Encounter with unique food culture: Insects food

 Traditionally, Japanese people eat insects as precious nutrition and even now this custom exist in local dishes in some parts of Japan such as Gunma, Nagano, Miyazaki, and Gifu prefecture. In addition to that, there are several places in Tokyo where people can eat insects. One of them called “Kome to Circas” in Takadanobaba, which specialized for game cuisines and insect food.

 For my another challenge of plunge I chose insect eating because I have never tried before and it would be necessary to be able to eat them in the future. Last year I found a report from FAO, Food and Agriculture organization of the United States, regarding insects food. Refer to that, one of the solution for food problem can be insects food because of the small impacts on environment for bleeding. I realized that I have eaten frogs, pigeons, and rabbits but not insects. This is because its appearance and the concerns for its taste, so I decided to know how they are like.

 I ate fried giant isopod, which is related to woodlouse and usually abundant in the deep and cold waters such as Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans. It was seasoned with only salt and its taste was like shrimp. Even though the appearance of the food was not really acceptable, the taste was good. Sometimes its feet and shell got stuck in my throat, which I was hurt but other than that, it worked as normal food. Since it cost 1980 yen for one giant isopod, I would rather not to choose among other food. Additionally, I ate tempura of alligators. That was also the first time for me, and the taste was like white-fleshed fish. I felt elastic and it was good matching with mayonnaise and sweet chili sauce.

 In my conclusion, the situation of insects eating have been changing that it was cheaper and easier way to get a lot of nutrition before and now it is more expensive and sustainable way to get nutrition. Through this experience, I found that there is not always a relation between the appearance of food and the taste of it, and it led me to the deeper understanding of peculiar food culture in Japan.