I was taught from a very young age to try everything at least once, and if you didn't like it, fake it till you make it.... The first time we traveled to Europe, my mother basically threatened my sister and I saying that even if we didn't like something, we eat it with a smile and ask for more. That has worked WAY too well for some of these foods, but at least it has instilled a bit of adventure when it comes to food. I will try anything once. (I feel I should probably clarify that to not include living things because this will undoubtedly come back to bite me in the rear later....)
Well, Japan certainly puts my theory to test. Everything you eat there looks ridiculously strange, and seeing as I don't speak any language remotely close to Japanese, it's all a gamble. I generally just look at the pictures and hope it's tasty!
Well, as any gambler will know, eventually your luck will run out.... I've been extremely lucky with everything I've eaten so far, seeing as it all has been delicious, but one of my fellow flight attendants was not so lucky, and she decided to share that unluckiness with me....
It all started out when she wanted a simple sushi roll to snack on for the flight back. So she went for the simplest looking roll, one with beans and presumably pork. Unfortunately for her, we discovered it most definitely was not what she thought.... The beans were correct, although they weren't just regular beans, they were fermented beans.... And the pork wasn't pork, it was pickled plum....
If you've ever smelled wet shoes, you know the ones I'm talking about; the shoes that you probably should've thrown away YEARS ago because they smell so bad, and then you wear them through a thunderstorm because you know they have already had a good run, so then they smell like WET SMELLY GROSSNESS? Those shoes.... Well, in case you've never smelled fermented beans before, now you know the smell. And the pickled plum smelled like anything pickled, but was indistinguishable under the massive odor of the beans....
Being the good friend I am, I dared my fellow flight attendant to eat it, and she handed it right back to me, so we both decided to try something new under the basis of "How bad can it be?" Famous last words.
Well, she cut it into pieces for us to taste and the fermented part of the beans turned into a sticky almost cobweb like substance stuck to the knife... Quite tasty looking.... So we counted to three and downed the foot-smelling-bean-roll.
Unfortunately for us, one of our fellow flight attendants from Japan decided that was the time to discuss the fermentation process of beans and how they basically rot in their own liquid ALL WHILE THE ROTTEN BEAN ROLL IS IN MY MOUTH. I quickly went through all my options of how offensive it would be for me to either spit it out or puke on the spot, all while trying to keep my gag reflex in check and discovered it would be hell to pay if I chose either of those options.... Another flight attendant decided that would ALSO be the optimal time to start ribbon dancing with the fermented cobweb still attached to the knife.... And I repeat, the rotten beans were still in my mouth. In desperation, I grabbed for basically anything to help wash it down and was lucky enough to snag a can of coke to be the chaser for those foot-smelling fermented beans.... All the while, impervious to my distress, they are still discussing rotting foods and dancing with the remaining cobwebs of those beans.... Delicious right?
I'm still unsure how the other flight attendant did with her own tasting of terrifying sushi seeing as I was ultimately focused with keeping my own down....
Now I know what NOT to buy at least.... But hey, I tried it once!
Love, Alison
I wish I could have that kind of poise while sampling products at our Tradeshow! 😖
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