Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Authentic tamales and I haven't had a great cheese enchilada since I left North Carolina. I worked with a guy whose mother-in-law was from Mexico and he brought in her tamales one time and they were delicious. Never had them that good anywhere else including a local "authentic Mexican" restaurant.
The Mexican restaurant in this NC town served the best cheese enchiladas I have ever eaten. I can't remember what kind of cheese they used but it certainly wasn't what is used here in my part of Florida. I actually went in to one little place here in Fort Myers and they told me they used mozzarella cheese in their cheese enchiladas!
Thai curry. They put vegetables in them in USA that you rarely see in Thailand. In Thailand they put Thai eggplant, maybe bamboo shoots etc. but in USA it's green chicken curry with broccoli and carrots, wtf. Same with the chicken, it's not supposed to be slices of dry white breast meat, it's chopped up dark meat chicken parts. Spit the bone piece on the plate.
However, I think that Thai food is often screwed up in Chinese restaurants who state that they are "Asian" or "Thai and Chinese." To that I say, pick one. The one your people are from, and do it well.
You will be surprised at how many Chinese restaurants masquerading as Japanese, Vietnamese, or Thai. I read an article somewhere that their favorite 'incarnation' is to brand themselves as Japanese food, purely for more profit. The same spring roll in a Chinese restaurant that costs $1.25, costs double in a Japanese restaurant. Of all Asian cuisines, for some reason, Japanese is considered the most high end of the bunch, hence the higher prices.
Americans often confuse TexMex with real Mexican food. They are so used to eating at restaurants that serve Americanized versions of Mexican food that when they try authentic Mexican food they don’t like it.
Tex-Mex is not Americanized, inauthentic Mexican food, it is authentic Tex-Mex food.
Do you consider Al Pastor Mexicanized, inauthentic Lebanese food? Are Enchiladas Suizas Mexicanized, inauthentic Swiss food?
Tex-Mex is not Americanized, inauthentic Mexican food, it is authentic Tex-Mex food.
Do you consider Al Pastor Mexicanized, inauthentic Lebanese food? Are Enchiladas Suizas Mexicanized, inauthentic Swiss food?
Seriously, until I ate Mexican food in Mexico, I had no clue that it wasn’t a puddle of brown moosh with cheese melted all over it.
We had fresh cold seafood and vegetables and fruit. Not a refried bean in sight. Near us now, is a very authentic taco place. It has a lovely variety of fresh tacos with handmade tortillas.
The real deal IS out there, but you have to look for it.
Seriously, until I ate Mexican food in Mexico, I had no clue that it wasn’t a puddle of brown moosh with cheese melted all over it.
We had fresh cold seafood and vegetables and fruit. Not a refried bean in sight. Near us now, is a very authentic taco place. It has a lovely variety of fresh tacos with handmade tortillas.
The real deal IS out there, but you have to look for it.
Yup, found this truly hole in the wall place on I10 in Texas two years ago. Was wonderful!
I don't have a sense of what constitutes "ethnic," but there are several dishes that are consistently ruined or just unavailable.
2. I'll start with #2 on the list. Fish is a commonly ruined dish. The worst mistake is starting with lousy fish. Tilapia should be reserved for cat food. If you insist on eating farmed fish, try catfish, which actually has flavor. Then don't cook it to death. Fish is a delicate meat, and should only be cooked until the flesh changes color. It's almost impossible to grill fish without wrecking it.
1. The top of the list is liver. It's as delicate as fish, and can turn into shoe leather if it is over-cooked. You have to marinade the blood out of it or it develops a barf-inducing chalky flavor. It's commonly fried with onions to cover up the cook's ineptitude.
3. Philly steak sandwich. In vast areas of the US they are just not available. If you see it on the menu, don't even try. It's about has hard to find a decent Reuben.
4. Coffee. There are vast areas of the US where Starbucks is considered good coffee.
5. Gyros/Shawarma. What do Americans have against lamb, anyway? The best is made with chevon (goat meat). Dream on. And the tzatziki is always runny. Drain the curd, people.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
