By Derrick Warren, News Correspondent
It’s easy to go to a restaurant in Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood and order lo mein or General Tso’s chicken. However, with so many great options to choose from, it’s hard not to try something a little out of the ordinary.
Boston’s Chinatown remains a true gem with its traditional architecture, but it’s the bizarre food anyone can stumble upon while walking the streets that appeal to most visitors and residents alike.
Penang, located at 685 Washington St., offers random live cooking demonstrations of its popular sautéed frog dish because so many customers are curious about what it will look and taste like, according to Pen, a waiter at the restaurant. The sautéed frog dish can be split by two guests for $18.
“A lot of customers come in and actually order the sautéed frog,” Pen said.
The restaurant also has the option of fish head soup, which comes in a bowl for $8. The soup includes fish heads and rice noodles drenched in Carnation milk broth.
Pen said he sometimes enjoys the fish head soup or sautéed frog during his lunch breaks.
Just around the corner is Fei Fan Eatery at 47 Beach St. The small shop serves an array of Japanese hot dogs, which feature distinct toppings like shrimp or noodles.
Luan Fang, the restaurant’s owner, said most people come in and order the Crazy, Soba and Ocean dogs.
The Crazy Dog consists of Kurobota susage, Terriyaki sauce and seaweed. The Soba Dog is topped with stir fry soba noodles, Aonori flavoring and red ginger. There’s even an Ocean Dog which has bonito fish flakes and cabbage.
All the hot dogs are $5, and can be paired with a sweet bubble tea, a milky tea with tapioca pearls.
In the same building, in Suite 103 are egg cookies, the perfect desert after a Japanese hot dog.
Fang said the cookies are a top seller and so good that she sometimes loses her customers to the owners next door.
“The lines are especially long on Sunday, they swing past my shop,” said Fang.
The cookies are made with egg and then mixed into a batter similar to that of funnel cake. The egg cookies, or “egg puffs” according to the menu, are sweet, soft and ready in less than five minutes. A bag of 30 cookies costs $2.75.
On the way home grab a few rambutans from Benny Mookjai, who sells fresh fruits that can make great deserts. The rambutan is a small, spine-covered fruit native to Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Mookjai has a stand of rambutans that can be purchased on the corner of Beach Street and Harrison Avenue for $5 per pound or two for $1.
The neighborhood nestled between Downtown Crossing and the South End is filled with bizarre foods. It seems like any dish is possible in Chinatown – all it takes is a turn down the right street.
