Monday, March 06, 2006
Inte äta konstigt
Kvällsmaten bestod av grillade kyckling (yakitori) men det räckte inte så vi beställde in en tallrik med grillade småräkor. Kalasgott med högst 3-4 centimeter långa räkor som man tuggar i sig med skal, huvud och allt. Krispigt, så här måste det kännas att tugga på rostade insekter med alla ben och sånt.Japaner har många konstiga ätvanor annars, vissa saker tror jag aldrig att jag skulle våga prova(fast man vet ju aldrig). En rätt som de är mycket stolta över är ikizukuri. Det brukar vara karp men kan vara annat också. Jag citerar här en utlännings beskrivning av rätten (fast jag förstår inte det roliga. Jag föredrar att min mat har dött en snabb död.):
"Yes, the carp. They brought in two large platters of extremely fresh sashimi. How fresh? The fish were still breathing. Their mouths were opening and closing, all fishy-like, and their gills were expanding. Their tails had been posed artfully up in the air, and the scales places back over their middles, so they appeared mostly whole, against backgrounds of plastic bonsai trees with some sort of vegetable shreds around them, and sliced lemons arranged along the front of the platters. As two of the teachers served the sashimi onto smaller plates, the fish would twitch. As the evening went on, they would occasionally spasm so hard that their tails and fins would move around in the air, and they would knock against the plates. I had a really hard time not laughing out loud when one of them did that while one of the teachers who had been serving was trying to give his requisite speech. The other teachers were highly amused by my fascinated staring, but really, how could I not? It was sitting right there in front of me, and it was certainly something interesting to look at while everyone else was talking to each other in Japanese. I’m not sure they were completely dead yet by the time we left, nearly two hours later."
Och i Wikipedia står det: (Jag har dock träffat japaner som tycker denna rätt är hemsk)
"In Japanese cuisine, ikizukuri (生け作り, lit. "prepared alive") involves the preparation of a live fish or crustacean into sashimi, thus the eater is able to enjoy the freshly prepared flesh of the fish/crustacean off the live, writhing animal. Usually the individual ordering ikizukuri picks the unfortunate victim from a Japanese restaurant's saltwater tank abundant with marine life. The skilled Japanese chef who has gone through numerous teachings and study in sashimi preparation then splits the live fish down the belly, deguts it by removing all internal organs except the beating heart, gently cuts the fresh meat on the fish's sides into thin bite-sized pieces, and for the finishing touch, adds lemon wedges, or perhaps a decoration of ginger or nori (seaweed).
It is a controversial method of food preparation, both in Japan and in other countries. The intense trauma undergone by the creature eaten in this manner means that it is regarded as somewhat barbaric. Within Japan, inhumanity (不人情) and savage behaviour (野蛮な行動) are regarded with intense disapproval and many people regard ikizukuri as displaying both traits. However, officianados claim that the flavour and quality – which is undoubtedly very fresh – makes the procedure justified. Some also claim that is cannot be claimed that ikizukuri qualitatively crueller than animal sacrifice in certain societies or even the mental trauma undergone by animals when they are taken to abatoirs.
Often, the fish is still alive or somewhat alive at the end of dinner. The practice is banned in Australia as it is seen as animal cruelty. German law prohibits shrimp ikizukuri but not fish ikizukuri, as the German government considers crustaceans incapable of feeling pain."
Fast det är egentligen inte så överraskande. I Japan äter man om man vill hela levande småfiskar. Äkta pälsjackor är jättepopulära och en favorittidsfördriv (kultur kallas det) i södra Japan är att tvinga två tjurar att fajtas till döds. Å andra sidan får man vara tacksam att de inte kokar kattungar levande som man gör i korea (googla bara för "liquid cat" och korea)...
# posted by Reza : 11:59 PM
