Do you do sushi, like I don't? (spam on subject only!)

[Chimaera182]

Originally Posted by fable

If I remain a member of this forum for another year or so, I'll probably be ready to work in a munitions factory, or anything that promises assistance in the decimation of humankind.

That's the spirit. I can find you a job in one of any number of munitions factories I run around the U.S. Just way 'when,' and I'll find ya a slot.

I'm only able to resist because of my own superpower, the inability to concentrate upon anything for more than 1.5 seconds at a time.

I wouldn't call that a superpower but a weakness, as I too know the feeling of a failing concentration skill.

Originally Posted by Lestat

Maybe sushi is going the way of the pizza and soon someone will put pineapple on it...

Ishkabibble. Anyway, don't they already have something like that?

[VonDondu]

Originally Posted by dragon wench

One of the more amusing sushi-related incidents I remember involved a German couple whom we knew. The woman was a medical student and provided us with extremely long lectures on the dangers of worms in sushi...

On a related note, there's an urban legend about a man whose brain was infested by worms after eating sushi for several years. The story is contained in an email chain letter that has been making the rounds. If you've seen it, don't believe it. It seems to have originated with the "publication" of a couple of photographs which also inspired another variation of the urban legend--maggots grew inside a man's brain after a fly bit him on the head. The photos might have originated at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The man in the photos probably had a rare form of cancer, and it's possible that the photos were retouched. The point is that the stories are not true.

If you haven't seen the photos, you can find them yourself at a site such as
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl-brainworms.htm . I warn you not to look at the photos--they're really gross--but read the expert analysis if you're still worried about getting brain worms from eating sushi.

[Darzog]

From my experience, there are three types of people that like sushi. The first actually likes sushi, the second (like Phreddie) likes wasabi and the third likes to be seen eating sushi.

The difference between the first two is that people who just like wasabi will load up the sushi with gobs of wasabi (and usually soy sauce and ginger) such that they can't even taste the fish anymore and it is only there for texture. The people that actually like sushi eat it with little or no wasabi/ginger/soy. Since you can't taste the fish anymore, people in the third category usually mimic the same eating habits as the people that just like wasabi. From the people that I know, the people in groups #2 and #3 are a much larger population than #1.

Personally I had limited exposure to California rolls and such in high school, a little more in college but not a large exposure until the last few years when I started traveling for work. I like it, but don't LOVE it. If I have the opportunity I'll eat either sushi or sashimi but have found that I have to be careful when ordering in Asia. I am very big on texture, and slimy doesn't work for me (I start to gag if I try to chew something too slimy). So when I'm in Singapore and Korea I have to go for the more "mainstream" fishes. I like it with a very thin smear of wasabi, light dip in soy sauce and 1 piece of ginger about the same diameter as the fish. Anything more than that and the taste of the fish is lost, which makes the whole exercise pointless to me.

[VonDondu]

Darzog, I guess you also need to make a distinction between people who like lots of wasabi (and soy and ginger) and people who like just enough to give their sushi some extra flavor. You might also make another category for people who like ginger. I never complain that my food has too much ginger in it, because I eat ginger by itself.

To clarify what I said earlier, when I eat sushi or California rolls, I mix wasabi into soy sauce in a small bowl about about 1/8" to 1/4" deep (about 3mm to 6mm). Then I dip the sushi in it and shake off the excess. In other words, I get the bottom of the sushi wet (I don't cover the sushi with wasabi). I put the wet side of the sushi on my tongue. I can taste the soy and wasabi one side and the sushi on the other side for a nice layered effect. If the sushi has any flavor at all, I can still taste it. The "sushi experience" would be completely pointless without it.

[C Elegans]

Originally Posted by dragon wench

I suspect sushi tends to be one of those things you either *really* love... or *really* dislike.
I've rarely met anyone who has a neutral reaction to it.

Funny, I've never met anyone who has a strong reaction to sushi except for one of my French friends. The taste is so mild, so for most people it's not much of a deal...I know a few people who really like it, but most people I know just like it or dislike it like all other food.

One of the more amusing sushi-related incidents I remember involved a German couple whom we knew. The woman was a medical student and provided us with extremely long lectures on the dangers of worms in sushi.

Unless you have an immunodeficit condition, the risk for catching parasites from sushi is very small. It's far more likely that you are killed in a car accident than that you get infested with binnike or anisakis worms from sushi (not sure of English spelling of these parasites).
For people who are afraid of worms, one can always ask if the restaurant freeze the fish to -20C. Many restaurants do this in order to kill off the parasites.

[dragon wench]

Originally Posted by VonDondu

On a related note, there's an urban legend about a man whose brain was infested by worms after eating sushi for several years. The story is contained in an email chain letter that has been making the rounds. If you've seen it, don't believe it. It seems to have originated with the "publication" of a couple of photographs which also inspired another variation of the urban legend--maggots grew inside a man's brain after a fly bit him on the head. The photos might have originated at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The man in the photos probably had a rare form of cancer, and it's possible that the photos were retouched. The point is that the stories are not true.

