Eat around the World: Ring-shaped food (recap)

I think I was just being funny when I decided February’s theme would be around foods shaped like rings. Valentine’s Day is in February, so there are engagement rings. And the Olympics happened this month, so there are the Olympic rings. I think I was just being goofy at the time. But I have to say, I had a lot of fun than I expected exploring this shape. I did have bagels, but I did not find any true ring-shaped ones. Or maybe these bagels were so big, it was no longer ring-like. I did not get a chance to make any ring-shaped food since my donut mold was in a box as my kitchen cabinet had to stay empty for the majority of the month.

Ring-shaped donuts

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Of course when you think of ring-shaped food, you think of donuts. It made me realize that LA has a lot of donut shops. Maybe I’ll dedicate a post where I try different donut shops in LA for a month. From the left, I had donuts from Randy’s donut. I got a vanilla crueller and a matcha donut. Randy’s Donuts is an LA landmark. You probably may know Randy’s Donuts as the little shop with the large donut statue on top in Inglewood. The hype is real, it’s a really good donut. And also it’s the cheapest donut of this group.

On the top right are donuts from Fonuts. These are the most expensive donuts I’ve ever bought — it came to a total of ten dollars. These donuts are baked instead of fried. And it’s really moist a flavorful. I got the strawberry donut and its tastes fresh. The chocolate donut was really rich and decadent and a little too much. I would get the strawberry donut again if I am willing to splurge on donuts.

On the bottom right are mochi donuts known as pon de rings. I got it from Mochi Nut. It was a nice texture. I got it in ube, churro, and blueberry flavor. I like how I can break it in small pieces and give a tiny bit to my daughter.

Ring-shaped coffee cake

There was ring-shaped coffee cake. I got it front Trader Joe’s. It was a nice way to start my morning.

Ring-shaped cookies

I came across these pineapple cookies at a Thai Restaurant near my house. I bought them because they were ring-shaped. I love how the biscuit sandwich is salty and it’s slathered with sweet pineapple jam.

Ring-shaped cake

I got this cake from a Japanese market. It’s called a Baumkuchen (“German tree cake). If I was not trying out ring-shaped food, I would have not gotten it. I tried this cake with my coffee and it’s tastes really good. It’s not too sweet — that’s how I like most of my desserts :-P.

Ring-shaped noodles

I was probably the most disappointed with the ring-shaped noodles — or maybe I prepared them wrong. On the left is this noodle stuffed with pesto — I got a bag of it at Trader Joe’s. When cooked, I did not taste any pesto.

On the right is a bag of plain ring-shaped noodles called anelletti. I got it from an Italian market and deli. There is a learning curve with these noodles. Using half of the bag, I made cacio e pepe and it turned out great. The next time I made a dish using these ring-shaped noodles, I used pesto and sundried tomatoes. It was okay. Maybe the next time I get a bag of these noodles, I’ll use it in lieu of macaroni in macaroni and cheese. It will be anelletti and cheese.

Ring-shaped bread

I want to save the best for last because this was my favorite ring-shaped food. This is not called a skinny bagel, it is a Turkish bread called simit. It’s soft and crunchy and it smells so good! I would love to buy a half-dozen of these for my workweek breakfasts!