Food Touring

Trying food from all over the world, at home & abroad!

Liguria: Amaretti di Sassello

An Italian coworker brought a box of amaretti (macaroons) from his hometown in Liguria. They are soft, flaky almond cookies, which reminded me of marzipan.

Amaretti di Sassello

The macaroon has a crunchy honeycomb internal structure. Main ingredients are sugar, sweet almond, bitter almond, egg white, but flavorings can be added such as honey, milk, yeast, and, especially in industrial production, preservatives. There are primarily two different versions of this macaroon: the Amaretti di Saronno, which is crunchy and crumbly, and the Amaretti di Sassello, which is softer and more similar to marzipan. Both have a rounded shape, as a small cap, and the surface cracked. (Wikipedia)

Posted on by Mango in Italy, Liguria

Korea: Ginger Honey Tea

Market: Koreana Plaza
City: Oakland, CA

This can be found at most Korean supermarkets. There’s also Super Kyo-Po in Santa Clara, CA and Hankook Supermarket in Sunnyvale, CA.

Ginger Honey Tea

For thousands of years ginger has been a key ingredient in dishes served throughout the world. In addition to its delicious flavor and culinary importance, the spice has great medicinal value. Ginger is believed to warm the body, ease symptoms related to fatigue and help absorb other medicinal compounds while neutralizing toxicity in the body. Saenggangcha (생강차, ginger tea) is often taken at the first sign of a cold to prevent symptoms from getting worse, especially chills or fevers. It’s no wonder that this beverage has long since been a mainstay among Korean home remedies. Saenggangcha is available in powdered form or bottles in department stores, supermarkets, or local markets. It is also served at traditional teahouses. It can also be homemade, by thinly slicing fresh gingerroot, marinating it in sugar or honey, and adding a spoonful of the mixture to hot water. Or by simply boiling ginger and honey in a pot of hot water. (Korea Tourism Organization)

Posted on by Mango in Korea

North Korea: Pork Dumpling Soup (Manduguk)

Restaurant: Kong Tofu & BBQ
City: Cupertino, CA

korean dumpling soup

When I ordered this dish, I had the option of adding rice cake, with no extra charge. The rice cakes were white and in thinly sliced, oval shapes. This dish included a bit of pulled pork, egg, seaweed, and green onion.

Pork dumpling soup or manduguk (만두국), is a variety of Korean soup (국, guk) made by boiling dumplings (만두, mandu) in a beef broth. The addition of rice cake (떡, tteok or ddeok) is common as well, making the dish tteok manduguk (떡만두국). Mandu became a local specialty of the Pyongan and Hamgyong regions, as both wheat and buckwheat — the main ingredients for flour — were mainly cultivated in the north. (Wikipedia)

Posted on by Mango in Korea, North Korea

Korea: Citron Tea

Market: Hankook Supermarket
City: Sunnyvale, CA

Can actually be found at most Korean supermarkets. There’s also Super Kyo-Po in Santa Clara, CA and Koreana Plaza in Oakland, CA.

citron tea

Yujacha or yuja cha (citron tea) is a traditional Korean tea (herbal tea) made from citron. Yuja (유자) fruit is thinly sliced with its peel and combined with honey or sugar, prepared as fruit preserves. The fruit is so prepared because of its otherwise sour and somewhat bitter taste. To prepare as a beverage, a tablespoon of yucheong (유청, thick, yellow syrupy yuja) is stirred into a cup of (usually) hot water. Yujacha is used as a herbal remedy for the common cold and similar winter illnesses. (Wikipedia)

Posted on by Mango in Korea

Shanghai: Green Onion Pancake

Restaurant: Fortune Kitchen
City: Fremont, CA

green onion pancake

Green onion pancake, or scallion pancake, is a savory, non-leavened flatbread folded with oil and minced green onions. Unlike a true pancake, it is made from dough instead of batter. Green onion pancakes are also available in other areas of the world with ethnic Chinese populations, in restaurants and as a street food item, and are also commercially available packaged fresh or frozen solid in plastic packages, often found in Asian supermarkets.

– Wikipedia

Posted on by Mango in China, Shanghai

Taiwan: Fried Stinky Tofu

Restaurant: Chou Ma Ma’s Kitchen
City: Newark, CA

stinky tofu

Stinky tofu is so smelly, from the time they bring it to you, to the first bite, to the aftertaste. My parents cannot stand eating it, so it was all mine!!

Stinky tofu is a form of fermented tofu that has a strong odor. It is a snack that is usually sold at night markets or roadside stands or as a side dish in lunch bars rather than in restaurants. In Taiwan, people usually eat the deep fried stinky tofu with the local sweet and sour pickled vegetable to relieve the greasiness. (Wikipedia)

Posted on by Mango in Taiwan

Central Vietnam: Bún bò Huế

Restaurant: Bún Mam Sóc Trang
Address: 1326 E 18th St
City: Oakland, CA

IMG_20140105_140359~2

Spicy beef w/ vermicelli soup. Also contained pig blood, Vietnamese coriander, mint, sliced cabbage, banana blossom, bean sprouts, shrimp paste, chili sauce, and lime squeeze.

Bun bo is a popular Vietnamese soup containing rice vermicelli (bún) and beef (bò). Bun bo originated in Hue, a former capital of Vietnam. Outside the city of Hue and some parts of Central Vietnam, it is called bún bò Huế to denote its origin. Within Huế and surrounding cities, it is known simply as bún bò. (Wikipedia)

Posted on by Mango in Central Vietnam, Vietnam