every day is banana day: Number 21: Try Sushi

Above: Andy and I out for my birthday. I like this photo because the camera angle makes my face look good and skinny.

I once ate a bug. Yes, sir I did. It was a worm looking thing and it was garlic flavored. I was at this fall fair and they had a whole section about bugs and one of the tables boasted "Eat A Bug!" I was all by myself with the baby, and for some reason I just got it in my head that I was going to do it. I was going to eat a bug. I selected a garlic flavored one (there was also Cajun, chili, and cinnamon sugar). The people running the "Eat A Bug" table cheered me on. And I just did it. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and popped that bug in my mouth, chewed and swallowed. It tasted like a little piece of garlic Pringle. It wasn’t at all bad. It was just that thought that It had legs that totally creeped me out. I am very strangely proud that I ate a bug. Like really, really proud. To me the idea of sushi was no different than that bug.

I have to admit, I have tried sushi before. I was twelve. I was at someone’s Bar Mitzvah and they had one of those awesome cocktail hours that I LOVE, the ones with the different sections of food from around the world. I only love it because

Italy

is always represented and pasta is my one true food-love. They also always have Asian cuisine. Come to think of it, I can’t remember what other type of “worldly cuisine” those cocktail hours had... Mexican? Anyway, I was hanging out with my friend Gabe. We were by the Asian table and for whatever reason Gabe told me that Sushi was candy. Did he know the truth? To this day I don’t know if he truly believed that sushi was candy or if he was just being mean. He was also twelve and is a pretty smart guy, always has been, so I am willing to believe it was the latter. Anyways, I picked up the sushi thing, popped it into my mouth expecting something sweet, maybe even fruity, and got something GROSS AND FISHY. I immediately spit it out into my hand and chucked it under the Asian Cuisine table. Because of this one bad experience I have not ever wanted to touch sushi again. Thanks a lot, GABE. This is surprising considering my obsession with Japanese pop culture (Well, primarily Japanese candy and adorable small novelty toys). The time has come for me to try sushi because even Andy (my husband) likes it, and if you knew him, you’d know that seems unlikely.

For my birthday, Andy surprised me by taking me to the BEST sushi place in town, Jina Yoos. Being that my birthday fell on Easter this year, (No, actually it was Easter that fell on my birthday...) we were the only ones in the restaurant. Jina herself came over to our table and Andy told her it was my first time trying sushi. Jina was very nice and asked about my likes and dislikes and gave suggestions. She also said she could offer us options that were off-menu. I ended up choosing the Scarlet Shrimp Roll. It had fried shrimp, (I just wasn’t ready to try raw), cream cheese, spicy tuna, spicy mayo, and a few other ingredients I just can’t remember. Our food arrived and it was time to taste...

I was spending too much time thinking about my horrible and disgusting first experience with sushi. Then I thought about all the millions of people that love eating sushi and about how they can’t ALL be wrong. And back to the time I ate that bug and how I just went for it. So that's what I did. I just went for it, and guess what? It was so super delicious; I am CRAVING IT RIGHT NOW. Next I tried some of Andy’s sushi. He DID have raw salmon in his. I tasted it and it tasted a little too fishy for me. He also had a roll called the Mr. Myagi (yup. Haha!) which was really good and it also had some raw fish in it.

Jina Yoos was awesome and delicious and I definitely recommend it to anyone in the Columbia area. I am feeling much braver about trying new foods. What’s the worst that could happen? I spit it out. That would be the absolute worst, most rude thing I could do and it isn’t so bad. I still have a lot of different types of sushi to taste. Types that look way more fishy and will require much more food-bravery than my fried shrimp sushi. Bring it on!