Every time I make my way through Chinatown here in Chicago, I try and grab a BBQ pork bun. There are so many places where they can be found at any number of bakeries, both along Chinatown Square and Chinatown on Wentworth. The last few times I've been given a BBQ pork bun by my girlfriend after she's visited, I've instictively asked, "Which bakery did you buy this at?"
Funny thing is, she doesn't always remember. And even when she does, I don't really remember if that place is specifically good or not.
So I've decided to start a comprehensive list and rating system.
And so, let the "BBQ Pork Bun Off" . . . BEGIN!
The rest of this post has been moved to its new official home on the RedEye Royalty page!
Read more!
Showing posts with label taste. Show all posts
Showing posts with label taste. Show all posts
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Deep-Fried Butter!
Wouldn't you know it - right after I post a lovely article mentioning the State Fairs and all of the wonderful foods that they manage to deep-fry (and sometimes place on a stick), along comes this news article with the entrants in this year's upcoming Texas State Fair.
And topping the list, Deep Fried Butter.
It starts off by recognizing the top honors from the 2008 Texas State Fair: Chicken Fried Bacon and the Fried Banana Split.
And then comes the parade of new entrants.
My favorite item, and the namesake of this post:
Deep Fried Butter
According to the article, "100 percent pure butter is whipped 'til light and fluffy, then specially sweetened with a choice of several flavors." It is then surrounded by a "special dough" and quick-fried.
Is there anything more delicious-sounding than this? I mean cooking shows have already taught me that fat = flavor, so taking a mass of solid flavor, then cooking it in a flavor-based medium should equal doubly-flavorful flavor. If only there were a way to get rid of that pesky dough!!
Sweet Jalapeno Corn Dog Shrimp comes in as my #2 choice because it's so simple as a basic remake of another traditional fairground treat.
"Shrimp on a stick is coated with a sweet and spicy corn meal batter, then deep-fried to a golden brown and served with a spicy glaze."
It's got everything I love about corndogs (the corn batter and deep-frying) and then they replace those nasty hot dogs with something wonderful like shrimp! My only worry is that the shrimp being used is not of a high-enough size rating, which would yield tiny treats more resembling fried shrimp gone wrong than corn dogs gone horrifically wonderful.
While I'm not much a fan of pork, my next choice has to be Country Fried Pork Chips because it's about damned time that we spread the tradition of "country-fried" to other meats (though I love steak nonetheless).
...seasoned, thin-sliced pork loin "surrounded by a tasty corn meal batter and deep-fried."
All I know is that it had better come with country gravy.
Back into the dessert region for Fried Peanut Butter Cup Macaroon - which seems to be more intriguing regarding the peanut butter cup being crossed with a macaroon than it is about being deep-fried.
It is, of course, "dusted with powdered sugar" after the oil drains. And you probably wouldn't want to get it without the available scoop of Blue Bell ice cream, would you?
I'm not sure how well peanut butter and coconut go together. But I'm sure a few quarts of liquid fat will help them get along better than if they were left to their own non-fried devices.
Getting back to simpler dessert fair options, we have Texas Fried Pecan Pie, which I'm sure delivers exactly what it promises - pecan pie and deep-frying.
It is served with caramel sauce "then topped with whipping cream and chopped, candied pecans."
Me, I'm not so much a fan of pecans, let alone a pie consisting primarily of them - but when at a Texas State Fair, do as the Texans do (and deep-fry it), right?
Ahh, and now we venture into the "healthy" side of deep-frying with Fernie's Deep Fried Peaches & Cream.
...ingredients include "a delicious batter of cinnamon, ginger, coconut, graham cracker crumbs, eggs and milk." It is then (natch) deep-fried and served on a plate, drizzled with raspberry sauce, sprinkled with streusel and topped with whipped cream. Wait — there is vanilla buttercream icing provided on the side.
Fruit? But where's the chocolate and sugar and candy bars and such? Oh - it's been deep fried? Then I think we'll manage. At least it's got buttercream icing to flavor it up a few extra points, right?
Lastly, we come to Twisted Yam on a Stick - offering nothing but nutrition, which must be taught a lesson with some deep-frying justice!
"a delicious, towering, spiral-cut sweet potato on a 13-inch skewer." After being plunked in the fryer, it is then "gently rolled in butter" and dusted with sugar and cinnamon.
You can add all the sugar and cinnamon you want, it's not going to hide a big giant skewer full of yam.
So that's what will be going down at the Texas State Fair this year - at least all of the deep-fried awesomeness I've been able to find so far. I really need to buy tickets and take a vacation out there or something!
Or at least locate a recipe for that deep-fried butter!
