Food You're Not Really Sure Anyone Even Buys

[AnOminous]

I seem to be one of the few around my way that regularly buys tofu, Balkan style Jerry, and chicken gizzards.

I knew someone who would always get a bunch of fried chicken gizzards when he went tailgating and was the only person who did. So apparently some people get them.

My local Asian supermarket has energy drinks that sound like they're from various Eastern European countries. I'm tempted to just try one to see what it's like. I know it's probably anti climactic and they'll just taste like some variation of soft drink, but the curiosity is what makes it exotic.

I used to get this Vietnamese energy drink that came in tiny bottles and was just like ultra-concentrated Red Bull. It came in 8 packs and two was too many. Tasted like battery acid but would really start your engine (or probably stop your heart). It would probably be illegal here if they knew it existed.

I have no idea what it was actually called and haven't seen it anywhere else.

 

[booklover]

FWIW, I've heard of people using chicken gizzards as fish bait.

I personally like them, although there obviously isn't much meat on them.

 

[General Disarray]

Tripe and gizzards down at the Puerto Rican bodega not far from me is actually pretty good. Thanks for reminding me I have to stop back in there one day soon.

 

[Triple Flutz]

Table syrup. In a world where maple syrup exists and where the alternative is based off corn syrup (I'm sick of Big Corn being everywhere lmao) I just can't understand why you'd pick that and I've never seen it at anyone's house. It lasts for so long too that the price difference doesn't seem like it'd be such a selling point, it's not like you buy a jug/can, respectively, every month.
Canned spinach, specifically. It's a vegetable that I find requires particular care in squeezing out as much water as possible if blanched, and drained if cooked in a pan, or else the texture suffers, so wouldn't suspending it in water or brine make it inedible? Plus, the canned flavor would be exceptionally disgusting due to its natural ironlike taste. I can't think of any application where it would work, and again I've never seen it anywhere.

Tripe

If you mean the stomach tripe as opposed to the intestines, since I've heard both being referred to as tripe, it's also delicious in Asian cuisine. I especially like couple's lung slice (which is made without lung) if you cook Szechuan food or have a restaurant or friend nearby, and I make a really good soup with book tripe though I'm sure honeycomb would work as well, short ribs, and vegetables.

 

[Archeops]

I can't really think of much outside of the obvious stuff (plant-based meat alternatives like Beyond/Imposible Meat for example, we all saw how people snubbed their noses at it during Coof Containment Times), if your local chain grocer stocks it then there's more than likely some level of general demand for it.

Have you ever seen the 'pancake machines' at cheap motels / some shitty college cafes ?
They all use a premade pancake batter bags with an auto squeezer (think 'Juicero' but with a roller).
Has a teflon-coated conveyor that passes over a heated surface.

INFINITE PANCAKES!!!! (at least until the bag runs out).

I've had something similar to that whenever I went up the West Coast for the summer and Christmas, only it was for waffles and you still have to cook 'em in the waffle iron yourself. It isn't that bad for a free breakfast item considering the other offerings I've seen at cheap motels like La Quinta Inn. The real problems with the free breakfast items are usually any form of "maple" syrup they have, their scrambled eggs, and sometimes the coffee.

Table syrup. In a world where maple syrup exists and where the alternative is based off corn syrup (I'm sick of Big Corn being everywhere lmao) I just can't understand why you'd pick that and I've never seen it at anyone's house. It lasts for so long too that the price difference doesn't seem like it'd be such a selling point, it's not like you buy a jug/can, respectively, every month.

Unfortunately cost is one of the main reason why table syrup is a thing, most decent maple syrup brands cost around 10-12 bucks for an 8-12 fluid ounce bottle while table syrup costs around 5 bucks for a 24 fluid ounce bottle (I know Costco sells big jugs of maple syrup but I've long forgotten what they sell for). Another issue is that, in a 2015 survey published by WaPo, 70% of Americans actually preferred table syrup over maple syrup.

 

[𝕺𝖑' 𝕯𝖎𝖗𝖙𝖞 𝕱𝖆𝖙𝖘𝖔]

I grew up in poverty land..and Miracle Whip and Cool whip are both gross as fuck. Proper Mayo is better and making your own whipped cream is cheaper and super duper easy.

If you have an immersion blender real mayo is a 5 minute task to make from scratch with basic pantry ingredients. I don't like store bought mayo much but homemade is fantastic.

On topic though: canned chow mein. These come in huge cans that cost almost as much as getting takeout food too.



In my state, you can't buy real wine at grocery stores or anywhere outside of dedicated liquor stores, so a lot sell fake "wine product" which is nasty af.

 

[neverendingmidi]

On topic though: canned chow mein. These come in huge cans that cost almost as much as getting takeout food too.

Ver archivo adjunto 5479367

At one time these were dirt cheap. And by "at one time" I mean late 80's/early 90's, because my parents bought it for dinner. Finally, as they started earning more money, we ate it less and less. Eventually we had a can that we kept in the pantry as a threat- "decide what we're making for dinner or it's the canned Chinese." We had that single can as a threat for about 13 years before we finally pitched it.

 

[Orange Rhymer]

If you have an immersion blender real mayo is a 5 minute task to make from scratch with basic pantry ingredients. I don't like store bought mayo much but homemade is fantastic.

On topic though: canned chow mein. These come in huge cans that cost almost as much as getting takeout food too.

Ver archivo adjunto 5479367

In my state, you can't buy real wine at grocery stores or anywhere outside of dedicated liquor stores, so a lot sell fake "wine product" which is nasty af.

Ver archivo adjunto 5479385

I thought you were shitting me, but there it is on the label:
"Wine Product"

What kind of dystopian hell allows an industrial mixture of fruit juice and gas-o-hol, but does not allow the sale of mankind's oldest products?
Wine is a time-honored process.

