One of the best ways to experience a country’s culture is through its food. Japan might be world renowned for its sushi, yakitori, and Kobe beef but it does have some dishes that could make even the most adventurous of eaters say, “Do you really eat that?!” Here are 10 of Japan’s strangest dishes.
Sakura-niku
Eating horse is a taboo in much of the English-speaking world but Japan, where the meat is known as “sakura-niku” because of its color, has made horse meat into a culinary art. It’s a specialty of Kumamoto, Oita and Nagano Prefectures and is often served raw (a dish known as “basashi”). It can also be cooked a number of different ways including burgers, yakiniku (Japan’s version of Korean BBQ), shabu-shabu, and kushiyaki.
Horumon
Horumon or “horumonyaki” is made from pork and beef offal (organ meat and entrails). It was trademarked in 1940 by a chef named Kitazato Shigeo in Osaka. The word is derived from “hormone,” meaning stimulation in Greek. It’s also similar to the word “horumono,” meaning discarded goods in Japan’s Kansai-ben dialect, which may also have played into the naming of the dish. Common horumon ingredients include intestines (shiro), the heart (haatsu), and the esophagus (gari), just to name a few. The meat can be satisfyingly chewy and is often dressed with tasty Japanese sauces.
Uni
“Uni” is the Japanese word for sea urchin. The only edible parts of a sea urchin are its gonads (reproductive organs). It’s most often served as a (pricey) sushi roll and, when prepared properly, has a smooth slightly creamy taste.
Kurage
Even stinging jellyfish are fair game in Japan. Jellyfish are known as “kurage,” and once the venomous tentacles are removed, the rest of the jellyfish is dried, rehydrated, sliced into thin strips and served with a light vinegar sauce and sometimes with chili pepper.
Karasumi
Karasumi is salted and sun-dried mullet roe (fish eggs). It’s a specialty of Nagasaki, is often eaten with sake and, along with konowata (sea cucumber stomach), and uni, is considered to be one of Japan’s three “chinmi” or delicacies.
Shirako
If people around the world pay top dollar for caviar and other fish egg dishes, should it come as a surprise that the other half of the reproductive process makes it to the dinner table also? Shirako, meaning “white children,” are the sperm sacks of cod or pufferfish (but most often cod). It’s usually served raw with a bit of soy sauce but can also be steamed, panfried, or deep-fried tempura style. Shirako has a soft, creamy and custard-like texture and has a slightly sweet flavor with a hint of ocean to it and comes into season in the winter.
Namako
“Namako” is the Japanese word for sea cucumber or sea slug. It can be fried, boiled or served raw in vinegar sauce. Most often the stomach and innards of the namako are mixed with salt and malted rice and fermented in a closed container for a month to make “shiokara.” The unique flavor of shiokara is an acquired taste even for the Japanese.
Inago
When you think of weird food are bugs one of the first things that come to mind? Even in Japan bugs are unusual but they still make the menu. “Inago,” are Japanese locusts (a type of grasshopper) and they are stir fried with sugar and soy sauce to make a dish called “inago no tsukudani.” Inago no tsukudani is a specialty of rural prefectures like Nagano, Gunma and Fukushima where the lack of access to the ocean (owing to the prefectures’ inland location or great size) forced residents to turn to insects for sustenance instead of fish.
Hachi no Ko
Grasshoppers aren’t the only bugs on the menu in Japan, hornets, wasps and bees are there too. The larvae of Japanese giant hornets (and other species of bees and wasps too), are collected from a nest and then panfried with sugar and soy sauce to make a dish called “hachi no ko” or bee/hornet children in Japanese. Like inago, hachi no ko is a specialty of inland and rural prefectures like Nagano.
Fugu
Fugu is Japanese pufferfish and eating it could kill you. The tetrodotoxin present in its organs and even its eyeballs is more deadly than cyanide. Despite the danger fugu is considered a delicacy and can fetch a hefty price (¥2,000-¥5,000 per individual plate and ¥10,000-¥35,000 per person for a course meal) when it’s prepared by a highly trained and specially licensed chef. Fugu can be served as a sashimi (sliced so thin that it’s translucent), or fried, baked or stewed. Even a professionally prepared fish contains minute amounts of the deadly toxin. The tingling sensation fugu can leave diners’ mouths and faces with is also part of the experience.
Works consulted:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_meat
Metropolis, "Straight From the Horse's Mouth", #903, 15 July 2011, pp. 12-13. http://metropolis.co.jp/features/feature/straight-from-the-horses-mouth/
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88% percent of this industry is concentrated to Hokkaido and trend is decreasing.(pg. 2, classification "農用馬")(Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries)
馬の改良増殖等をめぐる情勢 平成２６年６月(pg. 2, 8.)(Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries)
馬肉関係- Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries(pg. 77, 78)
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Photo credits:
“jim Follow Little FUGU - 河豚.” This Flickr creative commons image is from user jim and is freely available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/95949884@N00/1391497852 under the cc a by sa 2.0 license.
