Food: The great unifier.

[offbalance]

Some of you know that I'm a huge devotee of Midtown Lunch.com. It was through them that I discovered the amazing Chinese food at Hing Won in Midtown. Food so good, I even braved the touristas during high season to get my fix. They have a selection of your more typical fare, but they also have a marvelous menu of more Chinatown-style items, and for a long time they had a menu written in Chinese on the wall (it's now in Chinese and English, after people like me got wise to some of the specialties thanks to ML.com and started asking for them). I've had some wonderful things here - scallops in garlic sauce and chinese vegetables (my boss was going on and on about how good it smelled), roast pig over rice (crunchy pork belly. And get it with the ginger garlic sauce - you can thank me later), tons of good stuff. Though my standard lately has been their by-the-pound lunch buffet, as it combines the more obscure Chinese dishes I enjoy or enjoy trying (lamb stew, tripe, chinese eggplant, bok choy, stuff I can't identify but looked tasty) along with the guilty pleasures (egg roll, dumplings, a tiny piece or two of the General). Today, though, in addition to a nice lunch, I got a nice bit of reassurance.

There was this fantastic looking dish towards the end of the buffet that involvedl lots of beautifully steamed vegetables and octopus. Now, I don't know if you've ever had octopus, but it's delicious. angelicillusion and I were served roasted octopus as an amuse-bouche in a sushi restaurant eons ago, and I've been a fan since. So I was all set to add a big portion of this to my buffet container when I noticed that there was more than just octopus in it.

See, I have a weird problem with seafood. I can eat fish with fins and scales, I can eat things with tentacles, and I can eat things in hard shells until the cows come home. I can't, however eat shrimp, lobster, prawns, or anything in that family. (Don't talk to me about crab, I'm in denial but I may have to come around to the fact that we're not friends very soon). So I asked the guy at the counter who usually weighs my container and rings me up if there was shrimp in the dish. He said there was, and immediately asked if I was allergic. I told him I was.

Me: "Weirdest thing. I can eat other seafood..."
HIm: "But not shrimp or lobster, right? Me too."
Me: "Really?"
Him: "Yup. No crustaceans, but everything else is cool."

I bablled a little bit at him over excitement, but as the place was insanely busy I had to hustle along. Still, it's nice to know I'm not the only one in the world with this bizarre reaction to crustaceans only. Now I have to find someone else out there who is allergic to avocado, and I"m all set.

(Speaking of food, there's a great post on blergeatkitty's journal about sandwiches that I highly recommend you check out.)

Comments

[first-lobster.livejournal.com]

I AM ALLERGIC TO AVOCADO.

[first-lobster.livejournal.com]

You're the first person I've ever met who is also.

I break out in hives. We found out when I was 7 and ate a pile of guacamole that someone brought to a BBQ.

I can't use herbal essence hair color or bath and body works body butter because they have avocado oils in them.

[offbalance.livejournal.com]

HOLY CRAP REALLY? MY HEAD IS EXPLODING.

I never ever had any until I was a teenager and this great Mexican place opened in my neighborhood. But I'd get sick after I ate there, or anytime I had sushi (California Rolls!). I was never that sick (kind of mild-ish food poisoning symptoms), and I sometimes have a sensitive stomach so if it acts up I just deal.

Annnnyway. For my 17th birthday my mom made me this HUGE meal with tons of home-made guacamole. It was AWESOME. I ate a truckload, and was so sick I had to stay home the next day. It was awful. So I tried not eating things with avocado at mexican or sushi restaurants, and SURPRISE! No more stomach upset. :P

And I've noticed that, too!! If I use something that has avocado oil in it and I have a cut on my hand, it'll get irritated. But I'm usually in the Stomach Doomsday than the hives camp. Except with wool, but that's another tale for another time.

[katiebea.livejournal.com]

I have THE FEAR of avocados, so I usually claim allergic just to make sure they don't get anywheres near what I'm eating...

::jumps on the bandwagon::

THE FEAR being directly due to being forced to try guac in Cali when I was ~ 8 or so. I horked up everything on the sidewalk in front of a restaurant called The Bell Pepper. See also reason number elventy five oh seven my father is an asshole (he was the one who made me try it).

[offbalance.livejournal.com]

You told me that story. That was evil. Food should not have so much pressure attached to it!!

I have the fear of them because of what they do to my digestive system.

[lulu-girl.livejournal.com]

I can't eat shell fish (weird mental images, grosses me out) or shrimp unless it's diced up in something. Otherwise all I can think is I'M EATIN A BUGGGG!!!!!!!

so yeah, I understand weirdness when it comes to fish. I love all other fish though! well. not eel. D:

[offbalance.livejournal.com]

Ooh, see, I adore eel. So very much.

But yeah, these things? They do not love me.

[angelicillusion.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to remember ... was that the salad you had at the sushi place or was the octopus in sushi?

[offbalance.livejournal.com]

It was roasted octopus, and they brought out a plate for us, no charge.