ooh, that sounds yummy, especially with the melted cheese in it.

NOW HAVE I GOT A NEW RECIPE FOR ALL OF YOU WHO LOVE POTATOES BUT ARE DIABETIC AND CAN'T EAT THEM . (like me).

I accidentally stumbled upon a chinese vegetable, that when cooked.

LOOKS AND TASTES EXACTLY LIKE FRENCH FRIED POTATOES.

I had been in my local food market when I spotted this gigantic THING!! 4 BALLS ATTACHED TO LOTS OF GREEN LEAVES.

I went to the owner and while I was holding up the THING, I said "what do you call these things?" and he said "I have no idea, but they are $1.99".

I said "how do you cook them?" and he replied "I have no idea but they cost $1.99".

So I said "let me get this straight, you are selling this for $1.99 but you don't know what it's called, and you don't know how to cook them??" and he laughed and said: "That's correct".

So what was Melody to do??? Melody plunked $1.99 and bought the 4 balls attached to lots of green leaves.

I went to my local chinese takeout and asked my friend Henry who makes me my occasional WonTon Egg Drop mix.

I showed Henry the BIG thing and said "Henry what is this, and how do I make this".

Well after he and his staff stopped laughing their heads off he said: "Melody, it's called TOY CAW". (I have no idea what the chinese exact name but that's how Henry pronounced it.

I said 'what is this?" and he said "it's a vegetable, it's very healthy, and you cook it and eat it with pork or chicken, you cook it in the same pot".

I said "I don't eat pork, and I just want to cook this by itself".

He said: "You only eat the balls part of it, you throw away all the leaves and anything attached to the balls.".

So I followed all his instructions.

I went home, cut all the leaves off, and the stuff around the balls, (so I'm left with 4 balls).

I make sure there's no blemishes on the balls.

I only used two of them the first time.

You need a meat cleaver because that's how thick and hard the balls are.

I cut them into pieces that looked exactly like french fries.

I put up a big frying pan and covered the Toy Caw with water. I boiled them for 20 minutes (with cover).

I then took my ladle ad drained them on paper towels.

They looke like beige french fries at this point.

I then drain all the moisture and in a clean frying pan, I sprayed some PAM. If you don't are about calories, just put some vegetable oil in the pan, and heat until hot.

You spreak these french fry thingees in the hot skillet and you stay there and keep turning them until they are nice and brown AND THEY LOOK EXACTLY LIKE FRENCH FRIES.

I then took them out of the skillet, drained them on paper towels, put some on a plate with ketchup, brought them over to Alan and said "Taste this".

Alan did and said "wow, you make the best potatoes". I said 'these are NOT potatoes, it's a chinese vegetable".

He didn't believe me.

I then took some and went around the corner on my friend's porch (they were all sitting on the porch), and I said "taste this".

My friend said "wow, nice potatoes". I said the same thing "These are not potatoes".

No one believed me.

Thankfully I also had the other 2 balls and I showed them "This is Toy Caw, and this is what it looks like before you cook them".

WELL, TO SAY THIS WAS A HIT IS PUTTING IT MILDLY.

Can you imagine how nice it is to serve FRENCH FRIES whenever you wish and they are NOT FRENCH FRIES???

Next time I make some, I'll take a picture of what the vegetable looks like before, and after I turn them into french fries.

God, the things I learn every day!!!!

Melody