I just had to taste this...

[MMM]

Originally Posted by zombiedoll

I find it funny that some of you seem to have not tried much sushi, despite apparently having such an interest in Japanese culture. Is it just that your mind focuses on the sweet (however novel) Japanese candy? Or do you not have the opportunity...?
I suppose I'm a bit biased, since I was raised in Southern California on sushi, however crappy it may be. However, I feel like if you have such an interest in the culture, you should at least try their main food group, if not have a miniscule knowledge of it.
Or are you just discussing different forms of the sushi?
Eel is delightful to me (especially with brown sauce), while squid is slippery and nearly flavourless. It's like a watercress chestnut without the crunch.
Hmmm... Why do the rolls have so many different names? Like the Romantic Roll. Name varies by state, if not just city. I began to think it's not even a Japanese creation. Hehe. I don't mind; it's delicious.

Do you really consider sushi a "main food group" of Japan? Most Japanese people only eat sushi on special occasions. Kind of like cake or turkey in the US.

[zombiedoll]

A main food group, no. Perhaps I worded that wrong. However, I do see it as an important part of the traditional culture. Like the tea ceremony, the gardens, matsuri, and its holidays.
Much like America as a whole has traditions. Thanksgiving; the celebration of slaughter. Western denomination Christian churches. Apple pie, sports, 4th of July; that whole mess.
I think the same way about people overseas interested in American culture. There is a lot more to Japan than j-rock/j-pop, anime, and cutesy shit.

[zombiedoll]

However, sushi is pretty common. The common diet is rice, fish, veggies. What else is in sushi? So maybe it isn't exactly sushi, but it's the basics of it. Mothers in Japan send their children and husbands off with little cases of rice, fish, and veggies every day. So... Maybe not sushi, but the main ingredients.


Dang, I want a bento... Mmmmm.

[trunker]

haha thats like saying a burger is the same as everything else cos it has the main ingredients of american cuisine,... bread, meat and ketchup.

and you can quite easily have an appreciation for a culture without wanting to try everything, or feeling like you have to. youre right, you should, but you dont have to.

and yeah sushi outside japan has been altered to cater to local tastes, in much the same way the japanese have slaughtered many western and eastern kinds of cuisine in order to cater to local tastes.

[TalnSG]

Several of these recent comments make me wonder about where the sushi was eaten. The longer fish is kept before eating the more the texture changes, as well as being changed by the manner in which it is prepared.

I am hoping that the squid described as "slippery" was just an unusual choice of words. if it was truly slippery, then I would suspect it was not fresh. While fresh slice squid has a sheen to it, it does not usually develop a slippery coating until it has set out for a while.

I have never thought of eel as having an odd texture until one night when I cooked it myself. If it is under-cooked or over marinated it is a bit too soft or even mushy, and not how I would prefer to eat it.

[zombiedoll]

I suppose that is a relevant parallel. However, most American food isn't bread ketchup and meat. Unless I'm living under a rock. I don't see any food being exclusively American; America is a melting pot in many forms.

If I ever said you HAVE to have appreciation for EVERYTHING in order to have interest in the culture, I definitely misspoke. I was saying I thought it odd that most of the people posting seemed to have not tried sushi; the most famous Japanese food in America.

[xYinniex]

i tried making japanese cheesecake once. I failed. Haha.

I reckon mine was WAAAAAY too dense

[Columbine]

Oh man, what weird stuff didn't I eat? Columbine's adventures in eating as follows:

Snapping turtle. Volunteered for this one and was actually a little dissapointed. It was farmed stuff (fair enough, probably better for the turtle) and fatty, and just... tasted and resembled boiled turkey neck. Tasty, but not a real wow.

Pickled squid guts. oddly crunchy and overwhelmingly tasted of vinegar. Really, actually, as unpleasant as it sounds.

Something that I strongly suspect was raw horse meat. Quite tasty but chewy so I don't think it was as good as it could be.

I shared a DJ Osma brand deep fried pork cutlet with horseradish mayo, deep fried sandwhich that had been warmed up in a microwave. It was unsurprisingly foul. No, we didn't finish it.

Umeboshi chocolate. Fabulous.

There was undoubtedly other things I tried, but that's all for now.

[Deviruu]

Originally Posted by Undertherose25

Chinese Mooncakes, I'd heard they were good and I took an iffy bite and immediately gagged and spit it out. Tasted HORRIBLE

Same here. I tried two different kinds. Nope. Gross.
I've been wanting to try it for years, and I was greeted with a horrendous taste.

u_u

[Salvadorian]

I finally gave in to Takoyaki and to my suprise it was pretty good =D