Deep Fried Cockroaches. Yum!
Located about a 5-minute walk from JR Sakuragicho Station in the Kanagawa city of Yokohama, Chinjūya (珍獣屋, Rare Animal Shop) is an izakaya (Japanese tavern) that specializes in serving dishes made using insects and exotic meats.
Earlier this month, Ricchan and Yocchi, two Japanese YouTubers from the popular YouTube channel BonBonTV went to this interesting izakaya and recorded an amusing video of their little food adventure.
In the video below, Ricchan, who you’ll recognize as the very enthusiastic female host and Yocchi, the far less enthusiastic male host, can be seen eating four of Chinjūya’s unique dishes. These are, deep fried axolotl (a type of salamander), deep fried cockroaches, cricket and mealworm pudding, and kangaroo prepared in garlic.
To find out how these two food adventurers fared with these four dishes and what they thought of them check out the video below and then make sure to keep reading for an explanation on what is said in the video.
Deep Fried Axolotl – Ūpārūpā no Karaage
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| Image source: BonBonTV |
The axolotl is a type of salamander colloquially referred to as a “walking fish.” It is also the first thing Ricchan and Yocchi eat in the video.
Prepared karage style (deep fried), this dish comes with scissors, which you use to cut it into more manageable pieces. As for the flavor, both Ricchan and Yocchi end up liking it. They remark that it tastes a lot life fish. In fact, Ricchan compares its flavor specifically to that of shishamo smelt.
Deep Fried Cockroaches – Gokiburi no Karaage
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| Ricchan: “Don’t play with it like that. This is delicious food.” Image source: BonBonTV |
Although Yocchi is quite hesitant about eating the cockroaches, after they try them they both end up remarking that they taste good. Ricchan compares the flavor to that of shrimp and Yocchi says it tastes like a crustacean. However, they also note that the flavor is really strong.
Pudding With Foreign Contaminants – Ibutsu Konnyā Purin
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| Image source: BonBonTV |
After they finish the cockroaches Ricchan says that she wants to eat something sweet, so they look at the menu and find a mysterious dessert item called “Pudding with foreign contaminants.” The description for this pudding says that it is “super popular” and that they cannot disclose what the “contaminants” in the pudding are. Ricchan and Yocchi decide to try it out and what they get is a pudding filled with mealworms and crickets.
Af the four dishes they try, this is clearly the one both Ricchan and Yocchi have the most difficulty with. Ricchan starts off by noting how the texture of the mealworms reminds her of wafers. As for the flavor, she remarks that they taste somewhat bitter. Yocchi agrees and then compares the flavor to dirt.
After trying the mealworms the two move on to the crickets and neither of them seem to particularly enjoy them. However, despite some difficulty, they do manage to eat the entire dish and once they do, Yocchi implies that he might not have been able to finish it all had it not been for the pudding. He even emphasizes how difficult it was to eat this “contaminated” pudding by comparing it to a last boss in a video game.
Garlic Kangaroo – Kangarā no Gārikku Yaki
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| Image source: BonBonTV |
For their last dish, Ricchan and Yocchi decide to try out the kangaroo. They both remark that it tastes like beef, so much so in fact that Ricchan says she wouldn’t be able to tell it wasn’t beef if she didn’t know.
Aside from salamander, insects and kangaroo, Chinjūya offers a wide variety of other dishes made from animals such as, ostrich, camel, and for you fish lovers, piranha. So, if you happen to be in the Yokohama area and you feel like trying something new you may want to give Chinjūya a shot.
Chinjūya
1-45 Nogecho Naka-ku Yokohama Kanagawa
Ph: 045-260-6805
