Japan: Where horsemeat is a delicacy

One man’s flower is another man’s weed, they say, and nowhere is that axiom borne out more clearly than in Japanese cuisine. Many people outside of Japan still recoil at the thought of eating raw fish—much less potentially poisonous blowfish or squid that is still twitching in its death throes as it’s served to diners in a restaurant—and few people anywhere look at seaweed as something that is not only edible, but delicious. Many Japanese, my wife included, enjoy eating as a snack sheets of nori that have been quickly roasted over the stove.

So it will be no surprise to find out that some Japanese prize horsemeat as a delicacy rather than something the meat packer used to make a buck by pawning it off on unsuspecting customers under the name of a more desirable meat. Indeed, the Japanese sometimes call it sakuraniku, or “cherry blossom meat”, and we all know how the people of Japan feel about cherry blossoms. But then again, maybe that word was coined by an enterprising merchant who had a lot of unwanted horsemeat to sell once upon a time.

It’s particularly popular in Kyushu, and it’s often served as sashimi—in other words, in raw slices with some sauce and wasabi, the Japanese horseradish, on the side. I’ve had horse sashimi a couple of times myself. It wasn’t bad, but then again, I won’t be going out of my way to order it any time soon.

That’s not for the lack of trying by the civic boosters in Yamaga, Kumamoto Prefecture, however. As the Nishinippon Shimbun reports, the local Chamber of Commerce and Industry started brainstorming about two years ago to come up with a distinctive local dish to promote the area. Kumamoto is full of horsemeat fanciers, so it was only a trot and a whinny from there to the decision to come up with horsemeat curry.

Visitors to Japan are well aware that the local version of curried rice is an extremely popular dish here, both among young and old alike. Its role is roughly equivalent to that of the hamburger in the United States, particularly among children. A good curry recipe will keep a small restaurant proprietor safely in business; indeed, without one he would probably go belly up in a month.

Local chefs began working together two years ago to create a horsemeat curry recipe. They used only the muscle and tenderloin parts of the horse, stewed it to remove the distinctive aroma of cherry blossom meat, and came up with a blend of spices to suit the dish. They named it Yamaga Yakushi Horsemeat Curry after a local hot spring, and offered it to the Yamaga public at local restaurants and ryokan (Japanese-style inns).

The area is known as the home of horsemeat fanciers, so a certain amount of success was guaranteed, but they also cleverly pitched the dish to young women by emphasizing the healthfulness of horse. It’s low in fat, high in collagen (good for the skin), and rich in iron.

Their efforts paid off, as the dish is taking off in popularity. Some shops report sales of 300 meals a month, which is impressive business for a small Japanese restaurant. Now, health- and trend-conscious young women are coming down from the Fukuoka City area on weekends to try out the horsemeat curry. Business has been so brisk, in fact, the Chamber of Commerce is now plotting to make Yamaga Horsemeat Curry a national brand for fanciers of regional cuisine in the hopes of imitating the success of Sasebo burgers.

If you live in or are visiting Kyushu and decide to head for Yamaga for an epicurean adventure, you might want to time your trip for the local festival in August, in which about a thousand local women dress up in yukata, place a lantern made from Japanese paper on their head with a light to represent a flame, and dance at night to the strains of a local folk tune. I went two years ago, and I had a great time. Yamaga also makes it easy on visitors, too. My feet got a little sore from all the walking I did that day, so I took advantage of a free foot bath conveniently located on a downtown corner using water piped in from a local hot spring.

It was a lot more fun than any Fourth of July event I ever attended in the United States. If the idea of horsemeat doesn’t make you whinny in anticipation, however, I’ll leave you with this last thought: are you sure you know what meat they used in those hot dogs you’ll be barbecuing this summer?