Drink like a fish? You’ll love these traditional Japanese liquor bottles made from entire sun-dried squids. Enjoy the drink with none of the ink!
"Ika Tokkuri" are traditional Japanese sake bottles that have recently undergone a revival. Authorities in Takahama, a toen in Fukui prefecture, have established a "Committee to Reinstate the Sake Bottle Squid" and the effort couldn’t be more timely. Not only are the bottles recyclable, they go one step further by being edible!
Backtracking a bit, the process begins when cuttlefish are caught, cleaned, and set out in the sun to dry. The skins may be stuffed with rice or grain to help them form to the shapes of bottles. After the squid have been sun-dried to a nice golden brown, they’re ready for their reincarnation as liquor bottles – you should be so lucky.
When warm or hot sake is poured into an Ika Tokurri, the liquor will absorb flavoring from the squid making the taste somewhat smoother and milder. The bottle can be used about 5 or 6 times; after that it can be eaten! Since dried and salted squid is a popular Japanese tavern snack, one imagines sake-flavored squid would be even more delicious. (via Daily Yomiuri Online)
