In today's article, we will talk about a dish in Japan that has raised quite a controversy on social media. The Katsu Ika Odori-don (活いか踊り丼) is a dish made up of rice, vegetables, fish roe, and other accompaniments where you find a dancing squid.
This dish was created in a city called Hakodate in Hokkaido province at a restaurant called Ikkatei Tabiji. The dish costs around 2,000 yen, which is equivalent to 60 reais.
This generated a lot of discussions about the squid being alive, that this is macabre, and yet they think that the Japanese eat squid that way. Unfortunately this is a lack of information and culture, so today we are going to talk about some points about this dish to solve all your doubts. Below I will leave the video of the controversy:
Table of Contents
Is the squid really alive?
No, the squid is not alive, it had its head cut off before going to the plate, causing an instant brain death. It moves because of the Shoyo that is poured over it. When the sodium from the soy sauce s the still active muscles, they start to twist and contract like something macabre and frightening, like a zombie.
A mesma coisa acontece com as pernas da rã, jogue sal em pernas cortadas de rã e elas irão mexer. Na realidade qualquer organismo que foi recentemente morto pode responder a estímulos. Ainda mais os músculos da lula que contém trifosfato de adenosina (ATP), a principal fonte de energia para as contrações musculares.
Do they eat like that?
In reality, they don't eat the whole octopus; it's just a dance. The name of the dish includes the word 踊り(odori), which means dance. After the little show, it is sent back to the chef, and he finishes preparing the dish. Although this octopus dish is just a show and the octopus is dead, it is still something macabre to see.
In the video below, she is being prepared for a traditional dish without the dance. See how she dances after having her head cut off:
People confuse a lot, Japan is not used to eating living things. In Japan you don't eat insects, dogs or anything else you think is disgusting, the worst thing is fish and seafood. Of course, in Japan as in any country you will find a restaurant like this, but it is not part of Japanese cuisine.
A terrible mania is to criticize the cuisine of a country because of one dish. You complain that in China they eat dog, but in Brazil they eat rabbit, which I think is much cuter. Every country has some dish considered macabre; in Japan, it's not dog or insects. Just because there is a strange dish doesn't mean the entire population eats it. Some dishes, less than 1% of the population have had the courage to face.
However, Japan did not escape from the macabre dishes; there is one called Shirouo no Odorigui... (シロウオの踊り食い), which means Dance of the ice fish. Various transparent fish are placed in a bowl with raw egg, they can dance in the bowl and are eaten alive, dancing in your mouth.
Existem algumas outras receitas de pratos vivos como:
- Ikizukuri - Live Sashimi;
- Odori ebi - Shrimp eaten alive;
- Sannakji - Octopus eaten alive (Korean);
