For those of you that don’t know, I’m Cambodian-American. I was born in Houston, but that doesn’t change the fact that I, like 3 billion other people on Earth, live on rice. Specifically, Thai Jasmine Long Grain rice. I have some with almost every meal and if I don’t, I’m often not satisfied until I do. So you’ll imagine my surprise to hear that the price of rice has almost -DOUBLED- in the last week or so. Instead of the ~$12.99 per 25 pound bag I’m used to paying, in some places it’s now $22.99! And that’s if you can even find some! Seriously, the Hong Kong Supermarket in Arlington only had one brand last weekend instead of their normal 5-6 brands. And that stuff looked like it was going fast. Ok, I can handle eggs and milk doubling in price. Or gas becoming a luxury that only kings can afford. But NOT my rice! Please?
So, why the sudden increase in price? Well, if you’re reading this… it might be your fault! Yes, there has been some speculation that demand is going to be more that supply. And the cost of food and gas are up in general. But a major factor in this price increase is public hoarding. Prices started going up and people freaked. Everybody and their moms (including my mom actually) started stockpiling rice like no tomorrow. Here’s an excerpt from a news article:
“There is enough rice supply for domestic consumption”, Mingkwan told reporters late yesterday in Nonthaburi province, near Bangkok. “The current shortage has been caused by some hoarding and panic buying on concern the price will rise further.” There is no need to reduce exports, he said.
Rice, the staple food for about 3 billion people, has nearly doubled in the past year on increased imports by the Philippines, the biggest buyer, and as China, India and Vietnam cut exports. Record food and fuel prices have stoked inflation, contributing to strikes in Argentina, riots in Ivory Coast and a crackdown on illicit exports in Pakistan.
So why is rice so damn expensive? Because the world hates you.
This is one of those things that I’ve been wanting to review for netfoodie since the site started. I’ve had it before, but I’m sure many of you out there haven’t. Elotes are a popular Mexican street food. I got mine from a cart in front of Fiesta mart for 2 bucks.
Roasted corn in a cup, big deal you say? The thing that makes this treat different is what you put on it. And that’s just about everything.
List of elote toppings:
Heavy mayonaise
Sour cream
Butter
Parmesan cheese
Fresh lime juice
Hot chili sauce
Lemon pepper (this one’s a Texas thing)
Salt
Pepper
And of course, I went for it all! Yes, I got a styrofoam cup full of EVERYTHING!
Taste? Yes. Man this stuff’s got a lot of flavor. Each bite is a little different than the last. Here’s a sample of what to expect. First you taste the sourness of the sour cream and lime juice. Then the creaminess of the butter and the mayonnaise. Then you taste the cheese. Then it’s spicy from the chili sauce and the pepper. Then you get the sweetness of the corn. And that’s all in one bite!
And yes, I’d get it again. It’s kind of like an cow exploded in your mouth while eating some corn. Dairy is part of the food pyamid… And hey, corn is a vegetable, right?
Take a few shots, let it burn in your chest stink up your breath.
In a recent interview, Fergie of “Fergalicious” fame says she keeps slim by taking shots of apple cider vinegar. Apparently, 2 tablespoons of the vinegar will cleanse and flush away the fat.
Interested? Here’s how to do it. According to sources online, you need to use organic unfiltered apple cider vingar. You should not take the vinegar straight and undiluted. It’ll strip the enamel off your teeth and cause some stomach discomfort. Some people mix a little baking soda into it. Some mix it into their apple juice or tea. At the very least, mix it with a few ounces of wate, use honey to sweeten.
Can’t stand drinking the stuff? They sell apple cider vinegar supplements online and at your local vitamin shops.
So there you have it! If you want to look like(and smell like) Fergie, just drink some vinegar. Me, I’ll stick with… anything else.
Jeremy, a good friend of mine, gave this one to me for review. Ah, the very reason I started a food website: getting free food and drinks! Jeremy gave Virgil’s very high remarks and I couldn’t wait to review it.
So it sat in my fridge for a few weeks. It’s not that I didn’t want to review it, surely I did. It just seemed too special to drink with my slice of pizza or bowl of rice. I have a weird relationship with food. I get into moods where everything has to be just right. Well, today the stars finally aligned and I decided to give good ole Virgil’s Root Beer a try!
