While we were in Solo (you might find it as Surakarta on the map), we went to an old market. We tried rice that was cooked in banana leaves until solid and sticky. To eat it, the “log” is then cut into slices and topped with shredded fresh coconut meat. Delicious!
We also got a free snakefruit from the vendor. It gets the name from the peel. It is not super sweet, but I like the mild flavor – it tastes somewhat similar to lychee and rambutan to me.
Category Archives: Street Food Saturday
Sweet Shredded Coconut Cakes
Yesterday morning, we started our walking tour of Chinatown by going to the Maxwell Food Center, a building filled with the stalls of food vendors. The place was still quiet – but we were here on a mission to try some sweets from Xing Xing Tapioca Cake.
My verdict is that this is worth a try. The tapioca cake was soft, and only a bit chewy, and sweet. It was perfect with the strong flavor of the fresh shredded coconut!
5 pieces for $2
Stinky Tofu
Yesterday, while at the Ningxia night market, I worked up the courage to try stinky tofu. I found a vendor who was working on a big grill surface and brushing sauce onto skewered fried stinky tofu. The smell was much more mild than many of the other stalls I’d walked past, and she’d serve it up to me with Taiwanese kimchee. I figured it was my best shot at liking this classic dish.
The good news is that the tofu was hot, with a nice sauce and the outside was nicely fried. The kimchi was mild. Overall, it was a much more pleasant experience than I feared. But I confess that I didn’t actually like it. The tofu didn’t smell all that stinky, but it tasted stinky.
This may be an experience you want to have to say you’ve tried it, but I think it is challenging for a western palate.
Japanese Soft Serve
Today while visiting the Daibutsu (Giant Buddha) in Kamakura, Japan, we happened upon a shop that served some very interesting (and delicious) soft serve ice cream. One of our new favorite foods is the purple sweet potato and this shop had it as one of their flavors! Purple sweet potato, as an ice cream flavor, is much loved in the Kanagawa area. We knew we had to try it. We got it swirled with matcha green tea. It was a treat for the taste buds. We also tried a blue colored “soda” variety. It was sweet and reminiscient of cream soda. Chandra thought it tasted similar to bubble gum ice cream. I highly recommend any of these flavors if you visit this area of Japan.
Candy Grapes!
Since it’s the New Year holiday here, there are street food vendors en masse near the larger temples. One of the tasty treats we tried was a candy covered grape. One person skewers a large grape, the other dips it into a vat of hot grape candy and sets it on a sheet of wax paper. It solidifies quickly; by the time you hand them your change and grab your grape, it is encased in a hard sugar shell. Japan does a much better job with artificial grape flavor than the US, and this is a treat you shouldn’t miss!
Osaka local bites
My favorite Osaka local food is kushikatsu! Food is put onto a thin bamboo skewer, coated with a thin crispy batter, and fried. The thing that truly makes this a local speciality is the dipping sauce. You can get an assortment of skewers for a set price, or order your favorites for a per skewer price. They make them fresh, and we have tried the meat, seafood, and vegetable options. I really like the cheese and shiitake variations, and Matt especially liked the pork loin and onion. I like that I can satisfy my “bloomin’ onion” craving without commiting to a whole onion.
A second local food we’ve tried is the mikasa. It is a pancake with adzuki (red bean) or similar filling baked into the center. This treat is actually found in lots of variations around Japan, but the name is local. (It is known as Dorayaki in other places) It is a lovely warm sweet treat, and I think something that you could reproduce at home by making two pancakes and then sandwiching them with the filling. Let me know if you try!
Fried Plantain heaven
Turon Saba are a Filipino food that are filled with plantain. They’re fried in a lumpia wrapper after being rolled in sugar. I love them!
If you want to try one and there aren’t any restaurants or festivals near you, check out this recipe I found online:
http://www.filipinorecipesite.com/filipino-dessert-recipes/turon-saba-banana-plantain.html
The Lowell Folk Festival: food edition
Part of combo plate 1 from St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church: Fatoosh, Falafel, Hummus, and Pita. The falafel is fresh cooked and the fatoosh is super good.
Fried Noodles
Samosa from the Seed – it’s got a kick.
Sweet sticky rice. The outside part is made of sticky rice flour, and it is almost impossibly sticky. The inside was super sweet and coconut flavored.
Shwe Kyi, an awesome semolina dessert with coconut.
The Lowell Folk Festival is a melting pot of street food. Here are our reviews, from the delicious to the meh.
Matt had one of the best gyros he’s had, from the booth by the Hellenic American Academy PTA. He ate it all before I could snap a photo!
I really liked the fried noodles from the
WAT LAO Mixayaram Temple. They had fresh cilantro and bean sprouts, strips of egg, and a tasty sauce. Amazing for $3!
We tried an ice cream from a food truck that you can buy from the grocery store. The brand is called batch. We tried the green tea and ginger flavors, which go well together, but the ginger was the one that really shined for me.
Shwe Kyi was a coconut based Burmese dessert that we tried and really enjoyed. We also got a sweet sticky rice from the Overseas Burmese Christian Fellowship, which requires skill to eat.
Don’t bother getting a raspberry lime rickey or lemonade that isn’t fresh squeezed; neither are worth it. I wish there were a booth selling horchata!
Stroopwafel!
Those of you who talk to me in person know that I’ve had marquesitas on the brain ever since I ate them in Mexico, but a trip to TJ Maxx (of all things) reminded me of another waffle-y travel favorite: they were selling some version of stroopwafels!!
If you have never had the fantastic experience of eating a stroopwafel, it is a delicious way to enjoy a sweet treat with a hot beverage. Here’s how it works: get yourself a hot cuppa, place the stroopwafel on top of your steaming mug, and relax for a few minutes. Your beverage will stay nice and hot, and in the mean time, the waffle portion of the cookie is getting soft and the inner syrup filling is getting gooey. When you are done with your moment of relaxation, work, or if you are just too excited and you can’t wait, take a bite of the stroopwafel: perfect!
“Stroopwafel00” by Tmannya – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
I was first introduced to stroopwafels by my coworkers in the Netherlands, who told me it was one of the things I had to do while I was there. They originated in Gouda, but I found them for sale in the open-air markets where I shopped for produce, and was able to get one that was still warm. Some google searching has shown me that there’s a chance I can find one at some chain grocery stores – I am going to have to hunt a bunch down and review- Matt has never eaten one!
Shake your Salbute
Street food in Merida is delicious. I recommend getting one or two salbutes with cochinita and onions. Also the the Mexican Coca-Cola has real sugar. These make a great combo for a quick snack or a light lunch.
the mint tea drinkers society 