is a

Japanese food Japanese cuisine encompasses the regional and traditional foods of Japan, which have developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes. The traditional cuisine of Japan (Japanese: ) is based on rice with miso soup and other ...

that is made from grilled

beef tongue Beef tongue (also known as neat's tongue or ox tongue) is a cut of beef made of the tongue of a cow. It can be boiled, pickled, roasted or braised in sauce. It is found in many national cuisines, and is used for taco fillings in Mexico and for o ...

. The word gyūtan is a combination of the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

word for and the English word ''tongue''. Since gyūtan literally means "cow tongue," the word is also used to refer to cow tongues in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The custom of cooking gyūtan originated in

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, desig ...

in 1948, and is usually served with barley rice, tail soup, and pickles in the Sendai area. In other areas in Japan, gyūtan is most often served in

yakiniku ''Yakiniku'' (焼き肉 or 焼肉), meaning "grilled meat", is a Japanese term that, in its broadest sense, refers to grilled meat cuisine. "Yakiniku" originally referred to western "barbecue" food, the term being popularized by Japanese writer ...

restaurants. Gyūtan was originally conceived to be flavored with

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

, which led to gyūtan being called in many yakiniku restaurants. However, some stores now serve gyūtan with ''tare'' sauce.

History

Gyūtan was created when Sano Keishirō, the owner of a

yakitori is a Japanese type of skewered chicken. Its preparation involves skewering the meat with , a type of skewer typically made of steel, bamboo, or similar materials. Afterwards, they are grilled over a charcoal fire. During or after cooking, th ...

restaurant in Sendai, opened a new restaurant that served cow tongue dishes in 1948. This restaurant was called Tasuke (太助), and is still considered one of the best places to eat gyūtan in Sendai. Most locals falsely believe and even advertise that gyūtan started when Sano decided to use cow tongues and tails left over by

occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

forces, which were stationed in Sendai after Japan was defeated in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. However, a simple check of the official restaurant website states that at the beginning the ingredients were retrieved by shopping trips via steam train to adjacent

Yamagata Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Yamagata Prefecture has a population of 1,079,950 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 9,325 km² (3,600 sq mi). Yamagata Prefecture borders Akita Prefecture to the north, ...

. Gyūtan was initially considered a rather unusual dish, but gradually gained popularity throughout Japan, partially because

white collar workers The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Comm ...

who were transferred from Sendai spread its reputation to other cities. Gyūtan restaurants received a boost in 1991, when Japan's

import quota An import quota is a type of trade restriction that sets a physical limit on the quantity of a good that can be imported into a country in a given period of time. Quotas, like other trade restrictions, are typically used to benefit the producers o ...

s for beef were eliminated. In 2003, the Japanese government temporarily banned

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

beef imports after

mad cow disease Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, is an incurable and invariably fatal neurodegenerative disease of cattle. Symptoms include abnormal behavior, trouble walking, and weight loss. Later in the course of t ...

was discovered in the country. This was a devastating blow for many gyūtan restaurants. For example, 90% of the beef tongues used in gyūtan restaurants in Sendai were imported from the U.S. Additionally, some connoisseurs claim that U.S. beef contains the ideal amount of fat for gyūtan dishes and refuse to use

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n beef.

References

Much of the content of this article comes fro
the equivalent Japanese-language Wikipedia article
(retrieved September 21, 2005). The following reference is cited by the Japanese-language article.

(in Japanese) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gyutan Sendai Japanese cuisine Japanese beef dishes Offal