There are a few things in life you want to do, but don't do it. The reason could be anything apprehension, hesitation, cultural background. And I am a kind of person who is not afraid to try new things , but this was on pending list from a very very long time. Reason, me and my hesitation, no opportunity and D's outright denial that he is not going to be part of it.But today I got the opportunity and company and I gave it a go. If you are wondering, what it is that I am making so much fuss about.I ate SUSHI...yeah I ate raw fish.
I went out to lunch with co-workers today and it was at a japanese restaurant. When I went in I dint know if I would brave enough to put the raw fish in my mouth. The first round I gave it a pass, stuck to shrimp tempura, vegetarian tempura, cucumber maki and veggie noodles.Here are the pics of some of the dishes I ate, these are from from web just so you know how they look like.I did not have my camera with me, else would have taken pics of the actual food i ate.
Cucumber Maki
Shrimp Tempura
Vegetarian Tempura(ours had sweet potato, eggplant)
Oh by the way if you are thinking I ate one big portion of all of these, you are wrong. In japanese, you have really small eating plate, more like saucer for our tea cup and the food is passed around and you take a piece of two from the serving plate.And by the way there are no forks or knives on the table.I had to ask for a fork, as my chopstick skills are poor.I tried hard to pick food with two narrow sticks, but it kept falling down. I really marvel at the way people eat so nicely with chopsticks and they can sweep off every single morsel of food off the plate using those sticks. Most of my co-workers are of oriental descent so eating with chopsticks was natural to them and for those who werent oriental they had mastered the art too.I and another guy were the ones asking for forks.But seriously this kind of food is best eaten with chopsticks.
And yeah, we ordered vegetarian pizza and salmon pizza and I was wondering why a pizza in japanese restaruant and I was surprised to see what a Sushi pizza was, it was like one of our cutlets, except that it had raw pieces of salmon on it.Here is the pic from the web of Sushi Salmon pizza
Ok, back to my Sushi adventure. My co-workers who were sitting beside me were salivating on the spicy salmon sushi and said I should give it a try and that I would love it.And came the platter of spicy salmon sushi, my ex-boss asked, 'you want one', I said 'yes' trying not to look at it.
I fiddled it with for a couple of minutes, poured wasabi, soya souce and whatever other sauces available at the table on it. But still it looked like raw salmon. I took a small piece in my mouth and tried to feel its texture.hmmm...it felt like soggy cucumber, gave it a bite.It wasnt as chewy as I expected it would be.Ok, next time, I took a bigger piece with the rice it was rolled in and try to chew faster hoping I wont feel anything in my mouth.Well it wasnt that bad.But should say the strong wasabi flavor could mask any flavor. I somehow managed to finish it. By now I was gaining some confidence. When the next platter of sushi came in, I gave it a go for a different kind of salmon sushi, this time it dint linger in my plate for a long time. Even tried a small piece of Salmon pizza.Then came Eel sushi, Salmon Sushi was big enough for me today, maybe some other day when I have opportunity and company, i'll give it a try.Sorry Eel, Salmon wins today.
If you are wondering what Wasabi is , its a paste with mustard like texture, and tastes much much stronger than mustard, if you are trying it for the first time, just try a little bit to make sure you are ok with the spice.For more information on wasabi go
here. And this how it looks like
Finished my japanese meal with a nice mango icecream, I had choice of green tea icecream or mango. I stuck to mango, wanted to go back to my comfort zone, where I knew what the food I knew tasted like.I had tried enough new things for a day.
I dont know yet, how my tummy is going to take the raw fish, but hopefully I should be alive tomorrow.
This is the restaurant we went to
Maison du Japan , just in case any of you want to try the Sushi adventure.And for those who are vegetarain, there are some veggie choices too, but I should say not too much variety.
Closing my post with this quote
If you are indeed what you eat, then all Sushi eaters will be able to live under water.
-Yours Truly
NOTE:I just googled these images, if they violate any copyright, let me know and I will be pleased to take them off
