10 Foods Americans Miss Most When Abroad

It isn't any more traditional here than in the US.  It all depends on where they come from and how they adjust for local tastes. 

But I pretty much hate Chinese food (dim sum aside) everywhere.  Except when we went to HK and Macau.     And even there I avoided eating things that were a little too, ummmmmmm, feet-y and/or bowl-y if you know what I mean.

... And even there I avoided eating things that were a little too, ummmmmmm, feet-y and/or bowl-y if you know what I mean.

Feet-y!!! Funniest thing I've read all morning! 

i love the Chinese food here!  We have a brilliant wee takeaway at the bottom of our road and it's consistently good, and there's an expensive sit-down place in town called Ho Wong, which is amazing (apart from the scary service).  Looking forward to checking out the Hunan restaurant when we are in Manchester next month!

Feet-y!!! Funniest thing I've read all morning! 

It's funny now, it wasn't so funny then.  But there was an Auntie Annie's pretzels, so that made up for a lot.

Ha - well the Red Chilli is, I believe, authentic Beijing and Sichuan, and yes - you can get feet-y and intestine-y things there, if that's your thing! 

In fact, the last time we went with a big group for Chinese New Year, I think it was Andee's hubby who got the pig intestines dish!  I really admire people who are brave & ethical enough to eat nose-to-tail when they're going to eat meat/poultry/etc...some things I can do - pig cheeks or trotters for instance, but some things I just can't bring myself to eat. 

I don't doubt you can get it, and as a PA Dutch girl I have eaten stuffed pig's stomach so I can't talk, but you just don't get it at your normal everyday Chinese in the village.   

So while you can get authentic stuff here in good places, you can also get it in the US in good places.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saumagen  Mmmmm. Hog maw.

Is that Red Chilli you're talking about in town?   

It is indeed the one I'm referring to.
 
With regards to take away chinese in the UK vs the US, it's just a theory but I think UK takeaways don't use MSG or perhaps not as much as they do in the states.

I never miss Chinese food, though, so doesn't bother me. Jon loves stir fry and I just can't stomach it. Bleh.

With regards to take away chinese in the UK vs the US, it's just a theory but I think UK takeaways don't use MSG or perhaps not as much as they do in the states.
 

I don't know if they use MSG here or not, but I do know for a fact my head doesn't suffer here after having Chinese. In the States, I suffer every time I eat Chinese, but love it enough to have it from time to time even knowing the pain will come.

I don't know if they use MSG here or not, but I do know for a fact my head doesn't suffer here after having Chinese. In the States, I suffer every time I eat Chinese, but love it enough to have it from time to time even knowing the pain will come.

There were several place in Philadelphia that advertised the fact that they didn't use MSG.  I always went to those places.

It does.  

Glutamate is found in many foods.  So while you might have gotten a headache, it was probably from something else.  Perhaps from all the added salt in general.  Zizzi, Nandos and  KFC all use it, along with almost every food place.

Everyone in Asia eats way more MSG than people in the West consume in a lifetime, yet they don't seem to have MSG issues.  And they have been eating it for much longer.

For instance:

Some of the names MSG goes under in the UK:

monopotassium glutamate
glutavene
glutacyl
glutamic acid
autolyzed yeast extract
calcium caseinate
sodium caseinate
E621 (E620-625 are all glutamates)
Ajinomoto, Ac'cent
Gourmet Powder

The following may also contain MSG natural flavours or seasonings
natural beef or chicken flavouring
hydrolyzed milk or plant protein
textured protein
seasonings
soy sauce
bouillon
broth
spices

Almost every flavour of crisp here, except for ready salted, has MSG.

I have a little 500g plastic bag of MSG that I bought in the Chinese supermarket, thinking this might be the missing ingredient to my home-made Chinese stuff/stir-fries.  It's meant to be a 'flavour enhancer', but I can't say I've noticed much difference... maybe I'm not using enough?

My favorite American restaurants: Panera Bread, Wendy's, Olive Garden to name a few of many... also the local ice cream shop, The Pied Piper. They make the BEST chocolate malt milkshakes in the world, along with their mint chocolate chip flurries.

Favorite yogurt: honey flavored Dannon Oikos Greek yogurt, favorite salad dressing: Giant Eagle Marketplace brand Balsamic Vinegar, favorite salsa: Wal Mart brand mango peach salsa (it seems like a weird combo, but it's so good)... I'm sure there are plenty more but I'm tired right now and I don't feel like typing a bunch  Also, I use Crisco shortening for pie crust and banana bread and while you can't get it in a UK supermarket, it is available on Amazon.co.uk.

I don't doubt you can get it, and as a PA Dutch girl I have eaten stuffed pig's stomach so I can't talk, but you just don't get it at your normal everyday Chinese in the village.   

Wow, were you raised Amish, bookgrl? Or just from that area?

PA Dutch, so there are three main religious groups that make up the ethnic group.

You have your Amish, Mennonite and Lutheran.  But not all Amish/Mennonite/Lutheran are PA Dutch.

My family is Lutheran with a few Mennonite thrown in the mix.  For instance, my grandfather only every spoke PA Dutch in the house.  He was a state senator and used to speak Dutch on the floor of the Senate with other Dutch speaking people to annoy the stenographers.

(Dutch of course being German.  Too add some confusion.)

Right, I knew that "Dutch" refers to German but I guess I always associated PA Dutch with the Amish and maybe the Mennonites, since there are a lot of similarities between the groups. I didn't know that there was a large community of Lutherans considered PA Dutch as well. Was your grandfather the child of immigrants or did speaking Dutch survive multiple generations, like with the Amish?