{"id":10538,"date":"2010-02-12T12:06:33","date_gmt":"2010-02-12T16:06:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/?p=10538"},"modified":"2010-02-12T22:13:35","modified_gmt":"2010-02-13T02:13:35","slug":"sushi-love-affair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/2010\/02\/sushi-love-affair\/","title":{"rendered":"Sushi Love Affair"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Sushi is most definitely an acquired taste.\u00a0 Or at least I think that it is.\u00a0 There are so many new things going on, the seaweed, the rice vinegar, everything dipped in soy sauce.\u00a0 It’s a party and takes some time getting used to all those big flavors.\u00a0 The first time I had sushi I hated it.\u00a0 I spit it out and passed my portion on to Scott who gobbled it up like it was his last meal.\u00a0 For me it was a horrible experience.<\/p>\n

I was seriously bummed out that I can’t even begin to describe that feeling.<\/p>\n

I wanted to like sushi, I really did!\u00a0 There are so many different ways it’s made that you can literally get anything you want wrapped up in a little roll with some rice.\u00a0 I wanted to be one of those people who said, “Hey wanna go out for sushi?” and mean it.\u00a0 Maybe it sounds odd to want something like that out of life but it’s one of those things I’ve always sort of daydreamed about.\u00a0 Sushi seems very grown-up to me.\u00a0 Very sophisticated.\u00a0 It’s the Japanese version of upscale finger foods.\u00a0 At least in my mind it is.\u00a0 With sushi being so totally versatile, I knew it was possible for me to find something that I enjoyed.<\/p>\n

First I had to find out what I didn’t like.\u00a0 Every time Scott got sushi, I would pick at his portion here and there.\u00a0 I would taste some rice.\u00a0 I would taste the wrap.\u00a0 I tasted the fish.\u00a0 Dipped in soy sauce.\u00a0 No soy sauce.\u00a0 You get the idea.\u00a0 Three things I discovered:<\/p>\n

1. The rice vinegar in the sushi was sweet and tart but not in a good way on my tongue.\u00a0 I had to get used to that.<\/p>\n

2. Seaweed is weird.<\/p>\n

3. Raw fish has a texture that will make me gag.<\/p>\n

Slowly over time I got used to the rice being a little bit sweeter and soon I really started liking it.\u00a0 The seaweed took me a bit longer to enjoy.\u00a0 I can’t really explain the taste of seaweed as it’s like nothing I’ve eaten before.\u00a0 It’s not salty or briny but it also doesn’t taste like a green.\u00a0 Seaweed is its own thing and hard for me to describe.<\/p>\n

Acquiring a taste for raw fish will not be happening anytime soon.\u00a0 Which is okay because there are so many different kinds of sushi that my bases are totally covered.<\/p>\n

After picking at Scott’s rice for a long time, I was finally ready to try a piece myself.\u00a0 We were out to dinner and I got a veggie roll.<\/p>\n

I hated it.<\/p>\n

*sigh*<\/p>\n

It tasted really bad.\u00a0 Ugh!\u00a0 And I brought the rest home for Scott to eat.\u00a0 I did discover that I do not like sushi dipped in soy sauce.\u00a0 I like soy sauce just fine but not straight up hardcore like that.<\/p>\n

I did not let this deter me and I continued to pick at Scott’s rice whenever he got sushi.<\/p>\n

Then one glorious day at Whole Foods I saw that they had a vegan sushi roll.\u00a0 It had a vegan nugget in it, lettuce, and lots of veggies.\u00a0 With more veggies on top!\u00a0 And it came with a sweet and spicy dipping sauce.<\/p>\n

This was a turning point for me.\u00a0 I loved everything about this roll!\u00a0 Tons of veggies, brown rice, and a sauce that wasn’t soy sauce.\u00a0 Hooray!<\/p>\n

A few times I had this with lunch and I could only handle eating about 3 pieces total before having to call it quits.\u00a0 Otherwise I got a little bloaty feeling.<\/p>\n

I loved this roll and it showed me that I can<\/em> love sushi but it’s got to be on my terms.<\/p>\n

Eventually Whole Foods stopped carrying that roll and when I asked for it, the ladies would make it for me but totally begrudgingly.\u00a0 I started picking up their veggie rolls with brown rice instead.<\/p>\n

But what to dip it in?\u00a0 Enter my new best friend.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This stuff is awesome.\u00a0 Despite it’s name, it really isn’t spicy.\u00a0 It is a nice blend of sesame and peanut flavors.\u00a0 I wouldn’t be able to use it as an actual dressing but for dipping it is off the hook.\u00a0 Interestingly enough the resident Thai doesn’t care for it much.\u00a0 More for me!<\/p>\n

Dipping veggie sushi into this sauce is a total winner.\u00a0 Hooray!\u00a0 I was still only having sushi for lunch though.\u00a0 It never occurred to me to have it for dinner and I have no idea why.<\/p>\n

A few weeks ago, Scott and I were out on a Friday night grocery shopping.\u00a0 We love to party it up on Friday nights and what better way to do that than comparing organic produce prices at your local Kroger.\u00a0 Am I right?\u00a0 I was hungry for dinner but not starving.\u00a0 Scott was having leftovers of some sort that I didn’t want so on a whim I grabbed a veggie sushi container and took it home with me.<\/p>\n

This is where I fell in love with sushi 100%.\u00a0 Let me state for the record that my Kroger gets huge props in the sushi department.\u00a0 Their sushi is good and you get 12 pieces for 5 bucks.\u00a0 Tuna is only 6 bucks.\u00a0 I know it!<\/p>\n

I poured a little bowl of dressing and proceed to plow through that entire container of sushi.\u00a0 And then I wanted more but sadly I didn’t pick up an extra box.\u00a0 This was my first time ever getting past 3 pieces of sushi and not feeling like a bloated balloon.\u00a0 I was in heaven!\u00a0 It made for the perfect light refreshing dinner (you know how I love my raw veggies).\u00a0 The only downside being that I was out of sushi!<\/p>\n

Ever since that moment I have been wanting more sushi.\u00a0 Rightnow, please.\u00a0 Scott, excited by this change of events, had promised to take me to get some the following Friday evening.\u00a0 Then a winter storm hit and we got snowed in.<\/p>\n

Cue major bummage.<\/p>\n

But eventually I did get some more sushi in my bellah.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Who cares if it’s just some basic sushi from my local Kroger.\u00a0 That doesn’t mean it’s not good and it doesn’t mean that I can’t fancy it up with a pretty plate and a nice set of chopsticks.\u00a0\u00a0 That plate was my grandmother’s and doesn’t it just scream fashionable 1940s flair?\u00a0 It is the perfect sushi plate!\u00a0 Big enough to hold all your sushi and catch your droppings if that so happens, with a design to wrap it all up making it and<\/em> you feel special.<\/p>\n

I think Friday Night Sushi just might start making more appearances in our lives.\u00a0 Are you a sushi lover or hater?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sushi is most definitely an acquired taste.\u00a0 Or at least I think that it is.\u00a0 There are so many new things going on, the seaweed, the rice vinegar, everything dipped in soy sauce.\u00a0 It’s a party and takes some time getting used to all those big flavors.\u00a0 The first time I had sushi I hated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4KYWa-2JY","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10538"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10538\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}