Yoso-Silly - LA Roadtrip: Hong Kong Fishball House and a Very Special Dish

*** You know......tastes change; and I now find this stuff kinda bland, who'd have thunk???

We just got back from LA, so I thought I'd do a short post. Elmo from Monster Munching mentioned a very special dish during the course of a comment on my post last Saturday.

The special place that sells this dish is the Hong Kong Fishball House, and is covered in detail on Monster Munching.

HK Fishball House specializes in very, very, reasonably priced(usually under 3 bucks) soups and other snacks. But there was a special snack that the Missus just had to try.......

How could you resist the temptation of Fried Pork Rectum, and only $2.25! So while I waited for my frozen Xiao Long Bao from Yi-Mei Deli, the Missus waited for Her Fried Rectum from the Fishball House - why does that sound so wrong? It didn't help any, when the Gentleman frying what is actually Pork Large Intestine told the Missus, "Oooh, this smells so good!!!"

So what did it look like?

Nicely fried and seasoned with salt and green onions.

So how did it taste?

I think it's an appropriately named dish.......after all the large intestine is attached to the?????

The initial taste was a fairly pleasant sweet and salty flavor, with a crisp and "spongy" texture. But as you kept chewing the hard to describe, very earthy and strong  "intestine" flavor came through, along with a slightly unpleasant aftertaste that lasts for a pretty long time. The intestine also left my mouth with what felt like a slimy film. Definitely an acquired taste, and I don't think I've been exposed enough to similar flavors to appreciate it. I'll stick with the fried calamari!

Hong Kong Fishball House
18414 Colima Rd
Rowland Heights, CA 91748

Comments

[Kathy]

I love that stuff! I remeber buying it from street vendors in Hong Kong, only it was sold under a Chinese name, so it didn't sound as repulsive. lol. Hope you had fun in LA and looking forward to those updates!

[Emily K]

yoso Kirk

Can we please talk to the Missus?

Really, this photo looks nice, but then again I know that photos are not everything...perhaps it's just because I live in France and internal organs do somehow get included in cuisine...so, whatever was the comment, the photo is delicious, thanks!!

[Passionate Eater]

I agree Kirk, sometimes it's all in a name. Do you remember "Calpis" carbonated drink? Man, that stuff tasted good. Unfortunately, it was called "Calpis," and thus pronounced "Cal-piss." But I agree that "pork rectum" sounds less appealling than say, Rocky Mountain Oysters.

[Grace]

It didn't sound so bad until you started describing it.. the "film" it left was the last straw. I almost threw up a little in my mouth. (; Sad because it looks good in the picture.

[Passionate Eater]

I forgot to wish my fave person a wonderful and a Happy Easter!! To you and the Missus, and also the Boyz! (Give those tasty lil' pork rectums to the Boyz if you can't finish 'em. I think they'd appreciate it more than us humans would.)

[Jeni]

The picture of the rectum looked great, until you said, "The intestine also left my mouth with what felt like a slimy film." Yea..Kirk...I won't be trying Fried Pork Rectum anytime soon.

Can't wait to meet you guys!

[clare eats]

I have never been so tempted to give pork rectum a try... :)

I think I need to build up a FAIR way before I am upto trying that.

Happy Easter to you, the Missus (Hi!) and the boys

[Kady]

Wow, and I thought the "clean pork uterus" I saw at the market was unusual. Fried rectum. Now I know for sure that I'm not anywhere near as brave as you and the missus. You get major props for trying it. Btw, Happy Easter!

[howie]

Hmmm... Gives the phrase "tastes like ass" a whole other layer of meaning. You're a brave man!

Hope you have a Happy Easter!

[dietchilicheesefries]

like i said earlier kirk... you guys will eat anything... bravest dude and dudette in South County

if we ever go to war, i want you and Fendi Girl next to me in the trenches... you guys are fearless!

[Jenn]

*Ralph!
Happy Easter!

[Reid]

Hi Kirk,

Sounds interesting enough and to tell you the truth, I think it looks a bit like yau char kwai.

Hope you have a happy Easter!

[Kirk]

Hi Kathy - Really an aquired taste, I'm sure alot of people really like it.

Hi EmilyK - It was fried perfectly, I didn't enjoy the flavor very much.

Hi PE - Happy Eater to you as well!

Hi Grace - The initial taste was pretty good, and he fried spongy texture as well. But it slowly got worse and worse.......

Hi Jeni - LOL! "The picture of the rectum looked great", whoa, can you imagine someone coming to this blog for the first time and reading that comment....... So funny!!!

Hi Clare - Hmmmm, a toss-up between, vegemite and pork rectum, which ingredient will rein supreme.... Happy Easter!

Hi Kady - I think if I handed you a container of this stuff, you'd never know what it is......alot of people I know like intestine, and I've had chitterlins, which I thought was pretty awful as well.

Hi DCCF - You and I can hide behind the Missus's Gucci Bag - it's pretty big! Nothing brave about trying "interesting" food.

Hi Howie - There was soooo much that I could have written, I had to restrain myself from going overboard and not insulting anyone.

Hi Jenn - Happy Easter to you as well!

Hi Reid - Believe me, if you saw this stuff before frying, you wouldn't mistake it for youtiao! But I'm pretty sure that you've had intestine before, right?

[R]

Wow, I think I just threw up in my mouth a little... I'm good now.

[Kirk]

Hi 'R' - It really wasn't THAT bad, it tasted pretty good at first, but got worse with each bite.

[clare eats]

Atleast Vegemite is only made from yeast! LOL

[James]

Heh, I see the Chinese like using everything from the animal they're cutting up, just like the Argentines. You should try an Argentine meat-feast sometime with "sweet-breads", tripe, and the like Kirk.

[elmomonster]

Kudos to you Kirk! I love Hong Kong Fish Ball House, but I haven't the nerve to try the pork rectum myself, but I'm glad you did! Now I don't have to! Hilarious post...yoso-silly!

[Kirk]

Hi Clare - LOL! But it does look like it went through the large intestine.... :o)

Hi James - I think most cuisines use all of the animal - otherwise how could you explain Shiokara???

Hi Elmo - I'm sure you've had beef or pork intestine before, maybe once.....only once!!! The only difference is it's large intestine rather then small intestine - that much closer to the the.......

[RONW]

just checked back again to see if I didn't just imagine reading the post. I wonder if the restaurant doesn't have a big demand for their pork specialty....for gift giving.