Eating a Whale Has Its Attractions

Joseph Coleman, AFP 18 Nov 07;

TOKYO (AP) — Breaded, deep-fried or raw, whale is considered a tasty staple in some parts of Japan, no matter what the world and its animal-lovers may think.

Tastes vary among regions, depending on what kinds of whale are caught. Northerners prefer the lighter flesh of the minke, while the cooking traditions of Wada, a village outside Tokyo, focus on the dark meat of the Baird's beaked whale.

Akiji Ichihara, who runs Wada's Piman restaurant, stews the meat with ginger, leaves, soy sauce, sake and miso soy bean paste, or pan-fries it in oil like a steak.

Tare is meat sliced thin, slathered with soy sauce and sun-dried. A chewy snack with beer or sake, and can last in the fridge for a year.

"It's black and doesn't look very appetizing," says Ichihara, but "it tastes good."

However, scientists say that toothed whales like those eaten in Wada have high levels of mercury contamination.

The dark, bloody meat of the Baird's beaked whale doesn't make for very attractive sashimi. The minke, with lower mercury levels, is preferable.

Coastal whalers are banned from taking minke commercially. But Japan kills more than 1,000 of them every year as part of a scientific whaling program allowed by the International Whaling Commission.

Some of that meat eventually makes it to Ichihara's kitchen, where patrons dip raw strips of it into a mixture of soy sauce, ginger and garlic.

"The tail meat is good for sashimi," he said. "It's like tuna, nicely marbled. And the taste is lighter, so it's best for sashimi."