What do you think? Are you disgusted by the amounts of calories and saturated fats being discussed in this article - or are you drooling with anticipation as you imagine all of these greasy delights? Leave a comment and let me know!
And then Digg this article!
Read more!
And topping the list, Deep Fried Butter.
It starts off by recognizing the top honors from the 2008 Texas State Fair: Chicken Fried Bacon and the Fried Banana Split.
And then comes the parade of new entrants.
My favorite item, and the namesake of this post:
Deep Fried Butter
According to the article, "100 percent pure butter is whipped 'til light and fluffy, then specially sweetened with a choice of several flavors." It is then surrounded by a "special dough" and quick-fried.
Is there anything more delicious-sounding than this? I mean cooking shows have already taught me that fat = flavor, so taking a mass of solid flavor, then cooking it in a flavor-based medium should equal doubly-flavorful flavor. If only there were a way to get rid of that pesky dough!!
Sweet Jalapeno Corn Dog Shrimp comes in as my #2 choice because it's so simple as a basic remake of another traditional fairground treat.
"Shrimp on a stick is coated with a sweet and spicy corn meal batter, then deep-fried to a golden brown and served with a spicy glaze."
It's got everything I love about corndogs (the corn batter and deep-frying) and then they replace those nasty hot dogs with something wonderful like shrimp! My only worry is that the shrimp being used is not of a high-enough size rating, which would yield tiny treats more resembling fried shrimp gone wrong than corn dogs gone horrifically wonderful.
While I'm not much a fan of pork, my next choice has to be Country Fried Pork Chips because it's about damned time that we spread the tradition of "country-fried" to other meats (though I love steak nonetheless).
...seasoned, thin-sliced pork loin "surrounded by a tasty corn meal batter and deep-fried."
All I know is that it had better come with country gravy.
Back into the dessert region for Fried Peanut Butter Cup Macaroon - which seems to be more intriguing regarding the peanut butter cup being crossed with a macaroon than it is about being deep-fried.
It is, of course, "dusted with powdered sugar" after the oil drains. And you probably wouldn't want to get it without the available scoop of Blue Bell ice cream, would you?
I'm not sure how well peanut butter and coconut go together. But I'm sure a few quarts of liquid fat will help them get along better than if they were left to their own non-fried devices.
Getting back to simpler dessert fair options, we have Texas Fried Pecan Pie, which I'm sure delivers exactly what it promises - pecan pie and deep-frying.
It is served with caramel sauce "then topped with whipping cream and chopped, candied pecans."
Me, I'm not so much a fan of pecans, let alone a pie consisting primarily of them - but when at a Texas State Fair, do as the Texans do (and deep-fry it), right?
Ahh, and now we venture into the "healthy" side of deep-frying with Fernie's Deep Fried Peaches & Cream.
...ingredients include "a delicious batter of cinnamon, ginger, coconut, graham cracker crumbs, eggs and milk." It is then (natch) deep-fried and served on a plate, drizzled with raspberry sauce, sprinkled with streusel and topped with whipped cream. Wait — there is vanilla buttercream icing provided on the side.
Fruit? But where's the chocolate and sugar and candy bars and such? Oh - it's been deep fried? Then I think we'll manage. At least it's got buttercream icing to flavor it up a few extra points, right?
Lastly, we come to Twisted Yam on a Stick - offering nothing but nutrition, which must be taught a lesson with some deep-frying justice!
"a delicious, towering, spiral-cut sweet potato on a 13-inch skewer." After being plunked in the fryer, it is then "gently rolled in butter" and dusted with sugar and cinnamon.
You can add all the sugar and cinnamon you want, it's not going to hide a big giant skewer full of yam.
So that's what will be going down at the Texas State Fair this year - at least all of the deep-fried awesomeness I've been able to find so far. I really need to buy tickets and take a vacation out there or something!
Or at least locate a recipe for that deep-fried butter!
What do you think? Are you disgusted by the amounts of calories and saturated fats being discussed in this article - or are you drooling with anticipation as you imagine all of these greasy delights? Leave a comment and let me know!
And then Digg this article!
Read more!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Food for Thought
Once again, a small offhand comment triggers a mental debate in my head that needs to come outside and play. It started as I pushed away the remains of my Caesar Salad for lunch with a disgusted look on my face.
"Why don't you finish your salad ever?" she asked.
"Because it's disgustingly bland and they use so little dressing," I replied.
"Well, food isn't supposed to be delicious - it's supposed to maintain life," she retorted.
"No," came my reply.
Just "No." Food IS supposed to be delicious. We wouldn't be here (in America) if the facts were any other way. If she were right (and she is not), we would have vitamins and calorie pills and flavorless mush like you read about in bad (and some good) science-fiction pieces. Such is farthest from the case. Sure, some idiots out there choose a bland and flavorless life in order to get nutrients and sustain life and nothing else - but it's just a minute population that it barely is worth mentioning at all.
