Like a lot of people, I knew about sushi as a kid and the idea of it revolted me. I could never think that eating raw fish could be an enjoyable experience.
Then during the 80’s it started getting trendy and people from all over were eating this delicacy from the Orient. It was extremely expensive however and way out of my budget. I also still considered it to be totally gross.
By the early 00’s I had tried the occasional “supermarket sushi” that was available and found it to be unremarkable. I seriously wondered what the fuss was about that is until I came to Japan.
I still remember the first time I tried authentic Japanese sushi. My wife and I had taken a day trip out to Chiba of all places to this little out of the way place with “great nature” as my wife put it. We got to the station around lunch time and were looking for some place to eat. She was looking for the typical soba, ramen or tempura places when we passed by this little sushi shop with a lot of people in it. This is usually the sign of a good restaurant in Japan so we decided to try it out.
I didn’t know what to order so I picked a combination plate that looked innocuous enough and was pleasantly surprised that the fish didn’t smell (or taste) “fishy”. I then tried a piece and was hooked from the first bite. The flavour was excellent, the texture was firm but not chewy and the wasabi gave it a little hot & sweet bite.
What blew me away and really set the stage for my love of it was the one piece of chutoro (medium fat tuna). If what I had before was a 8, this stuff really went to 11 if not higher. It was soft & smooth and practically melted in your mouth. I sat there with an idiot’s grin on my face for the next few moments as I blissfully chewed it up and finally swallowed. Seriously, it was that good.
Since then we’ve had sushi many times from the average supermarket take out to the freshest catch directly from the fish market.
