Name that meal from your past you really miss

[dasherHampton]

When I started grad school there was an Asian food place near where I lived. They had lots of great stuff but the meal that stood out was the Sesame Beef. I know - Sesame beef is gross at many locations. But this one was fantastic.

They marinated thin strips of beef in some kind of sesame sauce, sprinkled sesame seeds on it, and served it with a batch of fluffy rice. And added a spring roll to boot! All for like $3.99.

I used to take it back to my apartment and savor it piece by piece. So tender and delicious.

 

[stargazr]

My grandmother called it kleasal, or something like that. It's a kind of dumpling served with sauerkraut and fried burger with onion. Stuffed cabbage leaves called halupki was a favorite also. Lots of German, Polish and Czech recipes.

 

[shortylickens]

I was lucky, some of the good at my public school wasnt terrible.

But one thing I really miss was dads salisbury steak. He made it once when I came home on leave.
Havent had it since he passed away in 2003.

 

[DigDog]

oh ...
there used to be this weird dried beef salami that is made only in Serbia, and not made elsewhere because (as i understand, from the limited knowledge i have) it's a very tough part, and they made kind of a jerky with it, and it's the single most chewingest thing that has ever existed on Earth. If you like chewable stuff, this is it.
Unfortunately after the war production stopped, and for whatever reason it hasn't picked up again. Probably due to the fact that stuff has modernized and there's no reason to cut that part of the beef out the way they did before.

There is also another salami from a suburb of Naples called Secondigliano, made with pork, extremely fatty (but not spreadable, not like 'Nduja), and eye-watering spicy with a local "cherry" chili. Again, it's become near impossible to find.

 

[zinfamous]

My grandmother called it kleasal, or something like that. It's a kind of dumpling served with sauerkraut and fried burger with onion. Stuffed cabbage leaves called halupki was a favorite also. Lots of German, Polish and Czech recipes.

spaetzle?

 

[snoopy7548]

My mom used to make really good meatloaf.

 

[stargazr]

spaetzle?

Yes, that's it. Don't get the weird name thing, but sometimes I guess they get mispronounced over time.

 

[Iron Woode]

Stuffed cabbage leaves called halupki was a favorite also. Lots of German, Polish and Czech recipes.

for us it's called Holubtsi in Ukrainian.

That is the only dish I cannot make that I miss from my past. I don't have the patience to make them.

 

[VashHT]

My grandmother called it kleasal, or something like that. It's a kind of dumpling served with sauerkraut and fried burger with onion. Stuffed cabbage leaves called halupki was a favorite also. Lots of German, Polish and Czech recipes.

I haven't had stuffed cabbage in a while, tastes good but your whole house smells like sweaty feet while you make it.

 

[Ajay]

Oh, my wife's grandmother made pork pies to die for - and no one kept her recipe 😕

 

[Pohemi]

Pel'Meni (russian dumplings) with melted butter, a little bit of chopped cilantro, some curry powder, and a sauce of sriracha + rice wine vinegar to top it off.

Buddy owns and runs a diner that serves only the Pel'Meni, I use to eat there once or twice a week. Then I moved outta town.

 

[SamQuint]

All the stuff my mom made of course.

I miss the old McDonald's french fries when they were fried in beef fat or whatever it was before.
I miss the old Carl's Jr french fries (frispoes I think is what they were called, they were extruded potato from a machine)
I miss this nasty old pastrami sandwich I used to get in high school. We had these pre-made sandwiches like you get from a vending machine but they were put in a warmer. So this warm pastrami sandwhich was so good. Of course at that point in time I had no idea what good pastrami was but to me that sandwich was awesome.
Also miss some of those old fast food places like Pioneer Chicken, Naugles, Pup N Taco, and The Green Burrito. (Green burrito was bought out by Carl's Jr and they ruined the food. I know that there is like one Pioneer chicken left and Naugles is attempting a come back.)

 

[Fritzo]

My grandma would make a polish version of Chop Suey in January every year. Eating pork in January is supposed to be good luck, and she would have the whole family over for a Sunday afternoon dinner the 1st or 2nd week of the month. Polish chop suey is more like a pork stew with bean sprouts, water chestnuts, mushrooms, carrots, and celery. She would spend the morning dicing pork shoulder, dredging it in flour, browning it in a giant roasting pan, then adding a bunch of jars of various things to create a delicious brown gravy (she used this brown sauce that I've not been able to locate, plus stock she would make, soy sauce, and other things). That pan was slowly roasted for 6 hours, the vegetables were added and it cooked another hour.

