Wasabi?

I've never tried sushi. I don't really know what foods would constitute sushi, though I've heard about it a lot of times. So I finally decided to take the first step and savour this speciality on Sunday.

It was Oswin who told me about the Sushi stall at SOGO guangchang [translated as 'square', but really just a mall-ish place] Before I go any further, may I add that we have no idea if it had the 'authentic' taste or not [no Japanese people around to help us]. I would also like to add that I am rather picky when it comes to food but I'm never against trying new stuff. Snake blood, chicken feet, peanut butter and jelly... bring it on!

We got the assorted sushi, which, didn't look like my idea of sushi at all. I know it's funny how you have a certain idea about things even when you have never seen it, but I wasn't disappointed when I had it wrong. You can't always be right!

The sushi didn't taste great, in fact it didn't taste like much at all - a certain lack of flavour, which I realised might be intentional. And that brings us to the title, Wasabi.
Now, I had heard about wasabi before; supposed to be some 'hot' spice. I'm not afraid of "hot n' spicy", most Indian foods I like are made that way. When I was in Chongqing, the centre of hot Hotpots in China, I took in the hottest they could offer with a smile, sweating forehead and teary eyes. Oh, and it was good. "No milk to wash it down, thank you"
So I tried the wasabi sauce supplied with the sushi for that added flavour, and the result, was strange. The Wasabi sauce tasted like ground peanut shells in some green goo. The goo, might I mention, tasted awful. I gave it a try, in fact three tries. I even scooped up some and put it in my mouth just like that. I don't know how to describe that taste... like... wasabi [that's the new 'Ba']
I haven't given up on it though, I never do. Maybe with a few days/months of continuous trying, I might even come to like it. It's just that I'm not exactly inclined to do so right now. Or in the near future.


PS: In case you were curious,
Snake blood tasted just like baijiu, the traditional white wine of China, because they were mixed together in that glass. The same as the bile and the gall bladder.
My first tryst with chicken feet was with the rubbery kind which I tried to swallow, but gave up on. The second time though, it was fried and rather decent.
The first time I tried a peanut butter and jelly sandwich it tasted like "Ba", a synonym for 'bad' [found in only select dictionaries around the world] But later that winter I was stuck with eating just peanut butter and bread for more than one meal a day, and it was good! Now I like PBnJ sandwiches, though I still prefer either plain jelly or peanut butter ones.