News from the Eats

In my first month here, my pal Christine, who knows this patch of the world quite well, challenged me on this very blog to eat a number of adventurous things. As I noted in my early August post, I’ve tried to rise to the challenge – rambutans, Hokkien Mee, Murtabak. Delicious all.

Well, we’ve been here four months now, and things are at a whole new level. I have a local friend, Z (real name: Tze), who takes me to all kinds of places that only a local would know about. She knows I’m an adventurous eater (as long as the food is not mega-spicy hot), so she makes bold menu suggestions. I have now eaten:

-- soup with clear brown broth, mushrooms, gingko nuts, and wait for it… pig stomach
-- lightly fried pig liver served in a black sweet sauce

Both tasted fine, though I stopped at a few bites and wouldn’t order again. Not because I found them awful, but because I didn’t find them super-good. I think your tastes are all about what you grow up eating. I would love the black sauce on regular pork however.

Local Food Homeruns
One local food that I adore is Kerabu, a salad-type dish made with, among other things, a medium-spicy chili sauce, crushed nuts, lime juice and fresh herbs like cilantro. I’d love to find the recipe (for the one made with raw, crunchy cucumbers, not chicken feet).

As I shared in my food “fook” blogpost, I dig Otak-otak, a fish dish. I also enjoy a Nonya dish of sautéed bean sprouts, sprinkled with crushed tiny fried fish. Nonya is a type of local cuisine that blends Malay and Chinese cooking methods.

So there you have it! I look forward to the arrival of !Marsha! in November to whom I will introduce all these foods (not the pig stomach).

Below: Ton eating dragon fruit. Note the color in the bowl below - white gray with black seeds. Funky!

Rookie Move
I forgot my tote bag the other day when I went to the wet market. So I had to carry masses of little plastic bags around. As the bags increased in number and weight, they began to cut into my fingers and became a general pain.

Don’t forget that tote bag. There are no grocery carts at the ol’ wet market!

What I Miss
(it’s the little things that get ya)
-- A disposal
-- Frozen broccoli / frozen spinach
-- Frozen wild blueberries
-- A long hot shower

I finally found PAM Olive Oil Cooking spray and that makes me very happy.

Ricotta cheese proved elusive until just recently, when I found a store that will special-order it for me

What I’m Digging
-- A new era of cooking. Many mornings as I sip my tea, I peruse my cookbooks eagerly, pondering my next cooking attempt. I’ve made:

• a great Chinese soup in a light broth with noodles, soy sauce and mushrooms
• an Indonesian sweet potato/peanut soup with cabbage
• an awesome garam masala sauce for roasted veggies
• a kickass Mexican lasagna and lime-cumin cucumber, orange & red onion salad

I had an unfortunate frittata crash and burn however.

-- I continue to meet interesting people. I’m consistently amazed at the vastness and diversity of Penang’s expat community.

-- I love the smell of Indian spices which wafts towards me every time I open my kitchen cabinet.

How I Know I’m Not in Kansas Anymore
I decided to make a braised chicken recipe which required:
-- 2 sprigs fresh curry leaves (leaves removed from stems)
-- 10 whole cloves

Back home, I’d have tracked down the cloves, but the curry leaves would have stumped me.

Here in Penang, I just thought, “I’ll stop by the wet market and pick some up.” I know exactly where to find the dude that sells the curry leaves, and the Indian spice guy hooked me up with the cloves. I also bought fresh coconut milk (right-out-of-the-fruit-that-day fresh) for the sauce. Gotta love it!

Misc Food Learnings
-- Curry leaves are not spicy; in fact, they have a pleasant, soothing smell. It’s the chilies that make curry dishes hot.
-- Dried chilies are hotter than fresh.
-- Freshly-squeezed coconut milk doesn’t keep in the fridge. You must use it that same day, or it will separate and be generally icky.