Exotic Restaurant Dishes & Recipes

Daring To Try Something Exotic?

Are you in the mood for a new dish that may even be imported from another country? Exotic food is typically food that is not native to somebody’s area, typically having to be imported in. Although it may be hard to find in the stores, many restaurants offer a large variety of imported meals from around the world.

These meals can give you a sense of discovery as your tongue travels to new origins. Not only are there restaurants with exotic options but, there are both restaurants and grocery stores that are specifically catered to exotic dishes and imported ingredients.

Depending on where you live, the definition of exotic foods may differ but, they do share many of the same benefits including:

• Eating exotic foods can bring you benefits by introducing different flavors to your palette while increasing chemical responses that can help your digestive system.
• Exotic Foods can help fight different kinds of bacteria, helping to eliminate infection.
• Exotic dishes tend to use less oil and sugar than other types of cooking.
• Exotic dishes tend to contain more nutrients and vitamins per serving than other types of food.
• Exotic dishes use a variety of herbs and spices which may help fight diseases such as cancer, obesity, osteoporosis, diabetes, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s Disease.

Popular Restaurant Imports

In order to diversify their menu and keep up with the competition, restaurants outsource ingredients and dishes from around the world. Restaurants that include meals from various cultures and areas of the world can represent openness and expand their customer base even further.

Many restaurants are known for their exotic imports such as Olive Garden, Ruby Tuesdays, Red Lobster, and more.

These restaurants carry exotic dishes ranging from the following:

• Exotic Meat (examples: alligator, chivo or goat)
• Exotic Fruit (examples: durian, guava, mango)
• Exotic Vegetable (examples: kohlrabi, jicama)
• Exotic Spice (examples: cardamom, saffron)
• Exotic Bread/Dessert (examples: tres leches cake, pastelitos)

Meat is the most common kind of food that restaurants will outsource from with fish ranking as the second-largest group of restaurant imports.

Frog Dishes

Eating frog legs is not just for the great tastes but, they also provide you with many benefits such as Vitamin B12, Niacin, Iron, Magnesium, and Phosphorus which are all essential to living a healthy life. Eating frog legs is good for you and should be encouraged in order to maintain a healthy body and mind.

When choosing where to order frog legs from it’s best to pick a restaurant that uses frogs imported locally from another region of the world in order for them to serve their customers, frog legs that taste great and look nice.

One of the most well-known ways to cook and eat frog legs is by having them deep-fried. Frog legs are a popular menu item throughout restaurants but, if you are interested in making your own here is a recipe we hope you enjoy:

Frog Legs Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 lb fresh or frozen frog legs
• 1/3 cup milk
• 2/3 cup cornflour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp red pepper
• shortening, or cooking oil, for deep frying
• cocktail or tartar sauce
• lemon halves
• 1/2 tsp accent food enhancer
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

Directions

Duck Dishes

Duck is imported into both markets and restaurants as a popular favorite. Duck is delicious and nutritious. Duck is a great source of protein, vitamins B6 and B12, selenium, phosphorus, and niacin. Duck is rich in flavor from the fat it contains due to its diet of water plants as opposed to grain or corn-based feeds used for other poultry such as chicken.

In the U.S., under federal law, all ducks must have legs removed before being eviscerated; this allows for more rapid processing of the duck at commercial establishments. Duck has been an important dish in Chinese culture for over a thousand years. The duck was first domesticated by Chinese people about 5000 years ago, since then many dishes involving Duck as the main course have been created. Duck is also important in Islamic culture where consuming it was forbidden for many centuries until consumption was allowed by certain clerics starting in 1032 AD.

Duck meat is finely textured and naturally flavorful due to its higher percentage of fat compared to other meats, and the layer of fat under the skin melts during cooking and permeates the flesh with moisture and flavor. Duck recipes can be made into soup or stew such as the Chinese hot and sour soup which has an egg drop and wood ear mushroom base, duck fried rice using roasted duck meat, stir-fried green beans with duck slices, roast duck with cranberry sauce, roasted whole Duck with orange sauce. Here is a recipe if you are interested in preparing a duck dish on your own!

Duck Soup Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 qt. reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 2 quarter-size coins fresh ginger, smashed
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed
• 2 roasted duck breasts (from takeout), sliced or chopped, with bones and skin
• 8 ounces fresh thick wheat udon noodles
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 cups roughly chopped bok choy
• 2 teaspoons Asian (toasted) sesame oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. In a medium saucepan, simmer broth, ginger, and garlic, covered, 15 minutes to develop flavor.

2. Meanwhile, set duck on a baking sheet and bake until warm. Using a slotted spoon, remove ginger and garlic from broth and discard. Add noodles and soy sauce and let simmer until warmed through, about 5 minutes. Add bok choy and let cook just until wilted, about 2 minutes. Ladle soup into 4 bowls and drizzle each with 1/2 tsp. sesame oil. Set a few pieces of duck on top of each bowl of soup.

Alligator Dishes

Alligator meat is tender and tastes like a cross between pork and chicken. The meat also acts as a ‘blank canvas’ and readily absorbs other flavors which means it works well with all kinds of spices, marinades, sauces, etc. Alligator dishes go great with fried rice, mashed potatoes, or any kind of vegetable side dish.

Alligator dishes are available at the finest of restaurants worldwide. Deep-Fried Alligator Tail, Alligator Fritters, or Alligator Scales are perfect for sharing with friends. Exotic alligator has many benefits for health and is a delicacy in eastern cuisine.

Many people eat alligators, rather than eating beef or chicken, as the meat is leaner and healthier. The flesh of alligators meat also contains more protein than chicken as well as less cholesterol than chicken or turkey. Eating alligators can benefit your mental health by improving concentration levels, memory retention, and focus according to some studies conducted by some research groups around the world.

Alligator Bites Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 pounds alligator meat, cut into bite-size pieces
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• salt and pepper
• oil (any for frying)
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 2 tbs garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons black pepper

Directions

1. Place alligator meat in a medium bowl, and mix with vinegar, salt, and pepper. Cover, and refrigerate for about 10 minutes.

2. Pour oil into a large skillet to a depth of 1 inch, and heat over a medium-high flame.

3. Add to a large resealable bag the flour, cornmeal, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. Squeeze off excess liquid from meat, and add one handful of meat to the resealable bag. Shake to coat. Remove meat, shake off excess flour, and set on a plate. Repeat with remaining meat.

4. When oil is hot, place meat pieces into oil, being careful not to overcrowd. Fry until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Remove to paper towels, and serve hot.

5. To prepare dipping sauce, mix together in a small bowl the mayonnaise, horseradish, brown mustard, and red wine vinegar.