I find chopsticks to be better than a fork for sushi, even large pieces of it, cause it’s easier to dip than with a fork. (Then again I am known to improvise chopsticks with plastic knives when forks and spoons are not available to eat salad or mac and cheese so I might not be the one to talk to.)
I agree though that the fish generally has no flavor. That’s the way I like it. I eat it for the wasabi/ginger/soy/rice and the texture of the fish…yum!
I also agree about the seaweed. One of the few foods that tastes exactly like it looks and seems like it will taste (which in my case is “terrible”.)
(Yeah, I generally stick to the salmon sashimi on the rice beds, why did you ask?)
Just so you know, this statement makes you sound like an ignorant redneck. You don’t have to like sushi, but you aren’t going to impress us with your wit by calling it “bait” (since clearly no one has ever used that joke before) or your culinary tastes by preferring Denn’s over…well…anything. I’m just sayin’.
As to your specific concerns:
Fair enough. Probably didn’t come with bacon or barbeque sauce.
Um…it’s rice.
Sashimi, basically just the fish part, is another option.
It sounds like you had a California Roll or something equally bland. They’re kind of the black jellybean of sushi. There are a lot of different sorts of rolls out there and some of them even contain bacon and/or barbeque sauce.
You should also try the individual pieces. I like eal, salmon and tuna the best because they have the most flavor.
Um…no. Eating sushi with a fork makes you look like an asshole. Calling people who eat a traditional meal in the traditional fashion Ludites makes you look like an asshole. Eating sushi with chopsticks makes you look like the rest of the planet,
Well, they’ve been making it the same way for hundreds of years so I would imagine it hasn’t changed appearance much if you order the same thing.
Again, there has not be a lot of dramatic breaktrhoughs in flavoring rice over the past 20 years.
The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Sounds like the rolls were too big (or your head was too small). You are correct that good sushi should fit in your mouth in one bite.
The problem may not be that you don’t like sushi but that you ate in a crappy sushi place and ate the blandest form of sushi.
First, as many have pointed out, not all sushi is raw fish. Nor is all sashimi. I’ve eaten horse sashimi and chicken sashimi in Japan. The horse was OK. Nothing special. The chicken was, well, not good.
Second, in Japan, sushi (not rolls, the bits of fish bound to rice with seaweed) is eaten with the fingers, not with chopsticks.
Some of the fish in sushi is cooked. Octopus is usually steamed. Eel is often smoked.
As to the taste, I think it’s wonderful. I could eat sushi (actually, I like sashimi better) every day. I would if I could, but it’s expensive.
As others have pointed out, eating sushi or sashimi in a really good restaurant, owned and staffed by Japanese, in a city with access to really fresh fish (New York and San Francisco especially) is a vastly different experience from eating something in a local restaurant that’s likely enough to be staffed by low-paid Chinese or Korean chefs. The chef in a good sushi restaurant also buys the fish himself, so he is the most important person in the place, and he will be a well-paid, well-trained professional.
FWIW, I’ve had Japanese coworkers serve me “home-style sushi”. It was a big vat of good rice with the vinegar etc. and some slivered vegetables mixed in. Think of it as analogous to potato salad, except with rice as the main starch.
It’s funny that you blame semantics when you’re the one choosing to call it a weed (or to take people seriously who call it a weed). The rest of the world calls it nori, and at this point it’s no more of a weed than iceberg lettuce.
So this entire conversation made me go to the Asian grocery today and buy a package of teriyaki-baked snack nori. That stuff is addictive–crispy and light.
I suppose you’ve never had dandelion tea, either.
I had sushi this weekend, actually. I need to sometime go up to the chef and thank him for being a Japanese-trained (and excellent!) sushi chef in dead-center central PA.
It’s still the 80’s here in the Midwest. Well, among many of my coworkers, at any rate. At least the OP has tried it. Hey, if they’d rather eat at Denny’s or cook up a tater tot hot dish, more sushi for me!
Some of them are very curious about it, though. How do you describe what seaweed tastes like? It tastes like seaweed. “Does it taste like spinach?” No, it does not. “It has to taste like spinach.” Well, it doesn’t. “And does the fish taste fishy?” Well, it’s very fresh, so no, it shouldn’t. “Well, what does it taste like?” Well…like very rare meat, but not exactly, because it’s fish. “So, it tastes fishy.” Well…no…
It’s tough to answer questions because I’m not exactly a sushi expert. I’ve just eaten it a few times. I figured I was just about the last person to try it, to tell you the truth.
I have had the OP’s problem of not being able to fit it into my mouth in one bite or bite it without having it fall apart, though. Is it supposed to be smaller?
Dude (?), I grew up an Illinois farm boy - meals were meat and taters. When a SO wanted to introduce me to sushi, I had a great deal of trepidation. Once I tried it, I was hooked.
If I were sentenced to nothing but sushi for the rest of my life, I would love it.
My god…two pages of sushi talk and no one’s mentioned the sushi god that is Inari? I refuse to go to a sushi place that doesn’t serve Inari. Mostly because besides maguro, it’s the only sushi I’ll eat.
And also no mention of edamame in the sushi restaurants! Blasphemy!
For the record, I eat mine with my fingers. Much easier and completely proper
It’s not traditional to eat sushi with chopsticks. It was invented in the 19th century as fast food/finger food for people who were too busy to sit down for a meal.
More generally, if you’re not good at using chopsticks, and you’re more comfortable using a fork, you’re not an asshole for eating the food with a fork. You should eat the way you feel comfortable with…you’re eating for nourishment and enjoyment, after all.
Ah, inari and edamame–two of the very few things I absolutely will not eat at a sushi place (octopus and “anything still alive” are also on that list).
That may be true historically, but these days it’s very common and perfectly acceptable to eat sushi with chopsticks. Only in America have I heard that eating sushi with bare fingers is the “correct” way. I grew up in Japan and I always use chopsticks, as do my parents. The Japanese wikipedia page says some recommend against eating sushi with the fingers, as the scent of the previous sushi lingers on your fingers.
No, he’s saying traditionally it was to be eaten with your fingers and to some extent it still is.
*A good nigiri ought to fall apart in the mouth, so chefs prefer not to pack the rice too firmly. Most connoisseurs pick up sushi with their fingers, since chopsticks are likely to break apart a loosely-packed nigiri. Some people claim that chopsticks are preferable because the flavors of the different fish linger on their hands, preventing full appreciation of each separate topping. But most sushi bars provide each customer with a damp cloth, and wiping one’s fingers between each type of nigiri should be sufficient to keep the flavors separate. *
The ubiquitous use of chopsticks in sushi joints is a more recent and ( arguably ) pretentious innovation.
He meant sushi was invented in the 19th century as finger food. At least sushi as we know it - earlier sushi was a way to preserve fish by pickling it in salt and rice.
I wouldn’t call it pretentious any more than eating General Tzo chicken with chopsticks is pretentious. Fingers are fine. Just don’t eat sushi with a fork.
Well…I did say it’s arguable :). You could argue that it’s a bit like eating a slice of pizza or a piece of fried chicken with a fork and knife. We all know people who do, but it is not uncommon for it to generate some good-natured eye-rolling and maybe a little gentle ribbing.
“Well la-dee-da, look at Mr. Fancy eating his sushi with chopsticks. Preserving the purity of the flavors, are you? Well, isn’t that just too precious for words.”
Thing is in American culture it has ( or had at one time, depending how urban and cosmopolitan a region you live in ) a certain fanciness associated with it. Whereas in it’s original form as a street vendor snack, maybe it might be better likened to a healthier version of the corndog.
But it’s sweet and yummy and and…not octopus…