Every so often in life you come across something that really makes you happy. Something that gives you a warm feeling inside and puts a goofy smile on your face the moment you think about it. Say it's name out loud and suddenly the sun comes out, the clouds go away and little blue birds appear and start singing the song Zippedydoodah! For some people this happy thought might be a place, a thing or even a person. In my case it's a Japanese dish made out of pig intestines and other internal organs stewed together. Yes my friends, this is my Ode to Motsuni!
Now, I can't really say I'm an expert on Motsuni since I've only had it a few times. Several times at Akitaya, once at Masuya and once at the Kawagoe Matsuri. Masuya's Motsuni was not the greatest (Sorry Kenjisan). At the Kawagoe Matsuri I ate Motsuni at an outdoor beer garden. This Motsuni had more vegetables than the others I tried. It was also filled with black tripe and other unidentifiable bits of pig innard goodies. I would call this Motsuni a close second to Akitaya's. I didn't take a picture of the Motsuni we had at Kawagoe, but I found the above picture and it looks pretty close, including the styrofoam bowl it came in.
My friend Timmy has a love/hate relationship with Motsuni. He agrees with me wholeheartedly that it is a very tasty dish that goes well with beer and shochu, but it's obvious that this is no fat free dish! Some may even argue that eating stewed pig innards could be bad for you!? The last time we had it at Akitaya, I encouraged Timmy to "drink" all of the leftover oily broth and bits of fat that had collected at the bottom of his bowl. Timmy obliged at the time without hesitation, but now claims I coerced him into doing it. He further claims that this was an attempt to slowly kill him by clogging his arteries with pork fat. No comment.
