I saw frozen maki rolls for sale at my local Aldi’s
That means in my lifetime here in the US Midwest sushi has gone from some bizarre foreign weird food regarded with deep suspicion to completely mainstream.
(I bought a box of the Philly rolls. Are they great sushi? No - but not too bad for frozen bits you defrost at home. Also cheaper than a top end sushi restaurant. Definitely edible. Could be a lot worse. Got what I paid for.)
Can confirm. There is a sushi restaurant in my little Ohio town, and it’s doing quite well.
It is surprising to see how sushi has taken off here in Texas, too. (Ft Worth area) 40 years ago there was ONE place, and it was a combo hibachi place. 20 years ago, there were maybe 10. Now, they are everywhere. EVERYWHERE!
Doesn’t every region have “gas station sushi” now?
I can remember when you had to go to Chinatown to get Chinese food, and Pizza was nonexistent.
Sushi is ubiquitous now in kosher establishments, so much so that it’s the subject of one of the most famous routines of Orthodox Jewish stand-up comedian Ashley Blaker.
It wont be truly mainstream until it appears at Golden Corral.
Neverending Sushi Fountain! 
Sushi boats floating on a chocolate river!
Wait… frozen sushi? Do you microwave it, or thaw overnight and eat cold, or what?
I’ve had sushi rolls from Walmart here in Alabama and they are OK. On the other hand, there are actual sushi restaurants around here that still can’t cook rice properly.
There are instructions on the package for several options:
DO NOT THAW IN REFRIGERATOR (it doesn’t say WHY not, so I dunno, maybe it explodes or turns to kryptonite or something)
Microwave method:
Remove 4-6 pieces and microwave on high power for 20 seconds. Turn pieces over and microwave on high for an additional 20 seconds. If pieces are still partially frozen continue microwaving on high for 15 second intervals. Let pieces rest for 2 minutes. Rice should be slightly warm and center tender to the touch
Room Temperature Method:
Take desired number of pieces and place on plate. Cover and thaw for 2 hours.
Water Bath Method:
Submerged sealed container tray in cold water for 30 minutes.
Yes, but I’ve seen stuff turn up at Aldi’s that’s more exotic than you might expect (maybe because of the chain’s European origins?).
I’m pretty sure they test market some stuff. If it sells they make it a regular thing. If it doesn’t they move on to something else.
For some reason this month they featured a lot of Japanese stuff. I also picked up some edamame.
Heck, it wasn’t that long ago that a *taco *was exotic in much of the US.
In 1993 when I moved to Kansas City, I discovered that no one in our office ~20 people had ever eaten Thai, Indian or Sushi. And these were mostly college educated, white collar workers (corporate sales for a tech company).
They are totally commonplace now.
At the time, Mexican food was pretty popular though. It might have been because there were two employees of Mexican heritage.
I remember the first time I brought take-out sushi to the office, a crowd gathered to watch me eat it. When I took a few co-workers to a Thai restaurant two ordered chicken fingers and fries from the kids menu.
Walmart in my parent’s rural midwest town carries frozen sushi.
Any good nihari around? :dubious:
Dunno about how good, but looks like Kansas City( or the metro area at least )has got most everything nowadays. Interesting to see a good selection of goat dishes - not an everyday meat in the United States.
:eek:
Well I’ll be damned. That is the food of the gods.
BRB, need to check flights to Kansas City…
My town has easy to get goat dishes, thanks to our large Afghani population. I think I bought one in our Costco. I had some in college, but in Nuevo Laredo, so not in the US by a couple of hundred meters.