If you haven't seen the photos, you can find them yourself at a site such as
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl-brainworms.htm . I warn you not to look at the photos--they're really gross--but read the expert analysis if you're still worried about getting brain worms from eating sushi.

lol! That isn't an urban legend I've come across before. I have never believed the whole sushi and worms story anyway, though. The woman who was telling me about this was a surgeon in training and practically a chain smoker. Despite her medical training she was insisting that tobacco was not all that bad for you, and while visiting us she was constantly complaining about the public smoking bans in places like California. So this is hardly somebody I'd consider to be a reliable source of health information.
The woman also seemed to dislike people of Asian descent, so I think there was a healthy dose of racism thrown in there too.

Thanks for the links, I'm on my way to check them out.


@CE, as stated above, I didn't take the worm issue seriously, but thanks for the additional information. Regarding the intense like or dislike of sushi, who knows, I guess it's just a question of having met different people. For whatever reason those I've encountered have either loved or hated it.

[C Elegans]

Originally Posted by dragon wench

@CE, as stated above, I didn't take the worm issue seriously, but thanks for the additional information. Regarding the intense like or dislike of sushi, who knows, I guess it's just a question of having met different people. For whatever reason those I've encountered have either loved or hated it.

I know you didn't, I just wanted to point out how exaggregated her comment was - surprising to come from a someone who is a medical student. On the other hand, if she also claimed smoking was not at all dangerous, I guess she was simply resistant to her medical education.

Regarding food people tend to either love or hate, seal is something I have experienced that people either love or hate. Seal has a very strong taste and the meat is almost black and very hard. I've met people who almost vomited at the first chew, and I've met people got instantly addicted. An Italian anthropologist I know who has done several documentary films about East Greenland told me he can awake in the middle of the night in his flat in Rome with cravings for seal meat

[Xandax]

Originally Posted by fable

It's colorful. It's varied. It's highly nutritious. We've been trying it repeatedly lately, and despite my best efforts, sushi still tastes as appetizing as Bush administration speeches. Yes, I've gone for the bland, the spicy, the ones wrapped in seaweed and the ones that just lie in a bright slab on your plate and coax your admiration. But despite the fact that I dearly love seafood cooked in a number of ways, I can't find it in myself to enjoy the things.

Do you feel the same way? Do you dote on sushi? What are your strategies for overcoming anti-sushi propoganda and taste buds? This is your forum! Let's hear from you on one of the most important and central issues of the day!

Come on - what's not to like... Raw fish, with cold rice, wrapped in grass or seeweed .....oh wait

No. Never been the big fan of fish at all, much to the dismay of my family comming from an island which eats fish constantly. I don't find it luring to try at all. I'll stick to my big steaks.

[C Elegans]

Originally Posted by Xandax

I'll stick to my big steaks.

You should try seal then, you unsophisticated country boy It is usually served with all the bones sticking out and you just take a piece and gnaw on it

[Aztaroth]

Eating seal? Uhm... aren't seals an endangered species? Or is this some special kind you're talking about?

[slade]

@DW,well then hello DW ....I think I might be neutral to it.... iwent to this sushi place and well I didnt really eat sushi like everyone else....I didnt like...so I ate this shrimps stuff....but what I really enjoyed was the eel sauce it was drenched in.........yummy...anyhow my boss bought me some sushi for lunch a while back....dont know why she did so but I ate all of it....dont know why either ..anyhow it was good.....so I guess Im not crazy over it but I dont hate it

[Minerva]

I don't understand why I need to explain how great sushi is, really...
It's just there to be eaten.

[Xandax]

Originally Posted by C Elegans

You should try seal then, you unsophisticated country boy It is usually served with all the bones sticking out and you just take a piece and gnaw on it

Seal is a fish in my book... basically anything which have or potentially could live in water is classified as a fish for what I like to eat.
Cow, Pig, Lamb, Deer and so on - aren't fish
I don't like fish

[C Elegans]

Originally Posted by Aztaroth

Eating seal? Uhm... aren't seals an endangered species? Or is this some special kind you're talking about?

Only some species of seal are endangered, for instance the Monk seal and the Fur seal, not all. Ringed seal is not endangered, and a common seal to eat.

Originally Posted by Xandax

Seal is a fish in my book...

ROFLMAO

basically anything which have or potentially could live in water is classified as a fish for what I like to eat.
Cow, Pig, Lamb, Deer and so on - aren't fish
I don't like fish

What about water buffalo?

[Xandax]

Originally Posted by C Elegans

<snip>
What about water buffalo?

Doesn't live in water as far as I know, perhaps it likes to bathe a lot, but it is still a land animal.