Tripe for beginners?
I had a terrific first visit to China Village last weekend, thanks in no small part to the extensive discussion on Chowhound. (Our guests may have been a bit taken aback that I had such strong opinions on what we should order, though. No, you can't have wontons, how about some nice seafood soup with freshly made noodles?)
Their menu has tons of innards on it, and particularly tripe. While I'm interesting in trying this stuff, I'm not terribly experienced with offal, particularly of the Chinese variety.
Can someone suggest a tripe dish or two that is relatively beginner-friendly? I'm thinking that a dish that was, say, fried, might be an easier transition to make than one that was cold and boiled. Other offal recommendations would be welcome as well. Just remember that I'm looking to be turned on to tripe, not scared off of it forever.
Thanks for your input!
-Beth
By epopp
on Aug 15, 2003 07:31 PM
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I applaud your ambition. Once one gets past the initial squeamishness, innards are extremely rewarding, and one comes to crave them.
One issue with your request is that there's an ambiguity. "Tripe" generally means cow stomach, and there are two types of which I'm aware. Honeycomb tripe is about 1/4" thick, and wonderfully chewy, and has a faint gamy flavor. That's the kind that is used in menudo, the Mexican soup. Bible tripe is very thin sheets with a firmer texture, and only a little flavor. However, sometimes, intestines are called "Tripes." I don't know why. On the China Village menu, the wonderful fried intestines are labeled "tripes."
So it depends what you want to get used to. A suggestion for each:
- Bible tripe is the most accessible of the three things I mention above. It's one of the things you can order in pho, the vietnamese version of soup noodles. This is what I recommend as a starting point. You should be able to find good pho places all over that offer this as an option.
- Honeycomb tripe takes a little more adjusting. I suggest adjusting to the texture first, then the flavor. Gold Mountain, on Broadway, has a dim sum cart that offers a nice curry tripe. The curry mostly obscures the tripe's flavor, so it's a good way to start. By the way, don't eat the pieces of whatever else it is in there (don't worry, they're easy to distinguish). I don't know what it is, it's like congealed blood on the inside, and I haven't been able to get myself to like it. Once you're adjusted to the texture of the tripe, you can branch out. Menudo, despite being highly spiced, does retain the flavor of the tripe.
Intestines are the toughest to get to like. They're very gamey and earthy. However, starting with fried is the right idea, and I can't think of a better version than the China Village dish. They are highly spiced, so the gaminess is more of an undercurrent, and they are very crisp throughout, which pretty much takes care of the texture issue.
Some other innard thoughts:
Chicken hearts, sometimes available fried from Chinese takeout places, are very easy to like, and delicious.
Pork kidneys, offered in some Chinese restaurants, are different, but have an appealing texture and a flavor that shouldn't be too hard to adjust to. The only issue is overcooking; see the kidney thread below for some suggestions on avoiding that.
Beef tendon comes in two forms. One has meat with it, and is very easy to get used to. The other is pure translucent tendon. There's very little flavor, and a wonderful, luxurious texture. A great way to experience these is to go to Hon's Wun Tun House on Kearny and order "beef tendon noodles in soup." Say it slowly -- it's not on the menu, but is always available (the tendon by itself is on the menu). This is a superb soup noodle place, and one of the great things about tendon in soup is that it, like honeycomb tripe, lends the broth a glossy sheen and thickness that is very appealing.
Best of luck in your innards quest. I did something similar some years ago, and it has paid off more than I could ever have imagined. I'm an innards addict now!
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Italians say there are 7 cuts of tripe. I don't know what they are.
I've so much nasty tripe that I'll now only eat it at Terra in St. Helena (tripe and spaghetti) or in Italy. Even in France it isn't dependable.
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I've actually never had "nasty tripe," but I've not often had French or Italian versions. In my opinion, which I'll admit upfront is heavily biased in favor of Chinese cuisine, the "gamey/texture innards," like tripe and tendon and intestines, are much better suited to a Chinese, or at least Asian, approach, where their luxurious textures will be prized and properly highlighted, and the edges of their more aggressive flavor qualities, nicely gentled and complemented by other assertive influences. I enjoy, for example, the (honeycomb) tripe in spicy tomato sauce frequent-special at Mary's in Petaluma (got some in my fridge now, actually). The heat and acid of the sauce is a nice flavor complement, and it's a thoroughly enjoyable dish. But I don't think it approaches the genius of a Sichuan hot/numbing oil approach, or of a nice hotpot with all of its myriad flavors, in terms of drawing out all that is good in honeycomb tripe.
Kidney and liver, with their delicacy and concentrated richness, seem much better suited to European treatment than the gamey/texture innards, and, indeed a dish like the Alsatian kidneys in mustard sauce is a true delight. Not that these meats don't work well in a Chinese context also.
