Anybody else thinking of the SNL sketch with Matt Dillon doing the “CEO Sushi Ordering” video?
uni is the roe (eggs) of sea urchins. It is sort of a delicacy, and like foie gras and such, it’s something of an acquired taste. Too bitter and oily for me, though I must admit I’ve never had the really high quality stuff.
Unagi is eel (generally BBQ cooked with a special sweet sauce), and tobiko is roe from flying fish (tiny orange caviar: great stuff.) Very good (though sometimes they forget to take the bones out, which is no fun, as the bones are many and tiny): a rich, dark taste.
Tobiko is caviar from flying fish: tiny little orange caviar that is quite quite yummy: sweet and imperceptably salty in just the right way.
Sushi is possibly the best thing ever.
Okay, here’s a quick rundown:
Maki roll means those fat little disks with the dark seaweed wrapper and the rice and filling in the middle.
Uni is kind of hard to translate, but it’s a sort of a card game.
Unagi is an expression meaning “your pants offend me.”
Tobiko is a much-beloved cartoon lobster who appeared in a number of animated shorts in the 1960s.
So, yeah. Kind of a weird recipe.
At my sushi bar, I’m called “Chibby” (Shorty) by the staff. I’ve been trying to get them to change the name of the Bam Bam roll to the Chibby roll but so far my hints have all been too subtle.
Do they have a roll with whitefish, sable, capers, onions and cream cheese?
(…that would be the Larry David roll…)
Dude, those Asian accents are gonna kill you. He said “Mystery” Roll not Mr. Rick roll.
Bricker writes:
> Tonight, Mrs. Bricker and I hit our favorite little sushi place for dinner, and the
> chef, as he does from time to time, sent over a little experiment of his in
> addition to our regular order.
Hypno-Toad writes:
> At my sushi bar, I’m called “Chibby” (Shorty) by the staff.
O.K., what’s with this business of having a sushi bar where you’re such a frequent customer that you’re can be considered a regular who gets to joke around with the staff? Does everybody in the sushi bar call out your name when you come in? Do you stay there all evening talking with the other regulars, playing darts (um, wait, this is a Japanese place, make that playing go), and consuming inordinate amounts of sushi? Does your wife appear at closing time, having to drive your home because you’re so fish-eyed by this point that you can’t drive yourself, and she screams at you on the ride home that you’ve turned into a complete fishhead?
That’s okay. The idea of avocado being anywhere near sushi is completely foreign to me 
> At my sushi bar, I’m called “Chibby” (Shorty) by the staff.
O.K., what’s with this business of having a sushi bar where you’re such a frequent customer that you’re can be considered a regular who gets to joke around with the staff? Does everybody in the sushi bar call out your name when you come in? Do you stay there all evening talking with the other regulars, playing darts (um, wait, this is a Japanese place, make that playing go), and consuming inordinate amounts of sushi? Does your wife appear at closing time, having to drive your home because you’re so fish-eyed by this point that you can’t drive yourself, and she screams at you on the ride home that you’ve turned into a complete fishhead?
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Actually, I got a nickname because they didn’t know my name. And I’ve been going there at least once a week for about seven years. We stick with “Chibby” because “Pete” seems to be unpronouncable. And yes, I joke around with the staff and even exchange little christmas gifts. They love the fact that I bring things to share, like fancy candy. And sometimes people at the bar call out my name. But that’s because they’re waiting for me.
Okay, so nothing here has convinced me to try sushi, and since I can’t eat rice anymore, it’s really not a problem. I’m the kind of person who likes to try new combinations of things, but since I have no frame of reference for these flavors, I just can’t get my brain to say, “wow, that sounds like it would taste great!”, and that is essential for me to try something I’ve never had.
I once dated a guy who said “I’m too old to learn to like sushi” and I think he was right. But it’s okay…my daughter likes it, so you don’t have to accuse me of being unadventurous. I’ve just passed that tendency on to the younger generation. But don’t worry about me…I’m still happily exploring the possibilities of goat cheeses and salmon, so I’ll be fine.
You’re sort of out of luck on sushi then. It has to have rice to be called sushi. Otherwise it’s sashimi. Unless it’s the other way around.
I don’t like uncooked stuff. So I have a rather limited selection at the sushi bar. But I can still get rolls with cooked ingredients as well as non-sushi items like teriyaki and pork or chicken katsu. So there’s always something good.
Makin’ your play with fish today takes everything you got
Takin’ a break with steamin’ miso sure would help a lot
Wouldn’t you like to get away?
Sometimes you want to go
Where the chefs all know your name,
and the sushi’s never tame.
Food’s eaten best straight from the sea
And troubles just seem to wane
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name.
Why can’t you eat rice? I’ve never heard of that medically before, other than one of those carb diets.
Raw tuna (you can have it sashimi style with no rice) is like… the best, most tender steak you’ve ever had. Pickeled mackrel (saba) is sweet like candy.
Why the strictures? Just try them and see if you like them. That’s how I get into new foods. In fact, I try to forget anything I might know or preconceptions I might have. It took me a couple of goes, actually, with sushi, about a decade apart, before I learned how great it is. In fact, if you have no frame of reference at all, I would think that you’re a step ahead of where I was (which was “raw fish is yucky!”).
And, remember, all that stuff about uni and roe – all those things are optional. Sushi is vinegared rice with something on it, and there is a wide variety of somethings to choose from. Most people like some and don’t like others. (I like most of it, but of course have my preferences.)
What scares you? Raw fish? Sea anemone? Fish roe? Forget it all then. Start with a California roll. Nothing strange there. They even hide the seaweed behind the rice for you. Start exploring the menu with things that aren’t intimidating, one at a time – cucumbers, avocado, crab sticks, cooked shrimp, barbecued eel, omelette. There’s plenty to try. Start simple (certainly don’t combine all those things in one).
Can’t eat rice? Well, there are plenty of things at a sushi bar that don’t have rice – miso soup, seaweed salad, sunomono salad, sashimi!
For a very long time, I’ve tried to like raw sushi, but I’m a texture girl, and I just can’t get past that aspect of it.
Fortunately, the sushi place I go to has a lot of rolls with cooked fish, my favorite being the kamikaze roll- spicy fried fish (so good!). They fuse sushi and Mexican, and it’s awesome, but the service sucks reeeeeally bad. They also have a crab tostada- very simple with a crispy corn tortilla, a metric shitload of real crab meat, a few pieces of diced tomato and avocado. You would not believe… heaven.
Ok, now I have to go there.
Imagine, before you know it supermarkets all over America will be showing the Faux Rick Roll.
Then, there will be the inevitable refrigerator magnet plastic Rick Roll Sushi Magnet, and the very cool black t-shirt with a brilliantly colored Peter Max rendering of the Rick Roll.
Money to be made, Bricker, money to be made.
Just remember, the fish rots from the head. 
Cartooniverse
Some places actually have rolls without the rice (not technically sushi, but same basic concept). They are rarer, but worth tracking down. My favorite is the fish wrapped in thin sliced sheets of cucumber. You can also get rolls wrapped in the thin tamago omlette.
If you want to eat “sushi” without eating sushi, there is negimaki: juicy beef roles with scalions in the middle. Nice stuff.
Oh, one of my favorites! Try slurping up just one or two of the tiny caviar balls at a time and slooooooooooooooowly pressing each one with your tongue against your palate, till it pops and fills your mouth with that sweet-salty tang.
Heavenly!
I know I wouldn’t want the job of taking all the bones out of the fish roe. Many and tiny, indeed.
Really? Negimaki is usually pork-wrapped scallions. Name just means onion-wrap, though, so I guess it could be anything.