Week 2: I have never tried sashimi

Hey guys! Squid here!

So let's start with a little background, shall we? I have had sushi before (a spicy california roll, to be exact), and was excited about it. It tasted great: I really liked the spicy sauce that came with it, and gobbled down about half of the roll before my boyfriend could even get to it.

The next time I had sushi, I was traumatized by it. I popped a section of the roll in my mouth and was happy with how it tasted, but something was wrong. Sweat began to drip down my forehead and my heart dropped into my stomach as I attempted to chew through the bite I had taken, which was rapidly becoming soggy the longer it sat in my mouth. I swallowed a large portion of it, and felt the Nori stick to the back of my throat instead of sliding down like the rest of it. For some reason, this time, I couldn't chew through the Nori, and thus the spicy taste of the sushi was quite literally drowned out with the taste of the ocean, stuck in the back of my throat. The fear of choking crept through my body in the form of shivers as I scrambled to maneuver my tongue in such a way so as to move the Nori back into my mouth, without alarming anyone to what was happening, of course. "This is how I die," I thought as I grabbed my napkin and tried to fish the Nori out with my fingers as a last resort.

So I never had sushi again. Fast forward about two years to January 2016, and here I was, tempting fate again.

I really, really want to like sushi. Like a lot, and so I thought to myself, "hey, I bet it's just the Nori that I don't like! I'll try Nigiri this time!"

Yeah, no. I guess I'm just not a sushi person.

We had attempted to get Salmon Nigiri before from two different places. One had us waiting on hold on the phone for ten minutes, and then never picked the phone back up, so the next week we tried the Teriyaki place we used to go to all the time. We decided to pick it up on the way home, so we stopped and ordered the Salmon Nigiri only to realize that the sushi chef was out for the week due to a family emergency.

It was as if the universe was telling me something.

I never listen.

Finally, on our third try, we managed to order some salmon nigiri. We brought it home and I sat at the kitchen table, eager to try what I was sure would be a small slice of heaven. "Finally," I thought to myself, "I'm going to like sushi and can be one of the cool kids."

I opened the styrofoam take-out box and there it was, in all it's glory. A thin slice of beautiful pink salmon sat atop a pillow of rice, and it was mine. My mouth watered as I basked in the warm light it seemed to give off, and I gracefully picked it up and cradled it between my chopsticks, inspecting it before I ate it. I wanted to cherish the moment, and remember it for the rest of my life.

I figured that the issue I had with the Nori the last time might be the fact that I have a small mouth, and as such I can't usually fit the entire piece of sushi in at once, so I bit off a small piece of the Salmon Nigiri, careful to chew it thoroughly.

How did it taste? Disappointing. I was very surprised that it didn't taste at all like salmon! Instead, the taste of the sushi rice seemed to overwhelm the salmon. I had figured that it would be slimy, so I was prepared for the texture, but still. If I'm spending money on salmon, I expect it to taste like salmon! I am considering trying it somewhere else, just in case this place wasn't fresh.

A lot of buildup for something that tastes so weak. Even soy sauce couldn't save it.

What do you think? Have you tried sashimi before? What about Salmon Nigiri?

Do or Do Not, There Is No Try

Hey guys, Squid here!

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Squid, I'm a 20-something nerd and I currently live with my boyfriend and our fur-family in the great Pacific Northwest. Why Squid? I'm not sure, really.

I started this blog because this year I want to challenge myself to step outside of the box and do some things I've never done before, and I'd like to take you with me on this journey, to allow you to witness my failures. I'm just gonna be blunt. I'm expecting to fail, A LOT, this year, and that's okay.

What kind of things will you be witnessing? Well, that I can't say, because I don't have too many ideas, but I can say that I've led a very sheltered life so far. I live in a fairly small town, but I'm so willing to break away from this sleepy town and test my boundaries and challenge myself, and I'm hoping that you'll stick with me throughout. But I do have a few things planned so far, like trying sashimi, going to a game night at my local comic book store, and traveling! My plan is to do things on the cheap, as well, so I'll likely be talking about finances and how I plan things on a budget.

So consider this the first thing I've never tried: I have never had a blog, because I haven't. I actually have no real idea what I'm doing, and I imagine that will be the theme of the year. I'm hoping I'll be able to learn about different things and that I won't fail too hard this year, and obviously I'm hoping you'll join me (by reading the blog, not by failing). Who knows, maybe you'll try new things too!