Friday, September 24, 2010

Sukiyaki and the American Girl

Recently, I made sukiyaki, a tasty if distinctively brown dish. It is composed of thinly sliced beef, mushrooms with designs carved on their caps, seared tofu, and whatever vegetables you have handy (bok choy is a great replacement for spinach). I believe the words "suki" and "yaki" break down into "whatever you like heated up".

The thing about sukiyaki is that... you're supposed to dip each bite in raw egg.

Why is that such a hesitant thing to do? An egg is a strong hold of nutrition and such a potent symbol of fertility couldn't possibly be harmful.

I think part of the problem is that I, at least, have zero contact with animals, least of all the food producing kind. I wouldn't know what to do with a live chicken. I might not know what to do with a dead but uncleaned chicken.

There's also the fact that most eggs come from concentrated animal feeding operations in conditions that cause the chickens to try to kill themselves. At least heating those eggs takes them a step away from their cruel origins, brings in a little human caring, for the product if not from its source.

Still, I buy eggs from a place that takes very good care of their birds (i.e. these chickens see the light of day and run around eating bugs and other chickenly activities). These aren't hate eggs that I would be swallowing, untransformed, unmanipulated into the core of me.

In the end, I bit the bullet (or rather, swallowed) and dipped my hot beef slice into the cold and beaten egg. It tasted just like the yolk of a fried egg. It was incredibly rich and creamy. It clung delightfully to the the treats I fished out of the sukiyaki, and the mushroom egg combination may have been the most mouth surprising combination: creamy then a sudden rush of juice.

I still can't see myself swallowing whole raw eggs like Rocky any time, but I will probably continue to dip my hot foods into beaten eggs.

1 comment:

  1. Back in the day, Zach and I would throw raw eggs into our protein shakes. And there were a few occasions last year and the year before, when I was on a protein low, poor as dirt, and streched for time, so I've thrown back the odd raw egg or two. S'not so bad.

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