Seafood is nice but really fresh seafood is something heavenly. There are food that one always crave for or think of. Sometimes, merely thinking of them will make the stomach growl and the saliva glands active. Man is not unlike other animals, and eating is a pleasure to behold. The “Live to eat or eat to live” argument for me us pure bullshit. You eat to live and also live to eat. It is not either/or.
Mankind always fall into this foolish idea of having to choose either one and cannot live with two or more choices. This is also the reason why the world is in the mess it is now because mankind cannot seem to be able to live together in plurality and must choose only one single way, and if there are opposing ways, the tolerance level is zero.
Imposing one’s worldview or way of life on others is the biggest crime in the history of mankind. For instance, because one eats only minimally, one condemns others for spending more money to eat something that do not conform to their view. Or if one is very thrifty condemning others who spends on food. And we are not even talking about religion or politics. Don’t even start. This “holier than thou” kind of mindset is really primitive.
Anyways, the purpose of this post is not to talk about these depressing stuffs but to celebrate some really good seafood that is unforgettable for me.
The first that comes to my mind is the Tsukiji market in Tokyo. Wonderful and superbly fresh! Of course there are others like Jiro’s but the combination of the freshness and deliciousness vs price cannot be matched. It is too sad that they intend to move the market next year for the Olympics. So before they do that, fly there now.
The standard set costs about 3,500 yen and you get about 8 types of sushi. And then you can add a-la-carte. I have never tasted sushi this good and this fresh, at this price.
The wonderful chef who keeps on asking “oishi? oishi?” in the cramped shop and then the huge line waiting outside. If you want to go here, you really need to be there really early. I reached there at 4 something in the morning and ended up only waiting about one hour. If you reach later, say at 8am, the queue can get to about 3 hours. So wake up early or don’t sleep at all.
The second one that pops into my mind is the King Crabs at Kirkenes, Norway. These are crabs at the top of the world, the arctic and they are not only huge but extremely delicious. The meat is of course fresh, and all you need is to boil it in water and then eat it with white wine and enjoying the aurora borealis dancing overhead. It is hard to imagine anything more amazing.
We just eat the legs and they are huge with lots of meat. The freshness and natural sweetness is unbelievable.
Closer to home, of course there are some great seafood places, such as the prawns at Tg. Tualang or the various seafood places. But when I think of seafood, Tsukiji market and Kirkenes pops up invariably.
This post is actually a call to action. The call is that if you have not experienced the Tsukiji market, do so before it’s too late. The new place will never have the charms of the current place, at least not in the near future. It may be new and beautiful and organized and all but as in most things in life, real charms are not acquired through newness, nor logical organizations of things.
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