~ {{ The Fried Foods from Around the World thread }} ~

[J. Wilhelm]

Per request by various Steampunks from both sides of the Atlantic, I hereby inaugurate this thread dedicated to Fried Foods from Around the World.

As the title suggests the purpose is to define and share our own cultures through the use of examples pertaining to fried food and street food or snacks.

Any fried food item can be included, just keep in mind that if something is very uncommon (not typical or popular ), then you should indicate that, such that the rest of us around the world don't get the wrong idea. e.g. Don't state "Fried beer is American."  Yes there is something called "Fried Beer" (I leave that for you to research) in some locations, but it's really just a novelty and not necessarily popular or traditional.  Otherwise we're all likely to think that all Americans eat "fried beer."

Since I've been immersing myself in Googlemap "virtual tours" of Mexico City in the last 3 weeks or so, I find it appropriate for me to kick the thread into motion with two examples from that country.

1. Carnitas ("little meats"): This most unhealthy of dishes is just as delicious as you would expect it to be, and it's basically cutlets of pork, typically heavily marbled cuts, such as what in the US we call rich 'Boston Butt' or 'Picnic Ham', which are  deep fried first, and finished off by roasting or braising, shredded and then served with maize tortillas with other ingredients so as to make your own taco.



(Creative commons license 2008 Mike McCune)



2. Churros: a cultural import from Spain in Mexico, the actual origin of Churros is debated and it is thought that Churros were originally brought from China to Europe by the Portuguese.  Basically a type of doughnut, this is an extruded strip of sweet dough, deep fried and then covered in sugar.  Good for cold months together with a cup of hot chocolate.

[CapnHarlock]

Churros are a bit sweet for my own particular taste, but real Carnitas(when and if you can find them - not at a chain outlet - are perhaps one of the ultimate expressions of the Porcine Arts  

[citizen_erased]

my favourite fried foods are Japanese (sometimes I hate how obvious I am. This is not one of those times). Strangely enough, for a country known for its healthy cuisine, the Japanese are really actually overly fond of frying food. They fry almost everything. (The best part is where I ate fried foods almost daily in Japan, and I still lost weight)

There`s korokke, a fried..potato...thing....that`s really good. It often comes with a sauce, but you can get it as it is too. They sold them at my uni in Kyoto for 36 yen each (which was, well, a couple of cents in euro), so I ate them everyday in the short break.



Then there`s of course tempura, which I think everyone knows. Especially ebi tempura (shrimp) and pumpkin tempura are personal favourites.


Other fried foods include but are not limited to karaage (fried chicken), tonkatsu (pork), inarizushi (fried tofu poach filled with rice), and tofu.

Aaaand now I`m really hungry. Again. Thanks.

[J. Wilhelm]

Churros are a bit sweet for my own particular taste, but real Carnitas(when and if you can find them - not at a chain outlet - are perhaps one of the ultimate expressions of the Porcine Arts  

Talking about the porcine arts, some people will love this and some will be totally grossed out by this. I'm talking about Chicharrón or Chicharrones (plural), otherwise known as pork rind in the English language.  Either way, I know the final product is delicious and now we have, surprisingly some doctors saying the the fat in pig skin is actually of the healthy type (!), with actually less saturated fat and calories than many other fried snacks.

http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/healthy_snacks/Pork_Rinds.php

: A 1-ounce serving contains zero carbohydrates, 17 grams (g) of protein, and 9 g fat. That's nine times the protein and less fat than you'll find in a serving of carb-packed potato chips. Even better, 43 percent of a pork rind's fat is unsaturated, and most of that is oleic acid—the same healthy fat found in olive oil. Another 13 percent of its fat content is stearic acid, a type of saturated fat that's considered harmless, because it doesn't raise cholesterol levels.

