Robyn Eckhardt writes: We'd forgotten how it rains in Saigon. And rains and rains and rains. This time of year, there's no waiting out a downpour. If it catches you unprepared, get prepared - to get very wet. We got caught at the extreme edge of District 3, near the corner of Nguyen Dinh Chieu and Nguyen Thien Thuat streets. The neighborhood is an interesting grid of food stall-lined lanes, and we wandering after a late lunch, scoping out dinner possibilities for later in the week. In retrospect, the steadily graying sky and distant rumbles of thunder interspersed with the occasional jagged slash of lightning should have been signal enough that it was time to catch a cab ... read more

© Robyn Eckhardt (article) and David Hagerman (photographs) | original post at http://eatingasia.typepad.com/eatingasia/
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Robyn Eckhardt writes: Our first foray to Siem Reap's Psar Loeu turned up much deliciousness with no negative digestive consequences, so we set aside a morning to return for breakfast(s). The market is (unsurprisingly) hopping at dawn; out front, along a main road into town, and in alleys all around its perimeter primarily female vendors sell heaps of fresh vegetables, fragrant herbs, roots and rhizomes. I counted tens of baskets of lemongrass with stalks so plump they could be used in entirety, and seven types of eggplant (small, round and white; tiny, round, and green; big, bulbous, and purple, golf ball-sized green and white ... read more

© Robyn Eckhardt (article) and David Hagerman (photographs) | original post at http://eatingasia.typepad.com/eatingasia/
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Robyn Eckhardt writes: Today Malaysia celebrates its 51st birthday (Happy Birthday Malaysia!). And Malaysians will do as they do every day - observe the nation's unofficial motto:  Makan, makan, makan!! (Eat, Eat, EatI!). Malaysia, we love you. read more

© Robyn Eckhardt (article) and David Hagerman (photographs) | original post at http://eatingasia.typepad.com/eatingasia/
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Robyn Eckhardt writes: One of the reasons we went to Jakarta last month was to research gado-gado Betawi (Jakarta-style gado-gado). The result appears in today's Wall Street Journal Asia 'Weekend Journal'. This is the fourth 'The Dish' article that we've done for the publication. These are short, focused pieces that hew to a pre-determined rubric. Nonetheless, I enjoy working on them because they offer an opportunity to delve into local history - culinary and otherwise - and to get out and talk to local 'experts' about the cuisines they grew up with. I always learn something, and I usually end up trying something new. In the course of research for these pieces our palates ... read more

© Robyn Eckhardt (article) and David Hagerman (photographs) | original post at http://eatingasia.typepad.com/eatingasia/
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Robyn Eckhardt writes: A couple weeks ago a reader sent me an email asking about eating in Siem Reap (and Bangkok and Laos) which said, in part): I really want to do some food exploration, but am concerned about eating fresh veggies and fruit.  What are your thoughts on the matter?It wasn't the first such email I'd received. The food-focused traveler's conventional wisdom says: if it's not hot and cooked don't eat it, unless it's a fruit or vegetable with a peel you can remove yourself. We flout that rule wherever we go. Fresh tropical fruits, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces and sold from a cart are one of Southeast Asia's many pleasures, as are blender drinks made ... read more

© Robyn Eckhardt (article) and David Hagerman (photographs) | original post at http://eatingasia.typepad.com/eatingasia/
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Robyn Eckhardt writes: Wherever you go in the world, the food of the street represents the identity of the people. Clues to culture, race, and religion can be found in the local cuisine.That quote kicks off the Penang-focused show of an Al Jazeera series on street food around the world (heads up courtesy of noodlepie). And I couldn't have said it better myself. Simply put, you haven't experienced Penang, not the real Penang, until you've eaten on its streets. And the same, I would argue, could be said for any other place in the world that street food still exists. Street food naysayers miss the point. When it comes to eating on the street it's not only about ... read more

© Robyn Eckhardt (article) and David Hagerman (photographs) | original post at http://eatingasia.typepad.com/eatingasia/
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Robyn Eckhardt writes: Yesterday, after a workout long and hard enough to cleanse the sins of Saturday night (homemade cheese enchiladas and beer in front of the TV) from our bodies, Dave and I headed to our favorite restaurant in KL, braced for a scolding. When we started eating at Sek Yuen last year the staff held us at arm's length, but over time they softened. Nowadays we're gently berated if we let more than two weeks go by without a visit. We hadn't been since July. On our way in we paused, as usual, to admire the wood-fired kitchen and bask in the delicious smells wafting from its woks and steamers. After choosing a photo-optimal table we looked around for our ... read more

© Robyn Eckhardt (article) and David Hagerman (photographs) | original post at http://eatingasia.typepad.com/eatingasia/
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Robyn Eckhardt writes: My neck aches. I've spent a good part of the last three days staring at a computer screen. I've got deadlines stacked up to here and right now I'm feeling their weight on my shoulders. Work, too much work. But in truth, and relatively speaking, not much work at all. This is work, real work, the sort of back-breaking labor you don't see much of in parts of the world where most everything is mechanized. These guys are loading cargo at Sunda Kelapa, a Jakarta port that dates back hundreds of years. It's the docking spot for mammoth wooden cargo boats known as Bugis pinisi schooners (after Sulawesi's ... read more

© Robyn Eckhardt (article) and David Hagerman (photographs) | original post at http://eatingasia.typepad.com/eatingasia/
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Robyn Eckhardt writes: Hard as it is for us to believe, it's been nearly three years since our first post. And we gotta tell you, this site was feeling O-L-D. It's time for a change, or a bunch of changes, but we're not sure what the final product will be. We'd like to showcase Dave's photos better, and to make EatingAsia more user-friendly. White background? Black background? Colors? Fewer sidebar items? Clean and simple over bright and colorful? At this point we don't know - today's new design and banner is just a little something to get the ball rolling - so don't be surprised if the look of EatingAsia changes regularly as we try new 'outfits' on for size. Dave's photography ... read more

© Robyn Eckhardt (article) and David Hagerman (photographs) | original post at http://eatingasia.typepad.com/eatingasia/
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Robyn Eckhardt writes: [Googlers: if you got here with 'Jakarta wet t-shirt contest' you're in the wrong place. Move on.] One night in Jakarta we, an American journalist friend, and a few of her Jakarta-resident buddies hired two taxis and headed out to Muara Angke, an amazing seafood market somewhere in the northern reaches of the city. Rather than a 'market' Muara Angke might more accurately be called a seafood neighborhood, because though it's anchored in a large building the market itself leaches into all surrounding streets and lanes. We seemed to drive past blocks and blocks of 'market' before we even reached the market. And it is not for ... read more

© Robyn Eckhardt (article) and David Hagerman (photographs) | original post at http://eatingasia.typepad.com/eatingasia/
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