COURAGE

To venture into the mysterious but wonderful world of street foods in a foreign land one needs 'courage'. Firstly, the courage to sit down and secondly, the courage to point at an unknown but enticing item the next guy seems to love, and say ... or use sign language ... I like one of those, please?

I relented at Tsukiji at lunch today, blew my budget by spending a not-so-small sum of Y850 (HK$65) on a bowl of 'something' that kept me wondering all afternoon.  You see, we all know Beef Rice outlets made known to Hong Kong by the Yoshinoya chain.  The character for 'cow' is obvious but the second character is open to guess work. At this store, on Shin Obashi Dori, it is served differently so I ordered the most expensive 'house special'. The silvered haired gentleman next to me has this unmistaken ' ... yeh, right, let me see how you manage look'  Well, I passed Stage 1 & 2 of the Courage Test when my order was taken.

Next came the prize ... the bright orange raw egg yolk was wobbling languidly in its translucent white. Question, is there any residual radioactive material? Answer, if there is it is too damn late. The Beef Rice I am familiar has shreds of meat in it, with sauteed onions, serve with pink pickled ginger.  My Japanese pals told me it used to be a poor man's dish, the meat is technically not meat but scrapes from bones, sinew and all, then poached and seasoned with sauce. I did not see that.  Instead I saw intestines, I saw a few ventricles that might come from a lung or a heart, I definitely tasted liver, tripe, kidney and .... could that be part of the brain? The maze of texture, swimming in the slimy mixed raw egg, was a bit of a challenge. My eating partner sprinkled 8-spice powder generously on his. I nodded approval and doubled what he did on mine.  I think that saved the day lest I may end up not cleaning my bowl and that will be a tall story for his family around the dinner table tonight. I absolutely refuse to make his day, at the expense of  intercultural goodwill and exchange between our peoples.

I cannot tell you the name of this wannabe Michelin joint but you cannot miss it. The wait staff's kitchen whites are whiter than the nursing staff at QMH ... I assure you.  As for their 'house special' I would think again, there are better ways to spend Y850.  Don't ever say I did not warn you!