What is Wagyu Beef Tallow?

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If you’ve got questions about Wagyu beef tallow, or Wagyu beef in general, you’ve come to the right place. The popularity of this expensive and luxury meat and meat product has exploded over the last couple of years, but what is Wagyu beef tallow, exactly? And where does it come from?

Let’s take a little look and find out, shall we?

Table of Contents

What is Tallow?

Before we start talking about Wagyu beef tallow, let’s first take a look at what tallow actually is. Once you understand that, the Wagyu part will just make sense. (If you know what Wagyu beef is, of course!)

Tallow is essentially fat. Many years ago, tallow was the name for rendered fat from sheep and cows (mutton and beef), but it is now used to talk about any kind of animal fat that meets the criteria of tallow.

Lard is – technically – a form of pig tallow.

Interesting Tallow Fact

Tallow was once commonly used for frying before less animal-based products were formulated. Once upon a time, McDonald’s used beef tallow to cook French fries, but the 93% tallow-7% cottonseed oil mix was replaced with a vegetable-based oil.

The change wasn’t even that long ago: 1990!

A Quick Guide to Wagyu Beef

Wagyu beef is a type of beef (as you might have guessed), but instead of being a cut of beef, like sirloin, Wagyu is the name of the cow that it comes from.

There are four different types of Wagyu cattle:

Japanese Shorthorn

Japanese Polled
Japanese Brown
Japanese Black

The beef is also sometimes given a different name depending on where it is from. These include Yonezawa, Kobe, and Sanda beef, to name but a few. These beef types can only be called as such if they are from that area. Beef that is not from Kobe cannot be called Kobe beef.

These days, Wagyu beef is known to have a high percentage of fat, with a marbled look. The high fat content gives it the rich and buttery taste and texture it is known for – and what gives it the higher price tag.

The high fat content hasn’t always been the case. Once upon a time, the cattle produced meat that was less fatty, but a change in feeding and rearing patterns turned the meat into what we know and appreciate today.