Crazy foods

So when it comes to Japan, I feel like there's a lot of stereotypes about weird food and whatnot. Personally, to me, I'm not picky. I'm not a picky eater, so I actually enjoyed everything out there. There's a lot of talk about natto and whatnot. I like natto. I enjoy it. One thing that I actually didn't enjoy, which you can get here, but the first time I didn't hear about it until I got to Japan was actually kowtung. It tasted good. I didn't mind it. It was just the texture. I just felt like I was eating my own tongue, but I thought it was pretty good. I did have some squid tentacles that were marinated in this sauce, which looked terribly disgusting, not going to lie, but it was actually pretty good. I'm not going to lie. It was pretty good, but yeah, no, food in Japan is amazing.

Video 2 Transcript

One of the craziest foods that I've had was actually right in front of a castle. It was actually a small ice cream shop that offered 51 different flavors and one of those was actually garlic ice cream. I was warned beforehand about the smell, but I really didn't mind and I tried and I basically loved it.

Video 3 Transcript

As far as crazy things that I ate, there's a lot of raw food, which isn't that crazy, but like raw well. I ate shrimp and I had to eat the head on more than one occasion. Like all of the tentacles, the tail, the head, you eat the entire thing. That's not normal, not everyone does. Some Japanese don't like it, but I went, yeah, sometimes that's the situation.

Video 4 Transcript

One year for New Year's, she served us what was called, it was yamaimo, so like a mountain yam or a mountain root, and it was stew that was over soup, and she had little bits of fish in it, and she said that normally when you eat it, it will make your mouth or your skin itchy, so you have to carefully eat it with a fork. I have now come to realize that that is an allergic reaction. It was still really good, it was just a very interesting feeling that we had, it's a really interesting sensation, but if you ever come across it, just know that you might be allergic to it.

Video 5 Transcript

We've got natto, and I'm sure you've heard stories about it. It's just fermented soybeans. Some people like it, some people hate it. There's not really any in between. Give it a try, and maybe you're going to be one of those people. It is one of those foods that you're probably going to have to get used to.

Video 6 Transcript

There was one time we had raw horse meat. It was sliced very thin, and it's considered a delicacy in some parts of the world.

Video 7 Transcript

By far the craziest food is ika no shiokara. Ika means squid, shio is salt. Shiokara is salted preserved squid guts and scraps and people used to give it to us kind of as a joke or a test to see if we could eat Japanese food. About half of Japanese hate it. Hate it. It pops when you chew it. It's just terrible stuff. But try everything that's offered to you. I've got favorite foods that I absolutely have loved for 30 years and it's all because I decided to try everything at least once.

Video 8 Transcript

There was this thing where they had these soy-covered grasshoppers that you could just buy them at the store. The whole pile of them you could just buy at the store. You're supposed to eat them. You know, that's a delicacy there. So I ended up eating one and I haven't eaten one since, but you know, it wasn't terrible, I'll say that much.

Video 9 Transcript

...fermented soybeans, super sticky, super stringy, and by stringy I mean if you pick like the fermented soybean up and put it all the way to the ceiling, it's still going to be attached to the beans. I don't know what kind of food science that is, but I like it. My dad hates it, he can't stay in the same room as it, but so it's just one of those things where it's just a love or a hate thing. Also they do eat seafood, octopus, salmon, eel, and they do eat salmon eggs too. They have it on top of sushi. So that's some of the, I guess some of the weird things, but primarily not those, the one I can list off the top of my head.

Video 10 Transcript

Squid or Ika in the toaster and then you put barbecue sauce on it and I thought that was like the weirdest thing I'd ever eaten. Of course later on I got to eat other things like uni. Pretty nasty. It's basically like toothpaste that you know has been dredged up from the bottom of the sea and it's just nasty. We also got to eat salmon eggs which you know they were okay. They're little red eggs. You put them in your mouth, you pop them, the juice comes out. So that's kind of an acquired taste but the rule that I had was you had to try something at least three times before you could decide if you didn't like it or not. Uni, only tried it once.

Video 11 Transcript

Raw fish, raw sea urchin, eel, raw egg on food, dipping your food into raw egg. These are all things I did not experience growing up in Utah, but yet they are everyday type foods that are here. Most foods in Japan are deep fried, so I don't know if that's crazy or not. So there you go. Enjoy!

Video 12 Transcript

Pizza is different in Japan. There were times we'd go to Pizza Hut. So it always seems like as soon as we walk in the door, they start throwing out the weirdest pizzas in the buffet. Pizzas with tuna fish on them, or corn, or seaweed. Any number of just weird things. But that was normal. And we'd still eat it. In fact, we'd be sick probably for two days sometimes from all the pizza we'd eat. But just be prepared for pizza to be different in Japan.

Video 13 Transcript

One of the craziest things that I had to eat in Japan was raw horse meat. I had a slab of raw horse meat and dipped in shoyu. It was really textured and I couldn't really taste the taste of the meat because of the shoyu. The one that I got the biggest reaction to was a drink called it's made entirely of spinach and some said that it tasted like pond water with the consistency of paint but I drank it anyway just so I could say I drank it and it wasn't actually that bad just tasted like spinach.

Video 14 Transcript

Natto, which is fermented soybeans. Yes, they stink, but oh, they're so good for you. So if you can get past the taste and the stickiness texture and the fermented smell, I suggest that you try them at least once. Many foreigners don't like don't like natto, but try natto while you are there, as well as sushi. I love sushi. In fact, octopus and squid are my favorites. And try all sushi. Sometimes you may not like it, but try it once. See if you will like it or not. Even if it has a weird texture, just try it. You will enjoy the Japanese food. It's fabulous.

Video 15 Transcript

Oden. It's a lot of different things thrown in a pot with fish cake and then just simmered in fish cake until everything you eat out of that pot will taste like fish cake. I mean there was like little mini squid coming out of there and chicken and different, you know, eggs, boiled eggs and things, but it didn't matter. They all taste like fish cake.