It was worth the wait! Micro brewing must be where it’s at because this root beer is smooth and creamy. The carbonation is definitely there, but not sharp like in some root beers. It has a great rich taste with a slight licorice aftertaste. I’ve had some root beers that have gone way overboard with the licorice and I can’t stand it(I’ll tell you about my experiences with absinthe later). Virgil’s also boasts the use of 100% natural ingredient which I think make the flavor very rich. Virgil’s Root Beer has no caffeine, so no problems drinking it in bed. Which I plan to.
One thing’s for sure, I’ll never look at your average 2 liter of root beer the same again!
Virgil’s Root Beer gets a 4 out of 5 on the awesomeness meter!
I have a weird relationship with food. I get into moods where everything has to be just right. When I eat, I never mix my food together. I judge each next bite against the qualities of the previous bite. Example: If I’m eating rice and stir fry and I just had a bite with alot of sauce and vegetables, I make sure the next bite I take has more rice and meat. I also have this thing about eating in front of the TV. I can’t eat if something good isn’t on. Seriously, I’ll let my food go cold while I’m flipping through the channels. Hopefully, I find something- or at the very least, something in the next time block! I also ABSOLUTELY hate taking the last piece of food while eating with a group. I’ll stare at it while my stomach gurgles but will rarely go for it.
Wow! In my random interweb surfings, I ran across an article about craving and chewing ice being related to health problems. Not frostbite or chipped teeth as you might expect, but iron deficiency anemia! It’s not sure why they crave ice, but studies show it’s true!
I used to chew crushed ice every day in high school. Not sure if I had any related health problems. I loved doing it and was always disappointed if they ran out of ice that day. I used to hear that people who chew ice are sexually frustrated. Did I mention I used to chew ice in high school?
We picked these up at World Market for $2.29. If you’ve never been to World Market, it’s kind of hard to describe. They’re a big store sell stuff from around the world. Well, I guess it wasn’t too hard to describe after all. They stock things from rugs to packaged foods to vases to toys. It’s a fun place to waste some time in. Or pick up candy with little English on the package!
I’ve never tasted currants before but I have seen them while watching food network. Not sure what they actually taste like but surely didn’t expect to find candy that’s currant influenced. Here’s what good ole wiki has to say about redcurrants:
Redcurrant fruit is slightly more sour than its relative the blackcurrant, and is cultivated mainly for jams and cooked dishes, rather than for eating raw. For example, in Scandinavia it is often used in fruit soups and summer puddings, and in Germany it is also used in combination with custard or meringue as a filling for tarts.
And apparently as German gummy candy! They have a VERY strong flavor to them. The taste is kind of like a sour artificial raspberry flavor on steroids. There’s almost a medicine-y taste to it. Or maybe a fruit rollup rejected flavor. And yet, they’re oddly addictive. At least once I got past how strong the flavor was. It’s a pretty different flavor than we have here in the states.
So next time you have a craving for artificially flavored sour cough syrup fruit rollups(and you know you will) give these Katjes Sour Red Currant Gummies a shot!
I always go to Neighborhood Grill for, oddly enough, their snow cones. I’m in love with the “sour head” you can add to any flavor. I used to be a sour freak as a kid and sour head is probably the most sour substance I’ve ever put in my mouth if you don’t mix your snow cone beforehand. And that’s a good thing! They also boast about being named one of the cleanest restaurants in Arlington, always a good thing! I’d only once eaten food there(chicken philly cheese) and it was great. Since we’re running a segment on finding the best two dollar burger in Arlington this month, I figured I’d give them the first crack at it.
I went with their cheeseburger for $1.79. As always, I went “all the way” with the veggies. This includes lettuce, tomato and onion with mayo and ketchup. I brought this one home since it was almost closing time. I love the picnic table pattern on the wrappers, it really reminds you that this is not a McBleh burger. It’s a nice big burger for the price. I actually measured it to be 5 inches wide. The bun is grilled on both sides which is a nice touch. The beef patty was a nice size, but somewhat average in taste. Just a little on the dry side. What makes this burger is the flavor. The mayo looks to be a little bit peppered and gives it a really satisfying flavor. There are just enough veggies on there, not skimpy but also not falling out of the bun(which I hate). All of this gives it a great flavor and a great price!
