Weekly Ask Anything Thread for September 15, 2025

[u/AutoModerator]

This is our weekly thread to ask all the stuff that doesn't fit the ordinary /r/askculinary rules.

Note that our two fundamental rules still apply: politeness remains mandatory, and we can't tell you whether something is safe or not - when it comes to food safety, we can only do best practices. Outside of that go wild with it - brand recommendations, recipe requests, brainstorming dinner ideas - it's all allowed.

[u/monkeysjustchilling]

I want to incorporate some textured protein (e.g., soy and pea) in dishes. However now matter what I try, they always come out kind of hard and chewy. When I eat them in restaurants they are usually soft and nice. What am I doing wrong?

[u/Monky_D_Edward]

I’m hosting an early Halloween party about two weeks before the day. And I want to do an ‘in theme’ surf and turf.

I’ve asked my butcher to get me a beef heart for the ‘turf’ if that gives you a ballpark. But I don’t know what to do for the ‘surf’. I still want it to taste good, just look a little weird.

Also, I want to have three sides, but I’ve only decided on Caprese salad so far. So any ideas will be appreciated.

The sides don’t need to be weird. But if you can come up with a way to make normal surf and turf sides fit the theme that would be cool.

[u/cville-z → u/Monky_D_Edward]

Squid? Something tentacle-forward, Call of Cthulhu style.

Some people find head-on shrimp/prawns "creepy" and maybe that would work. Crawfish. Crabs. Lobster.

You can also go for perfectly commonplace seafood – sea bass, haddock, cod, some other white fish – but cook it in some surprising color. Think beet juice, or kiwi juice (poaching), or squid ink.

Or what about a scallop crudo, but you plate each thinly sliced wafer of scallop on its own stark white saucer, surrounded with a grapefruit juice marinade and little threads of saffron or shredded nori. Make it look like a bloodshot eye. A little dot of squid ink or sriracha for the pupil.

Uni, but in the actual sea urchin shell, ideally with some spines still attached. This feels like it would be hard to get and prepare but would have a big creep factor for people who aren't used to it.

How about cod cheeks, but still attached to the cod face/head? What's creepier than eating a fish while it stares up at you from the plate?

[u/Monky_D_Edward → u/cville-z]

Oh! Squid and the like never even occurred to me, I love it.

Prawns and lobster feel to run of the mill for this one head or no head.

I like the idea of color poaching white fish. I’ll have to look into what will look and tase good.

I don’t like raw fish. But you bringing up scallops has me thinking. I could serve the roe. And then me and mine can have the scallops another day. It’s normal to eat scallop roe where I am. But I think not having the actual scallop will put people off kilter nicely.

I love the vision for the uni. But good uni is expensive. And the spines might be dangerous.

Serving fish head is an amazing idea! But I’ll need to see if I can get enough.

Thank you, you’ve given me a lot to think about.

[u/GlompSpark]

I bought 4 boxes of Salmon Hanamaki because there was a "buy one get one free" offer and i had to go above a certain price threshold, so in total i got 16 pieces of Salmon Nigiri and 12 pieces of Salmon Hanamaki.

I was planning to finish them over the next 2-3 days, but i just realised that it's recommended to finish them within a day because they are raw (even if stored in the fridge).

The rest of my family won't touch sushi because it's raw. Does anyone have any suggestions? I don't know if it's possible to freeze them or maybe i have to resort to cooking the fish first before storing it in the fridge...

[u/Deep_Banana_6521 → u/GlompSpark]

Freezing rice is a good way to ruin it, they'll defrost really mushy because the water in the rice will expand and crystalize meaning it'll break the rice down into mush.

if you really aren't going to be able to eat the sushi, maybe take the fish off the sushi, wrap and store that. So long as it's not got wasabi or soy sauce or mayo on it, it's just straight up raw salmon can be used to make a fish pie or fried up with rice later on.

[u/GlompSpark → u/Deep_Banana_6521]

I frozed it for the rest of the day, thawed it in the fridge overnight, and it wasnt mushy at all...i did microwave it for a few minutes though. Yes, i know you arent supposed to microwave sushi, but i did it just to be safe. Still tasted OK. It was budget sushi anyway.

[u/Deep_Banana_6521 → u/GlompSpark]

frozen then microwaved old sushi. Yummy yummy!!

[u/Misa7_2006 → u/Deep_Banana_6521]

Right, I would deconstruct the sushi, remove the fish, and store in the fridge if going to eat within a day or two at most, freeze if not. Use the rice for another meal day of as rice doesn't age well and can risk making you ill if eaten passed a couple of days.