Tripping Far Side

A dish described like that sounds like a cruel dare. Except in Japan. Here's a picture of maguro yukke (pronounced you-kay, not yucky). I had it yesterday at Kaitenzushi Iwamura, which is on the northeast end of Kyoto Station.

That speckled stuff is a raw quail egg. Having lived in Japan for awhile, raw eggs are a safe, common topping. I've grown accustomed to it, although I won't go out of my way to order it.

That white stuff is yamakake, aka tororo, which is grated mountain yam/potato. The texture looks like grits, but it's real slippery and gooey at the same time. Not too bad, but definitely handles weird with chopsticks. I had a green version of it again in my miso soup today.

That red stuff is raw tuna mixed in a sweet soy sauce.

And together, I have to say that it was amazing. I dig it. I've had yukke with raw beef before as well, and that was really tasty too. Certainly an adventurous dish by American standards, but rewarding to brave palates.

I saw some other interesting sushi dishes on the conveyor belts though. White chicken meat, Arkshell, Bream, Yuba (Kyoto's Specialty Tofu Skin), and other stuff that wasn't translated to English. Eh. Right now, I'm infatuated with yukke so much that it's my dish of choice. It's really that tasty to me....