80041 Thu Mar 23 16:32:53 -0800 2006 20 2 Los Angeles Area 0 442591 I hate donuts. Hate 'em. They leave a slick oily after taste and they're just plain boring. But I love other incarnations of deep fried dough. Chinese fried crullers (You Tiao) are one of my guilty pleasures. Airy, crispy, and a delight to eat, especially after a dunk in Chinese chili paste. I recently discovered frybread from Memphis, a Southern food joint in Costa Mesa. Made of cornbead dough, deep fried until a deep mahogany brown, topped with cheese, diced chicken and corn, I couldn't get enough of this. I looked up what frybread was and found that its history is linked to Native Americans. Scuttled to reservations and given rations of flour and lard by the US Government, they improvised the frybread out of necessity. My question is where to get more of this stuff? O.C. would be best, but L.A. suggetions also welcome. BTW, check out this page on Fried Doughs around the world: http://home.comcast.net/~osoono/ethnic-doughs.htm Link: http://elmomonster.blogspot.com Image: http://www.mydigitalkitchen.com/pic/rec/143.jpg Thu Mar 23 16:32:53 -0800 2006 0 elmomonster 1 442603 Yeah, frybread is good. The only places I have seen them is at Native American Pow Wows. Thu Mar 23 17:05:56 -0800 2006 442591 0 WildSwede 2 442624 Agreed--it's awesome stuff. But it should be noted that the Native American pow-wow version is made with white bread dough, not the corn bread dough Elmomonster mentioned. (But I'd love to try that, too!) The only place where I was able to get frybread regularly was at UCLA when I was in grad school there--the Native American student group used to have a frybread sale every month. Big, crispy yet chewy rounds of fried goodness topped with taco toppings (for an "Indian Taco" or powdered sugar (as a dessert). Sometimes I'd get one of each for as two-course meal. Politically correct junk food rules! Thu Mar 23 17:50:43 -0800 2006 442603 0 Hungry1 3 442657 I ate this stuff on the Navajo reservation last summer. As bad as it has been on the Native American health and diet, I must admit that it did taste awfully good with honey and mutton or beef stew. Thu Mar 23 19:06:46 -0800 2006 442624 0 corydon 1 442613 Those so-called Chinese donuts are for eating with Chinese rice porridge (JOOK). Thu Mar 23 17:24:36 -0800 2006 442591 0 KF 2 442615 or if you are taiwanese, you eat them with doh jiang (soybean soup). Thu Mar 23 17:32:06 -0800 2006 442613 0 wilafur 3 442620 Better yet, use the crullers (yo-tiao) as the "sandwich filling" with chinese sesame buns (tsao-bing). Thu Mar 23 17:44:52 -0800 2006 442615 0 ipse dixit 4 442625 i do both. wrap the cruller in a tsao bing, dip it in doh jiang and take a bite. ohhh so good! Thu Mar 23 17:50:47 -0800 2006 442620 0 wilafur 5 442629 Do you prefer your doh jiang sweet or salty? BTW - any recs for doh jiang and crullers? May favorite place closed down a while back when the Diho Market plaza (on Atlantic Blvd.) imploded ... Thu Mar 23 17:54:35 -0800 2006 442625 0 ipse dixit 6 442640 Try Yung Ho in San Gabriel. They are pretty popular for Taiwanese Breakfast. They definitely have Yu-Tiao and Doh-Jiang. Everything is pretty decent. Just don't get their green onion pancake (Tsong-Yu-Bien), they deep fry it. Yung Ho Tou Chiang 533 W. Valley Blvd., San Gabriel, (626) 570-0860 Thu Mar 23 18:24:36 -0800 2006 442629 0 Foodie-Boy 7 442642 I've been there - they are very pedestrian. Thu Mar 23 18:31:29 -0800 2006 442640 0 ipse dixit 6 442645 i typically partake in the sweet vs hot/sour variety. i go to yong ho tou chiang on weekends when i get the craving. i think they are only open during the lunch hours. they serve all sorts of eats including fan twan, niu yuo mien, etc. yong hou tou chiang 1045 e valley blvd # 105 san gabriel, ca 91776-3661 Thu Mar 23 18:33:49 -0800 2006 442629 0 wilafur 3 442656 Or if you're Indonesian like me, you eat it with sambal (and Chinese Chili Paste if you got no sambal)! Link: http://elmomonster.blogspot.com Thu Mar 23 19:05:00 -0800 2006 442615 0 elmomonster 2 442678 in thailand they eat them a few different ways: - dip in sweet condensed milk (like the borden's kind). yum. - it's a main ingredient in a popular dessert: make a hot broth with ginger and lots of brown sugar add soft tofu and chopped up chinese dough thingys (is that the technical term???) you can also get this particular dessert dish at siam sunset in hollywood, on sunset blvd a few miles east of the 101. i don't know what the english name is, in thai it's "TAO huay" i love it when thais adapt(bastardize???) chinese food. (it always ends up sweeter than the original...i guess thais have a sweet tooth). Thu Mar 23 19:55:01 -0800 2006 442613 0 jackt 3 442690 Speaking of condensed milk and fried bread, in Hong Kong a popular dish for dim sum or tea time would be fried man tou (the plain white baos you can find in the frozen section at Chinese markets) and accompany them with a little dish of condensed milk. Such a simple concept, you would think you would be able to find them in dim sum places here, but I never have. I think I also had them in Vancouver, but none to be found down here unfortnately. Thu Mar 23 20:21:02 -0800 2006 442678 0 Can 1 442632 If you're ever in Asheville, NC, the best frybread i've ever had is at this place - Spirits on the River Link: http://www.mohicanpress.com/ Thu Mar 23 17:59:15 -0800 2006 442591 0 mr mouther 1 442649 Don't forget that staple of the English breakfast -- fried bread (basically deep fried toast). Decadently good. The King's Head pub in Santa Monica serves it on request instead of ordinary toast as part of the English Breakfast. Thu Mar 23 18:41:21 -0800 2006 442591 0 BHAppea 1 442700 We had 2 versions by the beach in CT. 1 savory with tomatoe sauce and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese the other sweet with powdered sugar. I don't believe that there was any difference in the bread itself, the toppings determined savory or sweet. Thu Mar 23 21:02:12 -0800 2006 442591 0 JB 1 442745 *dashes to MEmphis to eat*... Thu Mar 23 23:38:54 -0800 2006 442591 0 MEalcentric 1 442828 You know what's pretty damn good? Pan frying the TJ's garlic naan, right out of the freezer. Fri Mar 24 12:54:36 -0800 2006 442591 0 Tom 1 442965 I've never seen frybread on an L.A. menu. I had it in a restaurant in Tuba City, AZ, which is the heart of Navajo country. It must be the densest substance known to mankind (that's edible). Sure tastes good, but I had some issues digesting the mass... Fri Mar 24 19:16:22 -0800 2006 442591 0 ckatt