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Big in Japan: 5 Japanese foods you might want to avoid
Today's edition of Big in Japan is brought to you by Shane Sakata, who writes The Tokyo Traveler, a great blog about things to do and see in the city of Tokyo.Japanese cuisine is known the world over for its exquisite preparation and beautiful presentation of seasonal ingredients. Most visitors to Japan cannot wait to get a taste of 'real' Japanese food, such as fresh sashimi and sushi or delicate shrimp and vegetable tempura. And, truth be told, these dishes just seem to taste better in Japan!
However, it's worth pointing out that the Japanese are adventurous eaters, and their love of food extends far beyond sushi and tempura. In fact, some dishes that are considered delicacies in Japan aren't exactly popular menu items in the West. Internal organs like the heart and intestines are commonly served, and eating the flesh from a fish head with an eye staring straight at you is somewhat disconcerting, but not at all uncommon.
So just how 'real' do you want to get in your exploration of Japanese food? Here are 5 of the more bizarre foods that you might want to avoid while traveling in Japan.
Natto (納豆) is a traditional Japanese food made from fermented soybeans that has a distinctive aroma (it smells like rotten cheese), a strong flavor (it tastes liked aged gym socks) and a sticky consistency. However, it is also a low calorie, protein rich food that researchers attribute many health benefits ranging from cancer prevention to improving heart health and promoting the reversal of hair loss.
Tako-no-shokushu (たこの触手) Animal lovers beware - this dish starts when a tentacle is severed from a live octopus and the arm is cauterized. After a quick dip in soy sauce, you pop the squirming live tentacle into your mouth and start chewing. If you don't chew it quickly enough, the sucker will latch onto the roof of your mouth, and it will take a swig of beer and a well-applied chopstick to pry it off.
Fugu (ふぐ) Perhaps the most famous dish in Japan, the potentially lethal blowfish is dissected by a specially trained chef to remove all traces of tetrodotoxin before the raw meat is served. Of course, an incredible amount of time and preparation is needed as one errant flick of the chef's knife can leave behind enough of the poison to slowly paralyze your entire body while you remain completely conscious of your impending doom.
Tori-sashimi (鳥刺身) This gag-inducing dish is quite simply sliced raw chicken served with green onion and a special dipping sauce. Although relatively tasteless, this dish is prepared by specially licensed chefs, and is considered a delicacy in Japan. If you can get over your fears of hospitalization due to a rough case of salmonella poisoning, then go ahead and give this one a try.
Basashi (馬刺) Thinly sliced raw horse meat is served with a dipping sauce made of soy, garlic, ginger and green onions. While it's difficult for most people from North America to wrap their head around eating a barnyard favorite, this chewy dish is not that uncommon in Japan, and is actually quite nice if you convince yourself that you're eating beef (which you're not).
If you are ready to get 'real' in your exploration of Japanese food, then try out these 5 dishes - you'll have some great stories to tell!
Be sure to check out more of Shane's writing at The Tokyo Traveler, which today features an interview with Matt 'Big in Japan' Firestone.
Filed under: Food and Drink, Asia, Japan, Big in Japan
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Kelsey Mulyk Jun 19th 2008 1:00PM
I have tried Natto and Basashi when I lived in Japan....the latter purely by accident! Natto is probably one of the most unappetizing foods I can think of and if you move to Japan you know your Japanese friends will make you try it...just to see how you do. As for eating horse all I can say is don't randomly pick items off the menu when you cannot read Japanese.
eerie quark doll Jun 19th 2008 2:01PM
Actually, i would recommend at least trying natto if you like Camembert; it does have a slightly vegetable taste to it that you won't find in cheese, but it overall has a similarity to the Camembert taste.
web design company Jun 20th 2008 8:26AM
I...never heard of chewing live octopus. That's...different.
Sirened.com Jun 19th 2008 6:54PM
Wow, these dishes are all very interesting but I'm particularly interested in the Fugu (not to try it though! haha). About how many people die from eating that?
Matthew Firestone Jun 19th 2008 7:02PM
Actually, few people die from fugu anymore as it's pretty regulated these days, so definitely go ahead and give it a try if you find yourself in this part of the world!
Sirened.com Jun 19th 2008 7:14PM
Thanks for the response. It's good to know that very few people die but I still think I'll take a pass! hehe
Shane Jun 19th 2008 8:58PM
I haven't tried fugu, natto or horse meat and I will probably continue to give them a pass. However, I have tried chicken sashimi and it wasn't really that bad. But that was after I got over my first thought which was "No way am I going to eat that!"
Common foods from other countries often are considered bizarre by western standards but they are common for a reason, either culturally or historically, and may not suit everyone.
billywest Jun 19th 2008 10:43PM
Basashi (horse sashimi) is pretty good, especially with the mustard (or whatever that is) sauce that comes with it. Whale bacon is pretty good, too. I ate that without knowing what it was. I was informed mid-meal of what I was eating, maintained my composure, and finished it. But, I won't eat whale again for personal reasons.
Brenda Jun 19th 2008 11:37PM
It must be quite entertaining to watch someone eat Toko-no-sokushu, particularly when the sucker on the tentacle latches on to your brave dining companion's mouth! The expression on the face must be priceless! I love Japanese food though. I must have been Japanese in a prior life.
Jeremy Jun 20th 2008 12:12AM
As a complement to Matt and Shane's great post on Japanese food, I would also point the curious to my recent Gadling post on the subject of Japanese food:
http://www.gadling.com/2008/05/23/eating-your-way-through-japan-a-photo-gallery/
I ate both horse sashimi and chicken sashimi on my recent trip. The horse was not very good, but the chicken was delicious
Matthew Firestone Jun 20th 2008 8:25AM
Jeremy - I did give some thought about adding BBQed pig's innards to the list as well. Again, sorry about that mistranslation!
jb Jun 21st 2008 1:34AM
Tori-sashi (raw chicken) was a revelation. The flavor is delicate, and the texture a wonderful velvety-smoothness. It's actually fairly common in Yakitori joints. A similar preparation, tori-wasa, lightly sears the chicken and serves it with freshly grated wasabi. A different but equally wonderful experience.
Our Western revulsion towards raw chicken is a learned survival behavior, resulting from our poor food sanitation practices. While living in Tokyo I walked past an open-air storefront chicken butcher every day, and was always impressed by the clean fresh smell, not unlike that of a good seafood shop.
The Japanese can eat raw chicken with impunity, just as the Germans eat raw pork, because their meat is handled more carefully and eaten when impeccably fresh, literally within hours of being killed.
the vegas style guy Jun 21st 2008 10:46PM
I ONCE ACCIDENTLY ATE CHICKEN THAT HAD LITTLE WORMS IN IT. I FREAKED, SWIGGED HALF A BOTTLE OF VODKA AND CALLED 911. THE OPERATOR EXPLAINED THAT ALL OVER THE WORLD PEOPLE CONSIDER THAT TYPE OF THING PROTEIN. WHEN IN ROME..BTW, REALLY GOOD TO KNOW ONLY A "FEW" PEOPLE DIE FROM EATING THAT CRAZY FISH. YIKES!
Sai Jun 26th 2008 4:15AM
Nattou... I heard that most Japanese people don't even like that! I'd try it, but not the others. I don't eat anything raw or poisonous. I'll stick with okonomiyaki and onigiri for the time being. I've always wanted to try takoyaki, but that's cooked. xD