8. Tuna Eyeballs – Japan
Back to the land of the rising sun again. Imagine if you will, looking down at your plate and your food is looking right back at you? Well, that’s what you are in store for if you order this dish in Japan.
Available in store, bars, and restaurants, tuna eyes are exactly what you think they are. There are many preparations of this dish, most widely it is boiled in water and seasoned to taste with soy sauce, sugar, mirin (a rice wine similar to sake), sake. The flavor is similar to a hard-boiled egg, seasoned to taste.
Oddly, unlike most of the entries on this list, this is not a dish that dates back to a more ancient time. It started with a story in the Japanese media in the ’90s when they said that according to experiments carried out on animals, the DHA (docosahexaenoic acid or Omega 3) would increase the cognitive abilities of the mice.
The Japanese public was so convinced by this, that tuna eyes would make you more intelligent, their demand skyrocketed. Studies have consistently shown that Omega 3 is good for your brain but I would argue that having a huge eyeball on your plate isn’t so good for your nerves.
