Fish Tales

Mine... all mine.

I’ve spent fourteen months scouring the island for Cherry Coke. Chasing shadows. Following whispers. Tracking rumors.

All leading to nowhere. You can’t find it.

How can that be? There are five million people here. Does no one prefer Cherry Coke? Seriously, people!

Because of this, I’ve been relegated to the lesser Coke. Just the plain old secret formula. Yawn.

I’ve officially given up searching. The rollercoaster ride is over. I’ve accepted my fate.

I even talked to one of the main Coke distributors here. There’s a reason why I can’t find it. Apparently, Singaporeans think Cherry Coke tastes too much like cough medicine. And, it sits on the store shelves.

Cough medicine?

So, there I have my answer. Either I import it myself, or go without.

Luckily, fortune happened upon me this morning. My manager, visiting from Hong Kong, bestowed a charitable gift upon me. Never has a six-pack of Cherry Coke been so valuable.*

*Apparently, I will be receiving Cherry Coke in lieu of stock options this year.

It’s true, I enjoy McDonald’s. My guilty pleasure. A personal Fast Food Nation and Super Size Me all wrapped into one.

When traveling, checking-out the regional menu is always fun. A few unique discoveries over the years… Samurai Pork Burger in Thailand. Rice & Beans breakfast in Costa Rica, Chicken Maharaja Mac in India. Teriyaki chicken burger in Japan.

And, my all-time favorite: The Kiwi Burger in New Zealand. It comes with an egg and a sliced beet. Yum!

Recently, a window poster advertising a chocolate pie coaxed us to stop at the local Koh Samui, Thailand McDonalds. Just to split a pie.

Tasty chocolate pudding surrounded by flaky crust. Deep fried, not baked. And it was, for sure, the best McDonald’s pie ever.

We regretted our decision to split it…

Koh Samui McDonald's Chocolate Pie

Arrgh! Two heels.

That’s all I found in the bread bag when I decided to make a peanut butter sandwich this afternoon. Not really for me.

But, luckily, I’ve got a convenient solution to this problem… a bread vending machine downstairs near the pool, right next to the soda machine.

That’s right. How easy is that?

Gardenia Bread Vending Machine

Ever get a hankering for Mickey D’s but didn’t want to move your butt off the couch? What to do… what to do? Well, it’s easy (for me). Because, in Singapore, McDonalds provides 24/7 delivery right to my doorstep. Actually, anyone’s doorstep.

After living here for nearly nine months, it was time to try this out. And it couldn’t be easier. Just place an order on their website. Wait 30 minutes. Answer the door. Eat.

i’m lovin’ it (我就喜欢)

http://www.mcdelivery.com.sg

After a quick walk to the Whampoa market near Balestier, we decided to try eating some fresh durian. Why? Because the fruit represents such a local favorite and it’s been described to me as being “delicious”, “most wonderful” and even “heavenly”. It’s crowned as the “King of Fruits” in SE Asia. How could I resist? But, I did find it difficult to believe once I actually saw, and more importantly, smelled the fruit. Think of the smelly gym socks mixed with an additional non-descript, potent scent. Not so inviting.

But, on to the taste… imagine a mixture similar to garlic, onions and sugar syrup. And all the flavors are very strong. It’s almost bearable trying to eat the fruit with your nose plugged, but I still couldn’t get it down. Too much.

There’s a reason Singapore law bans durian on public transportation, taxis, shopping malls and even hotels.

At least I can say I tried it. 

Durian

Durian Fruit Stand

Yuck!

In Bali, I tried a fabulous drink. Surprisingly, it was the first time I’d tasted ginger tea. This sweet, spicy drink is also supposed to remedy colds, sore throats and indigestion.

And it’s really easy to make:

• Slice a few ginger roots
• Boil for about 20 minutes
• Strain the liquid into a pitcher
• Pour into a mug
• Squeeze a slice of lemon into the tea
• Sweeten to taste with honey
   

Store in the refrigerator. Try iced next time.

Sliced ginger

Lemon ginger tea

 

This evening, a short walk along the Nusa Dua beach revealed a small, open-air restaurant accompanied with traditional Indonesian music performed by a three person ensemble. The establishment appeared rundown, and… well, it’s probably fortunate the darkness masked what I’m somewhat confident would equate to several food safety violations. The two lizards and humungous beetle crawling on the wall above the drink station echoed the same conclusion. But, the entire ambiance felt like a welcomed departure from the touristy atmosphere associated with this region of Bali.

