“You eat that RAW?!”

Yes I do. I like it, too. Of course though, I’m picky, and there aren’t many things I can’t eat. (Japanese mustard *barf*)

Photo credits: Eggs, horse, beef

In Japan, many things are eaten raw on a regular basis. And I do, or have done, as well.

Eggs? Have one raw for breakfast!
Seafood? Puuh-lease! Fish, fish eggs, sperm (not kidding), crab, squid, octopus, sea urchin, dolphin, whale – just to mention what I can currently think of.
Beef? I mean, I once had it. Not uncommon. Muscle and liver.
Horse? Famous food in Kyushu. (Side note: horse meat scandal, anyone?).
Turtle? Yup. I had Suppon nabe a few years ago. The liver comes raw, too.

Now, these are just examples – they may eat more odd things (if I may say so), and some things are even eaten alive.

However there is one thing I always get punked for eating raw? Do you want to know? Do you really? Okay, here goes.

Carrots, people; carrots. CARROTS. The orange thingies that taste super awesome, are crunchy and good for you. Yes, those things.
Just today, I’d brought one to school as a snack. First comment:

“You eat that raw???” – a Taiwanese asked me. Then an Indonesian. Then a Korean, and then another Taiwanese.

”But they’re so hard! I totally couldn’t do that”, “I imagine it hurts your teeth!”, “my stomach would act up if I ate that”.
I knew it was uncommon for Japanese (as mentioned, I’ve gotten similar comments), but I didn’t know it was that widely spread amongst Asians.

Carrots brought us further to other vegetables. I learned that Taiwanese usually don’t even eat cucumber raw. They boil them. (My thoughts: Ew. Why? They’re like 80% water, get soggy and nasty. No. Yuck. But hey – cultural differences, right?)

So that was today’s odd whim.
- Eat your veggies!