MAIN INGREDIENTS
Rice burger is the Japanese version of one of the most famous fast food products in the world – the omnipresent hamburger. Instead of traditional wheat buns, this Japanese dish uses pressed rice patties made with plain rice, eggs, and cornstarch.
The patties are pan-fried or grilled in order to create a firm shell which holds the rest of the ingredients together. The filling, however, does not necessarily correlate to the one of the traditional hamburger, and can consist of a variety of authentic and local ingredients and dishes.
OTHER VARIATIONS OF Burger
Duck's head is a spicy local specialty from the Chinese city of Wuhan, but it is also a snack that is commonly eaten throughout China, most notably in Shanghai. The dish is made by stir-frying a head of duck with the addition of herbs and spices.
Duck's head has a crispy taste as a result of the stir-frying method, and it is claimed to be a healthy food, with one of the duck's head store owners claiming that it helps one's brain power when consumed. Some say that the taste of the dish is not unlike eating a spicy chicken wing, while the others, such as Kellie Schmitt of CNN, describe it as one of Shanghai's weirdest foods.
When the head is served, it should be pried open with one's fingers to get to the tender meat on the interior.
Beondegi is a classic South Korean street food consisting of silkworm pupae insects. These tiny animals are usually boiled or steamed and then seasoned before they are served in small cups. Although of an acquired taste, beondegi is available at numerous street stalls throughout the country, while the canned version is occasionally found in supermarkets.
Some restaurants even serve the insects as a side dish. Beondegi became a popular option during Korean War when food was scarce, and there was a shortage of protein-rich ingredients.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Cantonese mooncakes are a type of traditional Chinese pastry that is notably enjoyed during the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is a significant festival in many Asian countries. These mooncakes are distinctive with their tender, thin, and slightly browned crust and are usually filled with sweet, dense fillings.
The most common filling in Cantonese mooncakes is lotus seed paste, which is smooth and sweet, and usually contains salted egg yolks, representing the full moon and offering a savory contrast to the sweet filling. Another distinctive feature is their appearance: the top of the mooncake is typically embossed with Chinese characters indicating the type of filling, the name of the bakery, and additional decorative motifs.
OTHER VARIATIONS OF Yuebing
Yeot is a group of South Korean confectionery made with steamed glutinous rice, sweet potatoes, and corn. There is a big variety of yeot candies such as hobakyeot (made with pumpkin), kkaeyeot (rolled in sesame seeds), and boriyeot (made with barley).
These traditional products can be produced either in liquid or solid form. Solid yeot is commonly consumed as a snack, while liquid yeot is often used as a replacement for sugar in a variety of sweet dishes.
Hailing from the province of Jeolla, hongeo or hongeo-hoe is a South Korean specialty that consists of skate that gets fermented in its urine. This cartilaginous fish is known to eliminate urine through its skin, thus allowing for natural fermentation to take place in the flesh and helping to preserve it.
The process lends the fish its signature aromas that bring to mind the strong and pungent odors of ammonia and dirty public toilets. As this unpleasant odor follows diners long after they’ve had their share of hongeo, restaurants which specialize in this delicacy often offer their customers services such as keeping their jackets in sealed bags and spraying them with deodorant upon leaving.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Uirō is a sweet Japanese cake consisting of sugar, rice flour, and water. The cake is traditionally steamed until it develops a chewy texture. It dates back to the 16th century, when it was used as a part of Japanese tea ceremonies, a tradition that is also practiced today.
There are a number of variations on the cake, so it can be flavored with ingredients such as matcha, chestnuts, strawberries, or azuki bean paste. Although it's made from the same ingredients as mochi, the method of preparation is different - uirō is poured into a mold and steamed, while mochi is pounded in order to become sticky.
Naporitan is a Japanese dish made with a combination of overcooked spaghetti, ketchup, onions, green bell peppers, mushrooms, and sausage, ham, or bacon. The ingredients are sautéed and then tossed with the pasta and ketchup. The dish was created shortly after WWII by Shigetada Irie, the head chef at the New Grand Hotel in Yokohama.
He was inspired by a similar dish of spaghetti and tomato sauce that the US soldiers were eating overseas, and it was named naporitan after Naples, Italy. This type of Japanese pasta dish is considered yoshoku - western cuisine with Japanese influences.
In its original form, guilinggao was a herbal paste that consisted of the powdered plastron (bottom shell of Golden coin turtle) and a variety of flowers, herbs, spices, roots, and tree barks. Although it was initially used as a health remedy, modern variations are mainly enjoyed as a well-chilled, refreshing jelly dessert.
Since the Golden coin turtle is critically endangered, the original paste is nowadays rarely found and usually comes with a hefty price tag. Many producers opt to use other turtle species, and guilinggao nowadays usually appears as a canned version, or as a powder mix that is easily made into jelly.
OTHER VARIATIONS OF Tong sui
Cantonese in origin, moo goo gai pan is an Americanized version of a pre-existing Chinese stir-fry made with mushrooms and sliced chicken as the main ingredients. Additional ingredients typically include snow peas, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, and bok choy, all doused in a simple white sauce made with chicken broth and seasoned with soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sometimes Shaoxing wine.
In contrast to the original Chinese version of the dish, moo goo gai pan has a thicker sauce that's more seasoned and incorporates a wider range of ingredients. In the United States, this simple stir-fry is served over steamed rice and is one of the most popular take-out foods.
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