Let's Go Out For Sushi!

Let's start by explaining that before tonight, I've had sushi once in my entire life. I grew up avoiding seafood. My mom is allergic to seafood, so my dad only gets it when he's at a restaurant or at a party. Since I was no where near adventurous with food growing up, I tried fish a handful of times. At the most. And sushi was nowhere on my radar growing up in the Midwest where fish isn't always so fresh.

My brother, who also didn't try much seafood when we were growing up, has tried and grown to love a lot of seafood since he's moved to Arizona. He is a sushi fanatic. So when I went to visit him one spring, I tried it too. I honestly didn't know what to think. The taste, texture, smell, everything was so different than what I was accustomed to. Everyone I was with said that was normal - it takes a few tries to learn to love sushi.

I found out we were moving to Japan, and decided to just wait to try it again until we got here. I figured the freshness of fish here vs. the desert of CA was incomparable, and I may as well wait for the real stuff. I don't know why it's taken us so long to get out and try some, but we did tonight.

We went out for sushi at this place that may be called 105. We're not really sure, but it has turtles and the numbers 105 on the sign, so that's what we're calling it. Jeff had gone to this place repeatedly down in Southern Japan, so he knew what to expect.



We sat down at a table, and in the middle of the tables is a conveyor belt. This place puts all the food on the conveyor belt, and you grab what you want. So if you want a specific food, you grab it, and the plate color or design indicates the price you'll pay. I didn't see anything over 215 yen, which is roughly $2. Most things were about $1, and contained 2 pieces of sushi or similar foods. I was a little overwhelmed because I couldn't tell what anything was and am totally ignorant to the seafood world, but my husband tried to point out mild fish that he could recognize. We finally noticed the touch screen order screen had an English option, so we were able to guestimate what was what.



This was the second type of fish I tried. We both forgot what the first kind I tried was, and couldn't guestimate by pictures after the fact. I really liked the first, although the very edge was a little metallic and intimidating! This was the second kind I tried. Again, no idea what kind of fish. I'm no help. Jeff recommended it because he really likes it, and I did too. It has such a mild flavor it doesn't taste "fishy" at all, which is what I'm always afraid of. I also got a cucumber sushi I've tried and loved before, which is just seaweed, rice, and cucumber. Jeff tried swordfish and a tuna and green onion roll.



Even though I've only been to one sushi place in America, I could see a difference in the sushi offered in each country. Or each restaurant I tried would be a better guess, probably. I remember a lot of combinations and extras in Phoenix, like cream cheese and veggies and all sorts of extras. Here, it was basically just rice and fish. Sometimes there was a seaweed wrap but not usually. Sometimes there were little additions like green onions, but not generally. The vast majority was a little bit of rice and a small slice of what I would assume is very fresh fish. Maybe the more fanciful combinations are offered at more expensive restaurants, but I didn't mind their absence.

This 105 place (or whatever its actual name may be) is kind of like Japanese fast food. It's cheap and fast. We got 4 or 5 plates of sushi, a plate of soy beans, and 2 plates of New York Cheesecake, and paid maybe $15 American dollars. It was fantastic. We ate enough to be full without that annoying overstuffed feeling, we didn't have a huge pile of leftovers because we picked little plates until we were full, and it was fresh and mainly healthy (minus the cheesecake) choices. I think we'll definitely be going back there on a pretty regular basis.

Although it'll still be a while before I feel comfortable going anywhere without Jeff! When we walked in, the hostess started talking to us and apparently asking questions, but obviously neither of us can really catch what she's saying. Jeff knows enough to kind of gesture and guess his way through, but I get intimidated and freeze up. The same thing when we were paying. The hostess was very nicely counting up our plates for the total and reading off what each plate apparently was, but it was gibberish to me. At least the cash register tells you the total yen in digital numbers, I at least know how to pay!

So that was my "First Sushi in Japan" experience! Not all that exciting, but that's because it was low-key and tasty. I'm hoping I can continue to be adventurous and try different kinds of seafood here. We're also planning to attempt cooking fish at home...eventually. There's a large fish market in Hachinohe, which is about a 30-minute drive. We went there on a cultural tour (which I just realized I never blogged about, woops!) and it has every kind of fish, clam, seafood, etc. that you could ever want. If you can figure out what everything is, which we couldn't. So all we have to do is learn how to identify types of fish, then buy some and try to figure out how to cook it. It should be a fun experience I'll have to share when we try it!



Hachinohe was more severely damaged than Misawa during the earthquake, although I honestly don't know the extent of its damage. I know a lot of airmen and sailors went down to Hachinohe to help repair the docks. I honestly don't know the extent of damage in most places near us. We haven't ventured far in the past month since things have been on the mend. I decided to stay during the voluntary departure, but that didn't mean I wanted to be out exploring. We may not have been far this past month, but this summer we'll explore the Aomori prefecture at the very least.