365 True Things: 231/Sushi

Tomorrow we are officially embarking on the Whole 30 diet, which I wrote about a couple of months ago. Yes, it's taken that long to gird our loins, so to speak. Not to mention go shopping—which we did today, for a menu plan that covers the entire week.

I can't remember the last time we shopped for more than two days' in a row worth of food. Usually we shop for the immediate meal at hand, at least when it comes to dinner. Breakfast is covered by cereal and milk (David) or bread and cheese (me). Lunch tends to be skipped. So: dinner gets picked up at the end of the day.

But that, for the time being, is a thing of the past. Long live change.

Today, the list was long, and the shopping cart full—mostly vegetables, but also quite a lot of meat—and we did not escape without surrendering a good chunk of change. But . . . we're both interested to see how this little experiment affects us. Healthwise—cutting out sugar, wheat, dairy, legumes, alcohol (but coffee's okay, thank goodness)—as well as schedulewise, since the plan insists that we eat three solid meals a day. Fortunately, it also does some handholding for the first week, before booting us out on our own.

Ika

Last night we went out for sushi—which is out of bounds for the next month because of rice and soy sauce (legumes), so no, we can't just fall back on sashimi, because what is sashimi without soy sauce? I ordered my usual: nigiri sushi, four flavors—ika (squid), hamachi (yellowtail), tako (octopus), and tobiko (flying fish roe). I don't think of myself as a creature of habit, but when it comes to sushi, I guess I am.

Hamachi

And I realized that I don't necessarily like those particular ingredients for their taste (though I do that too). But sushi is perhaps the only kind of food that I enjoy for its texture, first and foremost. The ika is soft-crunchy; the hamachi, buttery smooth; the tako, crunchy-chewy (it can be rubbery, so I rely on the sushi chef to let me know if tonight might not be a good night for the tako); and the tobiko is like little tiny fireworks in my mouth, pop pop pop pop pop.

Tako

Last night, David also ordered a few oysters (mmmmm, delicious!); hokkigai (surf clam) and "ocean trout" nigiri; and an "I Love You" roll, all of which he shared (or maybe the better word is traded) with me. One hokkigai for one tako; one trout for one hamachi. Even steven.

Tobiko

And now, our "sharing" will be happening in the kitchen, since a lot of cooking will be going on. Me, I enjoy sous-cheferie, but I'll do my best to take on the slaving-over-the-stove role sometimes as well. I'm good at both, after all.

Wish us luck!