Unusual Foods We Like

[dougiezerts]

What are some unusual, hard to find, foods that you enjoy--when you can find them? Here are some of mine:
Haw--a Chinese fruit. Tastes kinda like cherries. You can occassionally find it in Asian supermarkets made into a soft candy.
Pine Bud Drink--I found a six pack of it in a Korean supermarket, a few months ago. As the name suggests, it's flavored with pine buds! An acquired taste, but I loved it!
Cordials--A candy. Dark chocolate on the outside surrounds a sugar shell, and in the middle is a liquid. Often it's liquor flavored (non-alcoholic), usually rum. Kinda expensive, so I don't get it too often!
Mochi--A vegetarian product made from brown rice. Comes in squares. Hard and rather unappetizing when you buy it. But it puffs up while cooking and becomes chewy. Tastes kinda like muffins.
Chocolate Dragees--A candy with a hard shell and a dark chocolate center. Like gourmet large sized m@m's ! And you can only find them in one place--the Harrod's in London! At around $20 a pound!
Violet Pastilles--A candy made by a small company called C.Howard's. As the name suggests, they do indeed taste like violets!

 

[Claire]

The chocolate liquers (cordials) can be found in most "gourmet" stores, especially around Christmas time.

 

[Little Miss J]

ricewurst...a family recipe made from the meat of a pigs head, mixed with rice and spices. You fry it and eat it with white bread. I cant cook it myself and my aunt is the only person in our family who can make it properly now. Sounds gross but it is delicious.

 

[Trip]

Ginger Beer, seems to be coming in really handy with my morning sickness too... Baci chocolates, but can't find them anymore, and olives, by the jar!!!

 

[SurvivorGirl]

Ginger Beer,

that stuff is spicy!

 

[Robo410]

I confess, I like the nasty bit. Bought kidneys yesterday, but I'll eat em alone as my partner doesn't care for innerds unless they're in pate form.

buttermilk is good too. and this is scrapple country...yum!

 

[Trip]

that stuff is spicy!

Yeah, but definately takes the edge of morning sickness... just don't suggest drinking it warm...

 

[dougiezerts]

I've had ginger beer. It's popular in Jamaica.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Sorry, I can't think of a thing. If I like it, then I don't find it unusual. So I dunno....I thinkin...

 

[obiwan9962]

lol, unusual for other folks:

rambutan
plaintains
thai green jackfruit salad
thai green papaya salad
thai green mango salad
thai bamboo shoot salad
thai jungle curry
thai jumping shrimp
taro
cassava
tropical yams aka malanga
green bananas (used in jamaican soups)
goat/mutton
sea cucumber
abalone
pomelo
avocado milkshakes
chinese white fungus
tree ears
fiddle heads
all sorts of seaweeds
cherimoya
ripe jackfruit (but not dorian)
ginepeas
jelly coconuts
steak tartar


probably a few i forgot

 

[Claire]

Green mango salad. What a wonderfull dish. I make it whenever I can get green mango. It is one of my husband's favorites.

 

[Uncle Bob]

How about a can of sardines! With a slice of onion, some red rind cheese, crackers, Louisiana Hot Sauce and/or Hot pepper sauce.

 

[suhyj88]

naengmyeon
yakgwa(a cake made from wheatflour, oil, and honey)
sikhye(a sweet drink made from fermented rice)
acorn-starch jelly
stuffed cucumber pickles[best in summer ]

Wow, This thead makes me happy ^-^

 

[boufa06]

naengmyeon
yakgwa(a cake made from wheatflour, oil, and honey)
sikhye(a sweet drink made from fermented rice)
acorn-starch jelly
stuffed cucumber pickles[best in summer ]

Wow, This thead makes me happy ^-^

suhyj88, how do you make yakgwa? Is this cake Korean?

 

[boufa06]

Banana blossom salad, a Peranakan dish that has shrimp, cucumber, shallots and chilli paste served with coconut sauce.

 

[Constance]

Morel mushrooms...we have them here in the spring, but my husband refuses to hunt them because the chiggers eat him up...and I'm not able to tromp the woods anymore. I have friends who collect them, but they never offer to share.

 

[Claire]

We didn't get any morels this year (too dry, I think), but last year an acquaintace gave us several pounds! We just finished eating them a few weeks ago (i semi-dehydrate and freeze, or make them into a sauce and freeze).

 

[kitchenelf]

sea cucumber

I used to live on an island and when we tromped around the reef we had to avoid stepping on these - they creep me out big time!!!!!!!!!!!!! EEEEWWW - YUCK!!!!!!!! I can't even imagine eating them! I take it the icky stuff inside of them doesn't get eaten? See sea cucumber here and here

I'd say an unusual thing I do like is a fresh scallop, still alive - then thinly sliced and served with grated daikon radish and thinly sliced, grilled lemon. If I can get it it's usually at a sushi bar.

 

[BreezyCooking]

Fiddlehead ferns & tree ears - although both are easily purchased online.

I also like goat meat, but again, it's easy to find for me as a local organic meat producer raises them.

(Uh, Uncle Bob, while I do love sardines, I don't think they're especially difficult to find - lol!!! The OP wasn't looking for unusual combinations - just possibly difficult-to-find favorite foods.)

 

[obiwan9962]

naengmyeon
yakgwa(a cake made from wheatflour, oil, and honey)
sikhye(a sweet drink made from fermented rice)
acorn-starch jelly
stuffed cucumber pickles[best in summer ]

Wow, This thead makes me happy ^-^

suhyj what nationality are you?
these sound vaguely familiar