Giara

The beef's fourth stomach, also called "red senmai" for its reddish color. Fattier than the other stomachs, with a rich sweetness that builds the more it's chewed. Its cross-section shows fat spreading in wave-like layers, a feature said to distinguish it easily from the other stomachs. As the fourth stomach, it's said to secrete digestive fluids and do the real work of breaking food down. It's sometimes described as the stomach that works most like a human one.

Careful prep is needed to remove its sliminess and odor. At yakiniku it's cut thick and grilled to bring out the sweetness of its fat, and it's said to reach the market less often than the other stomachs, handled by fewer shops. Skipping careful prep is said to leave a distinctive odor behind, which is why specialist shops tend to spend more time on it. It's usually cut about a centimeter thick, and with its higher fat content it's said to shrink noticeably on the grill, calling for careful heat control.

The fattiest of the four stomachs, standing out for its richness where the other three lean plain and firm-textured. It's said to be prized for two reasons together: its scarcity, and a fatty sweetness the other stomachs simply don't offer. It stands as living proof of just how much fat content can differ between one stomach and the next, even within the same animal. On a course that samples all four stomachs, its richness is said to make it the natural choice to close things out.