They say that one of the best ways to experience and understand a country's culture is to indulge in their native cuisine. Japan is famous for its wide and complex array of dishes that both tourists and locals delight in. Still, some dishes do not even come close to the word unusual. Here are some Japanese food that really push the envelope when it comes to "uniqueness":
HORUMON
Horumonyaki is a kind of Japanese cuisine made from beef or pork entrails. Yakiniku restaurants will have one section of the menu devoted entirely to all the strange, mysterious parts of the animal. There is thin and thick horumon. The thin horumon is chewy and good but the thick horumon is difficult is hard to chew and even harder to swallow.
NATTO
Classified as a famous Japanese comfort food, Natto is a dish of fermented soy beans. It usually has a very strong odor that some people find unpleasant. The Japanese, however, find that while the dish smells disagreeable, it tastes quite good.
SHIRAKO
It is common in Japanese cuisine, and other cuisines as well, to include fish roe in their food. But the counterpart is a little unheard of. Shirako looks like a dish of soft, cluster-like, creamy white blob. Typically, it is eaten raw with soy sauce and citrs. The really, really strange part is what it really is. Shirako literally means "white child". It is the milt, or sperm sacs, of male cod. This delicacy is described to have an acquired taste.
HABUSHU
The name literally means "viper liquor." It is Awamori sake from Okinawa with a viper snake in the bottle. As in there is a pit viper sitting in a jar filled with Awamori. Awamori is mixed with various herbs and honey for further flavor and color.This drink is believed to have medicinal used. It is said that Habushu has a very strong but otherwise smooth flavor.
BASASHI
Ba means "horse" and sashi is a shortening for "sashimi." Basashi literally is raw horse meat. Due to the pink color, it is often referred to as cherry blossom meat. It is described to have soft and chewy parts. There are three forms in which Basashi can be eaten: purely raw and slightly marblelized, pure fat, and lastly a combination of both. Some people regard basashi as off-putting because of the intense, bloody color. Also because they are aware that it is horse meat. Interestingly, this didn't stop a Japanese ice cream maker from creating, yup you guessed it-Basashi-flavored ice cream!
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
