Chinmi: May I Eat Your Ovaries?

Question:

What is Chinmi?

Background:

Folks travelling in Japan find from time to time a curious food called Chinmi. The problem is that wherever you go Chinmi is different. Restaurants in one town will be serving Chinmi that is completely different from the Chinmi served just a few miles down the road. What is this Chinmi and why can't anyone agree on what it looks and tastes like?

So What's the answer?:

Chinmi is a word that means something like, "local delicacy," and refers to foods that, while not popular across Japan are local favorites. While we here at Information de Dufus (IdeD) like catching a little of the local flavor, Chinmi pretty much put us off our lunch.

Chinmi: Not for the faint of heart!

Among the most interesting Chinmi we came across were:

Abwi No Kimo: This treasure is apparently made from the ground innards of an abalone.

Ikanankotsu: Squid bones. Do squid have bones?

Mefun: Pickled salmon liver.

and our personal favorite:

Fugu no Ranso no Nukazuke: Blowfish Ovaries.

We here at IdeD have to ask, do Japanese people get grossed out reading American menus? Do you supposed they're like "OMG they eat whole potatoes in the US! Why when you could be eating perfectly normal ovaries?"

We are actually only a little impressed. On a recent trip to China, we saw and ate chicken feet: