Tempura Shrimp Roll

As promised, this week I tried Sushi! Last week I tasted Nigiri Sushi, which was supposed to be a good transition into regular sushi. However, in comparing both types of sushi, I think I tried them in reverse order. Maybe it’s because I sort of knew what to expect this time around, but I thought the Nigiri Sushi was a lot scarier than the regular one!

Yesterday I went to “Maki Yaki”, a Japanese restaurant off of Garner Street (next to DP Dough) and ordered the Tempura Shrimp Roll. Just as it sounds, this sushi contained shrimp as its main ingredient. (It also had cucumbers but I ordered it without them – I’m not quite that daring yet!) Aside from the shrimp, this sushi also contained avocado, although you couldn’t taste it, and then the typical seaweed and rice wrap.

Just like the Nigiri Sushi, these ten pieces of sushi came with ginger, soy sauce, and wasabi as a topping. And, just like last week, I wasn’t too thrilled with the ginger or wasabi, but the soy sauce was good! After tasting the wasabi and ginger, I mostly stuck to plain sushi or sushi dipped in soy sauce.

This sushi also came with two types of mystery sauce: some sort of spicy mustard and a variation of soy sauce. Not only did the sauces make the sushi look a little more gourmet for a low-key restaurant, but they also added a nice touch to the taste.

I was a little nervous about eating seaweed, but it didn’t really taste like much; it was just kind of chewy. I got the most flavor from the shrimp, rice, and soy sauce when I used it. My only complaint was that because the seaweed was so chewy, you couldn’t really bite the sushi in half, you had to just eat the whole roll at once. And it was a big roll!

I would definitely recommend the Tempura Shrimp Roll from Maki Yaki for anyone who is a little hesitant about trying sushi. It was great!

First Taste of Sushi! (...kind of)

Last night I was perusing the aisles of Wegman’s looking for something tasty to eat when I stumbled upon the Sushi section. Immediately overcome with the adrenaline rush of trying something new, I knew I had to try some. While I stood there scrutinizing each box of sushi to see which one I would like the best (or like at all), my friend, who I was shopping with, found a different type of sushi, unlike the usual one wrapped in seaweed you’d expect to see.  

Called Nigiri Sushi, this new food consisted of rice packed together in a rectangular cube with raw fish draped over top. The box we bought had tuna, salmon, and scallops for the fish. After doing a bit of research, I found that most Nigiri Sushi comes in pairs, and it is generally a good type of sushi to try if you’ve never tried sushi before.

I should probably add at this point that I really only like shellfish (shrimp, lobster, crab, clams, oysters, scallops, etc), and any “regular” fish (tuna, salmon, trout) grosses me out. Needless to say, I was a bit terrified to try the Nigiri Sushi.

Because of my dislike of most fish, I decided to start with the one with scallops on it first. I took the first bite and was pleasantly surprised with its taste. Luckily for me, the taste of rice was prominent, so (although I do like scallops) the taste of fish wasn’t too overwhelming. I finished the rest of that piece by dipping it in soy sauce, which really strengthened the flavor.

Now comes the bad part: the tuna and salmon.  I gingerly picked up the tuna Nigiri with my chopsticks and smelled it. (Yuck). When I bit down, it was a tougher texture than I expected…and not one I liked at all. One bite was all I needed to move on to the next one.

The salmon was without a doubt the worst. Even after taking the tiniest of bites, I almost spit it out because it was so bad. It took all of my willpower to chew and swallow!

Overall, I’d recommend Nigiri Sushi to anyone who is not a wimp like me. That being said, I really liked the scallops one, so I guess next time I’ll have to try one with shrimp or another shellfish to be satisfied.

Next week I’ll upgrade to the more traditional sushi…wish me luck!

Breakfast Pizza

I had a difficult time this week finding something new to find to eat. Overwhelmed with the mounds of work piling up from professors trying to stress students out as much as possible after a nice relaxing break, I didn’t have much time to go out to eat to a new restaurant, so my meal choices were limited to the regular old dining hall food.

Today for lunch I tried something at Pollock that looked like it could be new and interesting. Called “breakfast pizza”, it mixed all of my favorite breakfast foods into one small square-shaped snack.  As you may imagine, this pizza consisted of scrambled eggs mixed with bacon, potatoes, onions, and lots of cheese on top of regular pizza crust.

There’s something about breakfast that is just so satisfying. Any type of breakfast food will do the trick. Whether it’s pancakes or waffles, sausage or bacon (although preferably sausage), or just cereal and milk, I’m happy to eat breakfast at any time of day.

Pizza has the same mouth-watering effect for me. Pepperoni, sausage, ham and pineapple, or mushroom pizzas are okay on my list any day. (That being said, I prefer good pizza over the cheap Canyon pizza everyone seems to love so much. Try pizza from Home Delivery or Angelo’s in Boalsburg and you’ll never eat at Canyon again!)

I guess that’s why I loved the breakfast pizza so much. It mixed two of my favorite things, pizza and any kind of breakfast food, into one delectable, (and greasy) food. The only thing that I would love more than this combination would be if it somehow incorporated chocolate, my other weakness, into the mix…although that may not taste as good as I’d like to think. I guess I’ll have to turn somewhere else to get my daily chocolate fix!

The picture I took of my new discovery did not turn out too well, so I’ll include a recipe for the breakfast pizza here. Enjoy!

A Tribute to Hallie and Annie

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to my new obsession. Last week I announced my new favorite restaurant, but now I’d like to tell you about my new favorite snack. Good for satisfying your sweet tooth, or sneaking a midnight snack, I’ve finally tried something I’ve heard about all my life, but never had a chance to try. It’s a snack Annie James and Hallie Parker from The Parent Trap would be proud of.

Hallie: [takes out a box of Oreos] Want one?

Annie: Oh, sure, I love Oreos. At home, I eat them with... I eat them with peanut butter.
Hallie: You do? That is so weird.
[takes out a jar of peanut butter]

Hallie: So do I!

Annie: You're kidding! Most people find that totally disgusting.

Hallie: I know, I don't get it.

Annie: Me either.

That’s right folks, Oreos with peanut butter. To be more specific, double stuffed Oreos with peanut butter.

My dreams of trying this delectable snack began in 1999 when I first saw The Parent Trap, but for whatever reason, I never got around to trying them before this weekend. I either had Oreos with me, but no peanut butter, or peanut butter, but no Oreos. And thus, I had no opportunity to try it. 

How can you resist?

I expected a taste similar to Reese’s Cups, because after all, it is just chocolate and peanut butter. But in reality, it is so much more. It’s rich, creamy taste of the peanut butter, thickly spread on top of a chocolate wafer. After biting through the wafer, you get to the icing of the Oreo, which is usually my favorite part of the cookie, but with the peanut butter mixed in, the flavor is one hundred times stronger.


Oreos and peanut butter can be combined by delicately spreading the peanut butter on top, as shown in the picture above, or my favorite way, by using the Oreo as a spoon to scoop out the peanut butter. Another great variation on this medley is to switch Oreos with Thin Mints Girl Scout Cookies. The addition of mint to the chocolate and peanut butter mix gives the cookie a whole new layer of flavor.

I could go on and on about how much I love Oreos with peanut butter. In fact, I don’t think I’ve stopped eating them since I first tried them earlier this week. It’s definitely a snack to enjoy again and again!