Memories of ABALONE LIVER

Me: "Father, I can't eat this. It's too bitter."
Father: "I don't care. It's good for your eyes so hold your nose and eat it!"
This was a conversation I remember having with my father when I started to lose my sight when I was in junior high school. My parents heard somewhere that abalone liver was good for the eyes so they so they asked a fisherman they knew and got a massive amount of abalone to feed me. We weren't wealthy so I imagine it must have put a huge dent in the family budget. Despite that, back then for me, I thought abalone was too tough and bland tasting and the liver was just too bitter. I remember how I had to swallow it with water as I choked on it to try to keep it down and how much of a struggle the whole experience was. I recall how I thought squid, so tender and sweet, tasted so much better. Ironically, since I started drinking, I've acquired a taste for abalone and now I love the unique consistency and really appreciate the bitter flavor of the liver. All I can say is that it is really ironic. As an adult, now I can't have abalone even though I love it. First of all, it's so expensive. Since I left my hometown of Kumamoto and moved to Tokyo and eventually to San Diego, during this 25 years, I can probably count how many times I had abalone on one hand. I heard that there was an izakaya (a Japanese dining pub) near Nishikujo Station that offers fresh seafood for a reasonable price so I went there last night. It was right near Daikoku Station. I found abalone on the menu and it was an unbelievable 580 yen so I had to order it. The abalone was fresh and I thought about my parents and how they watched over me as I gradually lost my sight as I enjoyed each piece of abalone and the bittersweet flavor the liver. As I savored the bitterness of the liver I spoke to my father who passed away 7 years ago; "Father, I may not be able to see but you need not worry. I am a happy man."


Originally posted by Hiro in Japanese on 4/26/2013
Translated by SWIS Project