[euge]

Smallish ones...have to fit in my modest sized steamer.  Only problem about making them in a small steamer pot is that by lunchtime the next day, they are gone, in my house!   

Ah well, such a delightful combination of carbs and fat should probably not be eaten to excess anyway!!

True words. All in moderation. Except beer.

[morticaixavier]

I love tamales. i somtimes make them in those paper muffin cups, shape them in a muffin tin and then take them out and steam. Great for presentation. Although (for those of you in Avacado lands, or with Avacado trees in pots) try using the biggest leaves you can get, it makes pretty patterns and gives just a hint of bay leaf like aroma. Banana leaves work to but don't have the pretty patters quite as much

[capozzoli]

Check this out.

I didnt make this, but at our favorite Vietnamese lunch spot thry brought us out one of their specialties that is not on the menu.

Ti'et Cahn



Its a mixture of raw fresh squeezed duck blood and chopped raw organs. Its flavored with lime, ginger, fish sauce. I suppose it could be said that it is "cured" with lime but...

The blood was from the fresh killed duck that was used to make our soup.

Fresh. 

[tygo]

So, how was it?

[nicneufeld]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and be closed-minded about this! 

Raw bird organs in fresh blood is a bridge too far for me.  Hope you at least enjoyed it, though!  Nice of the place to share it with you. Unless this was their Vietnamese practical joke for the credulous American foodie that keeps visiting them!   

[capozzoli]

They were laughing at us. But only at the  tiny little amounts we were taking on the spoon. They convvinced us eventually to take a full size mouthfull  

I was nervous about what it might tate like. But, it wasnt terrible, the lime and ginger the predominant flavors, it was very rich with a mineral after taste.kinda earthy.But I thought, raw duck blood and chopped organs would be nasty. But fresh is different for sure. The heart that was in with the organs had been beating only moments before and it tasted that way. Not bad at all. Just not what I would rave about. The texture was a little chewy with and a mildly resistat crunch from time to time.

Good for novelty if some guests are at the table.

They did however commend us on the fact that we were the only westerners to taste and eat the dish. Others hve tried and were not able.

[bluesman]

Are you talking about Thang Long Restaurant around the corner from your shop?

Great Vietnamese food there.

...but I have to agree with Nick that raw blood and organs is nasty. I wouldn't be able to get it past my lips. Kinda like the chick eggs you were thinking about trying. Just can't seem to get past the thought of eating it.

[capozzoli]

Yep, Thang Long. Indeed a great place.

The belut, I dont think I could do that.

[euge]

If it were given to me guess I'd try it since I'm the adventurous type. Sounds nasty but consider that hunger is the best spice and I doubt that traditionally the Vietnamese would waste anything. Bring a duck in- you get dishes prepared from every part of the fowl including the nasty bits.

On the flipside that's a bit outre for me. Especially since I spent an evening earlier this week in the Emergency Dept with food poisoning that I got from a chilaquiles taco a colleague brought me. Bird guts.

[punatic]

Yep, Thang Long. Indeed a great place.

The belut, I dont think I could do that.

You gotta hava Long Thang to eat belut...   

[capozzoli]

Yeah, thats what we call that place; Long Thang.

I think I could eat anything except belut. That and I wont eat penis either.

I would say I wont eat testicles, but its too late for that. Someone already got a couple of those balls past the goalie.

[corkybstewart]

My wife was raised on a farm in post WWII France, they couldn't afford to waste anything.  I've learned to not turn anything down  not matter how disgusting it may sound to an old white-bread American like me.  I discovered over the years that I truly love pig hearts and lungs in a nice red wine sauce, and grilled blood sausage is fantastic.  Horse meat, donkey meat, snails, pretty much everything I've eaten over there is great with one exception.  One of their regional specialties is grilled tripe sausage, and for years I tried to develop a taste for them but it ain't happening.  After about 15 years I finally had to refuse to eat them.  My youngest BIL explained the best way to eat them-chop them in small pieces, cover those with fiery Dijon mustard and swallow it without chewing.  I used his technique for the last 5 years I pretended to enjoy them but even that failed eventually.

[nicneufeld]

Ever had hakarl?  Heard it is pretty horrendous.  Icelandic rotten sharkmeat.  

I'm all for using as many of the "nasty bits" as I can, because (drawing on my experience as a father of a 3 year old) I am every bit as cheap as Mr. Krabs, but what I usually do is boil them with bones and then discard, making stocks.  I would have a real hard time eating raw poultry innards unless that duck had undergone a serious veterinary examination including blood tests before being dispatched!

[capozzoli]

I would share your fear, but I took comfort in the fact that there were others eating it next to us, and they sell it like hot cakes, they have a frige by the regisiter where they stack in containers of it. It is apparently ordered n advance and when you go to pick it up it is waiting in the fridge. There is is a constat flow of people picking it up every time we go there,

Also the idea is that it is cured with lime so it is sort o chemically cooked. Still it is raw.

There is another tastey Vietnamese dish made with thin slices of raw beef marinated in lime garlic and fish sauce. Its really good, sorta a beef seviche.

[tubercle]

That and I wont eat penis either.

 I haven't tried tthat but they sell the bovine variety around here both frozen and "fresh". Its called pizzle.

I would say I wont eat testicles, but its too late for that. Someone already got a couple of those balls past the goalie.

 Done that. We call them mountain oysters. Bull, pig & goat. Pig parts are big round here;chittlins, snout, ears, stomach, kidneys, brains...from the snoot to the toot.

 We tend to cook our food though.