one time when i was first in town, i went to this new joint recommended by a friend. "it's vegetarian" he said. i was like "cool, i'll check it out!". it was a set lunch menu, and it was all really good food. it's true that the sign out front said "natural", but the vegetarian was slightly off the mark, and they served me a large pork chop.
i went to dinner with a couple of japanese friends last night in downtown kobe. after taking our seats, the waiter was on us immediately (service that is rare in other parts of the world, and they don't work for tips). i used a couple of key japanese phrases to explain that i don't eat meat, but that they could order for me and i'd eat whatever they chose. i've done this before with mixed results.
the small dishes started coming one by one. first was "nama riva", or "fresh liver". we each received a plate piled with pieces of raw chicken heart and raw chicken liver, each with it's own dipping sauce. next was a plate full of cooked chicken hips on sticks, followed immediately by plates full of cooked chicken intestines on sticks. there were plates with small eggs wrapped in bacon on sticks, cooked chicken hearts on sticks, and composite chicken meatballs on sticks. a large salad came, full of sliced cooked chicken. the soup we had was just broth, but i'd bet it was based on some type of meat stock, perhaps chicken. we rounded out the meal with chicken fried rice. why i've yet to vomit is a mystery. it all tasted pretty good, but i think from now on i'll have to take a firmer stance on my diet.
it's come to my attention that this is widely known as the worst time of the year not to own a kitchen in japan. produce is ridiculously cheap everywhere. not just fruits, but various strange looking vegetables as well. eggplants are like 10 cents a piece, and a whole pineapple will set you back about 2 bones, or clams, or whatever you call them. pretty amazing, hopefully i don't miss the boat. for now it's restaurant city, but i'll stick to the fruit, bread, and tofu diet.
8 comments:
what do you have against meat?
i don't have anything against meat. i have a problem with the negative environmental and moral impacts associated with the mass production of domesticated livestock. i can almost guarantee that the chicken whose heart and liver i ate was raised in shitty conditions in a dismal warehouse somewhere along with 150,000 other chickens. commercial production of anything at this scale, even vegetables, creates significant concerns for me. vegetables, however, are things that i can easily and enjoyably produce myself once i have the space. i eat meat in montana, but only because you, my main man, are adept at hunting and killing animals for food. this is a much more natural process, and while i'd like to gather my own meat this way, i simply don't think i have it in me.
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I don't think I would been able to eat chicken heart and raw liver even if it was heady free range organic!
I never thought about the fact that chickens have hips before...
That meal was enough to make even the most passionate meat lover a vegetarian. Gross.
Are you sure that you didn't say, "Please, bring me the entrails of a chicken... and quick!"
I hear you on the meat stuff. I like meat, but my family is limited to what we can buy from our farmer friends or get from our huntin' relatives. Pass the elk shins please.
can never be too sure what i'm saying, but that's half the fun! i could probably round you up some tasty shin action with one well placed phone call.
after thinking about it for a few days, i think that raw chicken innards definitely trumps the bull testicles i ate in idaho. given the choice, i'd take the rocky mountain oysters any day!
Always wondered what environmentalists had against meat. I've spent hours pondering it. But, we've been buying beef from Dan's parents for so long that I actually forgot that the average person has to buy a mass-produced critter wrapped in plastic. And all of those "un-usable" parts (like the ones you've been eating recently) make great home-made dog food!
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