" You don't want the salted fish" said the friendly woman manning the counter at Joe's noodle house, tucked in a grim strip mall in Rockville, MD. "Basil. You get basil."
"But I want salted fish", I bleated.
"No. It's for Chinese. Too strong".
I should have insisted. Without the pungent flavor of the mysterious salted fish, my hot pot with chicken and eggplant wasn't near as flavorful as I imagined when I saw it on the specials board. It was too bad, because my soft tofu was promising in it's fiery sauce.
Next time, I won't be so easily put. Spicy tripe, here I come.
8/08/2008
8/06/2008
Jamon Iberico
I recently had the opportunity to nibble on a few pieces of Jamon Iberico, which Wegman's (clearly the best supermarket on the East Coast) is selling for $70 a pound. I'm not a Spanish food expert, but my understanding is that the ham comes from a breed of rare, acorn eating, pigs. If I'm wrong, they sure do somehow taste like acorn - a sort of deep, piggy, acorn.
Still, I suspect this has to be eaten in slightly greater quantity to truly appreciate it. My nibbles were too small, and I was too greedy, to get the most out of it, to work the fat around in my mouth, to feel it melt. Aah. Next time.
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