We would have jasmine rice with our chop suey (which was special back then...you could only find that stuff in specialty stores in the 70's and 80's). My grandpa fought in the trenches in WWII and had to live on rice for a month, so he HATED rice. He always said it looked like magots 😀 To accommodate him, my grandma would make mashed potatoes to have his chop suey over. It turned out IT'S F***ING DELICIOUS AND BETTER THAN RICE. It was so good everyone started eating chop suey with mashed potatoes and it became a family tradition.

My grandma died in 2002, and she wasn't one to write things down, so the recipe is lost to the ages. I can replicate it fairly closely, but it's just not the same. A lot of experiences went with that meal too: the smells when I would be walking up the stairs to her apartment, seeing family members I didn't get to see for months, watching TV and falling asleep from being so full, playing cards while having seconds later in the afternoon...

So, I miss chop suey served over mashed potatoes.

EDIT:I realize there is an actual "Polish Chop Suey" made with noodles and sauerkraut. This was more of an Asian style that was made more like a stew than

 

[zinfamous]

Pel'Meni (russian dumplings) with melted butter, a little bit of chopped cilantro, some curry powder, and a sauce of sriracha + rice wine vinegar to top it off.

Buddy owns and runs a diner that serves only the Pel'Meni, I use to eat there once or twice a week. Then I moved outta town.

I love pel meni, but that's a more recent thing and definitely not from my WASP childhood, lol.

 

[SamQuint]

My grandma would make a polish version of Chop Suey in January every year. Eating pork in January is supposed to be good luck, and she would have the whole family over for a Sunday afternoon dinner the 1st or 2nd week of the month. Polish chop suey is more like a pork stew with bean sprouts, water chestnuts, mushrooms, carrots, and celery. She would spend the morning dicing pork shoulder, dredging it in flour, browning it in a giant roasting pan, then adding a bunch of jars of various things to create a delicious brown gravy (she used this brown sauce that I've not been able to locate, plus stock she would make, soy sauce, and other things). That pan was slowly roasted for 6 hours, the vegetables were added and it cooked another hour.

We would have jasmine rice with our chop suey (which was special back then...you could only find that stuff in specialty stores in the 70's and 80's). My grandpa fought in the trenches in WWII and had to live on rice for a month, so he HATED rice. He always said it looked like magots 😀 To accommodate him, my grandma would make mashed potatoes to have his chop suey over. It turned out IT'S F***ING DELICIOUS AND BETTER THAN RICE. It was so good everyone started eating chop suey with mashed potatoes and it became a family tradition.

My grandma died in 2002, and she wasn't one to write things down, so the recipe is lost to the ages. I can replicate it fairly closely, but it's just not the same. A lot of experiences went with that meal too: the smells when I would be walking up the stairs to her apartment, seeing family members I didn't get to see for months, watching TV and falling asleep from being so full, playing cards while having seconds later in the afternoon...

So, I miss chop suey served over mashed potatoes.

Oh my god my mom used to make almost the exact same thing you described. My mom used sliced beef instead of pork. Served with rice and of course we had the fried crispy noodles from a can to put on top and lots of soy sauce. SO GOOD Thanks for that walk down memory lane. I closed my eyes and can remember the taste exactly.

 

[Fritzo]

Oh my god my mom used to make almost the exact same thing you described. My mom used sliced beef instead of pork. Served with rice and of course we had the fried crispy noodles from a can to put on top and lots of soy sauce. SO GOOD Thanks for that walk down memory lane. I closed my eyes and can remember the taste exactly.

Oh yeah! Those La Choy noodles had to go over it! Those were a must! 😀

 

[Iron Woode]

Oh, my wife's grandmother made pork pies to die for - and no one kept her recipe 😕

you could always try making a French-Canadian Tourtière. These are fantastic meat pies and relatively easy to make.

 

[spacejamz]

The square pizzas for lunch back in high school....

 

[SamQuint]

Oh yeah! Those La Choy noodles had to go over it! Those were a must! 😀

View attachment 39233

Those were the one! I think my mom would call it Chinese Stew instead of Chop Suey but it was the same thing. It wasn't authentic Chinese food at all but was so good. You know what, I think our moms got the recipe right off the La Choy can.

 

[brianmanahan]

rax

 

[WelshBloke]

It has to be something processed and crappy otherwise if I'd missed it that much I'd have learned to make it.

Probably those terrible microwave burritos that they used to do in 711 a few decades ago. The type that you used to eat at 0200 because you'd drunk too much and smoked too much and they tasted amazing because you'd drunk too much and smoked too much.
Then you'd find the remains of one in the morning and finish it off and... 😵

 

[IronWing]

 

[sdifox]

I miss all the street foods from Tainan...

 

[DigDog]

.. tastes good but your whole house smells like sweaty feet while you make it.

... wait until you hear about pajata ..

 

[zinfamous]

rax

That sounds like an all-purpose cleaning agent/mechanical de-greaser from the early 20th century.