Chinatown ingredient question

Yesterday I ate at St. Alp's Teahouse in Chinatown. The food was good and the tea was great. I had a cold, almond black tea concoction and my lady friend had some sort of double chocolate tea, which was dark, rich and delicious.

For food we got a chicken-beef brisket curry dish, which was very savory, and the Oriental rolls, which brings me to my question:

In the rolls there was some sort of slightly furry brown substance on the top. I usually order my carpet on the side, but neglected to in this case. The only thing I could compare it to is if they cut off some of Teddy's brown fur and ground it up a bit, or maybe to this faux chewing tobacco I used to eat as a kid -- that stuff was basically ground beef jerky.

I didn't really get a good taste of it -- I just ate the roll in about two bites. There are always a few "mystery" ingredients in Chinatown. I am unfamiliar, and usually just try to eat it anyway. For instance, the chicken and beef dish always had a very chewy substance that my girlfriend thought was squid. It seemed inedible -- too fatty for anyone's liking.

Any help is appreciated here. The place was a nice little trendy spot, and would definitely go back.

Shredded dried pork (or beef):

http://chowtimes.com/2006/05/meat_floss.html

The chewy stuff was possibly tendon (or other cartilaginous cut) the best part.

That's the stuff.

Thank you, sir!