10 of "The Bizarre foods" in Japan

If you are feeling a little bit curious and want to expand your Japanese cuisine horizons, you can find out more !!!!

1 Shirako(白子)

Think of shirako as the male equivalent of caviar. Not that caviar is necessarily feminine, but whereas caviar are the eggs of fish, shirako is cod sperm.

Technically it is the sperm sac and can come from many different kinds of fish. Shirako is described as tasting " Creamy" and "Custard-like". They're served all over the place, from Japanese pubs to Sushi bars, and are very popular with locals.

2 Inago(イナゴの佃煮）

Inago are Japanese Grasshopers cooked in soy sauce. Insect dishes, such as locusts boiled in sweetened soy sauce and larva of the hornet, are mostly local to high mountain areas, such as those in Yamagata Prefecture, Fukushima Prefecture, Gunma Prefecture, Nagano Prefecture, and the backbone of Kyushu mountains from Oita Prefecture through Kumamoto Prefecture to Miyazaki and Kagoshima Prefectures.

3 Basashi(馬刺し）

Horsemeat is sometimes served in sashimi slices alongside rice or vegetables,and some even eat it with ranch dressing!! Kumamoto Prefecture is very famous.

4 Fugu(河豚）

As Fugu contains a lethal amount of poison, this is one fish that you want a professional to handle. And especially if you are thinking of trying the liver, which is delicious but full of poison, you may want to do some research on your Fugu chef before chowing down.

Usually Fugu is served raw as thinly-sliced almost transparent sashimi or in a hot-pot dish,and apparently you can even eat its ovaries pickled in rice bran paste. Fugu death statistics are iffy.

5 Whale(鯨)

Regardless of what the international community thinks, Japan continues its controversial whale nunts every year in the name of science and that meat is sold somewhat openly in Japan.

Whale meat is not so common in restaurants.

6 Tuna eyes(鮪の目)

If you don't mind looking your food in the eye, try this dish either raw or steamed.

Some like to flavor it with a bit of garlic, others with soy sauce. Who knew that fish eyes could be so versatile??

7 Dance of fish-eating (Shirauo)

Shirauo are tiny transparent fish that are eaten live and are said to "dance" in your mouth. They do not have a lot of taste, but dipping them in some soy sauce and eating a spoon full moving fish is probably enough action for your taste buds.

8 Bee larvae(Hachinoko)

Crunchy and full of protein, bee larvae are eaten often in Japan. like most cooked insects, are combination of crunchy, chewy and repulsive to the eye. Bugs in general tend to be an acquired taste, but the small size and lack of gangly insect limbs make hachinoko a good gateway bug for adventurous eaters!!

Since legend has it that the Japanese emperor Hirohito's favorite food was fried wasps over rice with a dash of sugar and soy sauce.

９ Horumon

It makes you strong!!!! Horumon is a broad word meaning anything from intestines to organs. It's all the nasty bits. Any Yakiniku(Japanese style BBQ) restaurant will have a portion of the menu devoted entirely to these strange, mysterious parts of the animal.

What you're eating is left up to your imagination.

10 Natto(納豆)

Natto is called stinky foods. Natto is a Japanese dish of slimy, fermented soybeans. It is often eaten for breakfast with or n top of rice, in sushi or added to a bowl of noodles. A little soy-based sauce and Chinese mustard is added before the beans are mixed up in a circular motion with chopsticks, wihich creates lots of bubbles and gooey strings of , well ,slimy fermented beans.

I love Natto and sometimes add things like kimuchi, raw egg or karashi. Yummy!!

Would you like to try eating that ??

(●´ω｀●)ゞ