Can whale meat be eaten, and what does it actually taste like?

Whales are the largest mammals in the world, not fish; they are divided into baleen whales, toothed whales, false killer whales, and humpback whales. They generally live in the Antarctic, the North Pacific, and the North Atlantic, and the varieties include the suborder Mysticeti, the suborder Odontoceti, and the suborder Archaeoceti (extinct). So can whale meat be eaten? Is it tasty? What does it taste like?

Can whale meat be eaten?

Whale meat can be eaten. In fact, whale meat is not only edible, but in some countries it is even treated as an everyday dish. For example, in Japan whale meat is no different from pork, beef, or mutton, and it is sold in supermarkets, with even the cooking methods being much the same. A whale meat bento set includes smoked whale and whale steak. However, some experts have also called for caution, saying that although whale meat can be eaten, it is not good for our health.

Is whale meat tasty?

Whale meat is tasty. The taste of whale meat is like pork belly, with a soft texture, but it still has a bit of chewiness. When cooked, whale meat is very delicious, but in fact its taste is not very different from ordinary meats that people commonly eat, except that it has a little bit of fishiness. In reality, Japanese people still eat pork, beef, mutton, and chicken for the most part, especially young people, who rarely eat whale. Demand for whale meat in the Japanese market has greatly decreased, and prices have fallen accordingly. Lean meat from the tail of a whale costs as much as 6000 yen per kilogram, while ordinary lean meat is usually 2600 yen, and premium skin is 3300 yen per kilogram. The price of canned whale meat is only slightly more expensive than beef, and comparable to salmon.

What does whale meat taste like?

A whale is not a fish, but a mammal in the sea. Its taste should be similar to beef. In Dae Jang Geum, the whale meat strips made in the show are described as being like beef. In the past, someone caught a dolphin and privately cooked and ate it, saying it tasted like horse meat.

Why insist on eating whale meat?

Within Japan, there are also two voices regarding the consumption of whale meat: the “enthusiasts” and the “conservatives.” Over the past 20 years, some Japanese environmental civil organizations have tried to stop the hunting and eating of cetaceans by exposing scenes of cruel slaughter of cetaceans in Japanese fishing villages, but the effect has not been very noticeable. However, after research findings such as “cetaceans easily accumulate harmful substances such as mercury in their bodies” were made public, market demand for the meat of dolphins, whales, and other cetaceans was greatly hit. The standard of Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for mercury content in cetacean meat is 0.4 ppm (milligrams per gram), but in samples from pilot whales, mercury content ten times the standard has been detected. Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has proposed that pregnant women, children, and others should be cautious about eating cetacean meat, and in Taiji, residents undergo mercury testing every year.