| [ Editor's Pick ] | Posted 8th May 1997 |
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Gleaner Guide to Roadkills All that looking at dead animals made us decidedly peckish.. Fish sashimi is well known to Gaijin, but many of the lesser known sashimi dishes are meat. Of course, you can't eat just any meat raw, or just any animal. In general herbivores are safe(ish), but carnivores have too many parasites. Here in easy pull out form is the Gleaner dashboard guide to meat sashimi. Keep it handy for that next roadkill.. Reindeer - Shika-zashimi The strip of meat from over the back is edible raw - but avoid other parts of the body, especially the cheeks. Freeze, slice thinly and eat with a ginger or garlic soy-sauce dip. The slivers of frozen meat melt deliciously in your mouth.. Horse - (but of course..) Basashi is very tender - the best sashimi lies under the mane - rather fatty we thought, but considered a delicacy. Cow - red meat and intestines are edible raw - the rest not. Any "rose petal" parasite can simply be cut out. Only certain kinds of cows are generally eaten sashimi style.. Look for matsuzako-gyu and bungou-gyu Chicken - If you must, you can eat almost any of it - but specially raised chickens only. Neko-zushi - A favourite here at Yoshizuka Towers. Remove uniform first.. By and large you can't eat goat, or pig sashimi style; bear and raccoon-dog both make a tasty soup, and bear paws "kuma no te" are said to be heavenly. We aren't sure about wild boar - the Gleaner vet was emphatic it was inedible but our master of the obscure sensuous experience, Ghoti, claims to have tried it - apparently the body temperature is higher than that of ordinary pigs and that kills the parasites. "Very tender" he says. We had to ask: - humans probably are sashimiable - but take care to choose only humans from more developed countries than yours and with good medical systems. English virgins, beware! And then of course that old favourite, ikezukuri. You thought it was a triumph of the butcher's art when a whole carp was brought to the table, the centrepiece of a highly elaborate tray, only to leap into sashimied life when a drop of shoyu was put into its dead eye. But wasn't it delicious - and such fun as, right down to the bone, the little bugger kept on wriggling? Well, the old carp is pretty retentive of life, which is why it gets chosen for this honour - but pussy too doesn't go down without a fight, life after life after ninth life. And at The Old Kyoto in Nishi-Nakasu, where imperial menus are recreated, they actually train pussy to walk into the room, without bleeding on the tatami, and lie down in the tray! The skin and fur come off to the backbone at the first flick, so you can take your pulsing pick of pussy parts without getting hair in your teeth. Part of the fun is guessing which is the last miaow! The management will accept your own pet for training, of course, but there's no guarantee about the quality of her performance on the night. Might be fun to see if the little bugger still comes when you call her, though! The bad news is the cost - and the training is so difficult you must book well in advance. Pet Cemetary |
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