Practice JLPTMeaning
馬肉 (ばにく, Ba-niku) is Horse meat — a Japanese food (meats).
What is Horse meat?
Baniku means "horse meat". In Japanese cuisine, raw horse meat is called sakura (桜) or sakuraniku (桜肉), because of its pink color. It can be served raw as sashimi in thin slices dipped in soy sauce, often with ginger and onions added. In this case, it is called basashi (馬刺し). Fat, typically from the neck, is also known as basashi , though it is white, not pink. Horse meat is also sometimes found on menus for yakiniku , a type of barbecue, where it is called baniku (馬肉, literally "horse meat") or bagushi (馬串[?], "skewered horse"); thin slices of raw horse meat are sometimes served wrapped in a shiso leaf. Basashi is popular in some regions of Japan and is often served at izakaya bars. Kumamoto, Nagano, and Ōita are famous for basashi , and it is common in the Tōhoku region, as well. Some types of canned "corned meat" in Japan include horse as one of the ingredients.