Favorite Clichéd Foods of the World

It's 4am in the morning (my bed time's usually 5am, and no that's not a typo). I'm having food cravings, but I'm too lazy to get out of my room to do something about it. So I decided to do a post about my virgin experiences of some (not all) of my now favorite clichéd foods around the world. 

These dishes are well-known, but I'm a food-idiot who only discovered many of these dishes for the first time on their home ground, when they were presented to me right from their sources.

So, I present to you some of my favorite food, in no particular order:

1. Buffalo Wings (Buffalo, USA)

The Original Buffalo Wing in USA (top) vs Buffalo Wings in Singapore (bottom)

The original buffalo wing was invented by accident in Anchor Bar (pictured, top), or so they claim. Either way, it's good enough for me. You can buy T-Shirts at their very own souvenir shop. I would've, but they didn't have anyone at the counter at that time and I didn't want it badly enough to go out of my way asking. I ordered 30 wings and was extremely satisfied. What they call spicy in USA is hardly spicy, but when you let small amounts accumulate, it starts to give some kick.

Oh yea, and they don't like their wings called Buffalo Wings in Buffalo. They're just called Chicken Wings. It's just a thing. Like if you're in South America, don't call citizens of USA Americans in front of them, it's like you're ignoring the existence of Central and South America. Because technically, Brazilians and Peruvians are also 'American'. Heck, even Canadians are 'American'. Ok, I digress.

I've been looking for Buffalo Wings ever since. I love it, I can never eat normal chicken wings and love them the same way again. The closest thing to Buffalo's original recipe in Singapore is the one at Sunset Grill (pictured, bottom). Its level 1 wings are about the same, but they are expensive. The levels represent the spice level, and it's SG$20 for half a dozen wings of level 1's. The price goes up as you level up. The ultimate level 35 wings goes for SG$65. You'll only wanna touch that if you intend to widen your asshole, because that stuff literally burns you a new hole. If you can finish a plate of 6 level 35 wings, you'll get your picture on their wall of fame.

2. Gelato (Italy)

My virgin Gelato in Rome (left), and 2nd Gelato in Florence (right)

I went to Rome not knowing much about anything except that I had to visit the Colosseum that I saw in the movie 'Jumper'. After this was accomplished, I wandered around for abit and began noticing everyone holding ice cream cones with 2 or 3 flavors dumped on top. Using my highly acute inference skills, I soon realized that this must be one of the foods Rome was famous for. There were also probably gonna be many stores selling this.

Sure enough, I turned around and spotted a store next to the Vatican. I went in and selected 2 random flavors (pictured, left). Before this, I hated ice cream simply because I had too much when I was a kid and got sick of it. The moment my tongue touched the creamy Gelato, my life was changed forever. Now I spend my after-meals hunting down Gelato stores and consuming the shit out of them. It's sooo good.

A worthy competitor of Gelato is Helado, Argentina's version. Helado is cheaper and it is a very competitive rival to the Gelato. Probably because not many people outside of South America know what it is. Helado works the same way, you select your flavors and the cone, the difference is that it has unique flavors like its famous caramel sauce 'Dulce de leche'. Though I've eaten alot of Gelato and Helado, I haven't had enough to tell which is better. So, as long as it rhymes with these words, I'll eat it.

3. Paella (Spain)

My virgin Paella in Granada

I first tried this in Granada, Spain. I just finished visiting the Alhambra and was starving. I was walking along a random street in town and just walked into this little restaurant where the locals instantly turned and stared at me, because I was the only outsider there, let alone Asian. 

It does not look very appetizing, and a little yellow. We all know food doesn't usually look good in yellow - which is good for me since cannibals won't go specifically hunting down my Asian ass while I'm traveling with so many other options available.

BUT, paella is like the fried rice you've never tasted. Its goodies are buried underneath. I randomly ordered this because I couldn't speak Spanish (Dora the Explorer fail) and basically spun a wheel of fortune with my finger onto the menu. If only I was on the actual game show because I struct big. I can't explain how it tastes but it's just good food. I ordered paella in England, and although the dish looked better, it didn't taste as great. Haven't found an equal since.

4. Chicken Rice (Singapore)

My favorite Chicken Rice

Chicken rice is widely considered to be one of the national dishes of Singapore. It's basically a chicken cut up, put into sauce - then you eat it with flavored rice. The flavored rice is made from chicken oils and it is amazing. Just look at the juices flowing from the chicken, my mouth is watering already. The best choice of condiments are black sauce (mainly for steamed chicken), and chicken rice chilli (a sweet, mild chilli sauce popular amongst locals).

Ever since I tasted chicken rice, I've been looking for the optimal place to have such a dish in Sunny Singapore. This is pretty difficult because there are so many different styles or cooking the same dish and you can't ask any local because their opinions vary widely as well. However, I've come pretty close. The best chicken rice I've tasted so far is at "Tian Tian Chicken Rice" (pictured). The place is famous for its Hainanese chicken rice, and it even won in a contest againts Gordon Ramsey when he visited.

Order a half chicken, it feeds two (or one hungry man) and is only SG$14. You don't have to tip in Singapore. There is a choice of roasted and white (steamed), I would recommend going for the latter, because that's the original.

5. Sushi (Japan)

Sushi in Tokyo

My favorite sushi - the raw salmon (pictured). Before I went to Japan, I used to think that raw fish was disgusting and couldn't fathom the thought of eating anything uncooked. I realize now that that was a noob mentality. Sashimi is truly an acquired taste. I used to say that 'acquired tastes' were merely getting used to something disgusting. I think I was wrong, but maybe I was right, I'm not sure. The only thing I'm sure of right now is that I love sashimi.

I love it so much that I even go applying this raw meat rule to other kinds of meat, like ordering my steak rare. It was nature's intention for us to eat things raw. Look at the lions, they don't cook their meat. Up until some point in history I'm sure humans were eating meat as they were intended, until one person came up with the brilliant idea of holding meat over a fire. Might've been a failed punishment when the local tribe chief realized that his prisoner was enjoying the 'burnt' food meant to poison him.

The first time I tried raw sushi was in 2007, on my virgin solo backpacking trip to Japan. I was homestaying with a local Japanese family, and they brought me out to a local sushi restaurant one night. There was a chef in the middle of a conveyor belt ring, which was oval-shaped. Around him, customers were shouting orders, and he was acknowledging the orders with equaled reply shouts. All this while skillfully flying his sushi knives around his body like magic wands and creating perfect sushi from nowhere.

My Japanese host gave me different assortments of sushi and sashimi so that I could try. It started with a few 'safe' ones, like (cooked) crab meat. Then it finally came down to it, she insisted that I try the salmon sushi, the face of sushi all around the globe. I shuddered at first, but then I thought to myself, "I'm 16 and I'm ready for anything." Back then, 16 was a big deal, it was like the 21 of 2007. Remember sweet 16?

So I popped it into my mouth. It tasted slimy at first, but then I slowly got used to it as I popped a couple more. Then voila, instant favorite food. The only time I kinda got tired of raw salmon was when my friends and I went out to a premium sushi buffet where you could order as much salmon sashimi as you wanted. I ate between 30-40 plates of raw salmon. That was when I learned the true meaning of 'The Law of Diminishing Marginal Returns'.