All posts tagged: food

Vientiane: Joy Restauant on the Mekong Promenade

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In the city of Vientiane, the Mekong Promenade is wide, the river being very low during dry season and during the day the promenade is peaceful and quiet. You kind of wonder where is everyone? But come sunset, pop up bars and restaurants line the streets and finding a good spot to watch the changing sky is easy. Just before another pink sunset, we find ourselves at Joy Restaurant on the Mekong Promenade. The colourful display of food entices us and after a Beer Lao or two, we choose a few dishes by physicall pointing instead of choosing from the printed menu. It’s so much better to be able to select from a kitchen rather than trusting translated menus. This allows you to order dishes that look good on that day rather than picking your usual favourites. The wiggling bits coming out of the shells told me that the cockles are still alive. The prawns looked particularly plump. The Koala had never tried cockles before and it’s a novelty to get them at all let alone fresh …

Eating laap in Laos

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Laap, also spelled larb, larp or laab, was my absolute favourite dish during our epic South East Asia adventure. Laap is made with ground meat, ground sticky rice, fish sauce, lime juice, fresh chili and lots of herbs like mint, coriander and spring onion. The locals eat it with their hands and with sticky rice and raw vegetables. I totally fell in love with this fresh, zingy, savoury dish. Crossing into Laos On a cold mid January morning, we get up early, have a buffet breakfast at our hotel in Vinh, Vietnam and get on a 6am private bus to Laos. It is cold, grey and misty. We take Ho Chi Minh Trail which is a windy path through the mountains and you can see how it could have been used in war against a foreign enemy. The mist is so thick in places you can’t see across to the other side of the valley. Looking out into the heavy mist it’s easy to think that the mountains are on the edge of the world. …

We don’t have feijoas coming out our ears.

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Really we don’t. Our tree is giving us a respectable 3 to 6 fruit a day. Totally manageable. This week, I learned that feijoas (pronounced fee-jo-ahs) thrive in our sub tropical climate and also don’t have any natural pests here. Every day, I check the lawn under and gather up any fallen fruit. Although Tofu doesn’t seem to be interested in feijoa this autumn, he could just be trying to trick me into nonchalance. I’ve caught him hoeing into them in other years so I’m not so easily fooled. I’m still squirreling away all the macadamia nuts that are dropping onto our lawn. I haven’t bought a macadamia nut cracker yet so I’m just collecting and collecting. The only way I can get them open right now is using a brick and smashing the nuts on concrete. But it’s not pretty and kind of caveman like to be honest. I hope my neighbours don’t see me smashing bricks and nuts in the backyard…and eating the results. The nuts have a great flavour, but aren’t crunchy. I’ve already …

Creamy Tomatoey Chicken

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My local Chinese supermarket now offers boneless thigh! I prefer the texture and flavour of thigh over breast meat. Boneless thigh is the same price as breast meat so I guess I’m not going to be buying breast ever again. I cooked up some the chicken for me and the boys*. Some cream, some tomato, some spices like garam masala and curry powder. Whip up some rice and some vege and you got yourself some tasty nutrition. The boys gobbled it all up. * By boys, I’m really referring to men. I don’t have any offspring.

Eating a snake and drinking cat poo coffee

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Friends of snakes, look away now. Killing and eating a snake was always going to be an interesting experience. I’d read about it online and I had a fair idea of what to expect. We talked to our hotel owner and receptionist about it and they called a taxi for us. Unfortunately the taxi driver hadn’t been briefed and “Le Mat” which was the snake village didn’t seem to ring any bells. It was only after I drew and showed him a picture of snake while we gestured eating motions that he got it. “Ahhhh La Maaaat!”. All good. He drove us to a restaurant and he communicated to us that he would wait outside while we ate. It’s quite normal in SE Asia countries for taxi drivers to wait outside for you. Something that is unheard of in New Zealand unless you’re using an ATM or something super quick. Taxis are very cheap in Vietnam and our return trip including the hour wait while we ate,  cost only 94,000VND / $6NZ / $4.50US. I’d read about …

