Sakuraniku

Want to eat horse meat? Really? Sakuraniku is made from properly prepared horse meat that is tender, mildly sweet and not at all gamey. Good thing that the Japanese dry aged it so that the flavor is concentrated and the meat gives a pleasing springiness.

They politely referred to it as sakuraniku or cherry blossom mean because of its distinctive bright pink color. It can be served raw as sashimi in thin slices dipped in soy sauce, often with ginger and onions added. Basashi is popular in some regions of Japan and is often served at izakaya bars. Fat, typically from the neck, is also found as basashi, though it is white, not pink.

Horse meat is also sometimes found on menus for yakiniku, where it is called baniku (馬肉, literally "horse meat") or bagushi (馬串, "skewered horse"); thin slices of raw horse meat are sometimes served wrapped in a shiso leaf. Kumamoto, Nagano and Ōita are famous for basashi, and it is common in the Tohoku region as well. Some types of canned "corned meat" in Japan include horse as one of the ingredients. There is also a dessert made from horse meat called basashi ice cream. The company that makes it is known for its unusual ice cream flavors, many of which have limited popularity.