Basashi and Heisenberg's uncertainty cheese

So I sat down at a quiet table at the end of the shopping arcade to do some writing and catch up on my journal. Some people from the clothing store came outside and started chatting with me... Nori, Miyuki and Rie.

I learned the local specialty of Kumamoto is Basashi, a type of horse meat sashimi. So of course I had to eat it! Yup, raw horse meat.

Rie walked me to the best place nearby where her friend worked. As we walked in, everyone in the restaurant stopped talking, turned their heads and stared. Even the restaurant chefs stopped what they were doing to stare for a second. Instantly, I felt like a zoo animal, "Hi, I'm the gaijin here to eat basashi, don't mind me."

The basashi was sliced thin and served room temperature; fattier than I guessed it would be. The fun part was the mix your own dipping sauces. Mashed garlic, ginger and chives were given in small piles to mix into soy sauce. As recommended, I tried a dipping sauce of garlic, wasabi and chives and another one with ginger, wasabi and chives. Those familiar with sushi and mixing wasabi and soy sauce understand the need for a personalized process.

The basashi was quite tasty. Reminiscent of delicious steak tartare back in my France days... Served with tategami, a sort of gelatinous whiteness from the mane of the horse. Yes, the mane. The tategami was a little more, well, interesting. It has a mild flavor with a consistency of cheese, but the more you chew it the gooey and stringier it gets. A sort of Heisenberg's uncertainty cheese - the more you try and chew it, the more it gets gooey and slips away from you...

All in all, good fun. I enjoyed goofing with the chefs at the restaurant. And thanks to Nori, Miyuki and Rie for hooking me up with a delicious meal!