What? Horse Sashimi? mmmmm OISHI!

So the other night a few people from work went out for dinner.  It was an awesome Izakaya (Japanese word for Tapas or PuPus) place in Roppongi (name of restaurant to come later) and we tried a variety of great dishes.  One of the dishes we tried was Horse Sashimi!  what????  Horse Sashimi?  Who eats Horse?  Well, I didn't know what to think when I saw it on the table?  What would it taste like?  What may be strange to me who is Chinese and enjoys eating Chicken Feet must be extremely weird for everyone else.  With a little hesitation, I tried it and actually enjoyed it!  Oishi!

Horse Sashimi is called called sakura (桜) or sakuraniku (桜肉, sakura means cherry blossom, niku means meat) because of the meat’s pink colour. It is very chewy and can be served raw as very chewy sashimi in thin slices dipped in soy sauce, often with ginger and onions added. In this case, it is called basashi (Japanese: 馬刺し). Fat, typically from the neck, is also found as basashi, though it is white, not pink. Horse meat is also sometimes found on menus for yakiniku (a type of barbecue), where it is called baniku (lit., horse meat) or bagushi (lit., skewered horse); thin slices of raw horse meat are sometimes served wrapped in a shiso leaf. 

As I said in my introduction, I hope to share my experiences with all of you.  Food, will definitely be a heavy topic as I experience Japan firsthand.