Scary Food

While we avoided a recurrence of the Live-Minnow-Incident of 2000, Dan and I have been exposed to quite the variety of food while living here in Japan. Here are a few examples:

Is it looking at me?
The excitement of an early morning fish market. Where the fish are so fresh, they are whole and still have eyes.


Will it swim away?
Ah, the beauty of tiny octopi that have been made into sushi. Although I must say, if you can discern the head and arms of your food, it still needs some processing. This picture was taken at the conveyer sushi place near our apartment.


Will it crawl away?
I think the octopus arms shown here may succeed with their escape plans to slide over the side of the pan.


Is it still breathing?
Kay's mom gave us these long shell fish one night. As she handed us the non-descript, brown bag, she mentioned, "they are still alive, you should put them in water when you get home." This was a bit creepy, even for Dan. We dutifully submerged the shell fish then shut the door to the kitchen so they couldn't escape and find us.


Is it fresh?
Obviously all burgers served at this establishment meet the "freshness burger" standard.

Did a man with a large knife ensure that it is dead?
Ah, the reassurance that comes with large knives slicing through huge chunks of unrecognizable meat. Well, actually we recognized the meat as tuna, but it didn't look at us or have a tail attached, so it was ok by me. This picture was taken at the fish market at Tsujiki early one morning.


Has it been freeze-dried to ensure future freshness?
I believe that these are packaged, freeze-dried squid. Convenient for people on the go who crave a squid-snack.


Do you have to sit on the floor to eat it?
This is a sushi restaurant near Dan's work. He goes there a lot. I have only been twice. As it is a sushi restaurant, I sit on the floor and enjoy the green tea as my legs fall asleep.


Does it contain excessively long noodles?
This is Angela2 experiencing soba noodles for the first time. Oddly, I actually like this dish. The excessively long noodles are cold. You get seaweed strips on top of them and a soy sauce on the side for dipping. The noodles are made from buckwheat and are very healthy for you.


Do you know what it is?
Ok, here we have noodles again. Angela2 figured that after the cold noodles, she really wanted some warm ones. So, the day after the cold soba dinner, we went to a Chinese restaurant for a warm noodle lunch. They cook a killer chicken noodle soup that I enjoy eating. However, the dish shown here was option "C" on the menu. It involves some sort of hot noodle dish. On the bottom left are some pickled radishes. On the top left is a sweet, slimy, gel desert item.


Is it a science experiment?
I'll bet you were wondering what wasabi root looked like before it becomes that tiny bit of paste next to your sushi.


Was it cooked over hot steam vents on a mountain?
Daniel tried the black eggs that were cooked over a steam vent near Hakone. Unfortunately he thinks they gave him food poisoning. Sure, the 3 times he has conveyer sushi, he is fine, but eat one black egg...


Is it food, or an electronic device?
Yes, you can buy USB drives that look like sushi. This is, perhaps, one of the unique things that you should seek out in Akihabara as most other electronics are comparable in price to items sold in the United States.


It looks like a turnip...
... on top of a building?

It looks like water...
...served in a glass and a square box cup. This is sake, or Japanese rice wine. It is very clear and very smooth. Like the noodles, you can get it hot or cold. This is a cold version. They pour the sake until the cup runneth over into the box. They keep pouring until the edge of the box demonstrates the super-cohesion properties of the sake. The eminent risk of spilling over the sides of the box never seems to manifest.


Is it made out of flower petals?
We awarded this dish a 10 out of 10 for presentation. You have to admit that the pink and yellow crysthanthemum petals add something to the otherwise squishy soft tofu that they adorn. Check out the background food here. Deep fried cheese potato balls with marinara sauce...mmmm...


Is it endorsed by a guy in funny glasses?


Does the packaging say it is good for you?


My kind of food...
Yes, I admit, we go to TGI Friday's for dinner when we crave an American burger, or the wings and Caesar salad shown here.