# Any sushi fans here?



## Rob Babcock (Jan 31, 2009)

If so, what are your favorite types?  Do prefer nigiri to nori-maki or like both equally?  What do you like for fillings?  Do you like your fish raw or steer clear of raw in favor of cooked ones?  Do you eat sashimi?  Just curious.


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## LPBeier (Jan 31, 2009)

I love sushi, but have a bad throat and gag reflex so there are only a few kinds I can eat.  I love dynamite and california rolls, and tuna and salmon maki.  I mainly go for a vegetarian combo at our favourite sushi place with avacado, asparagus and cucumber rolls and an order of tempura.


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## kitchenelf (Jan 31, 2009)

LOVE it!!!!!!!!!  Addicted, I think.  LP, see if they can cut the rolls into smaller rounds.  Most places will do it.  I know those big pieces can be hard for some people to eat.  I had to talk a friend through chewing a piece - she was about to hurl and I literally had to whisper in her ear telling her to breath, go slowly, it will be gone soon..........whew!  It was close too! 

My favorite maki rolls involve raw fish.  Tuna and salmon are my favorite along with snapper and white tuna.  Eel is good too.  When we make it at home my favorite roll is a bit of cream cheese, cucumber, salmon, tuna, and fresh cilantro.  HEAVEN!

Love flying fish row in them or masago.  I had some wasabi masago here at the house...it was pretty good.  Not really hot, but had a flavor of wasabi.

I want some now...thanks!


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## LPBeier (Jan 31, 2009)

Thanks for the advice KE.  Ya, let's all meet somewhere.  I could use some right now as well!


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## RobsanX (Jan 31, 2009)

I love sushi, and I eat all kinds. I usually have sushi at least once a month...


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## Rob Babcock (Jan 31, 2009)

LPBeier said:


> I love sushi, but have a bad throat and gag reflex so there are only a few kinds I can eat.  I love dynamite and california rolls, and tuna and salmon maki.  I mainly go for a vegetarian combo at our favourite sushi place with avacado, asparagus and cucumber rolls and an order of tempura.




Smaller rolls or little nigiri might work.  And it might be gauche, but when no one is looking you could cut the peices in half!  Just don't let anyone catch you!


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## jabbur (Jan 31, 2009)

I don't care for much in the sushi line.  My son's boss does what he calls a catepillar roll.  It's a California roll with sliced avacado layered on top.  It is really good and I could eat my fill of them.


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## GB (Jan 31, 2009)

I am addicted to sushi. I prefer nigiri over maki, but love both (love sashimi too). I much prefer raw over cooked, but I love cooked too. If I had to pick a last meal it would be sushi.


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## LPBeier (Jan 31, 2009)

jabbur said:


> I don't care for much in the sushi line.  My son's boss does what he calls a catepillar roll.  It's a California roll with sliced avacado layered on top.  It is really good and I could eat my fill of them.



Oh, I love the caterpillar roll.  We had it when we did a girl's night out for my best friend's birthday!  That one I can eat!


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## Rob Babcock (Jan 31, 2009)

Do you guys (and gals) like making sushi at home?  I haven't been doing it for all that long but find it to be a lot of fun.  It's cool experimenting with various fillings and toppings.


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## kitchenelf (Jan 31, 2009)

I used to love making it at home.  I now know it's just about as expensive to make at home AND you then have to clean up!   Sometimes we'll still make it but of course, the rolls are very basic.  I can get tuna, salmon, and eel.  That's about it.  I like fresh cilantro, cucumber, masago, flying fish roe, eel, and have even done cream cheese and strawberries in one.  It wasn't bad or I was really hungry one!


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## GB (Jan 31, 2009)

I made it at home once and had a lot of fun doing it, but I do not have easy access to sushi quality fish and since that is what I really want then it is not worth it to me to make at home.


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## LPBeier (Jan 31, 2009)

We made it often in the school restaurant.  I haven't tried it at home yet but probably will some day.  DH loves sushi so I am sure I will get to it sooner or later.


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## kitchenelf (Jan 31, 2009)

GB said:


> I made it at home once and had a lot of fun doing it, but I do not have easy access to sushi quality fish and since that is what I really want then it is not worth it to me to make at home.