Of course, you make a nice theory, and something shoots it all to heck. The Mexican treatment of honeycomb tripe in Menudo can approach the transcendental, and cheap delicious taco truck tacos with intestines or other oddities in them, can make you wonder why anyone thinks these meats are challenging at all.
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You might want to check out the trippa alla fiorentina at Santi in Geyserville. It's very good. Partner/chef Franco loves the stuff and he said it will always be on the menu.
Fwiw, Santi has been turning out seriously excellent regional Italian cuisine since day 1. In the last six months or so, the spotlight of Michael Bauer, Wine Spectator and other raves has finally landed on them after several years of hard work. Deservedly so.
[disclaimer: Tom, Franco and Robin are friends/acquaintances of mine.]
Down Pescadero way, Duarte's Tavern will sometimes offer a Portuguese style tripe braised in a tomatoey sauce that's good too.
Image: http://www.tavernasanti.com/images/si...
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Bryan wrote:
"I don't know what it is, it's like congealed blood on the inside..."
I think it may be spleen (beef spleen). It's a strange taste and texture, to be sure -- it took me a while to get used to it, especially since I used to buy it for my cat (the local Safeway sold it, up until about twenty years ago). The spleen is a storage place for red blood cells so it is rich in iron. It's chewy, and rather bland.
At the Gold Medal in Oakland Chinatown one of my favorite dishes is named "beef haslet"; it contains two kinds of tripe, intestine, and spleen. I looked up haslet in the dictionary and it is a respectable English word I had never heard of before. It means "offal" (the non-muscle parts of the cow which are being discussed in the current thread). Also it's somewhat unusual for the Chinese taste, in being beef based, rather than pork. There is (or was) another place on Franklin between 7th and 9th (Oakland Chinatown) that had a big sign in its window: "Here we serve only beef".
One thing that helps with many of these meats is to dip them in a sauce as you eat. I use red vinegar (it is served as a table condiment along with the soy sauce etc at the Gold Medal). I put a small pool of red vinegar (white vinegar would work too) on the plate and dip the spleen before I eat it.
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Joel, thanks for the spleen theory; it sounds very plausible; even conclusive, given the blood connection. I wonder if part of the problem was that the spleen I had at Gold Mountain may have been overcooked. The texture was unappealingly dry, rather than "chewy"; the flavor was sharply bitter and iron-like, rather than "somewhat bland." I'd think it ought not to be cooked along with something that wants to be long-stewed, like tripe.
I'm hearing so much about Oakland's Chinatown that the thought of going there is becoming nearly irresistable. Soon. Maybe I'll have kidneys live, and take home some tripe.
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Thanks for all the advice. This gives me lots of innard ambitions. It's going to take a while, though, before I get up the nerve to try ojitos.
We went back to China Village tonight (I live in the neighborhood), and got the Family Style Crispy Tripe. It was reasonably good, but not a real winner. The tripe was the flat kind, and not crispy at all. It didn't look like it had been fried. The dish also had some tube-y looking pieces in it -- I wonder if they were just tripe rolling up at the edges, or if they could have been intestine pieces? The flavor was very mild, almost unnoticeable, and the texture reminded me a little of woodear mushrooms, or maybe a squeakier version of calamari. The dish included big shiitake or similar mushrooms, red bell pepper, and was in a somewhat one-note chili sauce.
(Other dishes tonight: We did the Village Special Noodles Soup again, which was wonderful -- very smoky this time, and also the Eggplant with Spicy Garlic Sauce, which is just melting strips of Chinese eggplant cooked in a thick and flavorful garlic sauce. Also tried the Hot and Spicy Pork Feet, which is indeed shoulder, as somebody mentioned earlier, and it was the real winner of the night -- a big piece of shoulder on the bone sitting in the middle of the plate, skin on, in a pool of hot/garlicky sauce, decorated with lightly cooked baby bok choy or a similar green. The pork was melting, and had a wonderful meaty flavor. We didn't finish the skin, and the woman who waited on us -- who was terrific, by the way -- scolded us and told us that eating pork skin is supposed to be good for your skin. I like that theory.)
So far, so good. Not scared off yet, and lots more things to try! I'm particularly curious about the chicken hearts. Although I don't really like the taste of blood. Still, if you eat things often enough, they do seem to grow on you. I've eaten sushi for a long time, but I remember when I first started eating it it took quite a while to get past the "this is raw fish" thing.
-Beth
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Beth, sorry if my information was ambiguous. I was assuming you had read my China Village report. The dish I was referring to is called "Dry Cooked Tripe" and is (or was) item 39 on the Chinese menu there.
