Absolutely Fobulous

I love burgers and I love ramen, but never have I imagined combining them. Japanese burger chain, Lotteria, has joined forces with famous Japanese ramen restaurant, Menya Musashi, to create the unique ramen burger. Instead of your typical beef patty, this carb-overload menu item consists of seasoned ramen noodles that are grilled, topped with BBQ pork covered in sweet brown sauce, and placed between two buns spread with mayo. It comes with a side of fish broth to help wash down this fatty goodness, and the entire meal costs around $6.50.  Not enough? Pay an extra buck to get a second portion with more soup.

This special is available only from May 20 to mid-June. So if you’re in Japan, make sure to bring out your inner fatty and try it!

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(Thanks, Fred!)

I was watching Bizarre Foods America featuring the local cuisine in Charleston, South Carolina and was totally shocked to see some of the dishes they featured: chicken feet, pigs ears, pork trotters…even pig snout!  Whoa whoa whoa…hold up.  What am I doing in San Francisco?  I should be living in the South!

For all foodie snobbery that San Francisco touts, nothing warmed my chicken-heart-loving heart as much as seeing this sweet old African-American granny stirring a big pot of chicken feet.  Then, Andrew Zimmern starts serving out slices of pig ears, a sausage-looking dish made of snout, and a stew of pig trotters.  You don’t even know how much I love pig ears.  They’re so crunchy — the texture is like no other.  These dishes have apparently been around for hundreds of years, dating back to the days of slavery.  Impoverished people would make do with leftover cuts of meat, and turn them into delicious soul food dishes.

I wonder how Southern-style chicken feet compares to my favorite dim sum claws?  Anyone tried it before?

Here are the highlights of the episode — chicken feet part starts at 3:50.

Macarons seem to have taken over cupcakes and fro-yo as the trendy dessert. I am absolutely obsessed with this sweet meringue-based French confectionery. However, for a tiny bite-sized dessert like this, they’re generally quite pricey, typically costing a little over $2 for one piece. Today, I discovered that macarons are sold at the McCafes in France, and they have for some time now!

Unfortunately, I’ve never gotten the opportunity to visit France and try out these “McDonald’s macarons,” but according to this review, they aren’t as flavorful and delicate as the ones you find at high-end macaron stores. But for half the price of what you would normally pay for a macaron, I guess you can’t complain.

Until they decide to bring macarons to the US McCafes, I guess I’ll have to stick to ordering McFlurries and apple pies.

Ever since I got my iPhone, I’ve decided that I no longer need a separate digital camera.  Until now.  Introducing the donut camera, complete with chocolate frosting.  I admit this is something I’d buy just for its deliciously cute novelty, but apparently it actually takes pretty good pictures too.  With multiple shooting modes and a variety of sepia tones, the camera’s not bad for $67.

I can just imagine the mind warp that food porn enthusiasts will have while taking pictures with this!

Want one?  Get yours here.

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I don’t really eat Lay’s chips, but that might change with their new Sriracha flavor coming out this week.  If you haven’t noticed, we AbFob girls love the Vietnamese hot sauce — I mean, Amy even dressed up as it for Halloween!  We’ve heard of Sriracha lollipops and popcorn, and now Lay’s is jumping on the spicy bandwagon.

Lay’s new flavor is one of three finalists in its ”Do Us a Flavor” campaign, where people submitted 3.8 million ideas for a new potato chip flavor.  The leading flavors that will hit grocery stores this week are Sriracha, Chicken & Waffles and Garlic Cheesy Bread. 

As part of the campaign, Lay’s will award $1 million or 1 percent of the chip’s 2013 sales (whichever is more) to the person who submitted the winning flavor.

I gotta say, kudos to Lay’s for some pretty creative marketing strategy.  We’re going to have to get Amy to review these chips to see if they’re any better than the disappointing Sriracha popcorn.

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It’s no question how much I love Sriracha. I love it so much that I was even Sriracha for Halloween one year. With the growing popularity of this Asian hot sauce, there’s tons of Sriracha-themed products on the market. When I saw Sriracha popcorn was sold online, I knew I had to try it. Fellow Abfob blogger, Emily, decided to get me some for my birthday and here are some of my thoughts on it:

First of all, I think the concept of Sriracha popcorn makes for a great gift. For $5 a bag, it’s an inexpensive and creative gift that anyone would appreciate. However, when it comes to the taste, unfortunately it doesn’t taste much like my beloved condiment. Instead of having the zesty and garlicky kick that Sriracha has, the popcorn tastes closer to Thai sweet chili sauce.  It also wasn’t nearly as spicy as I would’ve liked it to be.

That didn’t stop me from finishing the entire bag though. It doesn’t taste bad, but just don’t expect it to taste like Sriracha. I probably wouldn’t purchase anymore for myself because I don’t crave for it as much as I crave for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. But I think it would still make for a fun gift, especially paired with these other awesome Sriracha items!

If I ever have a daughter, I want her to be exactly like this adorable Japanese girl named Rino. Her mom documents Rino eating homemade meals from various countries, which can all be viewed on their YouTube channel. From Korean bibimbap to Vietnamese pho, she happily savors every dish without any complaints. Just watching her eat makes me hungry! I also love how her mom makes her pronounce the name of each dish before eating. Now that’s one cultured kid!

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(Thanks, Louie!)

Fast food chains in Asia like to get creative when it comes to creating menu items, such as the Mega Mac. Pizza Hut in Singapore has introduced the Double Sensation as this month’s Christmas special. According to their ad, this pizza concoction consists of “two unique crusts, one stuffed with cheese sausage and another with 3-flavour cheese.”  And if that wasn’t enough, it’s “Topped with succulent smoked chicken and turkey ham and two tantalising sauces-Pepper Alfredo and Salsa.” Now that’s a lot of toppings.

The pies are around $21.75 for a regular-size 10″ and $27.49 for a large 13″. Unfortunately, they’re only available in Singapore. So if you’re in vacationing there this holiday season, be sure to try it out before the end of the month!

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(Thanks, David!)

I love me some fried chicken, but this takes it to a whole new level.  In Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, KFC opened its world’s largest restaurant.  The fast food chain invested about $3 million Euros into renovating a historic train station, which seats 300 people.  The building, which was part of the  Soviet Union’s first electrified railway system, had apparently become pretty shabby before KFC decided take over.

Check out the interiors below…who knew getting a 10-piece family bucket could be so classy!

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We all know Sriracha is the mother of all Asian sauces, but let’s not forget about soy sauce, fish sauce, and wasabi! Every time I go to the condiment section of an Asian supermarket, I’m overwhelmed by all the different sauces there are. Oftentimes, I’ve wondered what country each sauce is from and what foods to pair them with. If you’ve ever wondered where all these sauces come from, let the Fung Brothers help you out with this awesome video about Asian sauces.

But they did leave out one very important sauce: oyster sauce.  I’ve always wondered if it’s really made from oysters . . .  I guess it’ll remain a mystery.