Oumi -beef
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08.27.2015
Food grudges run deep
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This phrase is often printed on Oumi -beef bento lunch boxes sold at train stations throughout Japan. It expresses the deep resentment of hungry samurai when Ii Naosuke, Tokugawa Shogun’s Chief Advisor and lord of Oumi (now part of Shiga Prefecture) refused to present the Edo government with Oumi beef. According to folklore, his refusal even contributed to his assassination in the 1860 Sakuradamon incident.
The Oumi beef label only graces beef from kuroge-wagyu (Japanese black cattle) that spent most of their lives raised in Shiga Prefecture. Compared with Japan's other two major wagyu brands (Matsuzaka and Kobe), Oumi has a much longer history and meltier-in-your-mouth texture.
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