Everybody’s got that one food (or maybe more than one) that they’re afraid to try. Maybe it looks wrong. Maybe it’s a texture thing. Or maybe it just flat-out sounds nasty. And then you try it and wonder why you waited so long. A lot of people are that way about sushi. I am one of them.
I imagine what turns people off about sushi is the whole “raw fish” thing. Understandable, but you might be surprised to learn that sushi isn’t primarily about the fish. It’s about the rice. Not only that, but “sushi” is an adjective, not a noun, describing the sour taste of the vinegared rice.
My daughter and I took a sushi-rolling class at Lincoln Land Community College. This was definitely an exercise in “Is there a picture of it in the cookbook? Bet it don’t look like that!” My only experience in rolled foods is pinwheel appetizers and burritos. Mostly burritos. You can’t stuff a California roll like a burrito. Otherwise, it will end up looking like this.
Fortunately, here in Springfield, IL, you don’t have to eat ugly, sad sushi like this, because we have Happy Sushi at the corner of 9th and South Grand. My favorite is the 10.10 (which is also what it costs). This is cream cheese, spicy crab and shrimp deep fried in tempura batter.
In addition to the 40 or so kinds of rolls on the menu, Happy Sushi also serves teriyaki, fried rice and udon noodle dishes. I have been told that Chef Hiro will even make a custom roll for you, if you tell him your favorite fish.
But hey, as delicious as Happy Sushi is, there’s one thing you won’t find on their menu. . .
Gotta tell ya, those are a lot easier to roll.
So where’s your favorite place to get sushi? What’s your favorite roll?