Sushi Popper.
It gets your attention, right? Well, it got mine.
The sushi popper is sushi… that pops! And it is a new way of eating when you’re on the run. Packaged in a tube, sushi, made fresh when ordered, is sliced, frozen and shipped to you for healthier eating on the go. Set up like the ever popular ice-cream push-pops, the consumer can push the seven pieces of sushi up one-at-a-time to eat.
If you think anything like me, you probably think that the idea of frozen sushi is gross. However, it is surprisingly fresh tasting… I mean, you clearly didn’t get it straight from the sushi bar at Bleu Monkey (oh, hey Syracuse kids!), but it’s good just the same.
The poppers are shipped in a giant styrofoam box packed with dry ice. They come frozen solid and can remain in your freezer for up to one month. When you’re ready to eat, you just take it out of the freezer and let it thaw for approx 2 hours (8 hours in the fridge). Word of advice, don’t try to eat it too soon… frozen avocados are not particularly good.
The poppers currently come in four varieties: California roll, Chicken Teriyaki, Spicy Shrimp and Cucumber. My favorite was probably the Spicy Shrimp, even though the California and Chicken Teriyaki was also good. I was not a fan of the cucumber, however. It was just a giant piece of pickled cucumber, which was a little too crunchy for my taste.
I know, you are all probably wondering: what about soy sauce!? Well, this is where the genius comes in. The soy sauce is in the push stick. You open the stick, pour the soy sauce over the sushi (it trickles down through all seven pieces) and then you attach the stick on to the base… and push! They have not added wasabi or ginger to the package yet… but give it time, I’m sure it’s in the works.
To be honest, I think this is a great new and fun way to eat healthy. Sushi, for the most part, is very good for you, but because of how it is normally prepared and served, it was not the easiest dish to eat outside of a restaurant. Now, thanks to the inventive nature of the company’s founders, Evan Kaye and Lucas Furst, that no longer seems to be a problem. The price isn’t bad either – about $30 for a pack of 6, which averages out to about $5 per roll… pretty cheap in the sushi world.
If you are interested in learning more, or perhaps ordering some for yourself, you can log on to sushipopper.com.
(Full disclosure: I was sent a free sample of this product to review)
2 cups of cooked spaghetti
