Common Dishes You'd Never Make at Home

[Sneakeater]

In the discussion of New York's current Chicago hot dog craze on the New York board, one of the reasons @Wilfrid criticized food writers for covering such food is that you could easily make it at home.

That took me aback, for the simple reason that no one in Chicago would ever consider making a Chicago style hot dog at home.  You eat them out:  at the ballfield or at hot dog stands.

This concept of foods you could make yourself but never would seemed so familiar to me.  But when I tried to think of other examples, I had a hard time coming up with any.

Things that require special equipment and/or a good deal of skill don't count.  So no deep-fried foods, nor pizza.  Nor do things that require special, hard-to-get ingredients.

I guess a New York example would be a BEC sandwich.  But that's mainly because, as satisfying as they are grabbed on the go in the morning, at home you eat better than that.

Phillie cheesesteaks don't really count, cuz it's hard to get steak sliced that thinly.  (I'll bet no one in Japan makes Erotic Beef at home -- and I'll be the first to admit that my own attempts to slice the steak really thinly are, shall we say, awkward.)

So I'm throwing it open to you guys.  It seems like there ought to be tons of things that people really like but never make themselves.  I just can't think of any.

[Wilfrid]

(No, I was mocking Luke for claiming that the ingredients “eluded” New York chefs even though Eater itself had reviewed a place that sells them. But good topic anyway.)

[Wilfrid]

I am not a pizza eater and I know there are people with pizza stones, but I should have thought generally that’s an example.

Unless we are talking about supermarket frozen pizza etc.

And my cheap Chinese takeout go-tos like boneless spare ribs or butterfly shrimp. I guess I could make them, but why? I honor your egg fu young, of course.

[Wilfrid]

Oh, you ruled out pizza.

I never consider making patties at home, but I’ve made empanadas many times, so I don’t know why.

 

[Wilfrid]

I used to make Philly cheesesteaks for my daughter. I could slice the steak thin enough.

[Sneakeater]

But I'd be the first to admit that making my own egg fu young is more a stunt than anything else.

It probably would be cheaper to get take-out.

[Sneakeater]

I guess I'd never think to make a meatball parm hero.

Although there's certainly nothing stopping me.

[Wilfrid]

Good example. Because this can’t be things we couldn’t possibly make, but that we wouldn’t consider making.

Char siu bao.

[small h]

The stuff I like but rarely make at home either has a lot of ingredients, like bouillabaisse or nachos, or greases up the kitchen, like French fries.

[joethefoodie]

Baguettes.  And, at this point in my life, most breads (though I often make pizza/flatbreads at home). The proliferation of decent to good bakeries has made home bread baking much less enticing.

[Maison Rustique]

Anything deep fried--too much mess. And, yes. Air fryers. But they aren't the same no matter what anyone says.

[Sneakeater]

I don't want to step on the discussion, but if you read my initial post I eliminated deep-fried things on the ground that you need special equipment to cook them (you don't need an air fryer:   it could just be a built-in deep fryer -- but how many of us have space for that?).

I deep fry in a skillet sometimes, cuz sometimes you gotta  -- and as you know, it is not pretty.

[joethefoodie]

Just now, Sneakeater said:

I eliminated deep-fried things on the ground that you need special equipment to cook them

No you don't. As you occasionally use a skillet, a Dutch oven or wok are perfectly fine for deep frying.

[Anthony Bonner]

55 minutes ago, joethefoodie said:

Baguettes.  And, at this point in my life, most breads (though I often make pizza/flatbreads at home). The proliferation of decent to good bakeries has made home bread baking much less enticing.

Yes. Tho 'burban life has started me walking back down this path a bit.

[Anthony Bonner]

A wok is a truly great deep fryer. Enough width to contain the splatter.