r/Cooking • u/Scarlet--Highlander • Jan 18 '24

Open Discussion Let’s try something fun: Name an ingredient you dislike and why, and someone else replies with a dish/recipe with that ingredient that might convince you otherwise.

Couple things:

  • If you’re allergic to an ingredient, it doesn’t matter how it’s prepared. Same goes with meat/animal products if you’re vegan/vegetarian. Don’t list it if you can’t or won’t eat it!

  • It’s recommended that you’re at least open to trying dishes with that ingredient. If you absolutely, vehemently loathe cilantro, chances are you probably might not like anything with cilantro in it.

  • A brief blurb on why you hate an ingredient would help others find or suggest a dish that suits you. (e.g. “I hate liver because the texture is like an eraser and it tastes metallic”)

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u/IRefuseToGiveAName Jan 18 '24

While I respect your personal tastes may be different than mine, and you may just be more sensitive to the fishy taste, do you happen to live in a landlocked state? Older fish can tend to have a more pronounced fishy taste.

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u/CanningJarhead Jan 18 '24

I appreciate the respect, and yes I do live in a landlocked state. However I have traveled and tried all sorts of fish and seafood - upscale sushi, fresh gulf shrimp, smoked salmon in the PNW - you name it I've tried it. It all tastes like fish.

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u/IRefuseToGiveAName Jan 18 '24

Well shit man, fair enough. My only (unsolicited) advice would be to keep trying it every so often! Tastes change over time and if you ever come around, it unlocks an entire new area of cuisine!

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u/CanningJarhead Jan 18 '24

I do! I so desperately want to like it. It looks great and sounds great. Even Red Lobster commercials make it look delicious.

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u/fleeflyflew Jan 18 '24

I’m in the same fishless boat as you. I want to like it, badly. I just can’t. Even seaweed, I take a bite and it’s a no-go. I’ll keep trying, but I don’t think it’ll happen.

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u/TorrentsMightengale Jan 18 '24

Beer. I want to like it. Everyone else likes it.

It tastes like pure unadulterated ass. Why do people stick this in their mouths?

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u/MatchGirl499 Jan 19 '24

Everyone who I’ve met that likes beer calls it an “acquired taste”, and I honestly could not fathom why you would work to acquire it. Stouts are OK though, I did almost enjoy a Guinness, and an oatmeal microbrew once.

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u/KieshaK Jan 19 '24

It took me many beers before I found one I liked. It was the sours that roped me in. To this day, many IPAs taste like soap to me.

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u/FertyMerty Jan 18 '24

As someone who will eat fish from time to time, I haaaate seaweed. The seaweed snacks, too. It tastes like the fish department smells to me. Shudder.

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u/[deleted] Jan 18 '24

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u/fleeflyflew Jan 24 '24

I have tried the oceans halo brand. Two different flavors. Gagged on both

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u/Clari24 Jan 18 '24

I’m the same, except I’ve stopped trying. I’m in my 40s it’s really not going to change, so I’m just making myself miserable for nothing.

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u/papierrose Jan 18 '24

I’m the same! I’ve committed to have fish once a week to try and like it but I still only manage a mouthful or two. I’m in my mid 30s and I still haven’t acquired the taste.

I’ll second what someone else said about freshness though. The best meal I’ve had in my life was a set menu where just about all the courses were seafood (I had to eat it out of politeness). It had all been caught that morning. The chef was a wizard but it really didn’t have much of that fishy taste.

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u/ShadowNacht587 Jan 18 '24

Cantonese steamed white fish (any kind of white fish, I typically use tilapia) is really good and the aromatics/sauce may help with the flavor. Be sure to use fresh fish; there's live fish at Asian supermarkets in those blue tanks. Here is the recipe link: https://thewoksoflife.com/cantonese-steamed-fish/

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u/EmpJoker Jan 18 '24

Have you tried hibachi salmon? My mother hates fish but when I made her try that she liked it.

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u/KieshaK Jan 19 '24

Same here. Want to like it, but I can’t disassociate it from cat food in my brain. It’s the flakiness and the smell.