The rest of us in the normal human race understand that food is supposed to be tasty. That's why we have taste buds in the first place.
Argument #1: A rational deity/entity would not have provided us with taste buds if food were not meant to have taste.
The atheist corrolary to that would be the concept of Nature or chaos theory or something like that. Fact remains that we HAVE taste buds. Ergo, food is meant to have taste. Otherwise we would have evolved to no longer HAVE taste buds. Humans not only have been focus on taste (and its partner in crime, smell) for so long that we recently discovered a new taste: umami. We continue to strive to understand how we taste and what the building blocks of taste are - which we would never have done if food were not meant to be delicious.
Argument #2: Cooking is proof that flavors can be created, enhanced and mixed - which would never have been necessary if food simply needed to be consumed for survival alone.
It's called COOKING. Recipes exist to remember what flavor creations have been created so that they can be replicated. Some are kept secret (something about 11 herbs and spices?) so that others cannot replicate those flavors for themselves. If food were not meant to be delicious, then why would billions of dollars and jobs be dependant on one flavor or recipe being more delicious than another? Why would billions in advertising be spent to compare one taste to another similar taste just to boast about which is more delicious?
Argument #3: Without spices, exploration would have been stagnated.
Spices have always been where the money is. In fact, ever since ancient Rome, spices have been vital to life and prosperity. Salt, for its curing purposes long long before the days of refrigerators, was a freakin' CURRENCY. That's how Roman soldiers were paid - and how the word "salary" came to exist. In fact, a poor soldier was not "worth his salt". As culture progressed, we searched for MORE flavors and spices, not fewer. With each new spice, new trade routes were established and this led to the whole notion of the "faster route to India" and all their lovely spices. Which accidentally led to, well, Columbus and the New World debacle.
I could go on further. I REALLY could. You don't want to mess with a fat guy who enjoys food and goes on a rampage when you insult his food or food in general. Sadly, though, I must get back to work now.
Your thoughts? Read more!
"Why don't you finish your salad ever?" she asked.
"Because it's disgustingly bland and they use so little dressing," I replied.
"Well, food isn't supposed to be delicious - it's supposed to maintain life," she retorted.
"No," came my reply.
Just "No." Food IS supposed to be delicious. We wouldn't be here (in America) if the facts were any other way. If she were right (and she is not), we would have vitamins and calorie pills and flavorless mush like you read about in bad (and some good) science-fiction pieces. Such is farthest from the case. Sure, some idiots out there choose a bland and flavorless life in order to get nutrients and sustain life and nothing else - but it's just a minute population that it barely is worth mentioning at all.
The rest of us in the normal human race understand that food is supposed to be tasty. That's why we have taste buds in the first place.
Argument #1: A rational deity/entity would not have provided us with taste buds if food were not meant to have taste.
The atheist corrolary to that would be the concept of Nature or chaos theory or something like that. Fact remains that we HAVE taste buds. Ergo, food is meant to have taste. Otherwise we would have evolved to no longer HAVE taste buds. Humans not only have been focus on taste (and its partner in crime, smell) for so long that we recently discovered a new taste: umami. We continue to strive to understand how we taste and what the building blocks of taste are - which we would never have done if food were not meant to be delicious.
Argument #2: Cooking is proof that flavors can be created, enhanced and mixed - which would never have been necessary if food simply needed to be consumed for survival alone.
It's called COOKING. Recipes exist to remember what flavor creations have been created so that they can be replicated. Some are kept secret (something about 11 herbs and spices?) so that others cannot replicate those flavors for themselves. If food were not meant to be delicious, then why would billions of dollars and jobs be dependant on one flavor or recipe being more delicious than another? Why would billions in advertising be spent to compare one taste to another similar taste just to boast about which is more delicious?
Argument #3: Without spices, exploration would have been stagnated.
Spices have always been where the money is. In fact, ever since ancient Rome, spices have been vital to life and prosperity. Salt, for its curing purposes long long before the days of refrigerators, was a freakin' CURRENCY. That's how Roman soldiers were paid - and how the word "salary" came to exist. In fact, a poor soldier was not "worth his salt". As culture progressed, we searched for MORE flavors and spices, not fewer. With each new spice, new trade routes were established and this led to the whole notion of the "faster route to India" and all their lovely spices. Which accidentally led to, well, Columbus and the New World debacle.
I could go on further. I REALLY could. You don't want to mess with a fat guy who enjoys food and goes on a rampage when you insult his food or food in general. Sadly, though, I must get back to work now.
Your thoughts? Read more!
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