The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Performance'. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Other. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Necessary'. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Functional'. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Analytics'. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. If these quirky culinary creations have inspired you to explore Japan’s food scene, click here to discover a Trafalgar tour. Shirako can only be harvested once a year in December, which only adds to its appeal. With a creamy, custard-like taste, the cherished dish can be served cooked or raw and is best accompanied by ponzu (a citrus soy dressing) and spring onions.

Think of it as a male caviar, if you will. This unusual Japanese delicacy is made from the milt of cod fish. Tender, slightly sweet and with a taste similar to venison or beef, basashi is commonly found at izakaya (gastro bars) and served ice-cold with soy and wasabi. Another such food is basashi – raw horse meat. It’s not only fish that’s served sliced and raw, sashimi-style in Japan. When prepared as wafer-thin sashimi strips, it’s quite the delicacy, tasting apparently like chicken. Somewhat surprisingly, fugu isn’t a rare dish and you can find the bulbous aquatic creature on menus across all Japan. Otherwise known as puffer fish, fugu contains tetrodotoxin- a potentially deadly poison – which is expertly removed before serving. It takes a chef three years of intense training to gain a licence to prepare and serve fugu in Japan. Popular in East Japan, you’ll find natto all over Tokyo.

The pungent food is commonly eaten at breakfast and served with soy sauce or mustard. With the same love-it-or-hate it appeal as Marmite, natto polarises the Japanese but is super-healthy and high in protein. Its appearance is slimy and stringy with a taste not too dissimilar from cheese. Natto is a traditional Japanese dish made from fermented soy beans. In Japan, they’re considered both a luxury and novelty, though you’ll need up to £20,000 to buy one… Natto The brainchild of designer and horticulturalist, Tomoyuki Ono, the ingeniously shaped fruit are grown in boxes so they assume the shape of their container. Cube-Shaped WatermelonsĪ seemingly nature-defying creation, the cube watermelon was conceived in the 1970s to save space in small refrigerators and be easier to slice and serve. These quirky Japanese delicacies may be an acquired taste, but they’re certainly worth trying on your next trip…if only for the bragging rights. Their eclectic cuisine is a combination of boundary-pushing innovation, high-precision cooking skills and unusual ingredients. Unique dishes can be found the world over, but there’s nowhere quite like Japan when it comes to weird and wonderful food.

Fugu and natto