They have a great menu and really good prices. And if you go, make sure to get a snow cone with some sour head! And tell Sammy we said hi!
Neighborhood Grill in Arlington, TX gets a 4 out of 5 on the awesomeness meter!
Keeps you yodeling all night long? We’ll see about that! This is actually a sample I picked up from the food show I went to recently. Free stuff always tastes better! They were being handed out by a couple blonde models in Austrian gear. Pretty out of place at a food show, but I’m not complaining. A little bit of searching shows that most of the news around this drink comes from Gene Simmons endorsing it. Oh, and also having sex with one of the models. On tape. With a background like that, we’ve got to try it! Oh, and it’s from Austria and junk.
Frank’s Energy Drink comes in four different flavors: classic, sugar free, pineapple and lime. All I got was the classic but I wish that I could taste the pineapple and lime. Somewhat out of the box flavors for energy drinks which is definitely cool with me. The classic flavor I got comes in your average slim can that many energy drinks do. Key ingredients include Taurine, Niacin (Vitamin B3), Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B5), Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine Hydrochloride) and Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin).
It’s lightly carbonated and tastes… well… like an energy drink. Not the fruity sweet stuff we have today. No, I mean the old school energy drinks that didn’t have real flavors. You drank it for the caffeine content. If I had to describe the flavor, it’s like red bull but sweeter at the end. Almost a syrupy bubble gum flavor. Not unpleasant but not much to brag about either. It scores some bonus points for high school energy drink nostalgia though! I’d really love to try their other flavors though- no idea where I can get some besides ordering online.
Sorry, no yodeling but it did wake me up so I could get some work done for my management class today. And sometimes, that really is quite a feat.
We’re going to start a new running theme. Every month, we’re going to choose a new food and find out who makes it best in Arlington. Whew, a break from snack food reviews! We’re not getting paid to do this(yet?) so each segment will also be affordable to the average college student(ie- me). Throughout the month, we’ll visit local restaurants that meet the criteria and review their foodwares. At the end of the month, we’ll crown a winner!
April is burger month! We’re going to scour Arlington Texas for the best cheap burger. With the price of gas everything going up, it’s good to know where you can still get a great burger for cheap! Here’s the criteria:
Must be under 2 dollars(before tax)- this will limit our selections to the basic burger and keep it affordable. Sorry, no triple bacon Kobe beef burger with truffle butter here!
We will review the burger closest to 2 bucks without going over(price is right rules!)
All burgers will be reviewed with “all the fixins”(veggies and condiments)
Must be in Arlington or the immediate surrounding area.
We’re going to stay away from the big guys: McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Sonics, etc. We love indie restaurants here!
Stay tuned or follow this link to check out our quest for the best burgers in Arlington!
If any ArlingtoniansArlingtonitesArlingtonauts?local folks have any suggestions, please comment! Where is the best place to get cheap burgers in Arlington?
Must be boring in Wisconsin… but still I commend these kids for standing up for a cause. Apparently, their buddies were suspended from playing sports because they were drinking out of red plastic cups in a picture. So theses kids decided to throw a root beer kegger. Their little protest was to prove that not all teens drink alcohol at parties. The cops showed up and made everyone take breathalyzers. Take that, the man!
Here’s the video from youtube. Notice that most of them sound high. I’m not sure if that’s from the sugar/caffeine rush or that’s what Wisconsin kids sound like. I love their Wisconsin accented gangsta speak.
Ok, I want to first point out that I only knew of one definition of pasty before today. A pasty, to me, is a little adhesive patch that is used to cover nipples, for sheer clothing or often used in strip clubs. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw this banner hanging on a building in south Arlington:
Did they leave the ‘r’ off of pastries?! No, they wouldn’t have missed that. Is it a meat product made to cover nipples? Hmmm….
No, that would be way too messy. I don’t even know what kind of glue you would have to use. It must be something else. Teach me, oh internet gods.
So apparently, pasties are also meat filled pies. Pssh, take the easy way out why don’t you. Still these things sound/look delicious!
