Spoiler alert: No, it’s not really coal, but it could seriously be a carbon copy.

The city of Iwaki, Fukushima, is known today for places like the Aquamarine Fukushima aquarium and the Spa Resort Hawaiians theme park, but back in the day it was famous as a coal mine city. Edible “coal” is even a local souvenir product sold in the area which can luckily be purchased on Rakuten Japan. While that may sound like a resounding “No thank you” to many readers, our team of writers has a penchant for eating things that shouldn’t be eaten and not eating things that should be eaten. Let’s now add edible coal to the list!

When our package was delivered, we were surprised to see the product’s unexpectedly colorful outer packaging. Its maker is Iwaki-based food company Nishinoya.

▼ Edible, deep-fried “coal” for 1,188 yen (US$8.03)

A neat touch was that this outer packaging came off to reveal a sightseeing guide to the “Sunshine City” of Iwaki, nicknamed so because of its relatively high number of hours of bright, sunny days throughout the year.

Now that nothing remained but the food pouch, we mentally prepared ourselves for what would emerge from inside.

WHOAH.

It was jet black and shiny. This could only be real coal, right…?!

It was hard to believe that this clump of something could really be eaten. Against the mostly white plate, the mass looked like a black hole that would suck everything inside.

According to the outer packaging, the contents were actually tatsuta-age (a style of food preparation involving deep-frying and flavoring) of marlin fish coated in a squid-ink paste. Marlin are commonly found in the waters off of Iwaki, so this product is essentially appealing to two famous local things in one.

We followed the instructions to heat up the dish in the microwave for 1-1.5 minutes before eating.

Taking a bite of the heated “coal,” we were pleasantly surprised. It had a thick, moist texture and was delicious, not unlike a salty-sweet meatball. The taste was something that could appeal to anyone, even if the looks wouldn’t. It would definitely go well with a bowl of white rice.

▼ We still couldn’t get over how unbelievably dark that squid-ink coating was.

The ingredients list revealed that there was some kind of sweet chili sauce in the mix, but even so, we couldn’t taste any spiciness. Small children and anyone with an aversion to spicy foods should also be able to eat this without any problem.

Incidentally, the “coal” also received a grand prix prize in a marlin cooking contest. We don’t know what the judging criteria were, but we can imagine that the dish’s visuals left all of the judges with quite an impression. Thankfully, its taste was equally worthy of recognition.

Iwaki’s edible, deep-fried “coal” can be purchased here on Rakuten Japan for anyone whose curiosity has been sparked. For another dish with an equally impressive visual impact, you may also want to try making this recipe for botayama curry at home.

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