Dish #11 is a mess of black beans, avocado, tomato, and feta cheese--on pizza for $4.

Welcome to 100 Dishes to Eat Now, the tasty countdown leading up to our "Best of 2012" issue. Tune in each day (weekends too!) for a new dish from the Fork in the Road team.

Welcome to 100 Dishes to Eat Now, the tasty countdown leading up to our "Best of 2012" issue. Tune in each day (weekends too!) for a new dish from the Fork in the Road team.

Umami is a term thrown around a lot lately, but who the hell knows what it really means? It was invented by Japanese professor Kikunae Ikeda, who was searching for a flavor to supplement the four (sweet, sour, salty, and bitter) that had been recognized by philosophers and culinary experts for millenia. But how to describe it?

Rao

Welcome to 100 Dishes to Eat Now, the tasty countdown leading up to our "Best of 2012" issue. Tune in each day (weekends too!) for a new dish from the Fork in the Road team.

[See More: The Story of Hash | The King of Fried Chicken Sandwiches]

Welcome to 100 Dishes to Eat Now, the tasty countdown leading up to our "Best of 2012" issue. Tune in every day (weekends, too!) for a new dish from the Fork in the Road team.

Say the word "hash," and the canned variety usually comes to mind. You know, the product that features potatoes and either roast beef or corned beef in an impossibly fine dice of stunning uniformity. Decanned and fried with an egg on top, it's a diner staple beloved of folks who crave salty foods.

[See More 100 Dishes: The King of Fried Chicken Sandwiches | In Flushing, Street Cart Food Moves Indoors | Chorizo Taco from B Bar, Dish #18]

Rao

Dish #17, what a mighty fine bun

Welcome to 100 Dishes to Eat Now, the tasty countdown leading up to our "Best of 2012" issue. Tune in each day (weekends too!) for a new dish from the Fork in the Road team.

[See More 100 Dishes: In Flushing, Street Cart Food Moves Indoors | Chorizo Taco from B Bar, Dish #18 | A Hot Chocolate to Drink Every Day]

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Welcome to 100 Dishes to Eat Now, the tasty countdown leading up to our "Best of 2012" issue. Tune in each day (weekends too!) for a new dish from the Fork in the Road team.

A few days ago, Fork in the Road detailed how Northern Chinese BBQ carts have been multiplying and extending their menus to include such unusual items as green beans and lamb kidneys. There's another tendency, too. Some carts are going brick-and-mortar, something we've seen in other street carts around the city, and one of the first to do so has recently appeared on Flushing's Roosevelt Avenue, a bao's throw from Macy's.

Sundermann

Welcome to 100 Dishes to Eat Now, the tasty countdown leading up to our "Best of 2012" issue. Tune in each day (weekends too!) for a new dish from the Fork in the Road team.

[See More 100 Dishes: What Is NYC's Spiciest Dish? | When Raw Kale Salad Isn't a Punishment | New York's Beijing BBQ Carts Branch Out in a Big Way]

Rao

Dish #19, a simple hot chocolate that's lovely on a rainy day (or any day)

Welcome to 100 Dishes to Eat Now, the tasty countdown leading up to our "Best of 2012" issue. Tune in each day (weekends too!) for a new dish from the Fork in the Road team.

[See More 100 Dishes: What Is NYC's Spiciest Dish? | When Raw Kale Salad Isn't a Punishment | New York's Beijing BBQ Carts Branch Out in a Big Way]

Welcome to 100 Dishes to Eat Now, the tasty countdown leading up to our "Best of 2012" issue. Tune in each day (weekends too!) for a new dish from the Fork in the Road team.

I've eaten a lot of very spicy food. Last Sunday at a Thai restaurant in Elmhurst, I ate something that made me start hiccuping. I've endured the habanero-festooned food of the Yucatan in the shadow of Mayan ruins, and Sichuan hot pots so hot, that the seafood inside almost jumped out onto the tablecloth. And yes I've tried the phaal at Brick Lane Curry House, but none of this could prepare me for a soup I was forced to sip rather than spoon up at a West African restaurant last week.

[See More 100 Dishes: When Raw Kale Salad Isn't a Punishment | New York's Beijing BBQ Carts Branch Out in a Big Way | A Sweet New Cookie Shop in Essex Market]

Welcome to 100 Dishes to Eat Now, the tasty countdown leading up to our "Best of 2012" issue. Tune in each day (weekends too!) for a new dish from the Fork in the Road team.

[See More 100 Dishes: New York's Beijing BBQ Carts Branch Out in a Big Way | A Sweet New Cookie Shop in Essex Market | Roasted Bone Marrow at Hillside, Dish #24]