I can’t wait to review these for you guys! No word as to when they’re opening, but when I hear something, I’ll post it up meat pie style!
Ok, so they’re not actually called Pervert chips. There’s really not much English on the bag at all. But the picture says it all:
I can honestly say, these are the most homo-erotic snacks I’ve ever eaten. I’m not even sure what the pictures have to do with chips. If anyone could give me a rough translation, that’d be awesome!
They taste surprisingly sweet and toasty at first, followed by a very strong fishy aftertaste. It tastes nothing like perverts. Or bi-curious teenage boys. Or so I would imagine. I’m not much of a seafood lover so I couldn’t see buying these again.
Peacock brand Fish Flavored Snacks get a 2.5 out of 5. They taste like a 2, but the bag art earns them an extra half point!
Quoth the roommate-”They taste sweeter than I thought, just like little boys.”
Don’t like you’re name? Well today’s you’re day! Apparently, on March 27th anyone can change their name to Joe for one day. The great part is that this is a unisex name. It could be short for Joseph or Joanna. It’s fun for everyone! And don’t stop there, if you’re going to lie about your first name today, make up a last name too! Here are some fun Joe names, including a couple culinary ones:
JoJo(great if you’re a 15 pop sensation!)
Bazooka Joe
Joe Blow
Cuppa Joe(sounds Italian!)
Joe Mamm(old school!)
So get up, chew some Bazooka bubble gum, go to your favorite coffee spot, introduce yourself to the barista as Joe, order a cup of joe, and relax listening to your ipod playlist of JoJo, Joey McIntyre, and K-C and Jojo.
For those of you that don’t know, I’m Cambodian-American. I was born in Houston, but that doesn’t change the fact that I, like 3 billion other people on Earth, live on rice. Specifically, Thai Jasmine Long Grain rice. I have some with almost every meal and if I don’t, I’m often not satisfied until I do. So you’ll imagine my surprise to hear that the price of rice has almost -DOUBLED- in the last week or so. Instead of the ~$12.99 per 25 pound bag I’m used to paying, in some places it’s now $22.99! And that’s if you can even find some! Seriously, the Hong Kong Supermarket in Arlington only had one brand last weekend instead of their normal 5-6 brands. And that stuff looked like it was going fast. Ok, I can handle eggs and milk doubling in price. Or gas becoming a luxury that only kings can afford. But NOT my rice! Please?
This is one of those things that I’ve been wanting to review for netfoodie since the site started. I’ve had it before, but I’m sure many of you out there haven’t. Elotes are a popular Mexican street food. I got mine from a cart in front of Fiesta mart for 2 bucks.
Take a few shots, 
Jeremy, a good friend of mine, gave this one to me for review. Ah, the very reason I started a food website: getting free food and drinks! Jeremy gave Virgil’s very high remarks and I couldn’t wait to review it.
We picked these up at World Market for $2.29. If you’ve never been to World Market, it’s kind of hard to describe. They’re a big store sell stuff from around the world. Well, I guess it wasn’t too hard to describe after all. They stock things from rugs to packaged foods to vases to toys. It’s a fun place to waste some time in. Or pick up candy with little English on the package!
I always go to Neighborhood Grill for, oddly enough, their snow cones. I’m in love with the “sour head” you can add to any flavor. I used to be a sour freak as a kid and sour head is probably the most sour substance I’ve ever put in my mouth if you don’t mix your snow cone beforehand. And that’s a good thing! They also boast about being named one of the cleanest restaurants in Arlington, always a good thing! I’d only once eaten food there(chicken philly cheese) and it was great. Since we’re running a segment on finding the best two dollar burger in Arlington this month, I figured I’d give them the first crack at it.
Keeps you yodeling all night long? We’ll see about that! This is actually a sample I picked up from the food show I went to recently. Free stuff always tastes better! They were being handed out by a couple blonde models in Austrian gear. Pretty out of place at a food show, but I’m not complaining. A little bit of searching shows that most of the news around this drink comes from Gene Simmons endorsing it. Oh, and also having sex with one of the models. On tape. With a background like that, we’ve got to try it! Oh, and it’s from Austria and junk.
We’re going to start a new running theme. Every month, we’re going to choose a new food and find out who makes it best in Arlington. Whew, a break from 