Chicken hearts are not bloody at all; they're just muscle. Really, I don't think they belong on a list of challenging innards at all, because it's the idea, not anything about the actuality, that puts people off. Sort of like unagi. When I make Dirty Rice (a Cajun dish), I like to use ground chicken hearts (I have the grinder attachment for the KitchenAid) for the non-livers portion of the meat.
Gizzards, which I used to think were useless except for providing a touch of flavor to the broth, are actually a wonderful texture food, when stewed in aromatic seasoned liquid and sliced thin.
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At the Gold Medal in Oakland, they have barbecued chicken hearts and gizzards on skewers hanging in the window. Also barbecued chicken livers -- excellent, except if you get there late, and then they can be dry. If you eat them there (instead of takeout) make sure they do NOT reheat them (microwaving destroys liver). The gizzards and hearts are good too, but a bit chewy.
To some people, liver is an "iffy" food, and when I was in northern Idaho recently I realized that lamb is not an acceptable food for lots of people.
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I've become a big fan of tacos made of tripitas (often fried intenstines) as well as all the other leftover parts of the cow (cabeza--head, lengua--tongue, sesos--brains, even ojitos--little eyeballs).
The best spot for this in the city is the taco window on 21st and Treat, just east of Folsom and next door to a restaurant owned by the same people. The tacos are $1 each, come with delicious beans and your choice of great salsas and radishes. They have some very good blood sausage too.
That gringo favorite, La Taqueria has excellent tongue tacos.
Balompie, a Salvadorean restaurant on 18th and Shotwell, has a tripe and tendon soup with vegetables that I adore called mondongo. One bowl is enough to feed three.
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Just to clarify--I believe Balompie's actually at 3349 18th St., at the intersection of 18th and Capp. It's definitely my favorite SF Salvadoran restaurant thus far, though! Ties with La Santaneca for best yuca frita, maybe trails just a bit with regard to pupusas revueltas, but in terms of variety and sheer "man, everything on menu is good!"ness, it wins hands-down.
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Several places in Oakland's Chinatown sell prepared tripe. One I am particularly fond of is Gold Medal on 8th between Franklin and Webster. I usually "doctor" their tripe by stir-frying some chopped garlic and black beans, then adding green peppers and onions, and, finally, the tripe. I eat this with steamed rice. I find it delicious.
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We had a very good tripe (tripas) taco at the El Novillo taco truck (parking lot of the Guadalajara restaurant, on Fruitvale opposite the BART station. Even the non-tripe lovers in the group (including me) liked them. On good thing about starting with a taco is that they're small and only cost a dollar or a little more, so if you don't like it, you haven't lost much.
As for other "innards" -- I really liked the grilled beef heart (anticuchos) that I had at a Peruvian restaurant (La Furia Chalaca in Oakland).
Good luck on your journey!
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Incanto has well prepared tripe, and so does Delfina.
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may i recommend korean tripe. occassionally you can get grilled intestines, but it is hard to find that.
what is easier to find, and is probably the tastiest tripe preparation you'll ever find is a korean stew called kopchangchongal. you can find it many restaurants in the bay area. ( a good one can be found at the korean place in the tenderloin next to the polly esther's club).the problem is that in almost
every place two people have to order it.
it is a stew of tripe and intestines and vegetables and hot pepper sauce (of course) served bubbling hot and usually over a flame that keeps it cooking. there are also noodles in there. the sauce gets thicker and more flavorful as the meal progresses until the noodles are thickly coated in it. a great finish to the tripe.
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This may or may not be soul food--my mum made this for us every few months or so when I was growing up, and SHE grew up in Alabama. I don't know how it stores or reheats, because there were never any leftovers.
That said:
She would dredge small (2" x 3") pieces of honeycomb tripe in flour seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder and deep fry it until crisp. Our family's preferred condiment was the vinegar from a jar of pickled peppers.
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Maybe we need a tripe table at the Chowhound picnic.
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are there enough Tripehounds to fill a table once a month to dig into the best tripe in the area?
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sounds like the start of a tripe crawl--hope we have the stomach for it
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We should make it an Offal Crawl to include the intestines, brains, thyroid glands and odd spleens we may cross. (Kidneys and liver--too common)
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This thread is just making me salivate. I was at my new local Vietnamese market yesterday and picked up a fresh black silkie chicken, some beef heart, some pork belly and now I'm off to my kitchen to have some fun...
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Taking this thread back to tripe for "beginners", I would not suggest a beginner dig in at a taco truck, or tacqueria for that matter, or in China Town for their first experience. I'd suggest the Trippa ala Napoletana at A16. Plenty of tomato sauce and other seasonings to help out for a first tripe tasting.
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