How much Wagyu per person?

How much Wagyu per person?

Plan on 4–8 oz of raw Japanese Wagyu per guest for a main course, and 1–2 oz when it's one course in a longer menu. For scale, the federal labeling rules set the serving for a cut of meat at 114 g raw, about 4 oz, or 85 g cooked ^[1]. An American steakhouse plate is two or three times that. Japanese Wagyu is much fattier than Angus, so guests reach their limit sooner and a smaller portion goes further.

Here's what we plan on for each format, by raw weight as you buy it:

These numbers are for Takemitsu-chan, an A4 with BMS 6.

How much A5 Wagyu per person?

Take each range down by about an ounce. A5 needs a marbling score of BMS 8 or higher (what the grades mean), so it carries more fat per bite than an A4 at BMS 6. That puts an A5 main at about 4–5 oz and an A5 tasting course at 1–1½ oz. With A4, you can stay at the top of each range.

How much Wagyu for a tasting course?

Plan on 1½–2 oz a guest. Cook it as a whole steak and slice it after the rest. That's one sear to manage instead of eight, and every plate gets the same doneness. Our steaks are cut 1″ thick, and a 1″ steak takes about 90 seconds a side in a dry pan at 450–500ºF, then 2–3 minutes of rest (searing).

For eight guests, one NY strip does it. At its listed 19.3 oz, that's 2 oz each with a little to spare after trimming the fat cap, which usually costs a strip 5–10%. Slice ¼″ across the grain, put three or four slices on each plate, and salt at the pass.

How much Wagyu per person for a steak main?

Plan on 5–6 oz with two or three sides, and up to 8 oz when the steak is most of the dinner. Our ribeye is listed at 11.5 oz, so one feeds two. A zabuton at 16.2 oz feeds three. A 1½″ filet at 7.7 oz is one full portion, at the top of the range.

We'd slice every steak in the kitchen and plate the slices. A whole steak per plate pushes people toward 8 oz or more, and some of it comes back.

How much Wagyu per person for yakiniku?

Plan on 6–8 oz a guest when yakiniku is the whole dinner, and about 4 oz when other courses come before it. Our yakiniku slices come in packs of about 8½ oz, cut ¼″ and 1½″ × 2″, so one pack per guest covers a full night.

A mix of lean and marbled works best. We'd start the grill with top round or rump and work toward the karubi; the short rib karubi is fatty enough that guests eat fewer pieces. Each slice takes 5–15 seconds a side. The full method is in Wagyu yakiniku at home.

How much Wagyu for a sando or nigiri?

For a sando, plan on 2½–3 oz a guest: half a sando, cut into two fingers. Squaring a 1″ steak to the bread costs you the edges, so buy about 6½ oz of steak per whole sando. Two chuck eye steaks, at a listed 13.1 oz each, make four sandos, enough for eight halves. Keep the trim for fried rice or staff meal.

For nigiri, a 15 g slice per piece and two pieces per guest comes to about 1 oz. One zabuton gives you sixteen pieces, about 240 g, with nearly half the steak left for a second course.

Torched nigiri leaves the center raw. USDA FSIS recommends cooking beef steaks to 145°F with a 3-minute rest ^[2], and advises people at higher risk, including older adults, pregnant women, young children and people with weakened immune systems, to avoid undercooked meat ^[3]. Ask the client whether any guests fall in those groups, and have a cooked course ready for them. Our raw and rare notes cover thawing and handling.

What does Wagyu cost per person?

Multiply the ounces per guest by the price per ounce, then round up to whole packs. At Takemitsu-chan's listed prices, cuts run from $4.00/oz for top round and clod slices to $12.50/oz for ribeye. Here's each format above, for eight guests:

The zabuton main costs half what the ribeye main does at about the same weight. Pack weights vary a little from pack to pack, so treat these as close rather than exact.