Sushi Yasuda Sushi Mystery
Last Saturday I went to Sushi Yasuda for dinner with my boyfriend. We got the Valentine's tasting menu (which was terrific) and the only problem was that our waitress' English was weak and she couldn't name one of the items on our plate. It turns out that this very piece of sushi was the most surprising and oddest things I have ever tasted and for the life of me, I can't figure out what it was.
The waitress seemed to think that the translation might be abalone (which I've never tasted), but this fish had no taste at all. It was all about the texture - crunchy! It didn't really have the texture of a clam - it was firmer but not necessarily chewy. The fish was lightly scored across the top and was sort of round and of a yellow hue. I have no idea what I ate. Can anyone help me?
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12 Comments:
Did it look like this? I've never had abalone but the description of the texture you gave sounds like what I've heard about it. Squid is prepared the same way, scored on top, slightly sweet, and crunchy, but it is white, not pale yellow.
simon at 2:08PM on 02/17/09
It kind of looked like the piece on the right. I was under the impression that abalone had a delectable flavor and would be more succulent. But maybe it doesn't.... It crossed my mind that it could be squid - but it didn't have the translucent color of raw squid, nor the opaque white of cooked squid, unless it had sauce on top.
laurelie at 2:19PM on 02/17/09
Maybe it was squid that was marinated in something that gave it the color? I've only had abalone once, on vacation, and I honestly don't recall what it tasted like.
dbcurrie at 2:33PM on 02/17/09
Raw awabi (abalone) is quite crunchy and normally have grayish edge. Sun-dried and reconstituted ones are full of flavor (due to high amino acid contents), but raw ones are very subtle in flavor.
Raw (and fresh) squid can be a bit crunchy, but should look translucent.
Abalone sashimi looks like this.
It's not tasteless, though, if you really taste it. If you can taste tofu and octopus sashimi, you should be able to taste abalone. That may require some practice ;-)
hmw0029 at 3:09PM on 02/17/09
Hi laurielie,
Do you remember if it is a "slice" of the unknown meat or a whole meat (like a round clam)?
I think you probably did have abalone. Abalone is a difficult ingredient to work with. Depending on the size, origin, raw vs cooked (and different cooking techniques), the taste and texture can vary SIGNIFICANTLY. A good abalone in its raw / slightly boiled form should be slightly sweet and briny with a bit of a chewy (or firm) texture, yet still very easy to bite into it.
If they slice it into pieces then the meat is likely to be whitish or slightly grayish / yellow. If it is the whole abalone (small ones) then it will have a darker "rim" but something they trim the edge off.
If the meat is cooked in mirin or sauce then it might appear slightly brown (like light soy color)
So perhaps I didn't really confirm what you have, but I think it was likely to be abalone sushi, just prepared in one of the forms above. If you found that it had no taste, that's just because the abalone was not of good quality!~
kobetobiko at 3:11PM on 02/17/09
@hmw0029,
I am pretty sure abalone used for sushi will NOT be the reconstituted dried abalone. For one, it is too pricey. For two, the taste is too strong for sushi!
kobetobiko at 3:14PM on 02/17/09
Thanks everyone! I do now think that what I had was indeed abalone. It must have been whole because it did not look like the picture that hmw posted - more like in the shape of a small cake. It's not really that it was tasteless, but I think that I was so surprised - almost taken aback - by the crunchy texture, that my senses were overstimulated and concentrated solely on the texture in my mouth. It was almost unappetizing because I didn't have a conception of what I was eating or what it was supposed to taste like - it was exciting to taste something so different. The taste was just so subtle (almost like a squid or a clam, but nowhere near as succulent as the latter), that I assumed it couldn't be abalone, a delicacy, as a result of that. Silly me.
I think I definitely need more practice tasting abalone - and this time I will be sure to get confirmation of what I am eating! Many thanks for everyone's help!
laurelie at 3:23PM on 02/17/09
@kobetobiko, yeah, right, they are more of a Chinese ingredient :-)
hmw0029 at 3:34PM on 02/17/09
Fugu?
morty at 5:07PM on 02/17/09
haha, no, I doubt it was Fugu, although that would have been cool.
laurelie at 6:40PM on 02/17/09
I love playing guess the sushi (beats Jeopardy). I'll take strange, nasty bits for $1,000 Alex. What is shiokara? Translation: squid guts.
guttergour at 9:17AM on 02/19/09
@guttergour, shiokara (means salty) is squid flesh marinated in salted squid guts.
There is a black version of shiokara (+squid ink, called kurozukuri). It looks absolutely disgusting but tastes good, though not all Japanese people can eat this stuff.
You should try shutoh. That's even more advance. goes extremely well with good sake, thus the name. (hint: bonito) :-)
hmw0029 at 11:57AM on 02/19/09