Delicious Vietnam: Eating In The Old Quarter, Hanoi

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Before our epic SE Asia holiday, I had read a few  blogs to inspire my appetite. One of the best was A Food Lover’s Journey by Ahn in Melbourne. Mouthwatering and easily relatable, Ahn is a Vietnamese expat and reading her blog is enough to make anyone crave Vietnamese food. The monthly Delicious Vietnam blogging event conspired by A Food Lover’s Journey and Ravenous Couple was never something I thought I would participate in. When I saw their reminder this month, I realised that it was just about time I wrote about Vietnamese food and our time in Hanoi. Vietnamese food in Auckland There is a lack of Vietnamese restaurants in Auckland, but one of my favourites is Hansan Vietnamese Restaurant. One of those places with cheap, fresh and delicious food, but severely no frills service, my review can be found here. The other Vietnamese place worth mentioning in Auckland is Banh Mi. Who do great filled rolls and all the classic Vietnamese dishes as well. Anticipation “”Well,” said Pooh, “what I like best — ” …

Lamb and Pinot Noir Meatballs

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I still had a little pinot noir leftover from the other day when we all needed a BFGOW after work. So I got half a kilo of lamb mince in a bowl, added a good glug glug of the wine, some chopped garlic, chopped basil, salt, pepper, some breadcrumbs, no, more breadcrumbs, no, still more breadcrumbs and rolled up 60 little meatballs and baked them for about 15 minutes in a hot 200°C oven. Then I made this light sauce to go with it. If it wasn’t a school night, I might have cooked this sauce for longer, but I’d already laboured over the meatballs and hey, a light sauce is good too. Chop up 2 red capsicums, 2 sticks of celery, 1 onion and brown in a hot pan with a little oil. Add 2 cups of water and boil for 20 minutes. Drain most of the water out. Work some voodoo magic with a stick blender and then put it back on the heat and add salt or bouillon as you wish. Serve with …

The Secret World of Private Kitchens in Hong Kong

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Before our super epic trip, I’d mentioned to my cousin Charing that I wanted to dine at a private kitchen. From Wiki: Speakeasy, also termed private kitchen in Hong Kong (Chinese: 私房菜), is a term in modern Hong Kong referring to an unlicensed, restaurant-like establishment for eating. Some of the perceived problems with running a restaurant in Hong Kong—high rents and the common practice of landlords extracting profits from restaurants through clauses in tenancy agreements—have led to the establishment of this type of eatery. Owners also have the additional benefit that many government regulations concerning restaurants can be avoided. A typical speakeasy will be based in an ordinary apartment in a block of flats. Customers gain access by ringing the bell before the door is opened from the inside. Inside, the flat will be set out as a simple restaurant. Usually, it provides not only quality home-made food and drink, but a sense of being at home. Advertising is usually by word of mouth—it’s often not possible to have prominent signs outside to advertise the business’ presence, as with a normal commercial establishment. She knew …

Eating Borneo #8 – New Years at Mañana

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New Year celebrations have always been epic for us. Many businesses are closed during this time in New Zealand so we holiday like there’s no tomorrow. It’s a time when we leave the city and flock to beaches all over the country to get absolutely trashed with their friends. There’s good food and good times to be had and the celebrations often last a week. I saw in last New Years with The Koala, my friend A, my sister Joey, her boyfriend D and the guests and staff at Mañana Borneo. Mañana is a small resort on a private beach about an hour north of Kota Kinabalu in the Sabah north of Borneo Island. It’s not on a separate island but this beach is only accessable by boat. No cars. No shops. No power during the day. Just a private, sheltered beach, snorkeling, swimming, books, hammocks, monsoon every afternoon (mandatory downtime). It was heaven. We stayed in 3 private villas with our own outdoor bathrooms. The menu here was limited but that was fine, it meant …

Family Dinner with Chef Joey

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We hadn’t seen the family for over a month – since they left us in Hong Kong and we continued with our travels – and last month was our first meal as a family. My sister Joey was the executive chef for the evening. On the menu were some yummy BBQ pizzas, skewers, pasta salad and a couple of classic Chinese desserts. Skewers: streaky bacon with cheese stuffed mushrooms. Chicken, camembert and cranberry pizza. Pesto pizza. Smoked salmon pizza (with a healthy dollop of sour cream). Mango pudding or Mongoh bodeen. Egg custard tarts or Dahn tart in the background. I had painted my nails yellow… …and The Koala happened to be wearing a yellow shirt. So it was only natural we had to pose with the yellow desserts.