Anyhow there is a pretty good article written by a New York Mexican-American, Lesley Téllez, who spent four years in Mexico City and fell in love with the food. She got into the city-dweller's pastime of travelling around the rural towns and communities in Central Mexico and she basically has a blog about her adventures (for a Mexican-American who only knows NYC, going to Mexico would be a real eye opener; my grandmother who was raised in NYC came to Mexico just before WWII as a teenager and that was also a culture shock, so I can imagine).  She tells us of the process to make Chicharron in the traditional way using large vats (actually the real traditional way is a super size earthenware casserole with a wood fire beneath...)
http://www.themijachronicles.com/2010/05/homemade-chicharron-and-puebleando/

Chicharrón at a butcher shop

[Athanor]

Scrunchions. From Newfoundland. Essentially, deep fried pork fat.......

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wkrantz/285679619/#

Athanor

[J. Wilhelm]

Scrunchions. From Newfoundland. Essentially, deep fried pork fat.......

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wkrantz/285679619/#

Athanor

"Psst!" *whispers* "Link is broken"

Like these? (second picture from top)
http://foodqueststjohns.blogspot.com/2009/06/peters-kitchen-part2-cod-tongues.html
and 4th picture here:
http://sarahlovesbacon.blogspot.com/2010/12/fish-brewis.html

[Athanor]

Scrunchions. From Newfoundland. Essentially, deep fried pork fat.......

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wkrantz/285679619/#

Athanor

"Psst!" *whispers* "Link is broken"

Like these? (second picture from top)
http://foodqueststjohns.blogspot.com/2009/06/peters-kitchen-part2-cod-tongues.html
and 4th picture here:
http://sarahlovesbacon.blogspot.com/2010/12/fish-brewis.html

Link is broken? So it is..... Weird. But, yes, that's it exactly. Fried pork fat. Delicious....

Athanor

[J. Wilhelm]

*snip*
Link is broken? So it is..... Weird. But, yes, that's it exactly. Fried pork fat. Delicious....

Athanor

http://www.blueflowerarts.com/kevin-young

ODE TO PORK
by Kevin Young

I wouldn't be here without you.
Without you I'd be umpteen
pounds lighter & a lot less alive.

You stuck round my ribs even when I treated you like a dog
dirty, I dare not eat.

I know you're the blues because loving you may kill me
—but still you rock me down slow as hamhocks on the stove.

Anyway you come fried, cued,
burnt to within one inch of your life I love.

Babe, I revere your every
nickname—bacon, chitlin, craklin, sin.

Some call you murder, shame's stepsister—
then dress you up & declare you white & healthy,
but you always come back, sauced, to me.

Adam himself gave up a rib to see yours
piled pink beside him.

Your heaven is the only one worth wanting—
you keep me all night cursing your four letter name,
the next begging for you again.

—from Dear Darkness

[bicyclebuilder]

It's fries Friday!!!
In little than 3 hours we are off to the local fastfood parlor.
French fries with mayo. Frikadel speciaal (mayo, curry sauce and chopped onions)

[J. Wilhelm]

It's fries Friday!!!
In little than 3 hours we are off to the local fastfood parlor.
French fries with mayo. Frikadel speciaal (mayo, curry sauce and chopped onions)

Pictures! We demand pictures!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frikandel

[bicyclebuilder]

That looks like it! Minus the tomato and lettuce.

For a live picture I'm to late. I could take a picture tomorrow, but it's not going to be a pretty picture. 


That reminds me. If your frying any kind of food, the rule of thumb is: when it floats, it's ready to eat.



I think we can post all "no reservations" episodes. The things Anthony Bourdain eats looks delicious, but high on fat. I'd love to spend one of his trips to have what he's having.

[Mr. Boltneck]

When I used to work in Redwood City, there were chicharrones vendors selling big bags from handcarts.
My favorite fried foods around here (SF Bay Area and environs) would include the calimari that a lot of brewpubs serve, and frybread. I wouldn't want to eat them more than a few times a year, but the big frybread tacos that you get at pow-wows/big-times are addictively good.

