Japanese foodies are eating fried...leaves

We all know that basically anything can be deep fried to crispy goodness...but have you ever thought of deep frying maple leaves?

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"Momiji," an extremely popular snack in Japan, is raising some eyebrows, as well as some tastebuds.

But, don't go snatching leaves off your trees quite yet! As reported by Kotaku, they must be preserved in salt barrels for over a year to soak up the delicious flavors.



Momiji gets its name from the Momiji Maple Tree, which is native to North Osaka, Japan. As for the taste? The folks over at Quartz were curious, so they cooked up some leaves plucked from a Sugar Maple in Central Park.

%shareLinks-quote="The fried maple leaves looked beautiful, and tasted like fried dough, or funnel cake, albeit with an odd thin crispy layer at the center." type="quote" author="Svati Kirsten Narula" authordesc="Quartz" isquoteoftheday="false"%

Here's a fresh-cut ranking of fast food's best french fries:

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