One of the highlights of a springtime visit to Southern Japan is the opportunity to taste tiny, transparent, freshwater whitefish and eat them while still alive as they squirm in a mixture of beaten egg and soy sauce. Quite curiously, while they put up a tremendous fight to resist being eaten, once into the mouth they stop movement immediately. They were able to survive swimming in the sauce for over ten minutes, slowly turning from transparent to a light red color as they absorbed the color of the liquid. The chance to indulge in this delight comes but once a year for a two week period as the fish spawn. I realize that this is not for everyone, as even some of the Japanese nationals in our party were repelled at the sight of the writhing mass.
Raw prawns were in the pink of condition and sweet to the taste and in the many tanks were turtles and Fugu (Balloon fish) along with a really unattractive shell called Akabe.
The thick and crispy Nori (dried seaweed) had a praiseworthy flavor and when wrapped around crab tomalley and sushi rice there could not have been a more admirable finish to this gastronomic dinner.