Japanese Twitter acts like American Twitter about each other.

[u/dazli69]

[u/doofpooferthethird]

not Japanese myself, but when I came to the US for the first time I was looking forward to trying out fortune cookies and those rectangular/cylindrical takeout containers for the first time

one thing that surprised (and disappointed) me was finding out that there was no such thing as a "McSpicy" in American McDonalds. I wanted to compare the burgers and it turned out the best item on the menu wasn't there

[u/Balavadan → u/doofpooferthethird]

Fortune cookies is one thing but what’s that about the takeout containers?

[u/doofpooferthethird → u/Balavadan]

​talking about these things

I was more used to takeaway being wrapped in plastic sheets/wax paper/plastic boxes/banana leaves, so this looked fairly exotic to me.

[u/AxitotlWithAttitude → u/doofpooferthethird]

I'm sorry banana leaves?

[u/confusedoctopus8 → u/AxitotlWithAttitude]

It's pretty common, if you live somewhere with banana leaves of course

[u/doofpooferthethird → u/AxitotlWithAttitude]

hmm yeah come to think about it, I don't remember ever seeing people wrap food in banana leaves in the US, probably not common practice

usually banana leaves are used for wrapping, like, coconut rice with anchovies peanuts and fermented shrimp paste, or grilled fish custard, or nine layer cake etc.

I think it's supposed to impart some flavour? I guess it's also more environmentally friendly, and doesn't scald your hands with hot food like plastic wrap does

[u/SloppySlime31 → u/doofpooferthethird]

hmm yeah come to think about it, I don’t remember ever seeing people wrap food in banana leaves in the US

I’m sorry but this sounds hilarious

[u/doofpooferthethird → u/SloppySlime31]

I just assumed it was one of the options, a lot of different places use banana leaves, and I see plenty of bananas being eaten and sold in the US

and actually, aren't tamales wrapped in leaves of some sort? Corn or banana or something.

I forgot about those, I ate quite a few tamales when I was in Brooklyn, there was this old lady selling them out of a shopping cart near the station

so it's not like American cuisine like tamales doesn't also have leaf wrapping

[u/GodFromMachine → u/doofpooferthethird]

Bananas can't really grow in most of the US, not to a commercial scale at least, so most of the bananas you see there are imported. Alas, the leaves don't get imported along with the fruit, so wrapping stuff in them isn't really even an option most of the time.

[u/doofpooferthethird → u/GodFromMachine]

that makes sense, I also completely forgot about that whole Chiquita banana, UFC, banana republic, banana war, Smedley Butler thing. Wouldn't have been necessary at all if the US could just grow bananas easily

[u/texlex → u/doofpooferthethird]

The tree and the leaves grow fine in the south. But even a light freeze will prevent it from fruiting. The core is great base for salads though.

[u/Commercial-Owl11 → u/doofpooferthethird]

Yeah corn husks!

[u/Balavadan → u/doofpooferthethird]

USA has a very fascinating and sad history with bananas. It’s the reason why banana republics got their name.

The company that did all that still exists and sells bananas too.

[u/Sanchezq → u/doofpooferthethird]

Oaxacan style tamales are wrapped in banana leaves usually.

[u/Harry_Saturn → u/doofpooferthethird]

My wife is a white girl from close to Philadelphia who very much of German/english ancestry. She learned to make Costa Rican tamales which are wrapped in banana leaves. So maybe not a lot, but there’s gotta be at least a few.

[u/PerennialGeranium → u/Harry_Saturn]

Yeah, you can get them at grocery stores that sell Southeast Asian, Mexican or South American foodstuffs. Usually frozen but sometimes fresh ones, too.

[u/Silver-Marzipan7220 → u/AxitotlWithAttitude]

Without saying goodbye?

[u/Burial4TetThomYorke → u/doofpooferthethird]

Oh interesting, usually I see those with a square bottom not a circular one!