...

Simon and Martina!

Oh my god, I can't believe this is happening!

Thank you mama! You're the real MVP!

I'd like to thank - I have such a long list - I'd like to thank uh, the Tajima cow

Yes, um, I'd like to thank the - the Kobe Beef Association

For being so so thorough with your certification. Kobe City! Kobe City, I love you, I wanna thank all of Japan

I wanna thank - I wanna thank the chef

No, no don't cut me off I'm not fi-

But for real this statue is only given to restaurants that have

Authentic certified Kobe beef but this is a real deal

This is more honorable than any Oscar or Nobel Prize. The Nobel Prize for Oscars.

(Noncommittal noises)

So I hope with this video we convinced you that Kobe beef is not only really delicious but it's also very very

special and I hope we've also clarified reasons to why you should

Try Kobe beef when you come to Japan and ways that you can look to make sure that you're actually getting