Can you at least get Ahi tuna?  Any salmon that has been previously frozen will also work.  The key is to make sure the fish HAS been previously frozen.  

From there you just need to make the sushi rice, get some cucumbers, cream cheese if you like it, even carrots, avocados and like I said, I'm a fresh cilantro fan!  At an Asian market you will probably be able to find frozen eel.


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## GB (Jan 31, 2009)

I actually do have a good fish monger very close to my house who I trust very much, but their hours make it very difficult for me to get there before they close. My local super market got rid of their fish counter and replaced it with plastic wrapper fish on Styrofoam trays. Needless to say, I do not buy fish there anymore.


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## kitchenelf (Jan 31, 2009)

GB said:


> I actually do have a good fish monger very close to my house who I trust very much, but their hours make it very difficult for me to get there before they close. My local super market got rid of their fish counter and replaced it with plastic wrapper fish on Styrofoam trays. Needless to say, I do not buy fish there anymore.



ICK!  A grocery store I USED to go to did the very same thing.  Needless to say I don't even think they sell more than a few shrimp and some kind of "fish" anymore.


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## whole milk (Feb 1, 2009)

I love sushi.

Put me down for uni (sea urchin); any fish egg, esp ikura; squid (love the mouth feel); yellow tail; tai....

Sushi is really easy to make at home but I think you need a lot of mouthes to feed to make it worth while.  Have you ever tried CHIRASHI sushi?  It's like of like a bowl of rice with the sea weed, egg, and fish chopped up and sprinkled on top.  Much, much easier.


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## GB (Feb 1, 2009)

I have had Chirashi many times, but it has never been chopped. It has been a bowl of sushi rice with sashimi on top. I love getting that actually.


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## sparrowgrass (Feb 1, 2009)

I do sushi at home pretty frequently. No chance of sushi grade fish around here, in the middle of Missouri, so everything is cooked. (I was amazed to find nori and sushi rice at the WalMart!)

I like to use that phony Krab stuff, smoked salmon, shrimp, shredded carrots, cucumber, asparagus--not all at the same time, of course.

If I go out, I like smoked eel, but I have only had raw fish once.  I didn't care for the texture, but I would try again.  I don't like avocado in sushi rolls because of the texture, either.


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## BreezyCooking (Feb 1, 2009)

Both husband & I LOVE sushi (both nigiri & maki) & sashimi, & enjoy it frequently.  

With the maki I prefer fairly basic, straightforward presentations like tuna, spicy tuna, eel, etc., rather than the kooky "specialty" rolls.  With nigiri & sashimi, while I'll try anything once, I've found that I really don't care for raw shrimp (saltwater or freshwater) or raw squid.


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## Jikoni (Feb 1, 2009)

whole milk said:


> I love sushi.
> 
> Put me down for uni (sea urchin); any fish egg, esp ikura; squid (love the mouth feel); yellow tail; tai....
> 
> Sushi is really easy to make at home but I think you need a lot of mouthes to feed to make it worth while.  Have you ever tried CHIRASHI sushi?  It's like of like a bowl of rice with the sea weed, egg, and fish chopped up and sprinkled on top.  Much, much easier.


 
I remember having the Chirashi in Fukuoka years back when I lived there and loved it.I have never found it here, but should probably make it myself.  I also love the Ikura and also Ebi(prawn) sushi. Love Sashimi moriawase as well.


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## GB (Feb 1, 2009)

Jikoni, I have often found for some unknown reason that chirashi is not listed on the menu, but if asked they will make it for you. It is worth asking next time you are craving it.


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## BreezyCooking (Feb 1, 2009)

Perhaps one of you "sushi-ites" can answer a question for me.  Years ago (back in the 1980's) in an expensive NYC Japanese restaurant I was served "sea urchin", & it was a major gag-fest for me because it was the color & slimy liquid texture of a raw egg yolk.  Thus I've never ordered it again.

However, these days, whenever I see a picture of sea urchin sushi, it looks like two firm little pale yellow "lobes".  Is what I was offered way back when raw, & what's offered now cooked?  Because that's the only thing I can think of to explain such a big difference.  If it's now relatively firm, I'd be willing to give it another whirl.


