Miami’s most unique, and also very delicious, dishes

One of our favorite restaurants not just in Miami but ever, Ariete does something with a whole duck that might sound nuts. First, the roasted meat is sliced, which all sounds normal. But then a server rolls a cart tableside, where the duck’s innards are squeezed in a hand-cranked vise, the liquid that’s produced then reduced into an earthy and downright incredible sauce. The whole thing is served with sides like a bright salad and tamale, and suddenly what started out as odd and weird is just something amazing.

Perhaps you’ve already had the damn good Florida alligator strips served up at Kush with Old Bay and cocktail sauce. This is not that. This is that times a thousand. This is an entire gator, head and tail and feet and all, curled up and stuffed into a Caja China, you know, those traditional Cuban-American barbecue boxes used to make lechón at Noche Buena. The folks at Kush cook up the whole gator during the kooky Kok Sh**t Bingo event and whenever else they feel like it. The gator is brined and basted in house-made honey mustard BBQ sauce, roasted, and hand-pulled. Vegetarians will go running at the site of it, but that just means more of a truly unique Florida dish for the rest of us.

Grab a spot at the forever-packed bar, the only spot these pig ears are on offer at Michael’s Genuine, just as the late Anthony Bourdain did in an episode of The Layover. Braised and then fried, the strips of pig ears are crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle, finished with a squeeze of lime (to cut the richness) and a dash of chili seasoning.

Look, yes, grasshoppers sitting on top of a blue corn tortilla with a sea of guac do look like your Taco Tuesday just got taken over by a swarm of locusts. They’re not pretty, admittedly, but then you take a bite and realize these crunchy little bugs are really just a vehicle for spice mix and texture, giving this trio of chapulines an addicting kick.

It looks like a big, glorious Mickey D’s Filet-o-Fish, a hunk of the deep-fried patty with a slice of Cheetos-colored cheese and a big fluffy bun. But oh wow is it something different. And better. And weird—in a way you’ll think is good (we think). The reason is hidden inside the patty, where shrimp and chicken are layered together before being battered. You might wonder why shrimp and chicken have been combined together, but it works. It’s downright great actually, and it’s likely you’ve had nothing like it.

Eating ant eggs is one of those things that might sound bizarre until you actually try them and discover they’re actually quite good. They’re done well here at Bakan too, sauteed with shallots and butter to bring out a nuttiness and undertone of citrus flavor in the escamoles. They’re served on blue-corn tortillas with guacamole, just as they do in Mexican markets.

Remember that freeze-dried ice cream that you just had to have after your third ride on Space Mountain? At his newest spot in Wynwood, Chef Henry Hané took that kitschy dessert and did something a bit nuts. He made Dippin Dots with foie gras, seasonal fruit, savory pastry cream, and sweet wine gelée. Just like the amusement park version, steam drifts up science-experiment style, and the dots melt away on your tongue, albeit with a far different end result.

The traditional Filipino dish of dinuguan was born out of necessity, taking the blood of pigs that might have otherwise been discarded and using it to enrich a stew. Then it became a staple of the country’s cuisine, here served with chunks of pork in a broth that’s minerally and earthy.

The only thing that’s changed about the turtle chowder recipe since it first went on offer in 1947 is that they’ve swapped out endangered sea turtle to farm-raised snapping turtles. Otherwise, this Florida Keys pit stop still dresses it up with sherry and dots the chowder with chicken-ish chunks of turtle.