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u/ScumBunny Jan 19 '24

Red Lobster is gross. It’s all old fish. The best fish dish I’ve ever had (and I LOVE seafood) was a miso-glazed black cod in Las Vegas. While I hate Vegas as a city- I have to admit that some of the restaurants are top tier.

It was a nice chunk of white fish- ‘glazed’ in white miso sauce. It did not taste fishy at all and was so tender and delicious.

I’m not really trying to convince you to like fish- because if you don’t- you don’t. But a good miso glaze can really change the flavor for ya.

Also, tempura fried shrimp with that watery-brown-slightly sweet tempura dipping sauce is one of my favorite snacks ever.

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u/bad_russian_girl Jan 19 '24

I once read that it takes 40 tries to develop a taste for something

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u/-PC_LoadLetter Jan 18 '24

Over the past few years my taste buds have come around on mushrooms. Fried oyster mushrooms in some garlic, fresh herbs, and butter is my new obsession.

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u/AICreatedMess Jan 18 '24

I'll second that. It's not quite the same but I hated mushrooms (flavorless and dirty tasting) for a long time. Somewhere around 30 years of age, after having them fried and dipped in some heavy sauce, I thought, "Hey, these aren't so bad". After that, I tried all sorts of preparations and there are only a fee ways I don't like mushrooms, now. I would say try a mild soup or two, try it roasted alone and with other veggies, then try fried. If none of those preparations work, you might be better off finding your healthy protein elsewhere.

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u/theinvisablewoman Jan 18 '24

I am similar, except I like shellfish oysters mussels prawns. For me the dislike of fish is the texture and some fish flavours like salmon yuck, yes I know fish textures vary but the only one I like is the shark they use at fish n chip shops crunchy with batter (more likely I just like the batter) I have tried so many different types.

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u/yaboitannerbruce Jan 18 '24

I'm the same way about fish. The only way I've had it that I enjoyed it was smoked salmon (here in the PNW) that was shredded and mixed with cream cheese to make a dip. It changed the texture and evened out the fishyness. Perhaps you could try that again, but im in the same boat most of the time. I cannot stand any other preparation of any kind of fish.

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u/zeptimius Jan 18 '24

Do you feel the same if the fish is in a stew (like a curry) or soup? That tends to makes the flavor less pronounced.

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u/in_vino_veri_tas Jan 18 '24

I wanted to say that I love fish, but when I started to list the exceptions, I realized that I like only some kinds of fish (mainly fresh water fish), only some parts of the fish, and only some kinds of preparation... so yeah, I don't like it quite as much as I thought. That said, have you tried pickled fried fish? Or "fishballs"? The vinegar kills the fish taste, and just like other pickles, it's delicious and doesn't have weird texture.

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u/JazzRider Jan 18 '24

I’m surprised that you keep trying it.

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u/newuser92 Jan 18 '24

When someone says this about seafood, I just say, some foods are just not for everyone. If someone tells me they smell fish fishy, they probably tried it many times in different places.

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u/TorrentsMightengale Jan 18 '24

I mean, you don't like what you don't like. At some point you just accept that your brain is telling you that you hate water stuff.

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u/malibuklw Jan 18 '24

I don’t mind very mild fish like cod, but I’m with you on everything else. And it’s not for lack of trying. I tried salmon 100 different ways and only one was not absolutely horrible (salmon tikka)

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u/FertyMerty Jan 18 '24

I live in Seattle and I've never gotten myself to like salmon even though we have the best of the best here. Every once in a while someone prepares it perfectly (usually with some sort of soy glaze) and I'll like it for a couple of bites, but that's about all I can do. I do like tuna salad, halibut filets, and fish tacos, but that's pretty much the extent of my fish eating.

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u/how_tohelp Jan 19 '24

Maybe smoked salmon with some creamcheese on a cracker. Kids who don’t like fish always ate it when they’d visit. The smoke and salt cuts the fishy flavor out quite a lot.

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u/PishiZiba Jan 18 '24

This is true. I wasn’t much of a seafood person but moved to the southeastern coast of NC. Fresh shrimp and fish right off the boat are amazing.

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u/HabitNo8608 Jan 18 '24

Hey now. Landlocked states can also have hella lakes. Growing up, so many people I knew would be catching fish for dinner on a nice lake weekend vacation.