[J. Wilhelm]

*snip*
I think we can post all "no reservations" episodes. The things Anthony Bourdain eats looks delicious, but high on fat. I'd love to spend one of his trips to have what he's having.

Yes, we need his good food adventures and macabre sense of humour: this is the last quote on Burdain's Twitter account (@Bourdain):

I miss the pre-Heimlich days of Boy Scouts when tracheotomies with our rusty Scout knives were the suggested first line of treatment.

 ~ ~ ~

*snip*
I wouldn't want to eat them more than a few times a year, but the big frybread tacos that you get at pow-wows/big-times are addictively good.

Frybread, for our international BG members, is a regional American food associated with Native Americans.  Quoting from wiki: " fry bread is a flat dough fried or deep-fried in oil, shortening, or lard. The dough is generally leavened by yeast or baking powder.  

The origin of frybread is fairly recent; from Wiki: "According to Navajo tradition, frybread was created using flour, sugar, salt and lard given by the United States government when the Navajo Native Americans were relocated to Bosque Redondo, New Mexico from Arizona in 1864".

Also " ... The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that a plate of fried bread consists of 700 calories and 27 grams of fat."

Which means - following the Inverse Health Law of Food - that it is rather delicious.  Basically another type of semi-savoury doughnut.  As Mr. Boltneck suggests, it can be a type of American taco or as I have seen it a bread for sandwich

Image by John Pozniak - GNU Documentation Lic. 2005



Psst! *whispers* Akumabito !  Get a couple of those Frikadels with plenty of curry and onions and wrap them in this 

[RJBowman]

Chicharrón are great; like bacon but better. I have a friend who brings them to me from a Detroit supermarket that serves a Latino neighborhood. He gets them specially prepared in bite-size slices.

I also recommend these:

Fried kibbeh; similar fried fried falafel with with ground lamb meat in the middle.

Some middle eastern places also serve raw kibbeh, the inspiration for the French dish steak tartare; I don't like the wet texture of the raw stuff.

[J. Wilhelm]

Chicharrón are great; like bacon but better. I have a friend who brings them to me from a Detroit supermarket that serves a Latino neighborhood. He gets them specially prepared in bite-size slices.

I also recommend these:

Fried kibbeh; similar fried fried falafel with with ground lamb meat in the middle.

Some middle eastern places also serve raw kibbeh, the inspiration for the French dish steak tartare; I don't like the wet texture of the raw stuff.

I can smell the meat across my monitor.

~ ~ ~

Empanadas

Empanadas in the Spanish language / pastel (cake) in Brazilian Portuguese:

A fried or baked savoury pie, ubiquitous in the Spanish-speaking world, usually a savoury pastry folded in half and and  filled with meat, vegetable, potatoes, or other more exotic savoury items, such a Huitlacoche (Mexican corn fungus)

From Wiki:

Empanadas trace their origins to Galicia and Portugal. They first appeared in medieval Iberia during the time of the Moorish invasions. A cookbook published in Catalan in 1520, the Libre del Coch by Ruperto de Nola, mentions empanadas filled with seafood among its recipes of Catalan, Italian, French, and Arabian food. In turn, empanadas and the similar calzones are both believed to be derived from the Indian meat-filled pies, samosas.[6] All these pastries have common origins in India and the Middle East.

Image: stu_spivack 2008 Creative Commons License 2.0

[bicyclebuilder]

We just went to the weekly market for grocceries. Our little daughter and I had kibbelingen. Kind of like the fish-and-chips fish, but chopped in bite size chunks. Also battered and deepfried. We also have the fish-and-chips fish, but we call them "Lekkerbekje"

We Dutch used to have Indonesia as a colony. That is why we inharit a lot of Indonesian food. Lumpia is one of them. I think you call them Spring Rolls in English. Also, peanus sauce or satay sauce. And krupuk, deepfried crackers. I think it's Prawn crackers in English.

I've noticed we use the native Indonesian names, while the English use translated versions.

