Sliiime...

Sliiime...
Originally uploaded by sab-chan.

Why do the Japanese love slimy foods so much?

So far there have only been three foods I've had difficulty eating in Japan.

1) Tororo. Made from some kind of ground potato. This is basically snot. It looks like snot, it behaves like snot and it tastes only marginally better than snot. The japanese love to put it on rice to make it sticky. When you take up some of it on your chopsticks it has the same stringy tendency as nasal expulsions. Mmmm... not.

2) Natto. Fermented soy beans. They taste like rotten socks and have a sticky slime coating. I managed to order some once by accident. I pointed at a picture of what I thought were noodles in an omelette. No. When they arrived I let my American guest try it then left it on the next table. It really stinks.

3) Whatever this stuff is in the Photo. I went to a teppanyaki place in Azabu Juban on Friday. The first thing they put in front of us was a shot glass filled with slime and seeds. I decided to treat it like a shot and down it in one. Bad move. I almost ended up spilling the cookies on the hotplate in front of me. I kept it down though.

Anyway, If I find anything worse, I'll put up a picture..