The chicken & pork satay sticks were my favorite. Ever.

They served the satay over a small, cast iron grill containing charcoal made from dried coconut shells. It provided a smoky and slightly charred flavor. And because the meat remained hot during the entire meal, each stick tasted as tasty as the first.

Satay over hot coals

One of our Thailand trip highlights… Pum’s Cooking School. The Patong Beach location integrates a Thai cooking experience with the actual restaurant and you get to cook in the same kitchen as the chefs preparing food for patrons. For the class, several packages are available, but we settled on the “Little Shoes” class that included instruction for three dishes. I chose to learn to cook Mussman curry with chicken, Phad Phak Med Memaung, and Phad Thai. All some of my favorites.

To begin, Pum reviewed the most popular herbs, spices and vegetables commonly found in Thai cooking. What the difference between Thai basil and regular basil? Which chilies go in each variety of curry? Is it okay to substitute ginger for galangal? All things that Pum answered.

Making curry paste

She also taught a quick lesson on some basic Thai ingredient and cooking word translations. Sure makes it easier to read a Thai menu now:

• Gai = Chicken
• Nua = Beef
• Moo = Pork (why not beef?)
• Pia = Fish
• Goong = Prawns
• Pooh = Crab
• Khao = Rice
• Med Mamuang = Cashew nuts
• Prik = Chili
• Nam = Liquid or sauce

 

• Phad = Fry
• Tom = Boil
• Prio = Sour
• Wan = Sweet
• Gaeng = Curry
• Yum = Soup

 

Mussman curry with chicken

To prepare the curry paste, we mixed several ingredients together in the mortar: red chilies, galangal, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, garlic, Thai shallot, salt, Thai sweet basil and vegetable oil. Next, we smashed all the ingredients together into a paste with the pestle. Pum instructed that it should make a sound like “Buk, buk”, not “Tuk, tuk”. Otherwise you are doing it wrong and not smashing the ingredients correctly.

Finally, to complete the curry recipie, the curry paste was mixed into a pot with sliced chicken, coconut milk, water, vegetable oil, fish sauce, sugar, green beans, and kaffir lime leaves. Stir until warm and serve.

It tasted so good!

Pum was a great instructor and really made cooking fun. She tries to make Thai food simple and easy, while using all-natural ingredients. We learned Thai cooking should be “happy and healthy”.

Oh ya, she also gave us a copy of her cookbook.

Phad Phak Med Memaung

Pum & Greg

Standing behind the steamer

Pum & Debra

I walked home from work today. It doesn’t sound like a long distance at 1.5 miles, but it felt like at least 3 with the heat and humidity factored in. My work clothes and laptop bag probably contributed some too. But, with it being such a beautiful day it didn’t really matter that my shirt was practically glued to my back, with sweat as the adhesive.

Halfway home is the Newton Hawker Center. It’s a large open-air, partially covered market containing about 80 food stalls. There are ten “must try” dishes listed at the entrance: fried carrot cake, bak kut teh (pork ribs), chicken rice, chili crab, char kway teow (flat rice noodles), laksa (noodles in coconut milk with seafood), rojak (salad with dough fritters), fish head curry, roti prata and satay.

I opted for the pork satay this time (I’ve already had the chicken rice and char kway teow). It didn’t disappoint, especially the peanut-chili dipping sauce. The hawker imposed a minimum order of ten sticks. I managed.

Newton Hawker Centre

Yum, yum, yum. A spontaneous dinner stop tonight revealed a tasty, little stall in the Paragon basement. A long line generally is a positive sign of good eats… and the accompanying, nearly mesmerizing smell emanating from the grill persuaded me to take my place in line. After reaching the front, I settled on a bento-like box containing two chicken yakitori sticks and two chicken-ball sticks. They were both fantastic, but the chicken-balls were unique and easily the best (I ended up ordering two more). They had a mild sausage-type flavor made with minced meat and vegetables coupled with sweet teriyaki/tare glaze.

I’ll be visiting again soon.

Hand grilled chicken yakitori

Tori-Q Japanese Yakitori