Patricia Engler's 360 in 180 Adventure Around the World
In the Land of the Rising Sun
Season 1, Episode 9
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01-May-2020
“What’s in this one?” I asked, lifting the lid of the tiny porcelain jar. The contents looked unlike anything I’d seen before—a wet mass of squishy pallor sitting in something yellow.
“It’s raw squid,” replied my Japanese friend.
Uh oh.
I hadn’t ordered this! But apparently, the mysterious letters on the menu beside me outlined not a list of meal options, but rather, a sort of culinary prescription.
Gingerly, I picked up my chopsticks.
Now what?
I glanced across the table at my friend, her chopsticks swishing squid around her jar the way an artist might twirl a brush in paint. Following suit, I raised one limp noodlelike strip from my jar and held it dangling at a distance. Then I closed my eyes, popped it like a pill, and swallowed.
The squid tasted like it looked: wet and squishy, with a mild fishy flavour somewhat masked by the yellow something. It wasn’t too bad, but I’d rather stick with a stack of Canadian pancakes and maple syrup.
“I don’t really like raw squid,” my friend suddenly commented.
Now she tells me!
Up Next in Season 1
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What a Hamster’s Funeral Reveals Abou...
“Can I tell you a story about the challenges of being a Christian in Japan?” asked the white-shirted young man, a graduate from a local university.
“Absolutely,” I answered from across the table laden with all manner of sushi fillings, including meats both cooked and raw. A group of about 15 Ch...
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Hidden Dragons Serpent Worship in Th...
Its tongues erupting like cannon blasts from their fanged fortresses, the seven-headed serpent dragon gaped at me through 14 lifeless eyes. My gaze shifted down the scaly necks to the table where incense burned alongside flowers and drink offerings set before the beast, which locals revere as the...
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Bowing to Statues; Becoming monks Ch...
“You seem to have a big problem,” observed one of the pastors as I struggled to grasp the raw meat, “—with chopsticks!”
I smiled a sheepish smile. You’d think that chopstick brandishing would be easier by now, given my earlier run-in with raw squid in Japan. Maybe after another couple of weeks ...
