They Eat Horse Sashimi In Tokyo, Don't They

The New York Times has a long article about eating in Tokyo in T Style Magazine:

Tokyo is pure overload, too much to consume, too much to digest, the unknowable hugeness of the place one of its defining pleasures. You come here to eat and you are swallowed up. For depth and sheer variety of dining options, Tokyo has no equal. To describe a “restaurant scene” would be impossible here. The city's highly evolved culinary ecosystem is a reflection of Japanese culture itself, in which traditions are infinitely rehearsed and refined, foreign influences are explored and adapted, and there's constant interplay between ritual and invention, between the subtle and the carnivalesque.

Comments

[Edward]

We ate horse sashimi together back in 97/98 right?? I recommend it to all your readers. Just think of all those ex-race horses wasted on dogs here in the West!

[MC]

I ate some recently and it doesn't taste as good when it gets unfrozen-a little gamey. I remember when we ate it, it seemed to have been cut into thinner slices-it tasted like roast beef.

[Kraig]

If I remember correctly, that was when I was visiting and you guys did not tell me it was horse until after I tried it!

[MC]

Actually, I don't think you were there, but I might be wrong.

[Edward]

You know I think Kraig might have been there...
The Koreans eat a raw beef dish (called Yuk Hwe), something you can get easily enough here in Australia. It's served shredded and semi-frozen with nashi pear and is really quite nice. I think being cold benefits these raw dishes, although I reckon most fish sashimi is probably best at closer to room temperature. The Korean's will sometimes eat their tuna sashimi semi frozen too, but I prefer to let it warm up a touch to get more flavour. The same principal applies to ale, which is more flavoursome when drunk at 10 degrees (celcius) rather than at fridge temperature.