Konnichiwa – or ‘Hello’ to you and I

You’ve probably guessed already but having returned from a huge trek around Japan, Geo and Atlas wanted to tell you all about the unusual foods of Japan.

Japan is renowned for its unusual, exquisite and quite bizarre foods. Some people may find their food offerings delicious and some may be frightened away depending on what your preferences are.

Japanese food is readily available around the world from sushi to katsu curry; you will have heard of and probably tried some of these popular dishes however there is so much more Japanese food that will make the rice wrapped in seaweed topped with raw fish that you buy from your local supermarket, seem very much normal.

Something both Geo and Atlas weren’t a huge fan of was Basashi… This is Japanese for raw horsemeat. Although Japan is famous for its raw fish, eating raw horsemeat is also very popular. It is served with soy sauce, ginger and onion and comes in thin slices; many people say it tastes similar to sushi. If you’re up for trying any type of food then Basashi is definitely worth a try.

Shirako - you will need a good stomach for this one… Shirako is a soft creamy delicacy served in Japan, usually in winter. Sounds like a tasty ice-cream, right? Well wait until you find out that it is actually the sperm of codfish. The name of this dish Shirako literally means “white children”, surely that is enough to scare anyone off! With that being said, Shirako is a very popular snack in Japan. With an acquired taste and creamy soft texture that melts on your tongue, we’re not sure we’d even be tempted to try this unusual Japanese snack, would you?

Talking about creamy textures, Japan is famous for their interesting and unusual flavours of ice-cream. Flavours that are predominant in Japan include matcha, green tea, wasabi, ginger and miso. These flavours have transformed the ice cream market, forget your plain vanilla or strawberry and try some of the bizarre ice cream flavours from Japan.

Why not try squid ink black ice cream, rose, purple sweet potato, wasabi, octopus or caviar? You really need to try see these flavours to believe them. So if you ever visit Japan, make sure you are adventurous and try an ice cream flavour that you won’t find at home.

Have you been to Japan and do you have any interesting food facts for us? Tried Shirako… let us know!

Until next time, GJ x