Gyutan
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Gyutan (牛タン), is a Japanese food that is made from grilled beef tongue. The word gyutan is a combination of the Japanese word for cow (gyu; 牛) and the English word (tongue). Since gyutan literally means "cow tongue," the word is also used to refer to cow tongues in Japan. The custom of cooking gyutan originated in Sendai in 1948, and is usually served with barley rice, tail soup, and pickles in the Sendai area. In other areas in Japan, gyutan is most often served in yakiniku restaurants. Gyutan was originally conceived to be flavored with salt, which lead to gyutan being called tanshio (tongue salt; タン塩) in many yakiniku restaurants. However, some stores now serve gyutan with tare sauce.
[edit] History
Gyutan was created when Sano Keishiro, the owner of a yakitori 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 gyutan in Sendai. Sano decided to open this restaurant to use cow tongues and tails left over by occupation forces, which were stationed in Sendai after Japan was defeated in World War II. Gyutan was initially considered a rather unusual dish, but gradually gained popularity throughout Japan, partially because white collar workers that were transferred from Sendai spread its reputation to other cities.
Gyutan restaurants received a boost in 1991, when Japan's import quotas for beef were eliminated. In 2003, the Japanese government temporarily banned United States beef imports after the mad cow disease was discovered in the country. This was a devastating blow for many gyutan restaurants. For example, 90% of the beef tongues used in gyutan restaurants in Sendai were imported from the U.S. Additionally, some purists claim that U.S. beef contains the ideal amount of fat for gyutan dishes and refuse to use Australian beef. Since cow tongues may have high amounts of the prion protein that causes the mad cow disease, the future of gyutan is rather ambiguous.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
Much of the content of this article comes from the equivalent Japanese-language wikipedia article (retrieved September 21, 2005). The following reference is cited by the Japanese-language article.
- Sendai Gyutan-yaki Map (in Japanese)
