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Japanese Foods


torakris

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We are having a discussion on favorite Japanese foods, so now I am wondering what foods can't you eat?

When I first came to Japan I COULD NOT eat :

natto

shiso (or anything that had even touched it!)

anko (sweetened red bean paste)

I now love all of these and the only foods that I now refuse to eat are

unagikimo (eel liver), these are usually grilled along witht the eels kabayaki style or simmered

sanma (saury pike?) innards, these usually left in the fish during grilling and then eaten with the fish or they are removed chopped up and smeared on the outside of the fish before grilling

Both are extremely bitter and I have problems with that taste.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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Sweetened beanpaste. Konyaku (slimy yam gel). Any Japanese sweets or pastries.

Corn on pizza.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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Corn on pizza.

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

You are lucky you don't live here,almost every pizza here has corn and one even has a pizza called triple corn!

I can't stand it either.

The worst pizza I have eaten was one called Idaho Special with cubed potatoes, onions, corn , cheese and topped with mayo! :shock:

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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Kristin, basically I only like thin white cheese pizzas, perhaps with anchovies. Occasionally wild mushrooms or Sicilian black olives.

kobykoby (can I just call you koby?), I've never tried kusaya or funazushi. :unsure:

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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Kall me Koby (for Kobayashi)

Kusaya is favored by my in-laws in Tokyo.

The smell is extremely fishy - doesn't taste as bad

but the smell is really really hard to get around.

Anybody out there tried funazushi?

(Funa, a fresh water fish, is packed with cooked rice

and salted, and is then allowed to ferment)

Its supposed to be what inspired the creation of

sushi as we know it.

------------------------

to taberu is to ikiru

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My (Japanese) husband won't go near kusaya, so I have never tried it.

As for funazushi, I have never seen this prepared or served anywhere. I know it is still around in the deep dark countryside, but my husband's family has been in Tokyo for generations now and ahve no relatives out there.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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Definitely Kusaya. Disgusting. It literally smells like feces. I love natto, and everthing else listed before me on this thread, except kusaya. Does anyone know what type of fish it is?

Re: funazushi- it rings a bell with respect to its connection to the history of sushi.

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I don't like shishamo...

and raw chicken or raw horsemeat kushiyaki, I can also do without, thankyou.

And I don't like big daikon chunks in my soup... its smelly and tastes bitter.... although fresh grated or julienned, I love.

And no azuki bean rice please... for that matter, I don't really like sweet azuki bean paste either.... or those horrific okashi they give you at tea ceremony

I love corn on my pizza! and miss pizza-la (chain that delivers) pizza.

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  • 1 month later...

Torakris, I agree with you about the unagi liver. Simmered in soup it is nice, but otherwise too bitter.

I'm not a big fan of innards of any variety, but I've found that the taste of them varies a lot depending on freshness and preperation. Especially so with unagi and ankou liver- they can be yummy if they're prepared right.

Shiokara is another one that I normally don't like, but I once tried some that was good. It had lots of wasabi, which kind of cancelled out the rotten flavour.

Uni I can't eat raw, but if it's simmered and strongly flavoured I like it.

The only two truly revolting things I've had were kusaya and a whole grilled sparrow. I still shudder when I think about both...

My eGullet foodblog: Spring in Tokyo

My regular blog: Blue Lotus

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I think the Japnese eat mayo more than Americans eat ketchup!

Two of the most digustings things I ahve done with it:

1. made a dressing for a tomato and seaweed salad with equal parts of mayo (Japaese stuff) and ponzu, took one taste (befroe using it on the salad) and tossed it, covering the salad with just ponzu.

2. Made a mixture of mayo and thinly sliced Japanese leeks (naga-negi) and then spread it on to a soy marinated piece of chicken and grilled it, we scraped the topping off and ate the chicken.

These were both recipes from a Japanese magazine.

I do like mayo on okonomiyaki and yakisoba though! :raz:

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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check out this kewpie line!

http://www.kewpie.co.jp/products/pro_index.html

these are "sauces" that are meant to be squirted onto bread and then popped into the toaster oven.

From left to right:

cheese cake cream

tuna-mayo

pizza sauce (this is just a toamto sauce no mayo including)

corn-mayo

not pictured but mentioned is a new product to come out this spring/summer

bacon-mayo (might not be bad on a BLT! :wacko: )

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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I was at the supermarket yesterday and noticed the kewpie bacon-mayo on the shelf, closer inspection of the product revealed it is a "seasonal" product, since when is bacon seasonl?

It is a "spicy" flavor with lots of black pepper, I was almost tempted to give it a try, but passed.

I ahve had the tuna-mayo at my MIL's house and it was quite nasty! :shock:

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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Recently while eating out with some friends at Menecke (sp?) in Seattle I ordered the Ika-no-shiokara (fermented squid guts) with squid rings. The waitress didn't even want to serve it to me and it took a little persuasion to convince her I really wanted it. Once I convinced her, she told me that the only way to eat it is in conjunction with drinking sake. She was right, the sweetness of the sake completely counterbalanced the strong flavors of the Ika-no-shiokara. While I can't say I'll order it again, I will say that the sake made it palateable.

Hal

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  • 11 months later...

I have trouble eating "Suzume kushi-yaki" (Sparrow on a stick). The first time I got talked into ordering it, I thought it would be a little sparrow-meat shiskabab, not a whole sparrow skewered on a stick. I remember the yakitori bar chef trying to convince me to eat it, saying how delicious it was. I tried again and again to bring it to my mouth, but just couldn't get myself to chomp off the head. Eventually, I gave up and handed it off to another customer. It was then the the chef confided that he had never eaten it either.

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I tried natto maki today, and I think I'll need to visit the natto thread for alternate ways of eating it. The mucilaginous quality wasn't the problem for me, it was the contrast between the goo and the firm beans. If the beans were mushy, it would be an easier texture for me, I think. I'll try it again . . .

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  • 2 weeks later...

Natto is still difficult for me, I've tried it twice. I don't want to give up on it though just because it's supposed to be so insanely nutritious.

I gagged the first time I tried uni nigiri sushi. It took me four tries to finally figure it out somehow, and now I love it. So, I'm hoping the same thing will happen with natto.

I also don't like kazunoko either, and have no interest in trying to learn to like it, because I can't discern any kind of taste to make the plasticky styrofoam texture worthwhile. What is the appeal to it?

Pat

"I... like... FOOD!" -Red Valkyrie, Gauntlet Legends-

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I gagged on both natto and uni the first couple times too, now I can't live with out them... :blink: Somethings really do grow on you. :biggrin:

I find kauzunoko quite bland alone but I love that pop-py crunch that it has, it is really great in matsumae-zuke.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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Very impressive. Most people give up after the first bite.

I have loved natto from the first bite, which I do not remember. I crave it constantly.

I grew up watching my father love uni. I tried it a few times and thought it was gross. Sometime in my mid 20's, after dating a shmuck who hated uni (three of our four meals together were sushi and at each meal he went on and on and on), I started to develop a craving. Now I postively reinforce myself with a half a tray every few months.

I am craving both right now :smile: Natto's in the freezer :biggrin:

True Heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic.

It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost,

but the urge to serve others at whatever cost. -Arthur Ashe

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  • 1 year later...

I was in a social situation in Japan where I had to eat some kind of shiokara that was truly vile. It may have been ika? It looked like red-orange worms and was extremely salty and fishy. I've never encountered it since, and there are actually some kinds of shiokara that I've liked.

SuzySushi

"She sells shiso by the seashore."

My eGullet Foodblog: A Tropical Christmas in the Suburbs

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