Sometimes I eat weird stuff just to see the look in the eyes of the person I'm with. Chicken feet fall into that category - though I've since learned to love them, maybe not as much as I love KFC or Pollo Loco, but how fun to eat chicken feet in front of someone who is skirmish. My buddy Bill and I were driving past Ranch 99 - or is it 99 Ranch? It's the big Asian supermarket with lots of cool things inside. He was telling me about these rice balls wrapped in ti leaves and lo and behold, there they were at the deli counter (ahhh, the Jewish deli in New York this is not!) Well come on, let's do this.
I untied the string and opened it up, the rice sticking to the leaves like spackle on a wall. I cautiously peered inside to make sure it wasn't poison or mystery filling and found chunks of pork, mushrooms and some beans. One bite and I was sold, these damn things are pretty tasty and weird enough to freak out everyone back at the office eating their Subway crapwiches. I mean, it's not going to compete with a Double Double but there was something exotic, something very island-ly or vacation-y about it that makes me want to go right back there and get another.
