As Slimy As It Sounds

Ahh, squid. I learned how to cut open the body today and get out the beak and eyeballs without squishing them and getting eye juice all over the meat. I'm rarely grossed out by the shit I see anymore but carrying a handful of squid eyeballs and mouths and red juice to the garbage in my hands had me performing this mantra: 'I do not have a handful of eyeballs that look like human eyes I do not have eyeballs in my hands I have EYEBALLS in my HANDS oh no GET IT OFF ME AHHHH!!' Luckily the trash can only took a few seconds to reach.

I can deal with cooked squid; I've gotten used to the rubbery texture. But even though I've consumed my fair share of raw squid during my stint here, I just don't like it. There is a fairly popular dish called 塩辛 (shiokara) that we serve, involving cutting raw squid up into thin strips and mixing it with a soupy mess made of miso and the innards of the squid that have been rubbed through a mesh screen. It's as horrible as it sounds. Let that sit in your fridge 3 days and you've got something that rivals natto for smell.