"Tofu hut, Korean BBQ. Seriously, it's mostly meat"

This made me laugh

Any place Jimmy recommends goes immediately on my list of places to try whenever I'm in Vegas.

I voted cheesesteak and I love kimchi. Come at me brah.

Saying someone won't like kimchi is as meaningless as saying they wouldn't like sushi.

I prefer kimchi to sauerkraut.

People pretty much either like or dislike sushi afaik. I guess some people only like rolls or cooked rolls.

In my experience, someone liking or disliking sushi depends on first exposure. If you start them up with eel from anywhere (especially a grocery store, wtf?), then they will dislike it. Start them with salmon or some other easy fish, then they will probably like that and graduate to more complex pieces.

It's interesting to note that the Japanese didn't even use salmon in sushi. Salmon was really a consequence of getting white people on board with eating raw fish.

After eating sashimi, I'm a total convert, and will always take a pass on sushi if sashimi is available.

It's a case-by-case, item-by-item thing imo.

When introduced, of course some people love it right away, and some won't touch it in any form. But lots will start with California rolls, shrimp tempura rolls, and other cooked rolls, and some will stop right there, while others while move on to basic nigiri like salmon, tuna, etc. Again, lots will stop right there, while some will move on to a variety of less familiar fish. And then some of them will make it to raw sweet shrimp, live uni, etc.

But I don't think that sushi is an all or nothing deal for most people.

Agree. Like I said, the easiest path seems to be starting with California rolls and shrimp tempura rolls.

Didn't know that, thx.

Agree for most fish, but some items benefit from the rice and seaweed balance, for example a number of the gunkan type, like ikura, tobiko, maybe uni.

Also, most omakase courses are primarily nigiri, where they may start you off with some sashimi, but the best items are in nigiri form.

I still think if people had access to muffalettas it would win. It appeals to everybody. Salty, cheesy, meaty, pickled veggie, awesome bready.

Obviously it would do better if more people had easy access to great versions of it.

But pickled/fermented veggies seem to be a stumbling block for some, based on results and commentary re: sauerkraut and banh mi pickled veggies.

Too many people hate olives and capers.

I love tempura! (once again totally meaningless because I'm talking about the battered vegetables, haha).

I'm not as well-versed in what I'm eating so much. Most of my exposure to sashimi is eating at Chinese restaurants where you walk up and take a plate. They don't label anything at all, so, for me, I'm eating that yellow-ish thing, that one orange thing, and that other less-orange fish, then look at that deep red one.

Some sashimi does come on a layer of rice, plus there are various tangy sauces or other toppings you can add to it. The real difference is that the fish doesn't come rolled up, plus it's glaringly obvious that you are eating something old. The guidance of what to do is really from the initial presentation on the plate.

I do have my limits though, which I'm sure is natural for any American.

I thought you didnt eat seafood.

Just don't tell that there are olives and capers on it.

Is a muffuletta preferable over an Italian sub with hot and sweet peppers ?


I tend to prefer hot pepper spread + cherry peppers over olive salad though I like olives.

What if I put olive salad in an Italian sub?

dave,

Uh, no. Unagi (BBQ eel) is something lots of people who don't like sushi enjoy.

Unagi, much like salmon, almost never shows up in sushi in Japan.

Anago, sea eel, does.

I didn't know about salmon, but I did know that one. Anago is great as well, but beginning palates would usually prefer unagi.

Right.

I would like to amend my earlier "Agree" to reflect that I was just agreeing with the general principle, like if you started people with uni or raw squid or whatever.

That is correct. I like to eat sea fish, but I don't like shell fish, crustaceans, seaweed, squid, eel, etc, thus my preference for sashimi over sushi.

I'm glad that you like it, but compared to real Japanese sushi restaurants, that stuff is straight up disgusting. Do yourself a favor and find a real Japanese sushi restaurant.

I guess if you want to cook it and add BBQ sauce to it, then it's not really all-to-genuine, but I'm a little ignorant on that. See ameoba's response to that topic.

When I talk about sushi or any Asian foods, I'm talking about traditional food as far as my personal knowledge of traditional goes. For example, if I'm talking about Chinese food, I'm definitely not talking about orange chicken.

Personally, a best neta for sushi competition would be fairly interesting.

Otoro would probably end up winning though.

Best Italian vs Best Muff would be a good contest. They're both top tier.

I've certainly been to real Japanese sushi places...

I'll challenge you to find a real Chinese restaurant. As a hint, if you are in the city limits of LA or SF, you aren't at a real Chinese restaurant, nor are you at any "real" Asian food place, actually.