The fire is supposed to be searing my skipjack tuna, but I feel as if it’s my cheeks that are cooking instead.
Turning away from the intense heat, I extend my arm as far as it can go while still keeping my speared hunk of fish in the flames. The young employee manning the grill at Tosa Tataki Dojo — a restaurant complex on the fringe of Kochi city in southern Shikoku — stokes the fire with yet another armload of straw and gestures for me to flip my fish. I brace myself for the wave of heat and mentally count down the last few seconds of this scorching yet quintessential Kochi experience.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.