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## yrhenwraig (Feb 2, 2009)

I love sushi, all of it but I think my favourite filling has got to be eel or tuna. My problem now is that I've moved to a small town and the nearest sushi places are 2 hours away. I need to find a Japanese grocery too. Anyone know the best places in Ottawa?


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## Jikoni (Feb 2, 2009)

GB said:


> Jikoni, I have often found for some unknown reason that chirashi is not listed on the menu, but if asked they will make it for you. It is worth asking next time you are craving it.


Thanks GB, I will try tomorrow for lunch! It just never occurred to me to ask, I have no idea why. .


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## whole milk (Feb 3, 2009)

BreezyCooking said:


> Perhaps one of you "sushi-ites" can answer a question for me.  Years ago (back in the 1980's) in an expensive NYC Japanese restaurant I was served "sea urchin", & it was a major gag-fest for me because it was the color & slimy liquid texture of a raw egg yolk.  Thus I've never ordered it again.
> 
> However, these days, whenever I see a picture of sea urchin sushi, it looks like two firm little pale yellow "lobes".  Is what I was offered way back when raw, & what's offered now cooked?  Because that's the only thing I can think of to explain such a big difference.  If it's now relatively firm, I'd be willing to give it another whirl.



It has to do with how fresh it is.  In Tokyo, I won't touch it, especially at the so called 'fast food sushi' places.  It really does need to be fresh, cracked open in front of you.  If you can get it like that, the meat is sweet and creamy -- it's realllllllly good.  If you go scuba diving, you can get uni for free.  We've done that many times.  Oh, and it' really good grilled after scuba diving.


@Jikoni, 
You lived in Fukuoka?  What do you think of mentaiko?  I love it just by itself.  


I think the best thing about chrashi is that anyone can make it.  For proper sushi you need some sklill to cut the fish; for chirashi you can let the kids help you cut everything up.


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## BreezyCooking (Feb 3, 2009)

But that still doesn't answer my question.  What's the difference between the liquid egg-yolk type sea urchin I had in NY & the firm cooked-looking urchin I see in restaurants these days?  Was one actually raw & the others now cooked, or is there another difference?


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## whole milk (Feb 3, 2009)

BreezyCooking said:


> But that still doesn't answer my question.  What's the difference between the liquid egg-yolk type sea urchin I had in NY & the firm cooked-looking urchin I see in restaurants these days?  Was one actually raw & the others now cooked, or is there another difference?



The gooey stuff you ate was most probably old, not fresh, frozen and then thawed.  Nicely colored uni that holds it's shape and "looks cooked" is fresh from the tank.  Remember, you're looking at a picture and the picture will always be the best representation of the dish. 

Cooked uni changes it's color and looks more like eel than anything else (I can think of).

Good uni will be expensive.  Bad (old) uni will taste like the sea, be runny, be slimmy; frozen and thawed uni is often firmer but the color is a bit darker and will taste like the sea.  Good uni will be creamy and sweet -- and expensive.


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## BreezyCooking (Feb 3, 2009)

Thanks so much!!!!  That's exactly what I wanted to know.  The "gooey" urchin I experienced was back in the 1980's at a very pricey uptown Manhattan, NY, restaurant when Japanese cooking & sushi in particular was just taking off.  While I obviously don't recall the cost, I'm sure it was "up there".  Very few of my executive "power lunches" were cheap - lol!!

I'm definitely an adventurous diner - so now will feel better about trying urchin again should a "fresh" opportunity present itself.

Again - thank you very much.


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## JohnL (Feb 3, 2009)

I like it a lot, sushi is my favorite birthday dinner treat. Never tried to make it at home though. I also don't feel comfortable about being able to obtain true quality sushi grade fish.


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## 2extreme (Feb 3, 2009)

I just had sushi for the first time this weekend. Its the best thing ever. Now i'm like addicted. I tryed salmon, and california wrap, and also phildelaphia cream, in cuccumber.. ahhh delicious.. im from a small town, and they just open a sushi restaurant down here.. its all new to us.. but people down here are loving it. Its always pack at the restaurant. I can't wait to have more


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## Saraaaaa (Feb 4, 2009)

i love sushi! I like the simple type, no mayo or any kind of sauce. simple and tasty!


