My First Time Eating Sushi...

I think, for the most part, I have always liked odd or even exotic types of food. I've definitely developed broader tastes as an adult, but even when I was a kid I ate lots of different things. Since my dad grew up in Texas, spicy food was no stranger to our table. Each Christmas when my grandmother would visit from Dallas, she would arrive with a bag full of tamales (in corn husks, of course) and a freezer bag filled with pecans that a relative picked off a tree. My mom has a very direct and much-observed Polish line in her family, so I was also no stranger to Polish and Eastern-European dishes as a little girl. It was only later in life when I realized that I ate some not-so-typical things while a lot of my friends feasted on mac and cheese and hot dogs! (I liked those too!!)

So though I generally have no problem eating all types of novel spices, sea food and even meat, up until last Wednesday I had yet to sample sushi!! It's not that I considered myself averse to it: yes, it's raw fish, but I've eaten rare tuna (with only a thin sear on the outside --- actually, that's the way I prefer to eat tuna!) and you will never see me turning down squid, mussels or even octopus. I guess what concerned me (and my husband) is the fact that it all looks so exotic...so pretty, even, and I wouldn't know where to begin ordering it.

Luckily, fate intervened in the form of fellow HHH member Megan and her husband Steve. Steve has long been a fan of sushi, and Megan grew to appreciate it after she started dating him. When I worked at the CDC with another spectacular person, Nora, I remember her and Megan talking about getting sushi from a local restaurant on the east side of Cleveland. Nora in particular was emphatic about how fabulous their tempura-battered, deep-fried Oreo cookies were. I decided I must, in fact, try eating at Otani!

Carl and I decided to meet Megan and Steve at Otani after work on a snowy Wednesday night. With some trepidation, we walked into the restaurant. I can't imagine trying sushi without being with someone who knows what they're doing. There were so many options that it absolutely floored me. Carl and I picked some types of sushi that sounded good to us, and Megan and Steve supplemented the order with their favorites. Since we're thrifty people and decided to eat at Otani on 1/2 Off Sushi Night, we decided to throw caution to the wind and really go crazy ordering different types. We actually ordered so many different kinds that even the waitress was flummoxed! She was truly astounded by our order, causing semi-embarrassment on our end. After waiting for about 30 minutes for our sushi to be rolled (Megan and I filled in this time by catching up on all the latest news and gossip, and I proceeded to drink about 5 Pepsi's in a row...hey, it was a rough day at work!) the sushi finally made its arrival. Here are the pictures I took:



And the verdict? I loved it! Carl and I were both impressed. I think we initially feared that the textures of the rolls would be odd. Perhaps coarse rice with soft fish, which would produce a disgusting combination when chewed. I also feared it would taste super fishy. Not at all. Everything melted together and it truly didn't taste fishy in the slightest. I enjoyed virtually every type we tried, the exception being a clam one. I love clams (to the point of obsession, which is certainly an odd thing to admit being obsessed with, now that I've divulged my secret...) but this one was way too chewy for my tastes. It was, however, one of the prettiest types of sushi on the board! Everything else tasted fabulous. You probably also noticed a picture of Steve about to bite into a deep-fried shrimp head. Look closely, the eyes are still visible and are actually pointed toward the camera! Ah, Steve. Always adventurous and hilarious! And, in honor of Nora, who is now a teacher in Kentucky, I simply had to order the Deep-Fried Oreos. Here they are, in all their lusciousness:




After eating them, I announced to the entire table that I intended on getting my hands on a Fry-Daddy so as to replicate the recipe for any and all occasions. I have yet to act on my threat, but it might be worth it to drop the cash on a new appliance and make my kitchen reek of oil, undoubtedly gaining several scalds and burn blisters in the process. Hey, all's well that ends well....and I can't imagine ending any meal in a more fabulous way than with a tempura-battered Oreo. (Love you, Nora!)