You really didn't think, what I think you thought, right? That paints a pretty scary picture in my mind's eye……
Right after my post on Tri-Village, I received an email from "Dave" who asked me about…. well, basically skin, and where I've had the best dishes. The wording was quite interesting, and really cracked me up. So I thought I'd do this post as a companion to the mmm-yoso raw! post. Just for some fun…… After all, there are few things better than fried animal skin. What's interesting is that some of our favorite skin dishes aren't from anywhere here in the US. Even this one, from a future post…..
Wouldn't make the list…..
And in spite of what most folks think; this stuff:
From our banquet in Beijing was plain awesome…. but still didn't make my top three.
So without further ado, in no real order:
Fried Chicken Skin from Pollo Pinulito in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala:
Man, you gotta hand to the country that is home to Pollo Campero; they sure know how to fry chicken. And this little shop in the village of Santiago, on the shores of Lake Atitlan in Guatemala made some very good fried chicken skin.
I could smell the seasonings from outside the place. When we entered, that chicken skin, just out of the fryer was calling to me.
I actually carried that bag of chicken skin by boat from Santiago to San Pedro, and then on the next boat to Lomas de Tzununa, then up 400 steps from the muelle to our room. Was it worth it?
You bet……..
Hats off to the deep fried chicken skin in Thailand, but this had it beat by a mile.
Whenever the Missus and I talk about fried foods; this chicken skin from a humble little restaurant in Santiago Atitlan gives us "chicken skin".
Deep fried snake skin from Le Mat Village outside of Hanoi:
Even beyond the whole chugging down the cobra's beating heart…..
And drinking the snake bile and blood shots bit…….
One of the highlights of our Nine courses of snake in Le Mat was the deep fried snake skin, which we dipped in a really complex Nuoc Mam:
I'm not quite sure about meeting the snakes though. I think I'll pass on that next time, though that snake ruou was fantastic!
Cuy skin from dinner in Cusco:
I've probably mentioned our Cuy dinner in Cusco maybe a thousand times. But it is without a doubt, one of the most memorable meals we've ever had. And that skin on the Cuy, simply seasoned with olive oil, huacatay, and salt, was better than any lechon I've ever had.
And while we felt a bit uncomfortable meeting our dinner's siblings. It really didn't stop use from nibbling on those delicious crunchy toes and feet of the Cuy.
I know, I know…. I've shown waaaay too much skin today! But I hope you enjoyed the post. I hope I answered your question Dave!
Thanks for reading!