Monday, August 18, 2008

Raw chicken with a side of gizzard

Last night after playing frisbee I was really hungry and ready to eat just about anything put in front of me. A few of us went out for food and drinks at a near by izakaya (Japenese style bar where they serve all types of interesting foods in small portions). One guy insisted on ordering the food for everyone, and the first thing that arrived at our table was raw chicken. Before moving to Japan I would have thought eating raw chicken was insane! Apparently, the standards of meat handling is so high in the area I live that they are confident in eating their chickens raw. The texture is very similar to raw fish and, when dipped in soy sauce, it actually tastes pretty decent. The next thing that arrived at our table looked like little chunks of steak (beef) on a stick. I quickly shoveled a couple into my mouth and immediately noticed a sort of awkward toughness. I didn't care at the moment because of my strong hunger pains, but later when I inquired about the origins of the meat I found out it was chicken gizzard (some sort of meaty digestive tract organ). Yum! Well, I'm still alive.

No comments: