TBA Day 4: Journey to Melaka

So, Day 4 was extremely long and rather crappy at times, but with a few really bright spots and a happy ending. (Pictured below is my stuffed wombat sitting on my pack at The Hive getting ready for the next leg of the adventure…)

This day started out on a fantastic note thanks to the fact that I had been awake pretty much all night throwing up. You know, there was one bite of my breakfast laksa on the morning of Day 3 that involved a mollusk that was pretty much raw that prompted me to think “Hmmm… I wonder if I’m going to get food poisoning?” The answer, I discovered at about 10pm, was “yes.” I don’t think any graphic details are necessary for it to be clear that I wasn’t really feeling my best when I had to get down to the train station about an hour after the worst of things had passed…

I called a cab using my fabulous international cell phone (all the cabs driving by were already hired), and the driver thought I must live in Singapore, because how else would I know about calling for a cab? He thought it was pretty funny that I had just read about what number to call on the internet. I think us people who grew up in places like NE Portland where there’s not a big cab culture tend to call for cabs, anyway, rather than trying to hail them… Anyway, we got to the station and things went pretty smoothly getting on my train. I had booked the front seat in the 2nd class A/C car I was in, which meant I got a ridiculous amount of leg room (slouched in my seat with my legs stretched all the way out I still wasn’t touching the wall in front of me).

The 4-hour train ride was pretty nice, really. Everything is so lush and green. A nice Indian woman from Singapore came and sat next to me and helped me make sure I didn’t miss my stop at Tampin Station. (People speak way more English in Malaysia than in Singapore because English is apparently the second language here, but most of the signs in Singapore had English on them, whereas pretty much none of them here do…) She made sure to warn me about the gangs of ne’er-do-wells roaming the streets of Malaysian cities with knives to slash the straps of your backpack and steal all your stuff… I’d read a bit about such things, so it was interesting to hear from somebody that it’s apparently a pretty real threat. She also said, though, that I’ll be OK as long as I’m not wandering the streets at night, so I suspect I’ll be just fine…

The guidebooks and internet indicated that you could easily get a taxi from Tampin to Melaka for RM40 or just hop on a bus, but there were no taxis or buses at the station. I asked a friendly-looking local woman (about my age) and the consensus between her and the old men eavesdropping was that only a crazy person would take a taxi. She wandered over to a young man buying tickets and talked to him a bit in Malay, then came back to me and said that he would be driving to Alor Gajah and could take me to the bus depot there, where I could catch a bus to the Melaka Sentral bus depot (from which I could catch a cab to my hostel for RM15). Ummm… Sure! Why not? While I was waiting for him to finish buying tickets, a cab rolled up and said it would be RM70 to Melaka, so I decided to pass on that and go with my new friend.

We drove to Alor Gajah and had a nice chat. He was seriously one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. When we got to the but depot he said “Don’t worry. I’ll stay with you until you get on the bus.” I realized I only had large bills (RM50 notes), which would be a problem for a bus ticket (it would have been fine for a taxi, which was my original plan) and he says “Don’t worry. You can use my money.” He started chatting a bit with the young woman next to him and when the bus came he had her buy my ticket (I’m thinking to keep me from getting a special tourist price). Made it to Melaka Sentral pretty easily from there (about a 25km drive) and grabbed a taxi to Ringo’s Foyer, where I’ll be staying for the next few days.

When I finally arrived and got checked in (around 3pm) I found out that my room is up 2 flights of stairs and that the internet (for the entire city, apparently) had just gone out the night before I arrived. Exhausted and in a lot of pain from travel already, I just collapsed on my (very comfortable) bed in my (air-conditioned) room and passed out for the next 3 hours, after which I was feeling much better. I was thinking about finding a place to eat (I hadn’t eaten since the night before) when the guy who runs this place (I’m going to call him Ringo because that may be his name) came by to see if I wanted some dinner. He took me and one of the other lodgers to an Indian restaurant close by and we had some quite yummy food (and delicious pulled tea). Ringo has lived here his whole life is a great resource for places to go and things to see. He’s a huge fan of laksa (like me!) and is going to take me to try what he deems to be the best Melaka-style laksa in town.

So, I guess when I write about it this day doesn’t sound so bad. The pain management issues when I first got to Ringo’s broke my spirit a little bit (especially when combined with lack of any way to connect with the outside world), but after talking with Ringo I’m really glad to be staying here. Almost all of the buildings around here are heritage-listed, so owners aren’t allowed to renovate (like, say, adding elevators) so I don’t think the stair situation would be much better anywhere else, and I’m glad to have somebody so knowledgeable about the area helping me find my way around. And the wi-fi magically came back up while I slept, so things are definitely looking up... Oh, and apparently RM70 is only about US$20 (my brain was still in Singapore dollars when I got here and I was too tired to convert) so I’m totally just taking a cab to Tampin Station when I head out for KL on Friday… ;-)

TBA Day 3: Laksa, Duck, and Marrow Bones...

