What did I eat?
October 21, 2020 10:41 AM Subscribe
Help me identify a street food in NYC. Difficulty: 38 years ago.
Bright cold Saturday in 1982, late morning, Canal Street west around 6th Ave. A street vendor sold me a crunchy hand-held pancake-like thing with onions, bean sprouts, not sure what else.
Pretty sure it was Asian; always assumed Chinese but no real evidence. I've been cooking okonomiyaki recently (Japanese pancake), but not being deep-fried it doesn't have the crunch. And I don't remember any protein in the original.
So good. Been thinking about it ever since. Anybody?
Bright cold Saturday in 1982, late morning, Canal Street west around 6th Ave. A street vendor sold me a crunchy hand-held pancake-like thing with onions, bean sprouts, not sure what else.
Pretty sure it was Asian; always assumed Chinese but no real evidence. I've been cooking okonomiyaki recently (Japanese pancake), but not being deep-fried it doesn't have the crunch. And I don't remember any protein in the original.
So good. Been thinking about it ever since. Anybody?
Was it possibly a scallion pancake? You could have thought the scallions were onions. They are always crispy, too. They are commonly a street food item
posted by pando11 at 11:23 AM on October 21, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by pando11 at 11:23 AM on October 21, 2020 [7 favorites]
There's a ton of Korean places in New York, possibly a bean-sprout pancake? There are a bunch of different types: Buchimgae.
posted by wnissen at 11:26 AM on October 21, 2020
posted by wnissen at 11:26 AM on October 21, 2020
On Canal almost 40 years ago? Scallion pancake.
posted by thegreatfleecircus at 11:37 AM on October 21, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by thegreatfleecircus at 11:37 AM on October 21, 2020 [3 favorites]
New Yorker here. I think I know the thing you're describing, but this is a little tricky.
First of all, no one was selling jianbing in NYC in the 80s. There are a ton of Korean places, but they're not down on Canal St. There definitely were scallion pancakes around, but that doesn't sound like what you're describing.
I do however, have a memory of a loose, deep-fried mostly bean-sprout-and-onion pancake that was sold at street fairs. It was basically a savory funnel cake. The people who sold it were Asian, but I don't remember the stands announcing a particular ethnicity. I may have thought they were Thai, but that could be wrong.
Anyway, I got the sense that this pancake was not actually a traditional food item, but a New-York-ized hybrid created for the street fair market, like the Mozzarepa.
I never saw anyone selling them outside a street fair, but it's possible there were year-round carts somewhere. I haven't seen one in years.
posted by neroli at 12:44 PM on October 21, 2020 [7 favorites]
First of all, no one was selling jianbing in NYC in the 80s. There are a ton of Korean places, but they're not down on Canal St. There definitely were scallion pancakes around, but that doesn't sound like what you're describing.
I do however, have a memory of a loose, deep-fried mostly bean-sprout-and-onion pancake that was sold at street fairs. It was basically a savory funnel cake. The people who sold it were Asian, but I don't remember the stands announcing a particular ethnicity. I may have thought they were Thai, but that could be wrong.
Anyway, I got the sense that this pancake was not actually a traditional food item, but a New-York-ized hybrid created for the street fair market, like the Mozzarepa.
I never saw anyone selling them outside a street fair, but it's possible there were year-round carts somewhere. I haven't seen one in years.
posted by neroli at 12:44 PM on October 21, 2020 [7 favorites]
Best answer: Is there any chance it could be Ukoy (Filipino vegetable fritters)? The picture looks sort of pancake-like and the article mentions that they can be made with a variety of vegetables and with or without shrimp.
The mention of street fairs jogged my memory of a piece about eating at street fairs that Calvin Trillin published in 1983, putting it in about the right time frame for you, in which he refers to "some stands at which Filipinos sold barbecued meat on a stick and fried rice and lo mein and egg rolls and an unusual fritter that was made with vegetables and fried in oil."
posted by Daily Alice at 2:07 PM on October 21, 2020 [5 favorites]
The mention of street fairs jogged my memory of a piece about eating at street fairs that Calvin Trillin published in 1983, putting it in about the right time frame for you, in which he refers to "some stands at which Filipinos sold barbecued meat on a stick and fried rice and lo mein and egg rolls and an unusual fritter that was made with vegetables and fried in oil."
posted by Daily Alice at 2:07 PM on October 21, 2020 [5 favorites]
Yes! Daily Alice (and Calvin Trillin) for the win. What I'm remembering is definitely a street-fair-specific version of ukoy. Seems a very good chance that's the mystery pancake in question.
posted by neroli at 2:41 PM on October 21, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by neroli at 2:41 PM on October 21, 2020 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Ukoy (minus shrimp) and the answers sound right. Thank you!
Next: to the kitchen!
posted by LonnieK at 6:53 AM on October 26, 2020
Next: to the kitchen!
posted by LonnieK at 6:53 AM on October 26, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by daikaisho at 10:46 AM on October 21, 2020 [3 favorites]