Robyn Eckhardt writes: One of the most arresting sights at Butuan City's Seafood Market is the rows of giant squid, slippery bodies big as a small cat, tentacles thick as thumbs, and eyes that are eerily human-like. As I perused the market's offerings thoughts like 'Mmmm, red snapper, chuck it on the grill' and, 'Ooooh, octopus, Italian tomato stew with spinach,'  danced through my head. Then my gaze fell upon the squid, and the only words that came to mind were 'Now what the he** do you do with that!?' Luckily our host in Butuan City is quite a kitchen wizard, and during that ... read more

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

Robyn Eckhardt writes: There are many things I love about living in this part of the world: that I can buy coconut grated to order. That Dave and I can easily and quickly hop from country to country and culture to culture. That, as each year passes, it becomes ever more obvious that no matter how much I learn about this region and its foods I'll never, ever know it all. Salak, or snakefruit, are wildly popular in Malaysia and Thailand. I'd seen them displayed for sale in bundles but never knew that that's how they grow, bunched together around a single stem. Nor did I know they're the fruit of a type of palm tree (for some ... read more

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

Robyn Eckhardt writes: The Philippines is blessed with a substantial body of good food writing, both serious literature and research by the likes of Edilberto Alegre and the late Doreen Fernandez, and less 'learned' but nonetheless enjoyable books by professional and amateur food lovers. An hour spent browsing the shelves in the food writing/cookbook section of a Manila bookstore never fails to deliver something surprising and delightful. In December I found a couple of gems: a thirty-year-old publication by the Philippine Banana Export Industry Association called 100+1 Banana Recipes, and a slim paperback called Pulutan: From the Soldiers' Kitchen. The first is what its title suggests, a straightforward collection of recipes (written in both Tagalog and ... read more

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

Robyn Eckhardt writes: So, you've chopped down a fifteen-year-old sago palm, scraped out its insides, bathed them in water and kneaded and squeezed them dry, collected the starch from the bottom of your processing vessel, crammed it into waist-high cones you made from the base of the palm's leaves, left it to drain for a few days, and ended up with more sago flour than you'll ever eat in a year. What to do with it? If you're in Banza Barangay,Mindanao (Philippines), you might cook up some sago flatcakes called tumpi. You'd begin by heating some sago flour - which is sometimes white and sometimes brick red and sometimes a shade in between - in a dry skillet ... read more

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

Lyrical Lemongrass writes: 1.  Beep.  Beep.  “Please call home when u are free.”  When dad sends this text message to my mobilephone, his request could range from “Your mum is in the hospital, so if you are free, please visit” to “Can you buy us plane tickets to London” to “Are you coming over for dinner this weekend?”.  The urgency may differ for each request, but his text message is always the same.  I think he has it saved on his mobilephone. Fearing the worst, I called. Me:  What’s up, dad? Dad:  Have you heard of Boer goat meat? (Note:  This conversation takes place in the middle of my rush period when I’m desperately trying to finalise a report.) Me:  Huh?? Dad:  You haven’t been reading the ... read more

© Lyrical Lemongrass | original post at http://awhiffoflemongrass.blogspot.com/
find similar cravings |

babe_kl writes: Come lunch time, Changkat Ceylon, Lorong Ceylon and Jalan Mesui will be abuzz with activities. It is very popular amongst the office workers around this area to have their lunch at the hawkers at these stretches. I used to come here very often when my office was nearer. These days I will only come here once in a long while due to the distance.There are a lot of good stuff around here ranging from the mixed rice stall located within a Chinese temple along Changkat Ceylon (that leads to Wisma MPL's carpark) which sells vegetarian dishes on the 1st and 15th of the lunar calendar. No doubt the dishes are very tasty but it's super duper expensive, ... read more

© babe_kl | original post at http://babeinthecitykl.blogspot.com/
find similar cravings |

Robyn Eckhardt writes: Before it's kinilaw, tuna is just one of many catches of the day, here arriving at one of Surigao City's fish landings. This one is a small stretch of beach wedged between a wholesale seafood market and a disintegrating pier extending out into the water from a collection of stilt houses varying in condition from basic to decrepit. Not very far offshore are several islands - alluring masses of verdant green, some ringed by pearlescent sand.   While Dave is wandering around with his camera I speak with a man named Eric Estaban, owner of several of the ... read more

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

Robyn Eckhardt writes: Or, in Butuan City, from shoulder to spoon. The waters around Mindanao yield seafood the likes of which we've not seen before. Butuan City isn't a major fishing port, but it's located just two hours from Surigao City, which sees its fare share of good catch, and less than half a day's drive from General Santos (or Gensan, as it's usually called), a major exporter of blue fin tuna, many of which end up on the auction floor at Tokyo's Tsukiji Market. We traveled to Mindanao to eat seafood, in as much quantity and variety as we could. The minute we ... read more

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

team bsg writes: the traditional Sungei Dua Prawn MeeSungei Dua ( 2 rivers ) is a small town most people hardly notice when they pass by Butterworth on the way up North to Langkawi or Thailand . But did you know that hidden inside is a gluttonous reputation for super pricey noodles Malay style.?Every eating shop seems to have it !And by the way even in Food Paradise Penang there is an area near Bayan Lepas where the entire small kampung boasts of this huge "imported" orange dish called Mee Udang Sg Dua ,a fantastic tribute from the Master himself and that's how "humongous" ... read more

© team bsg | original post at http://klmakan.blogspot.com/
find similar cravings |

babe_kl writes: This year Fatty Sang has set dinner planned for Chinese New Year. My mother decided to book the RM398 set, the most expensive set available as the boss said this is the most value for money set. Anyway, yeah it's cheap cos this is a no frill, no aircon nor any specific wait staff assigned to your table heh!To cut all the craps, let's get on to the food. First up is of course the yue sang. The salmon fish slices was in an almost frozen state but the overall mixture is quite all right.... read more

© babe_kl | original post at http://babeinthecitykl.blogspot.com/
find similar cravings |