YATTA!
The exclamation was made famous around the world by the Japanese boy band Happatai (which means Green Leaves) because, well, they performed it like this:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8epJUF73fmY
But aside from being the name of a song sung by a group of men solely wearing underwear with a green leaf attached—Jimmy Kimmel flew them out from Japan to be on his show—it is now also the name of a food truck. Painted in large letters the color of mustard across the side of the truck, the word “YATTA!” can be translated to mean “All right!,” “It’s done!,” “I did it!,” or “Ready!” There’s definitely no lack of enthusiasm here.
And while one might think mustard-color letters have absolutely no relation to sushi, which is what the truck sells, it turns out one of the rolls I ordered came with a dab of the golden-colored condiment. It’s because it was cheeseburger sushi, which the truck has dubbed the “All-American.” Now that might sound odd (and it kind of was), but I can’t deny that I was extremely intrigued, cheeseburgers and sushi being two of my all-time favorite foods.
Wrapped in a round roll of rice in the normal sushi fashion were thin pieces of beef and melted cheese, the entire thing deep fried and drizzled with ketchup. It was actually pretty good, just unexpected, since I anticipate anything in that form to taste at least a little fishy.
The other roll I tried from their main selection of six was the Sweet Aloha. I’m not so sure why I chose this one since it’s also filled with beef—a little variety would’ve been nice—but I guess the combination of beef, pineapple and teriyaki sauce sounded exotic. In fact, it was the complete opposite: bland and boring.
The other choices included the Poki Roll, Cream Cheese Explosion, Garden Delight and the last one: You Be the Chef! This also seems to be the truck’s catch phrase, as it is painted below the word YATTA! all over the truck, albeit much smaller and in black letters. What it means is that curbside diners can create their own sushi roll—and the menu even encourages patrons to “be creative.”
I think I’ll have to try to that next time, and next time could be very soon. My sushi craving simply was not fulfilled by the traditional Japanese cuisine’s meaty cousins. Although they were interesting, I think when it comes to sushi, I’ll stick with ocean-dwelling ingredients from now on—sans mustard.
Leave a Reply