Burgers at Matakana House

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Opensouls, one of my favourite bands in the whole world, played their final show last Sunday. It was at Leigh Sawmill Cafe which is about an hour drive north. So we made an afternoon of it and packed the van with some friends. Clinging on to the last threads of summer, we visited the beach by Goat Island for a swim and a snorkel. It was a beautiful day in Auckland but as we drove north, the skies turned grey and by the time we’d finished swimming and snorkeling, it was pelting down. Swimming and snorkeling are a surefire way to work up an appetite and with Leigh Sawmill closed until 4pm for set up and every single shop in Leigh closed on a Sunday afternoon, we were forced to drive to Matakana for a munch. Matakana is pretty gourmet as far as small towns go and I realised I’d never been there before. They have a highly rated farmers market which I do hope to visit another time. As we drove down the main …

Sexy French Sausages. Take 2

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I squeezed another meal out of those sexy French snags. More assembling than actual cooking. A huge plate, but the kind of dinner that makes you feel good afterwards. I presented this plate to my husband who for some reason thought it was a shared platter for dinner. He realised his mistake when I brought out a second plate of food for me. One each FTW! Cheese, beans, avocado, cucumber, eggs, spring onion, lemon pepper, cherry tomatoes, rocket and sexy French sausages.

A Cook’s Treat

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If you are a fan of Anthony Bourdain, then you may think I am refering to the white stuff that goes up one’s nose to aid a long night at work. But no, I don’t mean cocaine. The cook’s treat I’m refering to is much cheaper. In fact, it’s free! If you cook, then you may be familiar with a cook’s treat. It’s a portion of a meal that isn’t dished up but is rather eaten up by the cook. This delicious morsel is gobbled up by the cook and the guests none the wiser. It’s can be considered a reward for the hard work of preparing a meal. In baking, it is well known that licking the beater and the bowl clean of batter is a compulsory honor reserved for the cook. A cook’s treat can be an ingredient that is used for flavour (or fat) and then usually discarded. When we were in south east asian, we had the local bbq. A lump of pork fat is used to oil up the cooking …

Eating Borneo #1 – Rainforest Cafe, Kota Kinabalu

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The second stop on our trip was Kota Kinabalu in the Malaysian part of Borneo. Malaysia is pretty cheap in terms of food and booze, though not the cheapest on our trip. So cheap in fact, that when we saw the price of the dishes, we stupidly assumed the portions were tiny. So we ordered 2 dishes each. 3 people. 6 meals. http://www.rainforestlodgekk.com/rainforest_cafe2.cfm Here, at Rainforest Cafe we stuffed ourselves until we couldn’t see straight. Unfortunately, all the food was good. We couldn’t sacrifice any dishes and with no fridge in our room, we didn’t chance taking a few boxes of food home. We were rendered completely useless after this feast. Lesson to self, order a meal. If you are still hungry, have a snack later. Asia is full of snacks. There is no need to eat yourself senseless. A couple of weeks later, our second visit was much more dignified. Rainforest Cafe offer a range of lunch sets for 6.90RM / $3.10NZ / $2.30US. Your choice of main comes with a drink and a …

Mystery fruit

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Someone at work dumped a bag of citrus in the lunch room so I popped a couple into my handbag to experiment with later. Still not sure what these are, they have thick yellow skin, orange flesh and no pips. They are more sweet than sour with no bitterness. It didn’t really matter what they were, I squeezed one and marinated half a kilo of chicken wings with the juice and little soy sauce and chili sauce. Popped them in a super hot oven for about half an hour and…Bam! Mystery fruit chicken wings. I admit, I maybe have gone a little overboard with the vegetables. That or we need larger plates!

