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!