Gourmet travels: Horse Sashimi, Tokyo
It’s a taboo in many countries but in Japan horse meat is a delicacy. Translated as ‘cherry blossom meat’, Sakuraniku or Sakura is usually served as raw slices dipped in soy sauce and topped with spring onion and grated ginger. It’s an essential part of Japanese cuisine and can be found in pretty much any izakaya, look out for Basashi on the menu. There is even a dessert made out of horse meat called Basashi ice-cream.
I wouldn’t normally eat what is considered a pet, a companion, and a workman in my own culture but I tend to agree with ‘when in Rome…’ saying so it ended up being a part of my first meal in Japan. Basashi that I had was quite tender and had a slightly sweet taste, like a combination of beef and venison with a spicy kick to it. The smell was a little strong for my taste and I heard that you can often get stringy, chewy horse meat however it was much better than I expected.
I enjoyed it but I did feel weird eating raw pieces of something from the ‘Black Beauty’ stable. This would have to go in the same basket as the ‘boys-on-boys-for-girls’ Manga erotica, cat cafes, and quirky Lolita characters at Harajiku station experiences - random and strange things, which albeit their unassuming triviality make you feel like Alice in Wonderland.
Horse sashimi…who would have thought?! In Italy horse and donkey meat is as common as beef. It was difficult at first to imagine eating either as these animals fall under the pet category, but after my first taste I was sold. Horse has a slightly wild taste compared to beef, but not so wild to make it off. I’d do a post on the butcher shops that sell both horse and donkey, but I fear that it would only earn me flames!
My first experience with horse as a meat was in Switzerland when we were getting meat for a BBQ with mates - a very salty meat and kind of indifferent. Intrigued to try horse sashimi however!
Great blog and look forward to following it in future!
Thanks, Max
I heard from some people that they found it quite tough but what I had was pretty tender. It also had great condiments with it so that’s probably why I like it.
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