Main image via Atlas Obscura + SoraNews24
Sushi comes in various shapes, sizes, flavours and even smells but one sushi in particular is known for its pungent stinky smell and that’s funazushi.
Now, imagine that smelly sushi being turned into an ice cream. Can you?
Well, that’s what happened and we’re just as confused as you are.
via GIPHY
We love sushi as much as the next person, but we’re baffled by the fact that the smelliest-known sushi has been turned into an ice cream flavour!
According to SoraNews24, the new funazushi flavoured ice cream has been introduced in Japan and it apparently tastes like “Mascarpone cheese”.
In case you didn’t know, funazushi is traditionally made with a kind of Japanese goldfish called nigorobuna that’s unique to Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture.
“Originally a food preservation method to fortify rice farmers’ food stores through the rainy season, the fish is pickled in salt to draw out moisture, then compressed with steamed rice to seal out air and encourage fermentation,” Food Republic writes.
“The resulting product, harvested several months later, evokes strong, tangy blue cheese, feet and perhaps a whiff of ammonia. Like the more common fermented fish preparation kusaya, which translates to “smells bad,” funazushi is enjoyed as a delicacy around Japan. ”
After being heavily fermented and covered in salt, the fish is left to age in wooden barrels for over a year before it’s taken out and mixed with rice for two to three years. The fish begins to decay during this time and it begins to soften and emit its strong smell.
Image via Atlas Obscura
While it may be a delicacy to some, the smelly sushi has earned its name as the “stinkiest sushi in the world” for a reason.
But what about the funazushi-flavoured ice cream?
According to SoraNews24, the ice cream is actually not as bad as it sounds.
The ice cream is currently being sold at Coco Shiga for 400 yen (RM15.90) and it even comes with a cute fish-shaped wafer and fish flakes!
Image via SoraNews24
In terms of smell, “we struggled to smell anything but ice cream,” SoraNews24 shared.
“As it melted, we were surprised to find there was no funky fish flavour at all — in fact, it tasted more like Mascarpone cheese,” the website wrote. “It blended so well with the ice cream that it ended up tasting more like cheese than stinky fish.”
“We were relieved that the amount of funazushi used was perfectly suited to the ice cream, creating a delicious flavour that makes us understand why a lot of people pay high prices to enjoy fermented sushi,” they added. “The smell and pungency may be dialled down in the soft-serve version, but the essence of the fermentation still shines through, and has us thinking we might just give those funazushi potato chips another try if they’re ever released again.”
Image via SoraNews24
Hmm… We’re still skeptical about the ice cream…
Would you give the funazushi-flavoured ice cream a try if you could? Know someone who would? Share this with them!
Info via SoraNews24