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<blockquote data-quote="Dannyalcatraz" data-source="post: 4507896" data-attributes="member: 19675">I've ordered a few things from the &quot;Chinese&quot; or &quot;Japanese&quot; menus at Chinese and Japanese menus.By that I mean items that are intended for the Chinese or Japanese palate, rather than the &quot;Americanized&quot; recipes that we usually eat when we visit those restaurants.In particular, I remember ordering Crispy Fried Soft Shelled Crab (&quot;C&quot;) and Seafood Udon (&quot;J&quot;).When they said &quot;Crispy&quot; they meant it.&nbsp; It was almost like eating crab flavored jerky coated in a thick batter.The Udon was a bit more exotic than is typical of the Americanized version, and included among its more unusual and authentic ingredients slivers of Sea Cucumber.&nbsp; Sea Cucumber is an echinoderm- relative to the sea urchin and starfish- and looks like a brownish cucumber.&nbsp; IOW, it looks like a turd.&nbsp; Its texture is somewhat like pure gristle, and its flavor is mild, generally taking on the flavor of what it is put into.So you're eating your Udon, enjoying the fish chunks and the shrimp, and you get this mouthful of brown chewy nearly flavorless stuff that the waitress tells you is the Sea Cucumber...and if you're like me and can instantly visualize the critter in its native environment, your mind connects that turd-critter with the chewy mush in your mouth and your appetite mysteriously vanishes!OTOH, I have also &quot;created&quot; certain dishes at restaurants at which I'm a regular.&nbsp; For instance, I regularly dine at I Fratelli's Italian restaurant in Irving, Tx.&nbsp; One of my favorite dishes is Tortellini with butter, mushrooms and garlic.&nbsp; Its not on the menu, but I've ordered it enough times that its practically my &quot;usual.&quot;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dannyalcatraz, post: 4507896, member: 19675"] I've ordered a few things from the "Chinese" or "Japanese" menus at Chinese and Japanese menus. By that I mean items that are intended for the Chinese or Japanese palate, rather than the "Americanized" recipes that we usually eat when we visit those restaurants. In particular, I remember ordering Crispy Fried Soft Shelled Crab ("C") and Seafood Udon ("J"). When they said "Crispy" they meant it. It was almost like eating crab flavored jerky coated in a thick batter. The Udon was a bit more exotic than is typical of the Americanized version, and included among its more unusual and authentic ingredients slivers of Sea Cucumber. Sea Cucumber is an echinoderm- relative to the sea urchin and starfish- and looks like a brownish cucumber. IOW, it looks like a turd. Its texture is somewhat like pure gristle, and its flavor is mild, generally taking on the flavor of what it is put into. So you're eating your Udon, enjoying the fish chunks and the shrimp, and you get this mouthful of brown chewy nearly flavorless stuff that the waitress tells you is the Sea Cucumber...and if you're like me and can instantly visualize the critter in its native environment, your mind connects that turd-critter with the chewy mush in your mouth and your appetite mysteriously vanishes! OTOH, I have also "created" certain dishes at restaurants at which I'm a regular. For instance, I regularly dine at I Fratelli's Italian restaurant in Irving, Tx. One of my favorite dishes is Tortellini with butter, mushrooms and garlic. Its not on the menu, but I've ordered it enough times that its practically my "usual." [/QUOTE]

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