Sushi and I have always had an odd relationship. I’ve always been curious about why people love it so much, but given my lifelong aversion to “from the sea” foods, I’ve always found what most consider a sensual culinary delight a bit daunting.
Most of my friends and family, including Chris, are diehard sushi lovers. They’ve never understood how I couldn’t share their passion, so, when Chris celebrated his birthday recently, it was only natural that he would choose a cuisine which he rarely experiences anymore. Continuing our quest to try as many restaurants as we can in our new neighborhood, he chose Taro for his birthday dinner.
I told my husband to go balls out, so he wouldn’t feel limited in what he could order. I would not be the wimp in the corner eating a California Roll! Taking me up on my offer, he ordered Aji (Horse Mackerel) for starters.
I found it humorous that the horse mackerel was surrounded by so many garnishes, as I’d imagined a plate of scary raw fish being placed in front of me. Once I added a little wasabi to the aji and gave it a little dip in soy sauce, I enjoyed the flavors. Did I just say that? Tiny slivers of ginger added a nice crunch too.
Moving on, my lips formed a devilish grin when the server dropped off one of my all-time favorite snacks, Wasabi Shumai.
Who doesn’t love steamed dumplings filled with pork and wasabi that clear the sinuses? These little pouches of glee brought on immediate warmth and happiness, but the real food challenge awaited. It was time to leave the comfort zone.
Clockwise from top left: Ebodai (Butterfish), Hirami (Fluke), Hamachi (Yellowtail), Oh Toro (Blue Fin Fatty Tuna), Uni (Sea Urchin), Kani (Crab)
After hearing so many great reviews about Uni over the years, I considered this the most exotic item on the plate. The server told us not to add any soy–the sea urchin was already coated in sauce–so I ate it as is. My blood pressure admittedly rose slightly, but my pleasure senses were excited. The texture was very soft, almost like baby food. Looking back, I barely remember the flavor because my focus was so strong on how this made me feel. I felt pretty damn good.
The other piece of sushi which stood out for me was the blue fin fatty tuna–not necessarily in a good way. It seemed like all I could taste was fat (I know, duh Allie, the word “fat” is in the name of the dish). I had to indulge in a few extra slices of pallet-cleansing ginger to rid my mouth of the pasty flavor.
Eel with Avocado and Cucumber Roll, Shrimp Tempura with Spicy Tuna and Avocado Roll
We admittedly wimped out a bit by ordering the shrimp tempura roll. Okay, I probably pushed Chris to wimp out a bit because I wanted another go-to dish–similar to the wasabi shumai. I really didn’t need it though. I found the rolls too filling because of the rice, and my palette was wiped out from trying so many different kinds of raw fish on our previous plate. I didn’t find either the shrimp or the eel mindblowing, and neither did the birthday boy.
Looking back on our dinner, the item that stuck out for me most was the Uni. Although Taro didn’t change my status from a newb to even an intermediate, I am glad I dropped the fear and tried as many different items as the server would bring to us. My husband won’t believe this, but I’m actually looking forward to another sushi dinner in the near future.
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Nice. I was just talking about Taro with a buddy last night and I believe we are going to spend our winnings from the fantasy baseball league there.