I can't imagine what that tastes like. Probably lighter fluid and Kool-Aid.

Syrup:
There was a 'life-hack' in the USA. People didn't understand what 'Grades' of Maple Syrup were, believing all to be inferior to 'Grade A'.
Maple Syrup grades used to be based on how dark the syrup is. Grade A = the lightest grade, Grade B = darker, Grade C = darker still, etc... I never seen anything for sale darker than 'C'. Darker syrups have more flavor and less water. Thick like molasses, but great if you heat it up

Punchline: I used to buy higher grades of natural maple syrup at 'fancy' stores for less than the price of Mrs Buttersworth.
They fixed it in 2014 - understanding that the more expensive products were selling for less.
Now all maple syrup products (in the USA are labeled 'Grade A' with a color descriptor.

Reference: https://newengland.com/food/guide-to-maple-syrup-grades/

Makes me really sad. I used to make out like a bandit. Oh well, didn't need that sugar anyway....

 

[WelperHelper99]

can't really think of much outside of the obvious stuff (plant-based meat alternatives like Beyond/Imposible Meat for example, we all saw how people snubbed their noses at it during Coof Containment Times), if your local chain grocer stocks it then there's more than likely some level of general demand for it.

I tried that once when it came out the jerkey anyway. Tastes like jerkey, but not the texture, it's very clumpy, and has a aftertaste of peas. Now I see it just full on the Walmart shelves because no one buys it

 

[AnOminous]

On topic though: canned chow mein. These come in huge cans that cost almost as much as getting takeout food too.

I had this a few times as a kid. I can't imagine actually choosing to eat it though.

 

[Orange Rhymer]

TIL:
Cricket powder is being added to Japanese in-flight meals. The airlines are actually advertising it as if they are proud of this new ingredient. Asians will gladly/proudly try it while smiling.

Let's watch as cricket powder is silently added to various processed and ground proteins in the US.

Also
The LaChoy double cans were one of my go-to 'emergency dinners'.
(Emergency = 'I'm too tired/lazy/drunk to give a shit about dinner, lets open 2 cans and try to find the chinese noodles)

I made myself a promise to never eat that shit again.

 

[AnOminous]

The LaChoy double cans were one of my go-to 'emergency dinners'.

Even the name is vaguely offensive. It's like the Chef Boyardee of chink food.

 

[Rick's Beef Wellington]

At one time these were dirt cheap. And by "at one time" I mean late 80's/early 90's, because my parents bought it for dinner. Finally, as they started earning more money, we ate it less and less. Eventually we had a can that we kept in the pantry as a threat- "decide what we're making for dinner or it's the canned Chinese." We had that single can as a threat for about 13 years before we finally pitched it.

That's funny, I never realized it was poor food but we did have it a lot when I was little right after my parents bought their house and we had a lot of omelettes and potato pancakes for dinner. I haven't thought of canned chow meim in forever, that brought me back.

How about anything in the weird European aisle of supermakets? I feel like that bottle of salad cream has been there since Thatcher.

 

[Chimplord1997]

Those tins of canned octopus or soft shell crab meat. I could see wanting that fresh, but who wants to eat fucken pickled octopus (I do not eat cephalopods or lobster because to justify eating animals that intelligent you would need to be OK with eating black people(the average cephalopod is able to pass the Stanford marshmallow experiment without any issues) )

 

[AnOminous]

Those tins of canned octopus or soft shell crab meat. I could see wanting that fresh, but who wants to eat fucken pickled octopus (I do not eat cephalopods or lobster because to justify eating animals that intelligent you would need to be OK with eating black people(the average cephalopod is able to pass the Stanford marshmallow experiment without any issues) )

Those are utter shit to eat directly but make good crab cakes. Not sure about canned octopus. I'd always want that fresh. Octopus makes a great ceviche. Lobster, I just toss straight into a giant kettle of boiling water and beer and Old Bay seasoning.

 

[Lady Bizness]

I used to get this Vietnamese energy drink that came in tiny bottles and was just like ultra-concentrated Red Bull. It came in 8 packs and two was too many. Tasted like battery acid but would really start your engine (or probably stop your heart). It would probably be illegal here if they knew it existed.

I have no idea what it was actually called and haven't seen it anywhere else.

In Japan I had a concentrated energy drink and later found out it had nicotine in it. I've never smoked a day in my life so it was a really bizarre feeling for me.

 

[Orange Rhymer]

In Japan I had a concentrated energy drink and later found out it had nicotine in it. I've never smoked a day in my life so it was a really bizarre feeling for me.

Nicotinic acid = Vitamin B3. It will cause the 'tingles' and you might flush a little.
either way, it's p good for you.

 

[AnOminous]

In Japan I had a concentrated energy drink and later found out it had nicotine in it. I've never smoked a day in my life so it was a really bizarre feeling for me.

I smoked at the time so it's entirely possible it did have that in it.

Nicotinic acid = Vitamin B3. It will cause the 'tingles' and you might flush a little.
either way, it's p good for you.

Nicotinic acid isn't nicotine.

 

[Orange Rhymer]

I smoked at the time so it's entirely possible it did have that in it.

Nicotinic acid isn't nicotine.

I thought maybe it was a reading mistake. The first time I saw 'nicotinic acid' I was confused too.

Actual nicotine in a drink would be weird.

 

[AnOminous]

I thought maybe it was a reading mistake. The first time I saw 'nicotinic acid' I was confused too.

Actual nicotine in a drink would be weird.

It could actually kill kids or sensitive people without previous exposure to it. I still wouldn't be surprised to see it in some weird Asian beverage.