One day, some unsung genius stared at the fluffy pure-white fur of their beloved cat, thought “mmm, looks just like fluffy white rice”, and grabbed a red towel and a black sock to make their dream come alive. Boom! Fluffy cat sushi was born.
Over in South Korea, fluffy cat and dog sushi has become all the rage, with proud netizens displaying their home-made creations anonymously on internet message boards. Don’t get me wrong – this sushi is purely for decoration and made from household pets with beautifully white fur! Furthermore, it’s easy! If you have a pet at home who’s willing to sit still to be adorned, you can make your own delicious little morsel just like these.
Basically, you need a sushi-coloured towel (salmon pink, tuna red or egg yellow) for the neta (topping), a long black sock to serve as the nori seaweed wrapping, and a gorgeous fluffy white pet. Convince your darling to settle in one place, preferably on an elegant minimalist lacquer tray, then just drape the folded towel and sock over their back for artistic effect. Soy sauce and wasabi optional.
▼ Got home and wrapped up some rice for the noms. Purrfection.
▼ Well, I tried to make cat sushi but my rice kept flying out! Oops. S-sorry kitty, honestly I didn’t mean it, I’ll make it up to you…
▼ Who’s this? A new challenger enters…
▼ Could this be… dog flavour?
▼ Yip!
▼ Best-trained sushi in town. Would you like it in a bento box?
▼ This egg dog roll has been expertly styled by the taisho sushi master. Looking fierce!
▼ Awww, come on! You’d look good in anything, wouldn’t you sweetie. Yes you would. Yes you would…
There you have it! The winning combination of cute and delicious makes a scrummy new phenomenon, coming soon to a conveyor belt or living room near you. Some pets refuse to submit to becoming part of this consumer culture, while others seem to enjoy the attention.
The above style of sushi (nigiri or “hand-pressed”) is charming, but I would personally be interested to see an attempt at a sushi roll (maki) with the cat curled up in the middle of a seaweed wrap. Who knows, this may already be a treatment at upmarket pet day spas.
This is not, however, the first time cat sushi has made waves. Many have tried to create the ideal sushi out of their pets, and many have failed. There again, becoming a sushi master is a path fraught with all kinds of difficulties and techniques to master. Good work, cat and sushi lovers, we look forward to your next incarnations!
Images: Otonarisoku via 2chbiyori