Being soft and juicy that melts in the mouth is what one expects of Korat Wagyu, the beef that will be served as one of four starters for the gala dinner for world leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation on Thursday.
The man behind the success of the Korat Wagyu beef is Assoc Prof Rangsun Parnpai of the Institute of Agricultural Technology of Suranaree University of Technology (STU) in Nakhon Ratchasima.
Prof Rangsun initiated the Wagyu project at the university two decades ago.
He purchased a Wagyu bull from Australia in 2008, as importing such an animal from Japan was prohibitive. He mated the bull with local Thai cattle, which began a journey where he developed a programme that produced cattle with high-quality marbled meat characteristics.
Korat Wagyu beef is graded as A5, meaning the best quality, Prof Rangsun said.
"We use Japanese cattle cultivation techniques by feeding them local wheat and nutrients such as rice, corn, and cassava to increase the fat content in the meat," he said.
Being premium quality, Korat Wagyu beef has been selected as one of the four "Welcome to Thailand" starter dishes, which reflects food from four regions.
The beef will be charcoal-grilled and served with spicy (jaew) dip to represent northeastern food. Other starters on the menu are Ayutthaya tom yum-flavoured river prawn croquettes from the Central region, Thai Lanna crispy khao soi-flavoured rice noodles from the North and Betong style (Goleh) marinated grilled chicken from the South.
