Sperm dinner in Tokyo
:: Wednesday, February 28th, 2007 @ 2:01:51 am
:: Tags: General
Dammit. I just found out that the creamy white blob things I ate at my birthday sushi dinner in Tokyo was cod milt, or shirako. Hitomi’s father ordered them for me (I ate what he ate), and when I asked what they were, the translations were all pretty vague. And so I ate them. 4 of the little buggers. And now, I wish that I had photographed the dish.
Would I have eaten them if I had known that they were sacks of cod sperm? Probably, since everything I ate that night (save the cake) was ordered for me by her father. You can’t really not eat something in that situation. In fact, I remember thinking, “I don’t know what these things are, but if I’m going to eat them, I might as well really taste them,” and so I spread each piece over my entire tongue and mouth in order to sample it properly; because I was so deliberate about the experience, I can still vividly remember the vinegared taste…
Anyway, I’m going to order shirako for one of my friends sometime. I’ve read that it can be found in the Bay Area and in New York. I’m pretty sure Patchen would eat it. In fact, he’s probably out trying to find some right now…
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Oh that’s just too funny. If we’re ever in Japan together, I’ll be sure to subject you to worse and provide you only with loose translations :-)
That’s too funny. I did not know what it was either when I had dinner with my colleagues in Japan and only found out after the fact.
Hehehe. I’ve had shirako a few times–it’s really good and the shape of the sacks are really interesting. Kind of corkscrew-like if I remember correctly. Yum! (Cross-species existential question: Does eating Cod sperm affect my heterosexuality in the context of the marine world?)
Mmmm, sacks of cod sperm. I think I’m off my lunch now. ;)
We (eastern europe jewish) eat herring sperm, we call it laitance in french. it’s quite good :)
That’s hot.
oh my god…hahah
Mr. Ota in San Diego serves Shirako. I had it the very first time a couple of weeks ago. Fortunately, Dad remembered this entry of yours and was able to explain to us what it was.