The good thing about waiting awhile in between posts is that I get these spouts of energy and then really get into it! So let's say I've taken an extended coffee break:
White Coffee in Ipoh, Malyasia. Coffee beans are roasted in margarine, then brewed and served with sweetened condensed milk.
Being here in Australia has exposed me to different cultures than I'm normally used to, like the Malaysian one. So when my friend Alex told me he was going to be in Malaysia the same time I was in Thailand and recommended that I go visit the country, then I couldn't pass up the opportunity. After all, between Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur is a short 2-hour flight, the equivalent of driving in traffic from one end of Los Angeles to the other.
Welcome to Kuala Lumpur
Thanks to the wonderful world of CouchSurfing, I've certainly made a lot of great friends who enjoy a lot of the same hobbies from traveling, to eating, to really getting down and exploring all the different cultures the world has to offer. Alex, who I originally met in LA and who also lives there, together with some of his friends along the way, showed me the local side of Malaysia from Kuala Lumpur, to Ipoh, to his hometown of Sitiawan. Here's just some of my visual and edible experiences I had:
2 different types of the fruit, rambutan
Savory or sweet snacks wrapped in banana leaves; chicken heads - hmm..wonder what they're going to make out of that..
Grilled fish and laksa - there's too much to eat here!
Sweet potatoes and salted, steamed chicken
Everyone needs a quick sugar fix for some Cendol - jelly noodles made with rice flour, food coloring from pandan leaves, palm sugar, coconut milk, red beans and shaved ice
Where do I even begin? The last post I did was nearly 3 months ago (eek!) and lots has happened!
The month of December and January brought lots of much needed travel. As my work and holiday visa was nearly up and I needed to make a "visa run," I opted to go to Thailand once again. With some family and friends there, along with more desire for culinary adventures, the decision was easy. I have to say that with each visit, I'm learning how to be a better Thai. And by that, I'm eating more dishes that, when I was a kid, I found not suited for my American taste buds but fortunately, times are changing! So enough with the talking and on with the pictures!
Jet-setting: one of my favorite hobbies
I even found a "food stylist" magazine while waiting at a salon!
Everywhere you look, the streets are lined with food.
Follow me on my trails through the country...
A resemblance between the art and the papaya salads.
The unpretentiousness of street food
Grilling bananas!
Disposable cone-shaped water cups and watching a sunset in BKK!
Make a wish! Write your dreams!
Loving the yellow tabletop!
A nice lunch with my mum, auntie, and brother.
Up in Chiang Mai. On the right, boiling eggs in the hot springs.
In this post, I welcome my first guest blogger, Kha Hoang, whom I met back 5 years ago studying abroad in Spain. Here, he travels from San Diego, California all the way to Hanoi, Vietnam and decides to get down and dirty, with the snakes that is. It's been a year since my bug eating adventures so this was the perfect post:
If you are an
adventurous eater and want to invoke the spirit of Andrew Zimmern, one
destination that should be considered is Le Mat Village. Le Mat village is called the Snake Village
and is about 30 minutes outside of Hanoi’s Old Quarter in Vietnam. Here you can find many restaurants that
specialize in the preparation of snake for your eating pleasure.
When we sat down, a
guy came out with a live snake and proceeded to slice it open right next to our
table within a minute of us getting there.
The snake handler
first slits it and then drains some blood into a pitcher of rice wine and then
after that is done, he cuts out the heart while it is still beating and places
it in a plate to be put into a shot later on.
The snake then is ready
to go back into the kitchen. Some places
cut open the gall bladder and put snake bile into the rice wine as well,
unfortunately (maybe fortunately) our restaurant did not do this. Something to take note of, we were told that
eating snake increases guys’ “sexy power.”
This was how our
snake was prepared:
You could be fooled, it looks like a strawberry drink
Rice wine infused with snake blood – the rice wine is relatively
strong, probably at least 60 proof. You
don’t really taste the blood in the rice wine.
However, if you let the blood rice wine sit at your table for a bit you
can see the blood start to coagulate, which led me to want to take them quicker
so as not to get too sketched out about doing them.
Snake’s beating heart inside one of the shots – I wanted to do
this, but I allowed my older brother to take it. He said you don’t taste the heart when it is
in the shot, but you feel it beating as it goes down.
From L to R: fried snake skin, grilled snake, deep fried snake spring rolls, snake meat in la lot
Fried snake skin – nothing special really, it was fried but it was still a little chewy
Grilled snake – I wasn’t a big fan of this. All of the dishes had bones in them (a lot of bones) and eating this was a chore. Snake definitely has a distinct taste, most similar thing I have eaten previously was frog. The texture is closer to chicken than beef if you haven’t tried frog before.
Deep fried snake spring rolls – These were pretty tasty, but small
for a deep fried spring roll. The snake
was pretty mild tasting here.
Snake meat with lemon grass and chili wrapped in la lot (betel leaf)
– This was probably my favorite dish. If
you have ever been to a Vietnamese restaurant and ordered Bo 7 Mon (7 courses
of beef) then you would recognize this dish.
This dish, the snake spring rolls, and fried snake skin were did not
have bones in them.
Pan fried bones with rice crackers– the thought of this one was
not terribly appealing. To eat this you
spoon some fried bones onto a rice cracker then put on some nuoc mam cham
(dipping sauce that you often get when you eat spring rolls).
