http://www.trippyfood.com The Gastro and Petrol Report Sun, 05 Feb 2012 04:17:31 +0000 en hourly 1 Trippy Food is a blog that takes you for a walk on the wild side. We bring you into the experience of finding unusual sites and attractions around the globe, and intoduce you to wierd and wonderful food. Our goal is to broaden your horizon in a way that will encourage you to take that extra step and try something new and unique. From uniquely themed festivals to colossal animals, wacky parades to dishes made from all things crawling, swimming, flying or running, we\'ve got you covered. In addition to our podcasts, there are stories and images at www.TrippyFood.com - come on in and join the party. Send your comments and suggestions to val@trippyfood.com, and we\'ll see you on the road! The Gastro and Petrol Report Valentino Herrera http://www.trippyfood.com/wp-content/gallery/galliers/trippy-food-logo-300x300.jpghttp://www.trippyfood.com trippy,food,travel,roadside,bizarre,attractions,weird,road,trip,restaurant no Valentino Herrera Val@trippyfood.com http://www.trippyfood.com/2011/02/03/secret-service/ http://www.trippyfood.com/2011/02/03/secret-service/#comments Thu, 03 Feb 2011 08:31:14 +0000 val http://www.trippyfood.com/?p=2264 http://www.trippyfood.com/2011/02/03/secret-service/feed/ 4 Secret Chinese menu Hop Woo, Chinatown L.A. Yes, that is armadillo shell in the soup In the new vernacular, sitting down for a meal at a Chinese restaurant and having your chopsticks automatically replaced with a fork is referred to as being “whited”. Of course, one could argue that the waiter’s assumption of your eating utensil of choice is minor when you peel back the proverbial onion and discover that a considerable amount of Chinese restaurants have alternate menus: the Chinese menu, and the “secret” menu. I recently had the opportunity of joining food personality Eddie Lin on a fact-finding mission to Los Angeles’ Hop Woo restaurant in Chinatown to dive beneath the pages of the English language menu and discover the secret pleasures of the Chinese and secret menus. The Chinese menu is just that – a small, Little Black Book of Chinese cuisine printed completely in that language. Chef Liang was kind enough to read items from the menu and present some of the more exotic entries in their naked glory. The evening began with a platter of BBQ chicken feet of Himalayan proportions (somewhere a genius entrepreneur is making a fortune selling avian wheelchairs). I’m not sure these were on the Chinese menu – they seemed to be a conversation starter. While not as tender as the dim sum variety (phoenix talons), they made up for the labor required to extricate the meat in flavor – they were lightly coated in a delicious sauce and tossed with peanuts, black beans, green onions and chopped chilis. Hair vegetable, a desert-grown bacterium Chef Liang described the dishes in a variety of languages – in Cantonese with Eddie, in Mandarin with Mary (his friend and translator who joined us for dinner) and in Spanish with Claudia (a language he mastered while working in Mexico). I felt as if I needed the ear buds used by representatives of the United Nations for translation, but there was enough English being bandied about for me to understand what was going on. The meat in the first dish was described as “anteater”; Eddie surmised this to be aardvark (having watched one too many Pink Panther cartoons) but when a bit of shell was visible in a ladle of the soup presented it became apparent that the insectivore in question was in fact a nine-banded armadillo (yes sir, we were fixin’ to eat Texas Speedbump Soup). As with many of the dishes presented that evening, the armadillo soup is said to have healing properties – it is reputed to benefit the kidneys and lower back. Finding the edible armadillo meat was a challenge since the dark, earthy broth hid chunks of pork as well – in this dish, armadillo was “the other white meat”. Menu Item #2 looked like pasta rosettes but turned out to be goose intestines. These were cleaned remarkably well (the nose never lies) and mixed with three kinds of mushroom (drumstick, straw and shitake) taking on their woodsy flavor. Deer with star melon and leeks Prior to Menu Item #3′s grand debut, Chef Liang brought out a dish of one of the ingredients that looked like some kind of aquatic insect larvae or a bad toupee being soaked but turned out to be bacteria referred to as “hair vegetable”. Nostoc flagelliforme (try asking for that at your friendly neighborhood farmer’s market) is green when it is “fresh” but turns black when dried prior to being reconstituted in water. Since the Cantonese name (faat choy) is similar sounding to the phrase for “good fortune”, it is a popular ingredient in dishes eaten during Lunar New Year. The hair vegetable was only one of the components of the next dish, which featured oysters that had been dried three times in the sun prior to cooking. The mound of oysters were sitting atop chunks of pork, capped with a large mushroom button and covered in a rich brown sauce, and although the hair vegetable didn’t offer a great deal of flavor, it dissolved delightfully on the tongue. Prior to Menu Item #4′s arrival, there was much [...] Secret Chinese menu Hop Woo, Chinatown L.A. In the new vernacular, sitting down for a meal at a Chinese restaurant and having your chopsticks automatically replaced with a fork is referred to as being “whited”. Of course, one could argue that [...] http://www.trippyfood.com/2010/05/07/trippy-food-podcast-3-florida-road-trip/ http://www.trippyfood.com/2010/05/07/trippy-food-podcast-3-florida-road-trip/#comments Fri, 07 May 2010 16:00:57 +0000 val http://www.trippyfood.com/?p=1360 http://www.trippyfood.com/2010/05/07/trippy-food-podcast-3-florida-road-trip/feed/ 1 In this podcast, Alie Herrera and I cover the highlights of a Florida road trip from Cocoa Beach down to Key West. Enjoy! In this podcast, Alie Herrera and I cover the highlights of a Florida road trip from Cocoa Beach down to Key West. Enjoy! http://www.trippyfood.com/2010/04/09/trippy-food-podcast-2-general-trippiness-part-ii/ http://www.trippyfood.com/2010/04/09/trippy-food-podcast-2-general-trippiness-part-ii/#comments Sat, 10 Apr 2010 03:00:53 +0000 val http://www.trippyfood.com/?p=1199 http://www.trippyfood.com/2010/04/09/trippy-food-podcast-2-general-trippiness-part-ii/feed/ 0 Alie Herrera, foodophile, roadtripper and musician Here is the second part of a two-part podcast on general trippy food and travel as discussed with fellow unusual food and travel adventurer, Alie Herrera. Enjoy! Here is the second part of a two-part podcast on general trippy food and travel as discussed with fellow unusual food and travel adventurer, Alie Herrera. Enjoy! http://www.trippyfood.com/2010/04/09/podcast-1/ http://www.trippyfood.com/2010/04/09/podcast-1/#comments Sat, 10 Apr 2010 02:00:21 +0000 val http://www.trippyfood.com/?p=1146 http://www.trippyfood.com/2010/04/09/podcast-1/feed/ 5 Alie Herrera, foodophile, roadtripper and musician Trippy Foods is pleased to introduce our newest feature, podcasting. In our first podcast, I discuss trippy food and travel with Alie Herrera, who also enjoys visiting unusual places and trying exotic cuisine. If you enjoy the podcasts, let me know (you can leave a comment here or contact me at val@trippyfood.com). I’m open for ideas, and would love to engage in conversation about all things trippy with you as well. If you have Skype and would like to participate, please let me know. I welcome your feedback! Trippy Foods is pleased to introduce our newest feature, podcasting. In our first podcast, I discuss trippy food and travel with Alie Herrera, who also enjoys visiting unusual places and trying exotic cuisine. If you enjoy the podcasts, let me know [...] Valentino Herrera