Meet the Controversial Dish of the Dancing Squid: Katsu Ika Odori don

In today’s article, we will talk about a dish in Japan that has raised quite a controversy on social media. Katsu Ika Odori-don (活いか踊り丼) is a dish made of rice, vegetables, fish roe, and other accompaniments where you find a dancing squid.

This dish was created in a city called Hakodate in the Hokkaido province at a restaurant called Ikkatei Tabiji. The dish costs around 2,000 yen, which is equivalent to 60 reais.

This generated many discussions about the squid being alive, that it is macabre, and they still think that the Japanese eat the squid that way. Unfortunately, this is a lack of information and culture, so today we will discuss some points about this dish to address all your doubts. Below I will leave the video of the controversy:

Embedded video (YouTube)

Is the squid really alive?

No, the squid is not alive; its head was cut off before going to the plate, causing an instant brain death. It moves because of the Shoyo that is poured on it. When the sodium from the soy sauce comes into contact with the still-active muscles, they start to twitch and contract like something macabre and frightening, like a zombie.

The same thing happens with frog legs; sprinkle salt on cut frog legs, and they will move. In reality, any organism that has recently died can respond to stimuli. Even more so the muscles of the squid, which contain adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the main energy source for muscle contractions.

Do they eat it that way?

In reality, they do not eat the whole squid; this is just a dance, the name of the dish has the word 踊り(odori), which means dance. After the little show, it is sent back to the cook’s hands, and he finishes preparing the dish. Although this squid dish is just a show and it is dead, it is still something macabre to see.

In the video below, it is being prepared for a traditional dish without the dance. See how it dances after having its head cut off:

Embedded video (YouTube)

People get confused a lot; Japan does not have the habit of eating live things. In Japan, they do not eat insects, dogs, or anything else you might find disgusting; the worst are fish and seafood. Of course, in Japan, as in any country, you will end up finding a restaurant of that type, but it is not part of Japanese cuisine.

A terrible habit is to criticize the cuisine of a country because of one dish. You complain that in China they eat dogs, but in Brazil, they eat rabbits, which I find much cuter. Every country has some dish considered macabre; Japan’s is neither dog nor insects. Just because there is a strange dish does not mean that the entire population eats it. Some dishes, less than 1% of the population of the country had the courage to face.

However, Japan has not escaped from macabre dishes; there is one called Shirouo no Odorigui… (シロウオの踊り食い) which means Dance of ice fish. Where various transparent fish are placed in a bowl with raw egg, they can dance in the bowl and are eaten alive, dancing in your mouth.

There are some other recipes for live dishes such as:

• Ikizukuri – Live sashimi;
• Odori ebi – Live shrimp;
• Sannakji – Live octopus (Korean);