Unusual foods you eat and recommend to others

[ElFenix]

roast pork bellies mmmm

 

[Ns1]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
roast pork bellies mmmm

we just had braised pork belly the other night. yum.

Originally posted by: AstroManLuca
Of course I can't get it here, but when I was in China I often introduced people to barbecued lamb stomach. It was really good! A little tough, but tasty. They cut it into thin strips so the toughness isn't so bad, and the sauce they put on it is quite good too.

There is a place in LA that I recently found that does this, mutton skewer kebabs.

Quite good; come out on little skewers, grill it up at the table, load up on shallots + garlic, dip the entire skewer into the dry spice rub. yum.

They also serve goat penis in the same manner.

 

[TripleAAA]

Kombucha : Chinese tea that is fermented with a mushroom. You can buy it at most major health food stores (ie. Whole Foods)

Yerba Mate: Another type of tea that is absolutely amazing in terms of the caffeine benefit...no crash, calm and clear energy.

Quinoa: not all that uncommon, but an excellent and versatile grain

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Pickled herring, not terribly exotic but, I'm always amazed at the number of people who've never had it.

 

[weirdichi]

Balut. I had a few white friends try and two thought it wasn't as bad as it looked; the other two wouldn't touch them.

 

[ruu]

Pig ears. Very fun snacky food.

 

[mrSHEiK124]

Karshat (Arab)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8015455@N05/476972688/ (found it on GIS)
Lamb stomachs, intestines, and other weird trimmings that are all cleaned out, filled with rice/ground beef, and cooked. I retched at the thought, but they're surprisingly tasty.

Bull nuts
I was at a friend's farm and they slaughtered a bull to grill/eat/whatever. Everybody got all macho over who would eat its nuts. Of course, being the nerdiest one there, I needed to garner some kind of cred, so I ate one. Imagine taking all of the fat in the entire bull and putting it in something the size of the golf ball. Absolutely horrible.

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: Redfraggle
Fresh cheese curd. It seems to be a northeastern US thing, and any I've had outside of home is just hunks of cheese that weren't pressed into blocks, and that's not what authentic cheese curd is. It's briny and soft like fresh mozzarella, but with a different flavor. When it's really fresh, it squeaks on your teeth.

I just got turned onto cheese curds the other day. That stuff is awesome.

 

[dakels]

Originally posted by: TripleAAA

Yerba Mate: Another type of tea that is absolutely amazing in terms of the caffeine benefit...no crash, calm and clear energy.

I love Mate. My Argentinian friend introduced it to me a long time ago and I love it. I like the sharing rituals too. I was shocked to see a Yerba Mate iced tea drink in the deli the other day. Like Mate snapple... Tasted good but not really like mate... Just iced tea really.

Originally posted by: ElFenix
roast pork bellies mmmm

Not exactly bellies but I stopped by this specialty store in Little Italy last night for some Parmagiano Reggiano and saw this amazing home-made Porchetta. Amazing... The skin was like a pork potato chip. The meat was tender and juicy, The fat was like melted butter. I think my heart just stopped...

 

[Farang]

Originally posted by: James Bond
Pho.

thai pho is way better.. kuay thaew

 

[queenrobot]

Originally posted by: TripleAAA
Kombucha : Chinese tea that is fermented with a mushroom. You can buy it at most major health food stores (ie. Whole Foods)

I absolutely love Kombucha. I try to get everyone to drink that stuff.

 

[Turin39789]

those strange dried prunes I steal from my Viet-Am friend.