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"Sushi" -rice ball topped with a slice of raw fish- is by far the most popular Japanese food known in the world. Raw fish ("sashimi") by itself is a popular delicacy in here -and is sold in all the supermarkets where you buy meat. People visiting Japan might wonder how the Japanese eat raw fish. Thinly sliced raw fish served on radish flakes eaten dipping in hot soy sauce is a tasty delicacy indeed -you would hardly believe its raw fish! Having most of its landspace very close to sea (and perhaps being in a hurry to spend time in cooking!), these guys have been historically having 'raw fish' as a main item in their menu.
Even 'adventurous' foreigners who like to try different meat often avoid sashimi -the idea of eating something raw is indigestible to them. You don't have to ask about Indians who dare to touch even beef. (Deepika still believes Sridhar changed his travel destination from Japan to Egypt mainly because of my writing about raw fish as a delicacy here! :-)
Eating 'raw' hasn't just stopped with fish -they eat beef, chicken, octopus, squid and shrimp also raw, rather occasionally. Lately, I came to know that they do eat horse meat, that too raw! Though not sold in regular foodcourts/ restaurants, there are restaurants that sell raw horsemeat -"basashimi"- and I got curious to give it a try. As Deepika won't even touch beef or sashimi, I had had to wait..... and visited last week a restaurant in Kobe that sells this item which, as the restaurant claims, comes from a farther island "Kyushu" in Japan. It tastes not quite different from raw fish. (See pics). ('Horse' is 'Uma' in Japanese)
Thought about the unique meats that I could put my hands on in all these years.... in Seoul, a local guide showed us a restaurant that sold snakes and only snakes! (I didn't have the guts to try, then). Tried turtle in China which also has dog meat restaurants. My Japanese boss who is otherwise adventurous in trying unique food was taken aback on seeing dog meat restaurant -and refused to try as he was raising a pet dog, and that pet dog used to sleep with him in his bed everyday! Though I didn't have any such affinity for dogs, as a courtesy, I had had to give up that chance. Pagals & Ponraj when they visited Florida have tasted alligator fries...(or was it alligator fin?) which tasted like chicken. Octopus ia another popular item among children in Japan.
Back in India, almost all the Tuticorin 'night clubs' (that's how evening-only non veg stalls' are known in Tuticorin) sell a unique item "kaudari" a bird which tastes pretty much like chicken. Pigeon is also sold in most of the restaurants, and Tuty guys comment that pigeon doesn't have much of flesh. Kathax and Isaac might have tasted them. Surprisingly, I haven't seen these dishes in Chennai or other places!
And here comes a response from my friend Isaac (another Tuty guy), with a poetic ending:
Subahar and AJB,
You guys are making my mouth water :-)~~~~~~~
The following is not for the faint of heart. Vegetarians should probably quit reading at this point...
Yes, I have had Kaudari, while living in Tuticorin. We used to buy from hunters, and later used to hunt them ourselves in the wilderness area that surrounded our Harbour colony. My younger brother was quite good at catching those birds. Kaudari is a flightless bird, but it can fly better than chicken. If you chase it, it will hide quickly, sometimes by throwing loose sand over itself. Because of its camouflage, it will be very difficult to locate. So, when it hid like that, we would surround the area and wait patiently for it to pop back up. We would then rush it, scaring the bird into hiding right in front of our eyes. Once we knew its exact location, my brother would pounce on it.
AJB, you are right, it is very difficult to tell the difference between Kadai and Kaka. In those days, we used to hunt, cook and eat all sorts of living things, including squirrels and vellai eli (as long as they were grey and not too dark, they were good enough for the table). One day, we thought, "Why not kaka?". So, we got a young Kaka and our grandma cooked it for us. I think my mom was too grossed out. For some reason, we didn't make it a habit of eating kaka (our mom must have prevailed). We did cook and eat kaka eggs sometimes. Once, my cousin, who is even more adventurous, wanted to try a raw egg. He cracked it open, poured it into his mouth, but quickly spit it out. The egg was not so fresh after all. Uncooked kaka kunji managed to gross out even my cuz.
We were "growing boys" and we loved meat. Chicken was expensive and mutton was almost out of reach. Thankfully, we found a person who could buy beef from a nearby village and bring it to our house on a regular basis. Eating beef was looked down upon and we had to kind of do it quietly. But we loved it, especially the unlimited quantity that we could eat.
Recently, we tried buffalo and elk meat, while visiting Wyoming. They tasted good, but I couldn't tell the difference between them and beef. Venison (deer) is not sold in stores here, but some of our friends are hunters and they do get a deer or two every season. Paavi pasangal are not sharing it with me!
There are some wild rabbits living in our backyard here in Carson City. I sit and watch them sometimes, wondering how things have changed. There was a time when they would have become tasty rabbit fry. Now, I refer to them by their names, like 'Cloudy'. They are names that my daughter has given them.
Regards,
Isaac
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You guys are making my mouth water :-)~~~~~~~
The following is not for the faint of heart. Vegetarians should probably quit reading at this point...
Yes, I have had Kaudari, while living in Tuticorin. We used to buy from hunters, and later used to hunt them ourselves in the wilderness area that surrounded our Harbour colony. My younger brother was quite good at catching those birds. Kaudari is a flightless bird, but it can fly better than chicken. If you chase it, it will hide quickly, sometimes by throwing loose sand over itself. Because of its camouflage, it will be very difficult to locate. So, when it hid like that, we would surround the area and wait patiently for it to pop back up. We would then rush it, scaring the bird into hiding right in front of our eyes. Once we knew its exact location, my brother would pounce on it.
AJB, you are right, it is very difficult to tell the difference between Kadai and Kaka. In those days, we used to hunt, cook and eat all sorts of living things, including squirrels and vellai eli (as long as they were grey and not too dark, they were good enough for the table). One day, we thought, "Why not kaka?". So, we got a young Kaka and our grandma cooked it for us. I think my mom was too grossed out. For some reason, we didn't make it a habit of eating kaka (our mom must have prevailed). We did cook and eat kaka eggs sometimes. Once, my cousin, who is even more adventurous, wanted to try a raw egg. He cracked it open, poured it into his mouth, but quickly spit it out. The egg was not so fresh after all. Uncooked kaka kunji managed to gross out even my cuz.
We were "growing boys" and we loved meat. Chicken was expensive and mutton was almost out of reach. Thankfully, we found a person who could buy beef from a nearby village and bring it to our house on a regular basis. Eating beef was looked down upon and we had to kind of do it quietly. But we loved it, especially the unlimited quantity that we could eat.
Recently, we tried buffalo and elk meat, while visiting Wyoming. They tasted good, but I couldn't tell the difference between them and beef. Venison (deer) is not sold in stores here, but some of our friends are hunters and they do get a deer or two every season. Paavi pasangal are not sharing it with me!
There are some wild rabbits living in our backyard here in Carson City. I sit and watch them sometimes, wondering how things have changed. There was a time when they would have become tasty rabbit fry. Now, I refer to them by their names, like 'Cloudy'. They are names that my daughter has given them.
Regards,
Isaac
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