I've been converted! (Marks & Spencer Nigiri Selection)

Member Name: wearsidelass

Product:	Marks & Spencer Nigiri Selection
Date:	02/06/04 (419 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very healthy eating

Disadvantages: Expensive for 5 small pieces

A few years ago, when we were basically skint, I applied to one of the local language schools to be a host for students. I had some really lovely ones and my family have become great friends with the families of my Portuguese and Spanish students. We visit them regularly. I did have one student, a Japanese pregnant lady of 34 years of age, can?t remember her name, but she was quite strange. She arrived on my doorstep one Sunday afternoon not only with her luggage but two big boxes of Japanese food and she stayed with me for five weeks before, thankfully, moving on to Birmingham. Most other host families loved the Japanese students because they were usually very nice and courteous to their hosts. I got the rude mannered and arrogant one, didn?t I! Sorry, but there are no other words for her. She always thought she was better than us ? she was a PR manager but I don?t know where her diplomatic skills were! As a host, I had to prepare her breakfast and dinner. Needless to say most of our dinners were English with the odd Italian spag bog or lasagne thrown in, perhaps the odd Mexican chilli con carne also. Now, I consider myself to be a good cook and my students always ate the same food as we did ? I never, ever gave them anything different (unlike some host families) but she wouldn?t eat my meals ? she would try one forkful and leave the meal - and she would then proceed to do some microwavable Japanese dish, usually seawood and noodles which stank my house out to high heaven! Her husband would ring in the middle of the night and they were always arguing. Now, when she ate her Japanese food, she always made loud slurping noises. It was really disgusting to listen to. My teeth used to grind together and I literally had to keep my mouth shut and not say anything.

One day she was particularly rude to me ? I really don?t think she meant to be and I can?t remember what she said ? I think it was the way the words came over (well, I like to think that!) and I though
t ?I?ll get you back for that?. Anyhow, one Saturday she told us that we really must try Japanese food and she would make us a lovely Japanese meal the next day Sunday. So, Sunday arrives, and our lovely Japanese meal was seawood soup and a basin full of noodles. She eagerly watched us eat. Hubby was very polite and ate it all and said yes it was lovely (he later admitted he lied through his teeth!). I told her the truth and said I thought it was horrible and I couldn?t eat it. My reasoning was that if it was good enough for her not to eat my cooking then if I didn?t like hers then I wouldn?t eat it. She told me I was not being very polite. I told her that we had more polite manners than her, that in England we wouldn?t dream of making the noises she made when eating food. We ate quietly. She never made the noises again. It was only after she left and I was recounting the tale to someone I worked with who had just visited Japan that I found out the Japanese custom. The more noise you make when eating food means that you are really enjoying it! Unfortunately, she didn?t make a noise when eating the few spoonfuls of my food but made dreadful noises when eating her Japanese food!

Ok, ok, I?m trying to get to my point!

She could be very rude, whether she realised she was or not I don?t know, but I quickly became really pissed off her with and at various times was ready to phone the school to tell them to place her elsewhere but, in the end, I persevered as I hate to be beaten. Anyhow, my point so far is that after she went I hated the thought of smelling any more Japanese food.

A few days ago, whilst we were in M&S, getting the usual mince and onion pies for my husband, we happened to look in the fish department. I had fancied a dressed crab as a treat. Bought the crab but hubby said ?that sushi food looks quite nice, should we try some for our supper?. Ugggh, Japanese food, yuk! But, as he has been ill with chronic bronchitis I thought if
he wants to eat it then fine as it is very healthy. So I bought it.

It cost £3.20 and contained 5 pieces of sushi:

2 smoked salmon nigiri
1 mackerel nigiri
1 omelette nigiri
1 prawn nigiri
Soy sauce
Pickled ginger
Wasabi

******
Sushi is usually associated with the sushi bar or shop, which plays a role in Japan similar to that of our traditional pub in England. Customers usually sit at tables or booths to enjoy their food and drink. Connoisseurs sit at the sushi bar on a stool, selecting their delicacies from the refrigerated display in front of them and watching the master chef prepare their selection.
Sushi is also usually associated with raw seafood but not all seafood is served raw; raw seafood is more properly called sashimi. Sashimi is slices or slabs of raw seafood, eg tuna and octopus (yuk, can?t stand octopus ? would rather starve!), served on a platter with thinly sliced ginger, finely shredded radish, and wasabi (Japanese horse radish mustard).
Sushi always includes rice. The nigiri (known as the hand-made sushi) is the typical sushi and is ordered and served in pairs. Other types include sushi rolls, or maki, which are made with sheets of seaweed (nori) (again, yuk!) and served as six slices. There is also pressed sushi or oshi, which is cut into small squares. And finally, there is stuffed bean curd rolls, or inarizushi
******
So, last Saturday night we decided to try it. I was the one to be the first guinea pig. I picked up one of the smoked salmon nigiri and dipped it into the soy sauce. The nigiri consisted of a rectangular shape of rice with a very small piece of smoke salmon placed on the top, I expected the rice to fall apart as soon as I picked it up but it didn?t. My husband was eagerly waiting for my reaction. I am surprised to say that I liked it! I was amazed! It was very, very tasty. So, hubby tried one, said it was OK. He ate two and I ate the rest!
r>I also ate all the pickled ginger ? now this doesn?t actually taste as if it has been pickled. It was very nice but after eating it (there wasn?t much of it though) it left a strong taste of ginger in my mouth. I did dip one of the nigiris into the wasabi (they only give you a tiny, tiny bit of this) but didn?t like it. Very strange taste.

The whole pack of nigiri amounts to a very low count of 255Kcal with the saturated fat content being only 2.1g so it is a very healthy meal or snack. Now I always thought that sushi always consisted of raw fish but this M&S version says that the sushi does not contain raw fish (I always thought smoked salmon was kind of raw???).

You must place this sushi in your fridge as soon as possible and you cannot freeze it either.

So, all in all, I liked the sushi, would buy it again, but only as a treat as I did think it was quite expensive for just 5 small pieces.