What Japanese Foods DON'T You Like?

[blue_rebel]

I know I couldn't finish more than half of the osechi-ryori my host family served me during New Year's. The kurikinton was MUCH too sweet and the konbumaki tasted plain weird. +__+

 

[Anohito]

Okra is actually a plant originally from Ethiopia, but I had never eaten or even heard of it before coming to Japan, where it is quite common.

As the following web page indicates (some good info about okra there), okra is fairly common in the southeastern USA:

plantanswers.tamu.edu/publications/vegetabletravelers/okra.html

I found that the quality of ginko nuts (sometimes found in Chinese dishes in Japan an maybe some nabe dishes?) was variable. If they were bitter, I wouldn't eat them. If mild, they were a decent addition to food. As with others, there are a number of things on the list that I never tried, such as basashi, kani miso, and ika shiohara.

Again, as with others, there are some things on the list that I like, such as ikura, ika (in general), and tako.

Finally, I share the intense dislike of nattou that so many others have mentioned.

 

[Haivart]

salmon roe, only because it's too salty for me.

 

[Tay]

The first type of ramen that I ever tried was "Top Ramen," you know the stuff that college students live off of? Yeah, not true ramen. And when I finally tried the real thing, I couldn't finish it! I was so disappointed in myself, ha ha! But foods have different ways to be cooked, different seasonings and such, so I will search for MY ramen.

I haven't tried most of the food items listed in the poll, but I must say that I love mackerel and albacore sashimi, they don't need to be cooked at ALL.

And another thing I dislike--green tea mochi. Just can't get into it. Tastes like the scent of flowers, if you know what I mean.

--oh! and I also want to throw in my two cents about the okra. I live in western U.S. and cooked okra is commonly eaten in my family; it is usually boiled or pickled, so I have never eaten it raw. Pickled okra is pretty tasty.
Is it eaten in Japan as well?

 

[tampopo]

grub

Took me a while reading the posts from beginning to realise what Nottou is. Yeah, I don't like it. Haven't gone near it in years.OH laughs at me. On the poll, I marked things I haven't tried. Raw horse, no. But I did have the most delicious meat I ever tasted in a restauant in Matsumoto. Well done horse meat. It was fantastic. People ask me about the food and I always say that horse meat is the tastiest steak I've ever had.
Maciamo : with the cat food. You sound like the famous Danish joke.
Ask a Dane does he play the violin. He says. I don't know, I've never tried it.

I know a Dane that that would suit down to the ground!!!

I just asked my wife and she says people from the west don't like it. I have to say I do like okonomiyake. I had it first in Hiroshima. It is brilliant. Wife's from Yokohama so doesn't know how to cook it particularly well. There's an okonomiyake restaurant near the inlaws so I had it there the last time I was over.
We travelled around japan on our honeymoon and showed some photos afterwards. Nearly every 7th or 8th photo was of food. I thought I was doing very well trying this and that...it was only much later that I had a closer look and there's me in a photo in Okinawa with a pizza slice and a soft drink in my hand...and it's only after a week!!!God I caved in pretty quick!!! Overall, I do like the food. Only occasionally do I wish I'd married a French woman. All that savoury stuff for breakfast, it's hard to take. How 'bout a coffee and a croisant.Hmmm, sounds good right about now.

I'm not 100% keen on green tea, but would sup it to be polite. Konnyaku is a bit rubbery alright, but okay enough.

 

[taeter_tot]

crab brains definite no .. no .. yuck ... bleh

 

[Flashjeff]

crab brains definite no .. no .. yuck ... bleh

Crab brains??? You gotta be kidding me! That's vile!

 

[Apollo]

Crab brains??? You gotta be kidding me! That's vile!

I agree...I must admit I have never tasted it, but the thought of it makes my stomach say "NO GO"...:frown:
Anyways, like the majority, I don't like nattou...just the texture and smell of it makes me lose my appetite...

 

[Kyoko_desu]

Crab brain is just a name and it's not really a brain but it's something like a liver.
I don't think crustacean have any brains, do they???

 

[Flashjeff]

Crab brain is just a name and it's not really a brain but it's something like a liver.
I don't think crustacean have any brains, do they???

Well, if crabs have brains, I'm sure they're pretty damn small!

 

[pipokun]

it is nothing but guts as Kyoko_desu said.

 

[tsuki-chan]

I tried natto for the first time just few days ago... And it was a surprise but I didn't dislike it at all. I think it's quite good, even. What I really can't stand is umeboshi... Only thinking about it makes me :shiver: !

 

[Jason Pitzer]

I'm pretty sure I could eat about any thing if I can get into the skull of a fish I caught and cooked and eat his eyes and tounge ^^. And I quite enjoyed it hehe.

 

[pipokun]

Using umeboshi as a seasoning may be an idea, for I heard different sourness makes sauce better like ponzu shoyu, soy sauce based sour sauce. It is easy to prepare. Just core and chop umeboshi with a kitchen knife till it looks like paste. Actually I often use the paste even for a simple pasta recipe, such as ume+mayo+butter pasta.
When you cook a dish using lemon juice or vinegar, just add a pinch of the paste. I guess slightly reddish sauce in your plate enhances your appetite.

Skull of tuna may be a bit challenging, but at first try Kama part. Kama is the part between the head and the body.

 

[geishaboy]

Voted nattou, it's pretty bad and really overpowering, but not the worst food I have ever eaten

 

[mico]

i never eat any japan food except ramen (my fave) and takoyaki.
but i ever try wasabi made by japanese-course-institution student here and it taste so stingy!! really hurts my nose and i got a sudden cough!

 

[semi~sweet]

i cheaked wasabi cuz i remeber me and my brother were really daring and we went to go try some wasabi rolls and omg we ask for a pitcher of water and are mouths we still on fire

 

[Yoko_Kisaragi]

Umeboshi... anything pickled I usually don't like >O<

 

[Abe-toge]

There are very few Japanese foods I have trouble eating. There are quite a few I've eaten, but never bothered to develop a taste for -- nattou, shokara, nimono, oden, the traditional Japanese breakfast with the raw egg in the rice -- to name a few. Others took a few years before I developed a taste for them -- omochi for one.

 

[Petenshber]

@ semi-sweet, if you eat something really spicy again i would suggest you drink some milk rather than water, it should clean the spicy residue off of your tongue, water will make the mouth feel cooler but that's only the temperature, once your mouth warms up you'll feel it again, because it's still there. If you can't drink milk then try eating some bread.

I know i just did allot of typing over nothing, i'll be quiet now....

 

[Zaff]

I will eat all of the above but if I can avoid it ill skip on the umeboshi and the namako.

Nobody seems to like nattou yet I LOVE the stuff there again back here in UK I dont eat for taste just for protein content really. So I am used to turning my taste buds off.

I mean often my morning breakfast is a can of diet coke blended in with 2 cans of tuna (try it sometime its VERY good for you).

 

[Petenshber]

Forgive my ignorance, but what is nattou anyway? Would someone mind describing it for me?

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

Forgive my ignorance, but what is nattou anyway? Would someone mind describing it for me?

This is what nattou (or natto) is.
Nattō - Wikipedia

Personally, I can't stand the smell! Everyone says it's really healthy, but there's a certain line I can't cross, and nattou is on the other side of that line!

 

[Petenshber]

Thanks for the explanation.

 

[TuRbOxChAz]

i remember trying nattou for the very first time. i almost lost my appetite..but besides that, i dont like raw stuff. i like well-done stuff, or cooked seafood.. but then again, i hate seafood. only thing i like is seaweed and fish.