Asia is known for strange food, and Japan is no exception. Mountain View restaurant Nami Nami has been serving a variety of chinmi-the peculiar small tastes that go with sake-which are rare in Japan and especially rare in America
Articles by Brian Bulkowski
For me, the true test of a barbecue house is the three-meat combo—usually chicken, ribs and brisket. The individual style of the cook, with his or her bias toward smoke, sauce, rub or fat, comes through loud and clear.
Chettinad, India, is synonymous with richly spiced dishes. The Chettinad families live along the coast in the Tamil Nadu state, near Chennai. The South Bay has America’s highest density of restaurants serving these southern Indian specialties. Avoiding them due to unfamiliarity would be a mistake.
Blood dishes are associated with immigrant communities and often evoke a sense of nostalgia and comfort for modern eaters. Most cuisines have some vehicle for using the protein-rich slaughter byproduct, but often the dish is dressed with salt, onions and garlic, similar to liver. Blood exists in a medium: a soup or porridge, or soaked into rice and noodles then stuffed into sausage.
CHICKEN NUGGETS. Morsels cut small and fried, a dish elemental and primal, as popular as french fries. In the South Bay, the large south Indian community serves chicken 65, a particular species of chicken nugget marinated in chile powder, turmeric and ginger, then laced with red food coloring and curry leaves.
Bones make soup, and soup is the soul of Polish cooking. It comes in two categories: clear meat-based simmers including cabbages and beets, or mushroom soup with a cream base. A cabbage or beet soup should have a rich hearty core and mouth feel but no obvious meat, with a depth imparted by a healthy fat content, as when a home cook would use the ration’s quota of bones.
Jerk chicken and daiquiris are what most people think of when they think of Caribbean food. But oxtail is one of the real island favorites that tourists miss.
Silicon Valley has a large number of Cantonese and Hong Kong restaurants where fish can be selected and presented tableside within minutes of ordering. Preparations are simple and delicate, bringing forward the taste of the fish itself.
There are also some hidden gems; the dishes from a chef’s grandmother’s hometown or a flash of brilliance beyond the normal beet salad or shrimp with garlic. If you’re willing to dig a little, Palo Alto offers Chinese food that’s anything but ordinary.