Eating Brunei

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Arriving in Brunei at 7am after a 10 hour flight from Auckland, we were exhausted. We should have given into a few hours nap but with only a day in the tiny sultanate, we foolishly stayed up to be tourists. Nothing was open that early anyway so we hung about the hotel for a couple of hours and had a swim in the pool etc. Really should have taken that nap! Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque. Big, white, gold, in the centre of town. Truly dazzling in the summer sun. Don’t visit without your sunnies! Our first meal was at Food Zone in the shopping complex by the big white mosque in town. Chinese Cuisine can be found here at a fair price. We ordered a Steamed Chicken Set, a Roast Chicken Set (both sets include chicken, chicken rice, pickles, sauces and soup), Sweet & Sour Prawns, Siu Mai (pork dumplings), Ha Gaw (prawn dumplings) and drinks. A measly $24 ($19US) for the lot. Brunei dollar and New Zealand dollar are pretty dollar for dollar, meaning …

Eat Your Greens! (With Bacon)

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We did a little shop the other day. The first shop in over 2 months meant that we got a few essentials. From these things I was able to pick out an easy soup to make. Pretty standard, so maybe you already have these ingredients in your kitchen too. Soup isn’t the kind of thing most of us make on a summer afternoon, but this will fill you up without making you feel heavy. Tasty enough to serve to company as a starter.   Easy Green and Bacon Soup Serves 2 Ingredients 2 medium potatoes 1 cup of frozen peas half an onion 2 pieces of streaky bacon Salt Lemon pepper Dash of cream Preparation In a pot, boil a litre of water. Peel and chop potatoes and add to pot. Slice onion and add to the pot. Boil for 20 minutes. Chop bacon into matchsticks and fry until done. Add frozen peas to the boiling pot and bring up to boil. Drain out most of the boiling water (leaving behind a small amount) and blend …

We are home.

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It has been an epic 65 days of traveling, eating, drinking, experiencing and adventuring with my husband The Koala. Along the way, we’ve traveled with friends and family, met up with old friends and made new friends. We visited 7 countries and stayed in 18 different places in south east asia. Brunei, Malaysia (Borneo), Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. It’s been exotic and surreal. Being back in front of my mac, in our lounge (looking just the way we left it) it feels like the last 2 months happened to someone else. In the 2 months we’ve been away, I “cooked” only 3 times. A half day cooking class in Chiang Mai, and if you count it as cooking, we had local BBQ where you cook raw ingredients at your table at a restauarant- we did this 2 times (Vang Vieng, Laos and Koh Phangan, Thailand). All other meals – I’m talking an average of 3 meals a day – were eaten out. That’s 192 meals right there! I didn’t photograph every single …

Fake it ’til you make it

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Is it possible to crave something you’ve never had before? I think so. I often read about foods on the internet and then I want them. I want them bad. Lobster rolls are associated with the lobster state of Maine in the U.S. and in New England and the Canadian Maritimes, some McDonald’s offer lobster rolls as a seasonal menu item. They call it the McLobster! We don’t get loster rolls here in New Zealand. I guess it’s because we don’t have lobster here, but we have plenty of things that could substitute. Crayfish would be the most obvious choice. Crab could also work if we were a nation that gobbled up crab. I was craving a lobster roll, but being on a budget – crayfish can be $100kg – I considered making it with surimi instead. At $8kg, surimi is not going to break the bank. Surimi is pretty forgiving too so you can make the mix ahead of time, refrigerate it and eat it over a few days. I’d never do that with fresh seafood though. …

Food tourism

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THE PIG ON VACATION As much as Pigs love food they would truly enjoy a culinary experience on vacation. When traveling they tend to dine at the finest restaurants, eat the richest chocolate and drink the most expensive champagne. In addition, their natures to be relaxed and laid back would lead them to an easygoing vacation somewhere on an island or in a resort where they can hang out and be completely taken care of. From the US bridal Guide. Culinary vacation? Me? Really? Naw… I often remark that I would love to eat my way around the world so now I can blame it on my Chinese horoscope. Food tourism is becoming more of a common occurance these days and I think all the food travel shows help boost the industry and make more people yearn to eat exotic things in faraway places. I don’t think of Auckland as being a particularly culinary city, so I was surprised to learn there are a few gourmet food tour companies operating in Auckland. I have no experience …