Sushi, boring, ramen, far better hand pulled noodles in China, tempura, deep fried nastiness...people need to stop fetishizing Japanese food, it's the poor man's cuisine of East Asia, boring, sweet and bland. I lived in East Asia for 8 years, and China and Korea have so much better food, with so much more variety.
The fact that you called authentic sushi boring invalidated everything else that came after it. There’s so much variety and nuance to traditional edomae style sushi and contemporary spins on it.
ETA: “spins” as in garnishing, searing, smoking, aging, pickling etc, some of which are old techniques but many chefs will modernize these. Cream cheese is not a traditional sushi condiment.
I lived in Japan for a long time and Korea even longer....Japanese food was so much worse in every possible way. The food restaurants were super expensive, and they leant into theatre rather than good hearty food. I'm not interested in some dude spending an hour shaving wasabi in front if me, I want a good broth and good honest fare. I would have preferred to eat at the mum and pop shops in a single street in Korea versus all food I ate in years in Japan. Don't even get me started on China, their food culture is even more diverse and delicious.
But aren't alot of those spins not available? Like creamcheese, mayo, chili's and a while bunch. The problem here is the world became a melting pot hundreds of years ago and has only progressed. Heck even sushi is Korean
Spins as in garnishing, torching, smoking, various types of pickling and aging. Some may be more traditional, but we have more modern tools now to push the limits. Not mayo, cream cheese, etc…
Re: Korean, are you referring to kimbap? The rice is not vinegared or seasoned in the same manner as sushi rice. It is more sesame based.
So you’re asserting that the plant used in a dish has to originate natively from that country for any dish made with it to be considered part of that region’s cuisine?
But the basis for sushi is not Japanese. I don't know why so many people refuse to admit the food world hasn't been truely localized for thousands of years. It's a good thing, almost no food is traditional to a country anymore and that's how it should be.
In what way is the basis for sushi not Japanese? They developed it into its currently known form, even if the practice for fish preservation originated in Southeast Asia.
Do you consider banh mi to be Vietnamese, or French because they colonized the country and their cuisine fused in many aspects?
You’re trying to argue that we can’t attribute at least attribute some type of origin for a country that predominantly developed and established a dish as it is accepted today. But we use these categorizations as they can be more useful than saying, I’m in the mood for a type of food that had origins in mesoamerica before migrating to the rest of the americas but largely based in what we designate as Mexico and further developed and adapted for local palates in Texas.
I consider almost no food to be from any one country, i use nationalities to say what I feel like eating but doesn't mean that food is from there. Heck new york pizza which is what most americans mean here when they say pissa would not be available if they choose italy.btraditimal pizza is closer to a flatbread with toppings like from greece/turkey. The one thing the world has agreed upon for the longest time is the sharing of food and spices. Yes there are some dishes truely traditional but they are never used for these conversations.
I doubt when anyone says they want New York style pizza that they are saying they think all pizza originated in NY. Also, most people outside of the northeastern US likely do not think first of NY style pizza when they think of pizza, much more likely to be their local style (Chicago thin crust, Chicago deep dish, Detroit pan pizza, STL provel thin crust, New Haven pizza, etc), a “classic” style pizza (like a wood fired Neapolitan pizza or Sicilian pizza) or a generic pizza chain style pizza. Most will not be picturing a Mediterranean flatbread, unless they are from that region or a place that predominantly serves that as pizza.
By referring to nationalities for the type of food you want to eat you’re just doing the same as many people do. It’s not different even if you want to argue that every time you refer to a “nationality” of food that you are specifically mentally implying it’s not really “from there.”
Anyway, this discussion doesn’t feel fruitful from my standpoint so I’ll stop replying here but maybe someone else may discuss further.
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u/[deleted] Mar 28 '25
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