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## Claire (Feb 9, 2009)

Big time sushi fan.  When we moved to Hawaii, I did not like fish at all.  Then I was served ahi sashimi.  I was in love (you have to know I love raw beef, and that I'd not had such great fresh fish before).  I "graduated" to sushi.  Then my parents visited us, and my father, who really hates rice, fell in love with what he calls shusi.  I think that the ceremony of it all adds to the experience.  Dubuque has a sushi bar, and we'd never just order sushi delivered to the table, we need to sit at the bar and talk to the chef.  We had a neighborhood sushi bar in Hawaii, and we've been to sushi bars around the country.  We had a lot of fun introducing friends to sushi in Florida.  Our birthdays are coming up, and we know that one meal will be at the sushi bar!


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## andy_87 (Feb 9, 2009)

Loooove sushi..have it almost every day. I like pretty much all types, especially those with salmon roe, raw kingfish, salmon, scallop, scampi. Love sashimi too. Here in Sydney we have a roll called a Spider roll which has soft shell crab, avocado, mayo, flying fish roe....sooo good! I just love going to Japanese restaurants and watching the chefs skillfully preparing the sushi....great entertainment while eating. I guess we're lucky here that sushi is so widely available. There is a sushi place pretty much anywhere you go!


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## Asmodean (Feb 13, 2009)

I love going to Japanese restaurants, trying the same kinds of sushi at different places that I find, and also experimenting with other non-sushi japanese food.  I used to not really enjoy raw fish so much, but it is sooooo good to me now!  I eat pretty much anything; last night was octopus roll and whitefish nigiri.


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## LaurenG (Feb 14, 2009)

As much as I love Japanese restaurants I haven't been going very often because they are so expensive. I LOVE sushi, so instead of just going to restaurants I've been going to sushi bars!! All you can eat lunch for around 12 bucks, count me in!!!  I don't like anything that's not cooked, it just doesn't settle well, but I love a roll called the "Lion King". It usually has crab, avocado, and cucumber inside then salmon on top. They drizzle a light spicy mayo based sauce over top then send it through the oven and bake it. It is SOOOOO GOOD!

... actually I just came back from sushi dinner a couple of hours ago lol


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## Claire (Feb 14, 2009)

My husband and I have a mind-set to "beginner's sushi".  We're the same with other cuisines some might consider odd.  You have to know which dishes will seem the least unusual to your friends who are experiencing it for the first time.  When it is sushi, most people balk at it because they think it means raw fish.  Some are bothered by the nori.  So we order the sushi that has no raw fish and no nori.  The next thing you know, the friends _want_ to try the ahi and are even more adventurous.  For first timers, help them along with some shrimp and crab sushi, and California rolls are often a huge hit with first-timers (still one of my favorites).  For vegetarians, there are many vegetable rolls.  The one I haven't seen here which was popular in Hawaii (I lived there in the era when the Japanese tourists had all the money and ruled the scene) was one that had a sort of omlet on top of a rectangle of rice, another good one for starters.


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## BreezyCooking (Feb 14, 2009)

I agree completely.  My first convert was my husband, & after that we took another couple to dinner & ordered a large sushi combination platter (sashimi is NOT the way to start things off - lol!).  After a few tastes of the cooked items, they immediately wanted to try some of the raw items, & were both dedicated sushi converts from then on.

I think the biggest thing is not to force anything on anyone.  Let them go at their own pace & discover their likes & dislikes on their own.


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## Asmodean (Feb 14, 2009)

Agreed about pacing.


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## Claire (Feb 15, 2009)

Although it is where I started, I agree sashimi isn't the place to introduce most beginners.  At the time I was in my 20s, living in Hawaii, hated all fish, but LOVED (still do) raw beef - carpaccio, tartar, you name it.  The ahi sashimi seemed wonderful.  after living in Hawaii for a year, I learned that fish simply wasn't the same stuff I grew up on.  Gray-ish oily stuff in Friday tuna casseroles, frozen stuff that smelled worse and worse as it thawed, etc (needless to say, I didn't grow up near the ocean and Daddy wasn't a fisherman).  The stuff smelled bad enough that getting it near your mouth was a challenge.  I was a pretty easy kid when it comes to most foods, but fish and even shellfish just didn't do it for me until that shashimi revelation.


