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Probably the most well-known thing to do in Tokyo is visit the Tsukiji Fish Market. Before I went to the wholesale area of the market, I ate a sashimi rice bowl at one of the famous restaurants. My belly was very satisfied and I then walked around the wholesale fish market for a couple of hours before heading to the outer edge of the market – which by the way has a lot of awesome restaurants and Japanese street food things to eat around there too.
I thoroughly enjoyed walking around outside market, but then we spotted something that looked truly remarkable, and we had to make an impulse purchase. It wasn’t cheap at all, but it sure was amazing. I could hear the blowtorches from a ways away, and that’s what first caught my attention. The vendor first took a giant scallop, cut it up with a pair of scissors, and then added a medley of different seafoods to the shell. There was an oyster, sea urchin, and the scallop of course, and then there was a white looking thing that I had never seen before. I really had no clue what it was, but I was about to find out.
So I waited in line for a few minutes, and then paid, and got my beautiful fresh seafood Japanese street food treat. Though it was cooked for just a few seconds with that blowtorch, it was completely hot, and just smelled of complete freshness. Being a seafood lover, I couldn’t wait to start digging in. There wasn’t any seating, but there were a few styrofoam boxes where you could actually set your shell down and start diggin in.
I started with the scallop first, which was amazing, incredibly soft and sweet and fleshy. The oyster was equally marvelous, meaty and big and juicy. The uni sea urchin was also quite good, tasted a little bit like a ripe cheese, with a slight burn on the top to give it some nice flavor. Since I didn’t know what the white stuff was on my show, I decided to try that as the last thing. It was definitely a little bit on the slimy side, and it actually kind of tasted like cream cheese but even creamier. It actually didn’t have a lot of flavor other than cream cheese.
I proceeded to finish my entire Japanese street food seafood shell, and it was sensationally delicious. It was definitely only for you if you love seafood, and if you like seafood you’ll for sure love this. Everything was extremely fresh and straight from the market itself. And again just like all Japanese food, this seafood wasn’t overcooked at all, but just lightly cooked and it remained nice and juicy and flavorful.
When I returned to my hotel that evening, we did some quick research, and discovered that the mysterious white thing on my shell was known as shirako, which translates to cod sperm. Apparently during the winter season in Japan, shirako is quite the delicacy. I’ve got to admit, it wasn’t my favorite thing on my shell, but it wasn’t bad, and I would definitely eat it again.
If you visit the Tsukiji fish market and need an awesome little treat, you’ll find the number of vendors selling these scallop treats.
At 800 JPY ($7.81), this wasn’t the cheapest street food snack, but it sure was worth it.
Music in this video courtesy of Audio Network
Tokyo Travel Guide for Food Lovers: http://migrationology.com/2014/03/tokyo-travel-guide-for-food-lovers/
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