Wrapping My Head Around Sushi Burritos

One of the fun things about my job is that I get to manage the Yelp Albany Instagram page.

Lately, Instagram has become my favorite social media platform. As far as I can tell, with a channel that’s based entirely on pictures there is little room for the misinformation, bickering, and straight up red hot hate of Twitter and Facebook.

It’s just a happy place filled with pictures of delicious food. Of course, I haven’t gone digging around in the darker corners of Instagram. And presumably, I have a lot of observational bias given the accounts that I follow.

Regardless, I really enjoy having the depth and breadth of all the pictures posted on Yelp to choose from. Of course I will also post some of my own shots too. But perhaps what I enjoy the most is getting to see which pictures have the most resonance and garner the greatest response.

If you read the title of today’s post, I’m sure you see where this is going.

So Vicky Y. took a picture of her sushi burrito, and when I shared it on Instagram, people seemed to go wild with desire. For those who are wondering, and don’t want to click through the link, she found this “sushiritto” at the Kobe Hibachi stall in Galleria 7 Market.

But I don’t get it.

I get that it’s relatively new, at least in these parts. Sushiritto is actually not a thing, but also a restaurant. A restaurant conceived to sell this dish at the intersection of Japanese and Mexican cuisine. It opened in San Francisco back in 2011 and then expanded into Manhattan.

As far as I can tell, the spot in the Latham gourmet food court is currently the only place in the Capital Region to get one of these monstrosities.

Yes, I said monstrosities.

Maybe it’s because I’m getting old and curmudgeonly, but I just don’t get this, and I have zero desire to try it. Maybe it’s because I hold the concept of sushi in too high regard. Without a doubt, I have put sushi on a pedestal, and maybe that’s a mistake. But if so, it’s a mistake I’m willing to defend.

Here’s the deal. To me, sushi is really one thing. And that’s Nigiri, well formed mounds of cold, seasoned rice, adorned with a perfect slice of fish so fresh and delicious, it is best enjoyed raw.

I listen to food safety expert Bill Marler when he says, ““If you’re going to eat sushi, spend the money and eat at a good sushi restaurant.” Not necessarily because I am a strict adherent to food safety standards, I am not. But because if I’m going to be eating raw fish, I want it to be worthy of eating raw.

So the idea of stuffing it into a burrito is as unappealing to me as drowning it under an avalanche of colorful sauces. However, taking a quick look around at the popularity of local sushi restaurants that trade in fanciful rolls where the raw fish is just a player in a cacophony of other textures and flavors, I clearly represent the minority opinion.

Of course, if mine were the majority opinion, I wouldn’t need this blog, now would I?

That said, I’m trying to keep an open mind. So if anyone wants to stand up in defense of the sushi burrito, I’m all ears.