[J. Wilhelm]

We just went to the weekly market for grocceries. Our little daughter and I had kibbelingen. Kind of like the fish-and-chips fish, but chopped in bite size chunks. Also battered and deepfried. We also have the fish-and-chips fish, but we call them "Lekkerbekje"

We Dutch used to have Indonesia as a colony. That is why we inharit a lot of Indonesian food. Lumpia is one of them. I think you call them Spring Rolls in English. Also, peanus sauce or satay sauce. And krupuk, deepfried crackers. I think it's Prawn crackers in English.

I've noticed we use the native Indonesian names, while the English use translated versions.

Which of course, brings me to Fish and Chips; I'll be well advised to let my British friends describe that one, but I have a picture at hand from Jeremy Keith at Brighton & Hove, UK (Image Creative Commons):


Noting of course that terminology difference across the pond:
UK                                  US
Chips       <---->             Fries
Crisps      <---->             Chips

Image: Rainer Senz  2006 Free Doc. Lic. 2.0


And the history of chips/French Fries, which is hotly debated, and some claims even involve a Catholic saint (!):
From Wiki:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Culinary origin
Belgium

Belgian journalist Jo Gérard claims that a 1781 family manuscript recounts that potatoes were deep-fried prior to 1680 in what was then the Spanish Netherlands (present-day Belgium), in the Meuse valley: "The inhabitants of Namur, Andenne, and Dinant, had the custom of fishing in the Meuse for small fish and frying, especially among the poor, but when the river was frozen and fishing became hazardous, they cut potatoes in the form of small fish and put them in a fryer like those here."[13][14] Gérard has not produced the manuscript that supports this claim, which, even if true, is unrelated to the later history of the French fry, as the potato did not arrive in the region until around 1735. Also, given 18th century economic conditions: "It is absolutely unthinkable that a peasant could have consecrated large quantities of fat for cooking potatoes. At most they were sautéed in a pan...."[15] Some Belgians believe that the term "French" was introduced when American soldiers arrived in Belgium during World War I, and consequently tasted Belgian fries. They supposedly called them "French," as it was the official language of the Belgian Army at that time.[13] At this time French fries were growing popular. However, in the south of Netherlands, bordering Belgium, they were, and still are, called Vlaamse Frieten or Flemish fries.

"Pommes frites", "frites" (French) or "frieten" (Dutch) became the national snack and a substantial part of several national dishes.

In France and French-speaking countries, fried potatoes are formally pommes de terre frites, but more commonly pommes frites, patates frites, or simply frites. The word "aiguillettes" or allumettes is used when the chips are very small and thin.

Eating potatoes was promoted in France by Parmentier, but he did not mention fried potatoes in particular. Many Americans attribute the dish to France and offer as evidence a notation by U.S. President Thomas Jefferson. "Pommes de terre frites à cru, en petites tranches" ("Potatoes deep-fried while raw, in small cuttings") in a manuscript in Thomas Jefferson's hand (circa 1801–1809) and the recipe almost certainly comes from his French chef, Honoré Julien.[7] In addition, from 1813[16] on, recipes for what can be described as French fries occur in popular American cookbooks. By the late 1850s, one of these uses the term French fried potatoes.[17]

Frites are the main ingredient in the Canadian dish of Québécois descent known in both Canadian English and French as poutine, comprising fried potatoes covered with cheese curds and gravy, a dish with a growing number of variations.

In Spain, fried potatoes are called patatas fritas or papas fritas. Another common form, in which the potatoes are cut into irregular shapes and seasoned with a spicy tomato sauce, is called patatas bravas.

Some speculate that the dish may have been invented in Spain, the first European country in which the potato appeared via the New World colonies, and assumes the first appearance to have been as an accompaniment to fish dishes in Galicia,[citation needed] from which it spread to the rest of the country and further to the Spanish Netherlands, which became Belgium more than a century later.