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## Bachelor Chef (Feb 15, 2009)

I love it and eat it at least once a week.  I love the spicy magura rolls and the old stand by rainbow roll.  I have found that by asking they will always cut the sushi in half so you don't have to swallow such a big piece at once.  I am not to that level of eating raw fish yet.


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## roadfix (Feb 15, 2009)

Has anyone ever had omakase?


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## GB (Feb 15, 2009)

I have not, but I plan on doing that some day.


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## qmax (Feb 15, 2009)

Some uni and some saba and some chilled Otokoyama.


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## Jikoni (Feb 17, 2009)

@Wholemilk, I love mentaiko. I have never had it anywhere out of Japan and do miss it. 

I had lunch at my fav Japanese restaurant today and enjoyed a bit too much edamame. .


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## roadfix (Feb 17, 2009)

My favorite type of Japanese restaurant would be the _izakaya._  They're traditionally taverns specializing in small and sometimes exotic side dishes to accompany drinking.  Sashimis are part of their menu items too but not nigiri sushi.
There are great _izakayas_ in the L.A. area where I live.

Sushi here, owned and operated by Japanese chefs can be quite expensive so we often frequent sushi joints operated by Koreans.  They're almost as good and generally much cheaper.


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## Asmodean (Feb 19, 2009)

One of the two places you can get sushi out where I live is owned by a Korean family.  The other is actually a local "chain" of three restaurants with the same name, so I don't know whether or not it's Korean-owned.  They have similar menu items but it's amazing how different the qualities of some of the dishes are within the same price range!


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## 337daberry (Mar 10, 2009)

I love them both


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## Asmodean (Mar 11, 2009)

Amen


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## BrazenAmateur (Mar 26, 2009)

roadfix said:


> Has anyone ever had omakase?



Oh hell yes.

I was never clear on the distinction between omakase and kaiseki ryori though.


At any rate, I love sushi and eat tons of it.  I generally tend to order a lot of sashimi, mostly salmon, mackerel, and white tuna (i.e. "shiro maguro").

I also love Chirashi and prepare it at home when I can get the fresh fish.


Just thinking about shiro maguro is making me hungry, and I JUST ATE.  Thanks guys.


OH, and Sanma (Pacific Saury) sashimi.  Almost forgot that one, had to edit the post.  Not easy to find, but in the Spring the itamae at my favorite local sushi joint builds an omakase menu around sanma.  He does it as sashimi, as shioyaki, etc.  This is probably my favorite meal of the year.

This is a sanma/pacfic saury:  (about 10-14 inches long)








And here's what it looks like as sashimi:


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## aHobbs (Mar 28, 2009)

Love it all!!! Can't get enough of it. My favorites ingredients include cucumber, avocado  and salmon!


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## littlechefassisstant (Mar 29, 2009)

*sushi not my fave but i do like that ginger stuff!*

i do not care for sushi but i do not mind that pickled ginger stuff that you have with sushi !!


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## Village Idiot (Mar 31, 2009)

There's an all you can eat sushi buffet near me. It's meh.

I like sashimi though. When I do go some place decent, I almost always end up getting chirashi. I think my top four things are the white tuna, mackrel, octopus, and spicy scallop rolls....super spicy scallops.

There's a place called House of Kobe in the next town over. They had a really good sushi chef, that I got to know, that made it worth going. He would fix us all kinds of strange stuff and was just a really cool person. Too bad he left though...

One friend went with  me that didn't like seafood at the time (she loves sushi now) who was mortified at eating raw fish. He fixed he a ham and cheese roll and she was tickled. One day he made us seared rare beef nigiri which was awesome. He also made a Japanese energy drink. It was quail egg, blue caracao, and sake.

Thanks to him I've tried a lot of different things I don't think I ever would have if left on my own.


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## Glen (Apr 10, 2009)

I love sashimi, pretty much anything that's raw, I will eat as I am not squeamish at all. 
I've been to Japan many times and the sashimi and sushi there is just beyond comparison. The freshness of the sashimi is just fabulous. I've tried sea urchin sashimi (very nice, melts in the mouth and has a little powdery texture) and also whale sashimi (very dark red meat, almost like beef). I did feel guilty eating the whale sashimi as I believe in conservation, but I was with some guests and did not want to offend them.


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