Eat Raw Fish? Forget it!

Had lunch at the Chinese restaurant down the street today and my fortune cookie sure hit the nail on the head. I read it aloud, of course: You modesty will shame those with lesser knowledge.
This resulted in hysterical laughter from Jackie. Along with being unseemly behavior in public, this was an annoying lack of acceptance of the obvious. Far be it from me to toot my own horn, but how can anyone argue with a fortune cookie?
One aggravating thing about the Chinese restaurant, which also is a Japanese restaurant, is the Sushi bar. Every seat is always taken and I find it hard to believe that so many people willingly eat raw fish. Jackie pointed out that they also serve gin, beer and Irish whiskey so it is no different than any other bar. I explained why she was wrong about that: The taverns I have patronized all my life place bowls of pretzels or potato chips on the bar, not raw fish. At Frosty Miller's or the Town Club that could have resulted in a riot.
Also aggravating are the placemats in the restaurant. They show pictures of all the different kinds of raw fish you can get at the Sushi bar. Someone should tell the proprietors that no one wants to look at that stuff while trying to enjoy their chop suey or egg foo yung. Along with the colorful pictures of disgusting items is an inscription: "Art you can eat."
Art? Pictures of nauseating raw fish qualify as art? If so, I'm just glad I've never been an artsy-fartsy, namby-pamby type of guy. As Archie Bunker once said, "Give me some red-blooded American food like pizza."

Dick,

I am so glad that so far,somehow I have forgotten to eat raw fish.

I hope I can keep on remembering to forget to do it too.

It sounds most unappealing to me.

Alright, I'll go out on a limb here...I love sushi, and am here to tell you that is a far better thing than broccoli or even the much misunderstood okra. And, sushi is not raw fish, the word actually refers to the rice, and much of the fish is actually cured or cooked, though not all of it.

The only downside I see with sushi is that it is the most carbohydrate rich rice that you can find (that's why it rolls up and sticks together so nicely). It also means it has more sugar than any other rice, so a little rough on the diabetics, but delightful all the same.

Well I'll be danged! Disck and I agree on a food product. Funny that it's something to NOT eat...

I have to admit trying sushi once, but by the time I had enough hot sauce on it that I couldn't taste the fish, I thought, what's the point?

deleted by merri

Dick, "sushi" does not mean "raw fish".

"Sashimi" is raw fish. Sushi is balls or rolls of rice topped with various ingredients, VERY few of which are raw fish.

I guess it's one of those terms that has migrated into popular use, Lin.

I forgot to mention before that I do like raw oysters. It's a shame
that they are considered to be dangerous now. They never killed me
before...

Yeah, most Americans seem to think sushi is raw fish. When it's pretty blatantly not.


Who was it that said, "It was a brave man who ate the first oyster."?
Boswell?

"Who was it that said, "It was a brave man who ate the first oyster."? Boswell?"

I had to look it up, but JSTOR gives the credit to Jonathan Swift.

Oysters, I like. Raw, fried, Bienville, Rockefeller, grilled on the half-shell with a spoonful of white wine until the edges start to curl.

But I was first introduced to sushi and sashimi in Japan in '69. I was trying to be a good guest, but I couldn't handle those two. Sukiyaki and tempura were quite good, though. I was nervous, at first, about dipping the sukiyaki (thin slices of marbled beef, cooked quickly at the table) in raw egg, but that was surprisingly delightful.

When we got home, we had our friends over for a tempura dinner. We built a low table in the den and sat around it on cushions, supplied all our guests with happy coats and kimonos, and asked them to remove their shoes. Bill fried the shrimp and vegetables at the table as I brought trays of raw food and batter to him. We drank japanese beer and warm saki. Talk about a happy memory!

Ann

I have been known to eat raw Twinkies, and, on special occasion, raw popcorn. I do not eat raw fish, or anything that is cooked with the eyes still attached to the head. Nor do I eat anything of an electrical nature, such as eels or transistors. Thank you very much for the opportunity to share this valuable piece of information with all of you.

Good one, Don! Actually I have eaten the bait...

We were deep-sea fishing and using shrimp for bait. At the end of the
day there were still some left, and they were still alive, and into the
pot of boiling water they went!

Never ate raw shrimp either.

Phil, the shrimp in tempura do get cooked, at the table. You dip them in a batter of ice water, egg, and cornstarch, and dropp them into a hot wok of peanut and sesame oil. Along with the shrimp, you fry green onions, mushrooms, and other vegetables, using chopsticks to dip them in a sauce made with soy sauce and horseradish.

Did you ever go crabbing, then head home to eat boiled crabs and crab gumbo?

Ann

Ann, when you "cooked at the table", was it like the... fondue? that we
did in the 70's? That was fun! There was the ones you did with hot oil
for meats, and others that melted chocolate to dip into.

Don, I don't especially like the eyes looking at me either. We have these little blindfolds that we ... oh, never mind...

ANn, we simul-posted. Yes, I have gone crabbing and did exactly that.
Somewhere here I told the story of my dad and uncle arguing over the
throwing of the live crabs into his beer cooler.

A lot like that, Phil. Did you catch my edit about going crabbing? Those were good memories, too.

Ann

Sure did, and went back and edited my post to answer! LOL

I had a neighbor from Kansas wo married a good ole' Southeast Texas boy. One night, we came home and cooked a pot of gumbo. She wouldn't eat the crabs, even though she liked the roux-based sauce. For a long time after, she would entertain people by telling them how we would suck the crabmeat out of a section, and the louder a noise we made, she claims, we would appreciatively say to each other, "Ooh, that was a full one."

Ann

You did read my "Creek Lobster" story didn't you? Sucking the heads is the best part! (crayfish)

I never learned to do that, Phil. Crawfish tails are all meat, as is the body of those crabs. It doesn't bother me to eat a fish that still has its head on, so long as I'm not expected to eat the head. There was a cajun restaurant chain a few years ago that sold T-shirts with a woman holding a crawfish in her hand, a shocked look on her face, saying, "You want me to suck WHAT??"

I totally understand her attitude about that one. I guess it goes back to my philosophy: Moderation in all things.
Ann

I was introduced to sushi in my teens. I was fortunate enough to babysit for a Japanese 'war bride', as she called herself. She made her own, and took the time to explain all the ingredients to me. She said the fish in sushi undergo treatment simiilar to pickled herring or hominy, depending on the cook and the suppplier. I found it quite delicious, but have not had commercially prepared sushi. When she presented some as a gift to my family, I was the only one who would eat it. Fortunately, she did not stay to see if we would eat it!

If it still has a eyes and a head, I don't want to eat it. The exceptions are of course crab, shrimp and lobster. I make exceptions for seafood. However, I draw the line at raw oysters. Only vegetables should be eaten raw, in my opinion.

I avoid sushi like the plague.

Dave and I went to a fancy place for our anniversary and were served fish with heads and the eyes were staring straight up at us.

The only way I could eat was to remove the heads and hide then under my teaspoon. YUK! Why pay to be tortured? Then to leave a tip? Thanks, but, no thanks!

It's hard to believe Dick has turned down any type of meal raw fish or not. While I was in Japan my host insisted on going to the restraunts specializing in raw fish. Like Dick, I look like I never turned down a meal so I tried every suishi (sushi ) every raw fish dish they had. I didn't gag on a single bite except for one. The specialty and best is suppose to be blow fish, I'm afraid the bite of blow fish made its way into my napkin. I did not realize how hooked I was on fried food until I went to Japan, thank God I stopped in Hawaii where I could find some good fries.

Does eating in the raw count?

Dick, it might count if what you're eating still has it's head and is looking at you!