{"id":2013,"date":"2014-03-05T16:07:45","date_gmt":"2014-03-05T16:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?p=2013"},"modified":"2014-03-05T16:30:24","modified_gmt":"2014-03-05T16:30:24","slug":"the-6-strangest-japanese-eats-drinks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-6-strangest-japanese-eats-drinks\/","title":{"rendered":"The 6 Strangest Japanese Eats & Drinks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"JapanStrangeFood2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Japan is well known for its wacky culinary choices, in particular the potentially lethal Fugu<\/a>, a well-known fish delicacy. But the following 6 weird and wonderful dishes and drinks are so out there, they\u2019re almost off the planet!<\/p>\n

1. Shirako<\/b><\/p>\n

It sounds relatively benign, and its literal translation of \u2018white children\u2019 could mean anything, but Shirako<\/i> is also known as cods milk soup because it\u2019s basically made with the sperm sac of a male cod fish served in a soup. Of course it\u2019s supposedly a sexual stimulant, but so is garlic, honey, and chocolate, and they have got to be much easier to swallow!<\/p>\n

2. Odori Don<\/b><\/p>\n

This revered dish in Japan is our equivalent of Fear Factor dining. A broth with a recently decapitated octopus still twitching in its final death throes \u2013 but I guess at least you know it\u2019s fresh!<\/p>\n

Like Fugu, this dish has an element of risk attached to it, as the suction cups on the Octopus\u2019 tentacles can attach to parts of your insides and effectively kill you!<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a shrimp version, where the live crustacean is dowsed in alcohol so it\u2019s pretty much sozzled by the time it gets to your table \u2013 and hopefully doesn\u2019t notice it\u2019s being eaten alive!<\/p>\n

\"JapanStrangeFood\"<\/a><\/p>\n

3. Frog Sashimi<\/b><\/p>\n

Sticking with the really fresh food theme, this gourmet dish involves a live frog being dissected in front of the customer with the organs removed, and the tasty bits served on ice to be eaten there and then \u2013 blinking bulbous eyes \u2018n all!<\/p>\n

Obviously there is quite a lot of opposition to this from animal rights activists, so it\u2019s more in demand than ever!<\/p>\n

4. Octopus Ice Cream<\/b><\/p>\n

Mmmmm, it\u2019s mid-summer and you\u2019ve got a craving for something cold and refreshing like a lovely creamy ice cream\u2026 with octopus in it. Yeah, no, it\u2019s just not going to hit the spot is it? What about jellyfish ice cream? These may be a culinary delicacy in Japan, but there are some things that just shouldn\u2019t go together, and anything from the sea and ice cream are two of those.<\/p>\n

5. Wasabi Beer<\/b><\/p>\n

Same scenario, it\u2019s mid-summer, and you\u2019ve just eaten an octopus ice cream and you need something cold and refreshing to get rid of the taste, so how about a wasabi beer to wash it down with? On what planet is that a good idea? Although, oddly enough I\u2019m quite keen to give it a go\u2026<\/p>\n

6. Placenta 10000 Jelly Drink<\/b><\/p>\n

On the positive side it\u2019s really good for you, and apparently tastes like fruit. On the negative side you\u2019re drinking pig placenta in jelly \u2013 that can\u2019t be pleasant, can it?<\/p>\n

Weird and wacky is really where the Japanese excel, as there were many runners-up in this category including the space saving square watermelons, bread in a can, wasp biscuits, drinkable lettuce, and insect sushi to name a few.<\/p>\n

These may all seem strange to our tastes, but there\u2019s obviously a demand for them in Japan, and let\u2019s face it, we put a combination of yeast extract, salt, vegetable extract, niacin, thiamine, spice extracts, riboflavin, folic acid, and celery extract (aka Marmite) on our toast most mornings, and that sounds pretty awful when you think about it!<\/p>\n

Make sure you know the language<\/a> so you don\u2019t accidentally order any of these, unless of course some appeal to your inner sense of culinary adventure!<\/p>\n

