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Published: March 14th 2008
Leafy Pyramid
One of my snacks on the overnight train from Penang to Bangkok. Picked it up at a food stall in the colonial district earlier in the day.The answer is often yes, but I find myself tempted to say
yang which means not yet.
This is a common Thai way of greeting each other: Have you eaten yet? I'm in heaven! Who knew they spoke my language on the other end of the world and why didn't you tell me sooner?
On the phone the other day, mom asked whether I had eaten anything exotic yet. I confess I hadn't been keeping track and the easy answer was "Nothing too crazy. Just insanely better than anything we've ever tasted." After that conversation and for the next few days following, I started paying closer attention and keeping a list. Suddenly, there was loads of stuff I'd never eaten before that I had been happily consuming. I overlooked it because the names hadn't stuck, or the camera wasn't handy, or I let my new friends in Kuala Lumpur order for me which means there was no work involved other than greedily sucking it all down. I think I gained a couple pounds in my three days in KL. Thanks Steve & Sue! Now it's just
that much harder to find asian pants that fit these cuban hips.😉
Leafy Pyramid Unveiled!
Here's a peek at the inside this bad boy. Coconut nasi with a chili-garlic sauce and fresh prawn. Here are some of the food highlights from Singapore & Malaysia:
- Roti Canai (breakfast): crisp, griddled pancake dipped in thin dal. sometimes eggy goodnes or onions thrown in for good measure.
- Singapore Pepper Crab: Whole Sri Lankan land crab, coated in a black pepper sauce with only my hands and chopsticks to get at the flesh. Messy and succulent.
- Fish head curry: the cheeks are the best
- Nasi Lemak: Malay dish of coconut rice (nasi) with accompaniments like fried anchovies, chicken, hard boiled egg
a note on the hardboiled egg: it seems to be tossed in nearly everywhere. noodles, rice, even banana leaf curries. *banana leaf curry: mound of rice smothered in a curried or chillied prawn, egg, chicken, etc. and wrapped up in a banana (or pandan) eaf for cooking and serving. (see photos for a pic of my first snack on the overnight train from Pulau Pinang to Bangkok)
*Laksa Assam: This is essentially a sour soup of fish broth, noodles and tamarind paste. There are a couple major categories of Laksa curry or asam with infinite regional variations. The curry is a coconut curry based broth, the asam is the tamarind flavored fish broth. Shredded fish, pineapple, mint, chillies, thick rice noodles and in Penang's version, add a little lemongrass and galangal. Spicy, soury, scrumptious.
*Otak Otak: Fish cake wrapped up in a leaf and grilled. Smoky, dry. Yum. One of Steve's favorites.
*Char Kway Teow: Dry noodle dish (read: fried instead of broth) with broad noodles, cockles, chinese sausage, eggs, fried in chili and black bean sauce. Great with some ice cold Tiger beer sitting in a hawker center while practicing using those chopsticks. Wait until you've had two or three of those Tigers. Roar.
*kang kong: thick stemmed spinach that is delicately stir-fried with the most amazing broths and delicate flavors. I've never been able to coat leafy veggies the way I've seen them here.
One of the things that surprised me is India's influence in the region. Having done some reading since I arrived, I can say I'm actually embarrassed at my ignorance given India's historical importance. Be that as it may, I've forgiven myself for it and am learning away. So I've also had some delicious Indian dishes that are mostly familiar to you by name, although you might not have had it as good as I have over the last couple weeks. Tandoori chicken, the freshest naan with perfect chewy/soft texture, a delicious northern Indian dish I'm kicking myself for not writing down, and saffron scented biryani.
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Mom
non-member comment
Yum
I read this after eating lunch and I am jealous!! Such treats! Your challenge is to remember what flavors go together so we can make some of these dishes when you return. I know we can at least get some fish here!!!