Asian Foods with the Golden Price Tags

Mar 27, 2019 | Asia, Indonesia, Japan, TASTE

Asia is rich not just in culture and diversity, but some of the most expensive foods in the World

The search for the most expensive foods in the world begins not in Europe, but in Asia.  These are the most outlandish and expensive food items (and beverages) you will encounter – each with each own mythic qualities and legendary price tags.  Check back often for updates!  

Wagyu Beef (Japan)

Price: $110-$2,000/pound

Japan really is the home of many notable things, including the most expensive foods.

According to the American Wagyu Association, the meat of the Japanese Wagyu cattle is prized because it is highly marbled, and has a distinct flavor profile that’s different from regular cattle in the US and elsewhere. The three major cattle breeds in Japan that have evolved mainly due to geographic isolation are Tajiri/Tajima, Fujiyoshi, and Kedaka. 

Square Watermelon (Japan)

Price: $100 – 800

Japan has always been recognized as a nation that drives perfection, and no food is left behind.  Something as simple as watermelon can be perfected by manipulating their growth into a box shape so it can be cut into perfect cubes.  This was the original motivation behind the infamous SQUARE watermelon.

Kopi Luwak (Indonesia)

Price: $700/kilogram

Hailed as the most fragrant and tastiest coffee in the world, Kopi Luwak is farmed in Indonesia. However, due to the unusual processing of the coffee beans, the supply level of this coffee is not even close to Robusta or Arabica, two coffee varieties that are widely exported in several regions in Asia.

Kopi Luwak is processed not by machines, but by the digestive tract of a gentle, nocturnal animal called the Asian palm civet. Asian palm civets are naturally drawn to rope coffee fruit, and they ingest the fruit.

The seeds (or the beans, of course) are excreted without being digested. It is said that the chemical properties of the Asian palm civet’s digestive tract adds properties to the coffee beans that makes them tastier and richer for human consumption. 

Nakazawa Foods Milk (Japan)

Price: $43/quart

While not as expensive as Kopi Luwak, Nakazawa Foods Ltd.’s take on a fresh cup of milk is anything but ordinary. Their special milk is said to be harvested only once per week from the company’s cows, and only at dawn. This harvesting practice is said to increase the stress-relieving qualities of the milk, making the milk thirty to forty times more expensive than regular milk.

Well, if you have the purse for it, it probably won’t hurt to try milk that’s designed to reduce your stress levels. Or if you’re like us, the price tag is probably going to stress you out instead.