\"Strawberry<\/a>Have you heard of another strange international food that could top this lot?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Japan is well known for its wacky culinary choices, in particular the potentially lethal Fugu, a well-known fish delicacy. But the following 6 weird and wonderful dishes and drinks are so out there, they\u2019re almost off the planet! 1. Shirako It sounds relatively benign, and its literal translation of \u2018white children\u2019 could mean anything, but(\u2026)<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t \t\t\t\tCONTINUE READING »<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2015,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,236,28],"tags":[312,203,281,282],"class_list":["post-2013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food","category-must-know","category-culture-travel","tag-drink","tag-food-2","tag-japan","tag-japanese"],"yoast_head":"\nThe 6 Strangest Japanese Eats & Drinks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"International cuisines can be an acquired taste, but these ones from Japan are a bit more so than others!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-6-strangest-japanese-eats-drinks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The 6 Strangest Japanese Eats & Drinks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"International cuisines can be an acquired taste, but these ones from Japan are a bit more so than others!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-6-strangest-japanese-eats-drinks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Listen & Learn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-03-05T16:07:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-03-05T16:30:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/JapanStrangeFood2-e1394036977124.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Victoria\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Victoria\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-6-strangest-japanese-eats-drinks\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-6-strangest-japanese-eats-drinks\/\",\"name\":\"The 6 Strangest Japanese Eats & Drinks\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-6-strangest-japanese-eats-drinks\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-6-strangest-japanese-eats-drinks\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/JapanStrangeFood2-e1394036977124.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-05T16:07:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-03-05T16:30:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d0c23babd4285f7b85ba028b23a3f370\"},\"description\":\"International cuisines can be an acquired taste, but these ones from Japan are a bit more so than others!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-6-strangest-japanese-eats-drinks\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-6-strangest-japanese-eats-drinks\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-6-strangest-japanese-eats-drinks\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/JapanStrangeFood2-e1394036977124.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/JapanStrangeFood2-e1394036977124.jpeg\",\"width\":450,\"height\":280},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-6-strangest-japanese-eats-drinks\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The 6 Strangest Japanese Eats & Drinks\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Listen & Learn\",\"description\":\"Language Courses and Language Services UK\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d0c23babd4285f7b85ba028b23a3f370\",\"name\":\"Victoria\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a400e49c4b2e91c5e5d28f264dfbb7a0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a400e49c4b2e91c5e5d28f264dfbb7a0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Victoria\"},\"description\":\"Victoria B-C is a self-confessed grammar geek, and uses this site for therapy. She is based in London, where she witnesses crimes against grammar on a daily basis. Words are her thing as Victoria is currently a journalist, PR advisor, and Social Media guru - these are her true stories.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/author\/victoria\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The 6 Strangest Japanese Eats & Drinks","description":"International cuisines can be an acquired taste, but these ones from Japan are a bit more so than others!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-6-strangest-japanese-eats-drinks\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The 6 Strangest Japanese Eats & Drinks","og_description":"International cuisines can be an acquired taste, but these ones from Japan are a bit more so than others!","og_url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-6-strangest-japanese-eats-drinks\/","og_site_name":"Listen & Learn","article_published_time":"2014-03-05T16:07:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-03-05T16:30:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":450,"height":280,"url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/JapanStrangeFood2-e1394036977124.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Victoria","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Victoria","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-6-strangest-japanese-eats-drinks\/","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-6-strangest-japanese-eats-drinks\/","name":"The 6 Strangest Japanese Eats & Drinks","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-6-strangest-japanese-eats-drinks\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-6-strangest-japanese-eats-drinks\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/JapanStrangeFood2-e1394036977124.jpeg","datePublished":"2014-03-05T16:07:45+00:00","dateModified":"2014-03-05T16:30:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d0c23babd4285f7b85ba028b23a3f370"},"description":"International cuisines can be an acquired taste, but these ones from Japan are a bit more so than others!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-6-strangest-japanese-eats-drinks\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-6-strangest-japanese-eats-drinks\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-6-strangest-japanese-eats-drinks\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/JapanStrangeFood2-e1394036977124.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/JapanStrangeFood2-e1394036977124.jpeg","width":450,"height":280},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-6-strangest-japanese-eats-drinks\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The 6 Strangest Japanese Eats & Drinks"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/","name":"Listen & Learn","description":"Language Courses and Language Services UK","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d0c23babd4285f7b85ba028b23a3f370","name":"Victoria","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a400e49c4b2e91c5e5d28f264dfbb7a0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a400e49c4b2e91c5e5d28f264dfbb7a0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Victoria"},"description":"Victoria B-C is a self-confessed grammar geek, and uses this site for therapy. She is based in London, where she witnesses crimes against grammar on a daily basis. Words are her thing as Victoria is currently a journalist, PR advisor, and Social Media guru - these are her true stories.","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/author\/victoria\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2013"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2013"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2013\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2022,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2013\/revisions\/2022"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}