Strange things I have eaten in Japan

Digging into my savoury egg custard studded with boiled soy beans, I was surprised to find a grey wobbly lumpy mass at the bottom of my cup. Brains? I thought. It was just like a page out of the 1950s Edmonds Cookbook's 'Section for Invalids' : egg custard with brains, right next to the recipes for lamb's tongue broth and jellied kidneys. I'd always thought those recipes were designed to scare people into getting better. It would've worked on me. I turned to the woman on my left and asked, 'Would you mind telling me what this is? I don't seem to recognise it.'
At which she smiled serenely and replied, 'That is a Japanese delicacy. In English, boiled fish sperm.'
Ah-hah. Not brains. Phew.
'Fish sperm?!'
'Yes. It's very good for your skin.'
The man across the table from me had just made the same discovery with his spoon. She leaned across the table and told him, 'It's very good for men to eat this dish. It increases male virility.'
N thought he would give it a go then. After slurping the grey morsel back he raised one eyebrow and said it was so good he might be questioning his sexuality, which had all the women at the table tittering into their hands.
The Japanese name for it is 'shirako', the kanji characters of which mean 'white children'. I agree, it actually isn't bad at all. The second time I had it it was even better. This time it was brought out, after a course of raw oysters (this time I was tittering into my hand), deep-fried in tempura batter. The crispiness of the batter really enhances the creaminess of the fish semen. It's true! Believe me. Fish sperm is the new sushi.