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Week Nine : Test Your Might

I found a great yakitori place tucked away in an alley off a side street by the tracks just beyond Yurakucho Station. Great atmosphere, great food, and cheap. It doesn't get much better than grilled meat on a stick and a cold beer.

The house special is tsukune, or meatballs. There's the regular version and the geki-kara (super spicy) version and, like all yakitori, you get your choice of salt or sauce on top. It was freakin cold outside, so I thought I'd take on the geki-kara version to warm myself back up. In Japan, "spicy" food tends to be pretty mild, so I wasn't overly concerned. I usually prefer salt for my yakitori, but asked the waitress for her recommendation. She said salt just made it spicier. Feeling up for a challenge, I went ahead and ordered it with salt. The wicked grin that lit up her face should have been sufficient warning.

The tsukune come three to a skewer and don't look all that dangerous on first glance. You are being deceived: these are nothing short of little fireballs. Bite into one and, in the half second before your mouth bursts into a mini inferno, you'll see that the meat is a bold red color on the inside. They taste delicious and are super juicy, but your mouth will feel like a war zone. I fought my way through the first two and decided to take a picture to commemorate the battle before waging war on the last one.

After that, the cold outside didn't feel so bad at all.

Camera Info: Canon 7D | 35mm | f/ 2.5 | ISO 1600 | 1/30 s