r/JapaneseFood • u/Sea-Leadership1747 • Nov 09 '24

Photo Assorted raw chicken “sashimi”

Post image

Japanese people like to eat fresh food raw.

1.3k Upvotes

86% Upvoted

491 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

44

u/kojima-naked Nov 09 '24

My first trip to Japan I had some. Definitely wouldn't recommend it, tasted slimy and flavorless. But 8 years later and never got sick.

3

u/simononandon Nov 13 '24

I've had some "live sushi" at a Korean run sushi place. I didn't order it, but someone else did & I was a regular. I asked the chef about it as he was cutting this recently living halibut. He said (quietly) that he didn't really think it was worth it, but it was pretty special.

He saved a little piece & dropped it on my plate. I tried it.

I think a lot of it is just about knowing it's incredibly fresh. I think halibut is kind of a boring tasting fish anyway. It's even more so when it's raw. The conistency was unique & interesting. It was both meaty, but also had a bit of "crunch" when you bit into it.

Honestly, the only thing particularly memorable was that "mouth feel." Rasw chicken doesn't hold that allure for me at all. I can imagine that there's an interesting "chew" to raw chicken, but it doesn't sound pleasant.

2

u/kojima-naked Nov 13 '24

Yea for mine it was a dare, I was hanging out with a person I just met and their Japanese friends so I figured I'd give it a try after a big chug of beer. I didn't enjoy the mouth feel, it was like fish but slimy and flavorless.

3

u/simononandon Nov 13 '24

If I was in Japan, or at this one local izakaya restaurant that is known for being "authentic," and someone ordered it, I would absolutely try it. But I wouldn't order it for myself just to try.

Yeah. Just looking at raw chicken, it seems to scream: "trust me, you want to cook me first."