runoo

Of course we went out for Chinese food every Sunday, my husband, son and daughter. My daughter, aged 4, always pre-empted the banquette. A few minutes after imbibing the wonton soup, her favorite, she would gently slide sideways and fall into a sound sleep. It took us a while to figure out this was probably because of the MSG and another while to request that the chef leave it out. Problem solved. One of my fondest memories.

Huiray, Please don't get the wrong idea. I love pork and eat it whenever I can get some that doesn't taste like cardboard. That means searching around for artisanal pigs and paying a fortune! Thanks for all your wonderful ideas. I googled Vietnamese restaurants in the area and there certainly are a number. Will go on a Pho experiment very soon. I had Pho exactly once at a restaurant in Chapel Hill and was very disappointed. Watery broth and not much flavor. I should have kept looking. The meatballs look very promising and I'll shop for some. We have a very good market in Cary (I don't live there, but it's worth a trip) that I use for stocking up on chicken feet, so another trip is coming Runoo

To all who replied to my call for chewy things.....many, many thanks. Yes, I will look for a full service butcher to discuss this with. huiray, the only time I've met up with beef tendons so far is at a good Taiwanese restaurant in Cary. And the dish was a mix of meltingly soft and slightly chewy. A favorite of mine is oxtail stew, which I cook all the time, so some of your other ideas should be doable. Again, many thanks! Runoo

Thanks all for your welcome and comments. Glennbech: Eating balut eggs reminds me of eating live shrimp in a Japanese restaurant. I guess some things are not meant for Western palates. huiray: Phoenix Claws are an everlasting delight from my earliest childhood. However, they were just called "chicken feet". My fondest memory is my mother building a cage of absolutely clean finger bones around the edge of her plate. I never left an uncleaned bone after that! heidih: Sounds like a lot of work! shalmanese: Well, Nobody has answered my question about finding cartilage NOW. I guess I'll have to go find all your grandmothers hungry chris: Ah, of course, I'd forgotten....lamb shanks. Time for a trip to the farmer's market. Thanks. Another cartilage memory from the past. My mother used to make a veal breast stuffed with seasoned rice, served with tomato sauce. Heavenly! And the veal was so young that the bones were entirely chewable. No way to find that now.

I'm a new posting member, altho I've been following Egullet for years. I'm also a rabid addict for chewy things, especially cartilage and, when desparate, beef tendon. Having chewed my way through hundreds of chicken feet and wing knuckles, I'm wondering how to find other cartilage-rich foods to cook (or find in restaurants). Being Jewish, I've never gotten up the nerve to try pigs feet or ears, altho I do eat pork in other forms. Does anyone have an idea how to assuage my cartilage craving in other ways? Runoo