“Fugu Meal.” This Flickr creative commons image is from user Peter Kaminski and is freely available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/35034359460@N01/305533940 under the cc attribution 2.0 license.
“Fugu Shirako.” This Wikipedia creative commons image is from user Qwert1234 and is freely available at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fugu-no-Shirako.JPG under the cc a by sa 3.0 license.
“Boiled Machi no Ko.” This Flickr creative commons image is from user Urasimaru and is freely available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/urasimaru/15037007398/in/photolist-pcfUf8-oULAqf-3Q1t1z-3Q1sJD-3Q119z-oAsMST-3Q1ssZ-6ried-42qnxF-3Q11Gr-3Q1tzX-3V96n9-akH4hh-3Q1rTZ-3V96Md-3V4Q7p-42uvNG-3Q5Dky-4a1P8k-3Q5En5-4a1P3r under the cc a by sa 2.0 license.
“3 Inago no Tsukudani Locusts.” This Flickr creative commons image is from user Urasimaru and is freely available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/urasimaru/8663465315/ under the cc a by sa 2.0 license.
“Single Inago no Tsukudani Locust Held by Chopsticks.” This Flickr creative commons image is from user w00kie and is freely available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/w00kie/483342132/ under the cc a by sa 2.0 license.
“Fried Sea Cucumber.” This Flickr creative commons image is from user Kent Wang and is freely available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/27454212@N00/132791932 under the cc a by sa 2.0 license.
“Sea Cucumber.” This Flickr creative commons image is from user Electric Images and is freely available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/leonardlow/340870976/in/set-72157594451583604/ under the cc a by sa 2.0 license.
“Sea Cucumber Shiokara.” This Flickr creative commons image is from user Kimishowata and is freely available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/kimishowota/4645789957 under the cc a by sa 2.0 license.
“Shirako - Cod Milt.” This Flickr creative commons image is from user Kent Wang and is freely available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/27454212@N00/16170928342 under the cc a by sa 2.0 license.
“Shirako Gunkan Sushi Roll CU.” This Wikipedia creative commons image is from user Schellack and is freely available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Shirako_gunkanmaki.jpg under the cc a by sa 3.0 license.
“Karasumi Drying.” This Flickr creative commons image is from user Patty Ho and is freely available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/90678392@N00/305302998 under the cc a by sa 2.0 license.
“Grated Karasumi.” This Wikipedia creative commons image is from user Radobera and is freely available at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bottarga_z_parmice.JPG under the cc a by sa 3.0 license.
“Jellyfish.” This Wikipedia creative commons image is from user KENPEI and is freely available at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nemopilema_nomurai1.jpg under the cc a by sa 3.0 license.
“Chinese Style Jellyfish Salad in Tokyo.” This Wikipedia creative commons image is from user Kentin and is freely available at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chuka_kurage(jellyfish)_2014.jpg under the cc a by sa 4.0 license.
“Jellyfish Salad.” This public domain image is from Binh Giang and is freely available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nom_sua.JPG
“Sea Urchin in Hand.” This Wikipedia creative commons image is from user FredD and is freely available at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paracentrotus_lividus_hold_in_hand.JPG under the cc a by sa 3.0 license.
“Uni - Sea Urchin Sushi.” This Wikipedia creative commons image is from user self and is freely available at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sushi_uni.jpg under the cc a by sa 3.0 license.
“Uni Don - Sea Urchin over Rice.” This Flickr creative commons image is from user LWYang and is freely available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/86688834@N00/2201969586 under the cc a by sa 2.0 license.
“Horumon Before Cooking.” This Flickr creative commons image is from user Tatsuo Yamashita and is freely available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/yto/4280175299 under the cc a by sa 2.0 license.
“Horumon-yaki.” This Flickr creative commons image is from user Anzai Keisuke and is freely available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/10231711@N08/3538952410/ under the cc a by sa 2.0 license.
“Horumon on the Grill.” This Domain image is from user Ocdp and is freely available at https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E3%82%A4%E3%83%AB:Horumonyaki_001.jpg
“Basashi Raw Horse Meat CU.” This Flickr creative commons image is from user Aiko Konishi and is freely available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/koni_aiko/8221809346 under the cc a by sa 2.0 license.
“Horse Meat Sashimi Plate.” This Wikipedia creative commons image is from user Igorberger and is freely available at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Horse-meat.jpg under the cc a by sa 3.0 license.
“Assorted Cuts of Raw Horse Meat.” This Flickr creative commons image is from user Norio NAKAYAMA and is freely available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/norio-nakayama/9691990499 under the cc a by sa 2.0 license.