Professor Paul Ilegems, curator of the Friet-museum in Antwerp, Belgium, believes that Saint Teresa of Ávila fried the first chips, referring also to the tradition of frying in Mediterranean cuisine.

[J. Wilhelm]

Beignet

A pastry made from deep-fried choux paste, prepared on demand and served hot . Same as an English “fritter." Beignets are commonly known in the U.S. as a dessert served with powdered sugar on top; however, they may be savory dishes as well and may contain meat, vegetables, or fruits.

From Wiki:

They were brought to Louisiana in the 18th century by French colonists,[3] from “the old mother country”,[4] and became a large part of home-style Creole cooking, variations often including banana or plantain – popular fruits in the port city.[5][6] Today, Café du Monde is a popular New Orleans food destination specializing in beignets with powdered sugar (served in threes), coffee with chicory, and café au lait.[7] Beignets were declared the official state doughnut of Louisiana in 1986.

Photo: Harmon 2008 Creative Commons License 2.0

[Mercury Wells]

Pork Scratchings a staple snack of any UK pub.

[J. Wilhelm]

Pork Scratchings a staple snack of any UK pub.

Indeed it is, Mr. Wells!  Twin brother of the American Pork Rinds and fraternal brother of the Chicharron above.

[Mercury Wells]

Fried bread a must with a fry-up. (Similar to fry bread, I suspose)

[J. Wilhelm]

Fried bread a must with a fry-up. (Similar to fry bread, I suspose)

I think this will be different, on account that Native American Frybread has a significant amount of sugar and is fried as fresh dough in lard, whereas the British Fried Bread will be a pre-baked slice that is then fried in grease drippings.  I have make Fried Bread myself, and if memory serves me right, the taste of Fried Bread is consistently saltier and more savoury.  The bread will be much firmer. Frybread on the other hand is very puffy and almost sweet.  Both are delicious and equally dangerous to your health, though.

British Fried Bread

[J. Wilhelm]

French Toast / Eggy Bread, Payn Perdue and Torrejas

French Toast may not me deep fried and is fried in a pan, but it's still fried!

From Wiki:

French toast, also known as eggy bread and gypsy toast, is a dish of bread soaked in beaten eggs and then fried.  Slices of bread are soaked or dipped in a mixture of beaten eggs, often with milk or cream. The slices of egg-coated bread are then fried on both sides until they are browned and cooked through. Day-old bread is often recommended by chefs because the stale bread will soak up more egg mixture without falling apart.

The cooked slices are often topped with jam, marmalade, butter, nut butter, honey, Marmite, Vegemite, maple syrup, golden syrup, fruit flavored syrup, molasses, apple sauce, baked beans, whipped cream, fruit, chocolate, Nutella, sugar, yogurt, powdered sugar, bacon, treacle, tomato ketchup, cheese, cold cooked meats, ice cream, gravy, various nuts, or other similar toppings.

Image Jonathunder 2009 Creative Commons 3.0

And an earlier variation of French Toast:  Payn Perdue

Payn Perdue: 18th Century Cooking with Jas. Townsend and Son S2E19

The Spanish version (also known in Mexico): Torreja / Torrija
From Wiki:

Torrija or torreja is a typical dessert of Lent and Holy Week in Spain. It consists of a slice of bread that is soaked in milk or wine with honey and spices, and, after being dipped in egg, fried in a pan with olive oil.

Image Javier Lastras 2008 Creative Commons 2.0

[Madasasteamfish]

I can't believe no-one's beaten me to this, but Deep-fried Mars Bars (I don't care what anyone else says they are f**king delicious  ) and all the other deep fried choclate confections which are a staple of Scottish Fish & Chip Shops.

Oh and I'll also add another British pub favourite to that in the form of Scampi (not sure if you get it anywhere else in the world), which is essentially shelled prawns fried in breadcrumbs and usually served with chips, peas, a lemon wedge and tartare sauce.

[Madasasteamfish]

Aaaannnnnndddd, now I'm starving, with a severe craving for scampi, great