this is shochu. it's very popular here in kumamoto, kyushu. more than sake, even. maybe you should have a sip. i know i needed one before eating the local specialty. i want you to sit down before i tell what i ate. especially you, laura.
first was this local specialty. karashi-renkon, fried lotus root stuffed with a super-charged mustard. yeahhhhh!!!! and something on the side there that i can't remember the name of. a spinachy thing wrapped around another cool vegetable. and topped with miso (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ilovemiso!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
appetizer. potato, pickle and smoked tongue. nice. who's tongue?
dipping sauce. soy sauce and ginger!!!!!!! a couple scallion pieces as well.
ok. that's raw meat. i'm gonna eat it raw. it's not beef. it's basashi. that's raw horse! the white pieces in the middle are from under the mane ("under the hair", with anatomical pointing from the cute waitresses).
yeah. not bad, i suppose. when in kumamoto...
and don't waste anything. have some deep fried intestines, as well! orange flavored salt with sesame for dipping.
ice cream. from cow's milk, i assume. maybe that's a bad assumption.
listen. the green tea all over japan rules.
still eating.
still taking pictures, just not blogging. plus, you can't take pictures in an onsen (hot spring), nudity and all. yesterday i arrived back in tokyo for my final 3 nights in japan. i went out without my camera last night. lots of rain. i went back to my favorite izakaya and all my favorite people showed up. we ate weird shit and stayed up all night. at the end of the night around 4am, 4 of us went to tsukiji, ground zero fish market. early am is the time to go apparently, and since i was getting on a night schedule, i figured it was then or never to eat the freshest sushi in the world. o wow. let me just say that about the sushi. i guess i wish i was a little more sober to relish it properly, but i think i got the idea.
