Fishy In The Raw

I love sushi. Fabulous, fantastic sushi. Every chance I get, I eat it. Fish is good for you. Especially your skin. It's probably why everyone thinks I am only 25 when I'm really 29.



I have tried all sorts of different rolls and combinations which are deeeelicious. But I always go back to my favorite. Plain old Salmon Nigiri. Or Sake Nigiri if you are Alec Trebek and need to add a Japanese flair when saying it.

For the first year or two, my hubby and I would go and eat at sushi places but we'd always get the items that had no raw fish in them. Depending on the place, there are lots of different kinds of rolls that have nothing raw in them except veggies. This is a good way to get used to the idea.

In seeing a piece of raw fish go by, I had been known to make comments like "That is SO sick. Why ANYONE would want to eat a slab of raw fish is beyond me."

I hear you my bloggy friends. And I understand. I was once just like you. I don't know what possessed me that night, to even try one piece of raw fish. And with the preconceived ideas I had about it, I have no clue as to why I actually liked the stuff.

At first you just eat things that don't have raw fish and comfort yourself by saying you'd NEVER eat something like that hunk-o-fish that just went by you. Then one day you will find that maybe it doesn't look so disgusting anymore and you will try just a little piece. Like the proverbial frog in boiling water. Except that would be cooked, not raw.

Even now, I do have certain hard-and-fast rules about eating sushi:

~ Use two condiment dishes. If you only use one the ginger juice will infect the soy sauce. Take one off of the table next to you. Make sure no one is sitting there first. When someone does sit there, they can take two off of the next table.

~ Eat NO suction cups. Anything with suction cups was not meant to be eaten. Though it will really stick to your ribs and the roof of your mouth. Come on. Not to mention eating things of this texture is pretty much like taking a bite out of your pinky.


~ Eat NOTHING that shines silver. This means it is a fishy fish and should be left to glitter and glint through the deep blue sea. NOT in your mouth.

~ Eel tastes like trout. I don't like trout. I don't like eel. I shall not consume it. Ever. Eel is yukky anyway with their big angry, gaping, toothy mouths that look as if theyare filled with putrefying left overs. Does this look like anything your mouth will love you for?



~ Last but not least, if an item comes around with a teeeny tiny raw egg cracked open atop of it - do not eat it. It was stolen from a mama quail and that is just wrong. Maybe even immoral. And disgusting anyway. At least cook it first!




You can pretty much find a sushi place anywhere. Okay, probably NOT Pendleton, Oregon or Crawford, Texas or anywhere amongst all of those cowboys who'd probably equate it with quiche and tine ya with a pitchfork at the mention of it. They want their Chicken Fried Steak.

But my hubby and I eat sushi wherever we can. We have eaten it in Scottsdale, Arizona at a place called Ra. They had the best fresh (raw) tuna salad called Tuna 2 Salad, with avocado and sesame. Sometimes I daydream about it. We have had it in Seattle, Washington at a place called Wasabi Bistro. They had all sorts of interesting rolls including several with asparagas. We couldn't find it in Sisters, Oregon but we did find it in nearby Bend. And I set up build-your-own-sushi for our New Year's Eve party every year. Our guests often bring accompaniments like edamame, potstickers or noodle salad. MMM, mmm good.

Sushiville in NW Portland, Oregon

If you are just meeting sushi for the first time, you might want to try a sushi place with a conveyer belt like the one above. That way you can take small amounts of several different things to see if you like them rather than ordering an entire roll only to find out you hate yellowtail or something.

Do you like sushi? Have you ever tried it? Does the thought of it gross you out? What interesting items have you tried? Have you ever made it at home for family night or a date with hubby?