Rice porridge with snake – This was just like any other rice
porridge but with small bits of snake
A couple tips if you
are to go to Le Mat:
Negotiate
the price before you sit down to eat
Ask
them if you can watch them cook the snake (to make sure it is the one they
originally brought out).
If
it looks good, eat it (and even if it doesn’t, try it)
Lastly, thanks Linda
for letting me be a guest blogger on My Hungry Monster.
Post by Kha Hoang. Photos by Kha Hoang and Benjamin White.
Excuse the cheese for a bit, but it's time for me to take a look back.
It's been a little over a year since I've left home, the city of Angels, and embarked on this journey called life. My love for traveling and exploring more of this world has certainly been an eye-opening experience and that's what I love about it: I never stop learning. It's through the problems and challenges we are faced with that each time that we are able to grow from them.
As Thanksgiving is a time to sit back, reflect, and give thanks, I do have to admit - I'm quite the fortunate person to have so many wonderful people in my life and for that, I am grateful. When people ask, "what do you miss most?" I simply respond with my 3 F's: "Family, Friends, and Food." The ongoing support that I receive is what holds me together. Though I may be miles kilometres apart from some, there's no doubt in my mind that those relationships can still flourish. Sometimes, it's as easy as picking up from where you last left off.
After being here in Sydney, Australia for quite some time, it was only within the recent months that I've felt at "home." Home for me will always be LA but for right now, it's here.
Little could I predict the circumstances that were going to happen. A year abroad over here nearly meant giving up something that was a part of my life everyday: BANANAS. Yes, yes, (pause) I said bananas.
No frills, no glamour shots. Just simple.
Okay, maybe not an entire year but still. Eating and getting my daily potassium was not only tasty but also beneficial for my health. When a major cyclone (Cyclone Yasi) hit northern Queensland, Australia, the crops were affected for a good amount of time. People gave up bananas because they got too expensive averaging about $15AUD/kg (or about $7USD/lb). But now the prices have finally returned to normal and I've eaten more than just a bunch. Linda the Monkey has returned.
All things aside, I'm sitting in a park finishing this blog post on a rather beautiful and sunny day. The cool breeze is blowing against my skin and I can't say how appreciative I am of my friends and family so thank you for everything, really. Hopefully everyone is well rested and ready for the week!
"Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling." - Margaret B. Runbeck
It's been a whirlwind of a couple weeks and I realize that this is long overdue, oops. When there aren't any deadlines to meet, this is what happens and my draft sat there waiting to be finished. It became one of those to-do things you spend more time thinking about than the actual time that it would take to actually do it.
Moving on, sometimes I get people asking me, "Why do you volunteer?" What they're trying to say and sometimes bluntly ask is, "Why do you work for free?"
Volunteering is not just an extracurricular activity in the past. I'm not here to preach about it but rather, outline my experiences from it and share the outcome. I volunteer to give back: whether it's for a certain cause, to give back to the community, or even simply just the passion for it.
Being a part of the Crave Sydney International Food Festival, especially the World Chef Showcase, was a truly remarkable experience I wouldn't trade for anything. Hard work and long-hours (nothing compared to the staff who actually work the entire festival) was worth it and it became one of those reaffirming moments where I just knew that my involvement with the food community and culture was only just beginning.
A few months ago, I started reading MoVida: Spanish Culinary Adventures, then eventually went to MoVida Next Door for dinner in Melbourne. Fast forward some time, then I was watching chef-author Frank Camorra give his demonstration on Spanish cuisine and working alongside the wonderful writer and TV producer Richard Cornish. It's funny how things work out sometimes.
Check out this video of him preparing a chocolate feast
Okay, no more name-dropping! Wherever you guys live or if you're traveling to any of the places mentioned, I'd recommend to try the restaurants. There's a reason why they were out here and chosen to represent various countries.
A few weeks ago, I had the fortunate opportunity to volunteer for the World Chef Showcase for the Crave Sydney International Food Festival. It was the big 2 day kick-off event to the festival filled with chefs from different countries (Peru, Brazil, Argentina, the US, the UK, France, Sweden, and of course, Australia..just to name a few) giving demonstrations, tastings, and talks. Here's a few of the chefs that I was able to meet up and work with and snap a quick photo with:
From top to bottom, left to right: David Lebovitz, Gaston Acurio, Ricardo Zarate, Adriano Zumbo (sorry Zumbo, I couldn't resist throwing in a silly face)
b) stay local for my Angelenos and head to Ricardo Zarate's Picca and Mo-Chica
If you've got a sweet tooth and are in Sydney, then stuff your face silly with some of Adriano Zumbo macarons and other pastries.
WOW. I am just full of (even more) links today!
But really, WOW! Looking back and reflecting on the event and experience, I met and came across so many wonderful people that inspire me to continue growing and do more with this passion of mine. There's more chefs and writers and people I want to mention but in keeping with my "short posts", I may have to save it for a Part II re-cap.
This one is the BIG one of the year. My expectations are high, I've been reading and following it for the past couple of months. It sounds like a great event so I sit here blogging about my excitement as the month of October will be packed with food-filled events. Here's a preview of what's to come:
Good news is, I've been fortunate enough to get involved and will be helping out with the World Chef Showcase. Chefs from many parts of the world will be showing what goes on behind-the-scenes and this year's theme is across South America!!!
If you're in or near Sydney and a big foodie or simply want to attend, I would definitely recommend going to this event. It sounds like one not to miss! More to come from me later :)