All right, Stanley... You win. Enough with the football talk (for this week). Back to more important matters, like the food of Singapore...

Morning Laksa Quest:
I set out again this morning on a quest for a specific laksa stall... and (again) I failed. This was not such a horrible thing in the end, as I ended up at a different laksa place that was pretty darn tasty. The broth was much more subtle/delicate than what I've had in Australia, but in a really nice way... I would say this was probably the least awesome dish I've had in Singapore, but it has some pretty steep competition, so that's not necessarily a bad thing... Topped it off with another delicious iced coffee and was ready to get on with my day...
My day started a little earlier than I would have liked (4am), but at least the in-room wi-fi allowed the Bucs to aggravate me from the comfort of my bed. Yesterday was pretty eventful for a kid like me and, with the early morning today and my early train tomorrow, I've decided to take it fairly easy today. Lots of hanging out in the room watching some of the NFL action that took place while I was sleeping, a little book-reading... and, of course, a couple trips out into the world to find yummy food...

Lunchtime Duck Epiphany:
Wow. Just... wow. I took a random turn wandering home from a bit of shopping and stumbled upon a little place with a row of beautiful roast ducks on display.
I'd been having a hankering for duck lately, and it certainly seemed as though the culinary gods must have made me turn down this side street for a reason... I ordered up a plate of Roast Duck Noodles and... wow. The picture may not look like it was anything special, but (again) looks are often deceiving...
Let me qualify this by saying that I eat a lot of duck. A lot. I've had duck that's been prepared in many different ways, including roast duck from display cases that looked exactly like the one at this place. That being said, I have never in my life had duck that tasted this good. For reals. Duck was already one of my favorite foods, and now I find out that it can actually taste far better than I'd ever imagined. I have no words. One of the best-tasting things that I've ever eaten... served up from a nondescript hole in the wall on a small side street... for less than US$2.50. Gotta love Singapore.

Dinner As Seen on TV:
The other No Reservations food item I wanted to try in Singapore was Soup Tulang: braised mutton/beef marrow bones in a bright red sweet/sour/spicy sauce. I ventured out to Golden Mile Food Center for this dish, since that's where they ate it on TV... It's a bit more sprawling than Maxwell Road was, with a couple floors of food stalls arranged in a more circular fashion rather than several packed rows...
I stopped to get an iced coffee while I was searching for the soup tulang stall, and the woman asked if I had come from Australia. This is the third person to randomly ask me that... I'm wondering if I have a tell or if Aussies are just the most common white people around here... Anyway, she was super-nice and seemed to think it was pretty awesome/amusing that I'd come to Singapore from Australia just for the food.

When I found the soup tulang place and ordered, the guy didn't quite believe that I wanted to try it. In the end he decided to give me a sample-sized portion with the offer to make me more if I wanted. This was actually sort of ideal, since I wanted to try it but had also spotted another place to try while I was hunting for this stall... I was a bit disappointed (just from a shock value standpoint) that my soup tulang (pictured below) wasn't as fluorescent as the stuff on TV, but that's actully just a sign that less dye was used so I suppose it's all good.
To eat this dish, you basically pick up the bones with your hands, gnaw off the meat, then suck out all the marrow with a straw. It's quite delicous, if rather messy. There were several locals sitting around smiling as they watched me eat it, but at least with this dish I knew my procedure was OK from watching TV. ;-) I'd never sucked marrow out of a bone with a straw before, but it was sort of fun and really tasty. Definitely something I would want a full serving of on a day when I had more space available in my stomach. It brought me back to something else I've been wondering about here, though: In all the places I've eaten, there hasn't been a single napkin. I figured this was either because it's too windy or because Singaporeans are so sophisticated in their eating technique that they never need napkins (although I challenge anyone to eat soup tulang without getting your hands messy). There are sinks around, so I guess the key is just to use the only-one-messy-hand technique and then go wash up after you've finished eating... but I still wonder about the napkin situation...

I still had one more place to stop before heading home. I had seen somebody eating some seriously tasty-looking duck when I came in, and I was curious if the mind-blowing duck I'd experienced at lunch was due to the fact that most duck in Singapore is amazing or if it was just a case of that specific place making the most amazing duck in the history of the world... So, yeah... I ordered the duck rice at this stall and it was great... but didn't come close to the duck I'd had for lunch. In a way this is good because it means the place I went for lunch is something special, and makes me extra-glad that I found it, but in a way it's bad because now I have to worry that my amazing lunch has ruined all other duck for me forever...
I was realizing as I left Golden Mile that I've been feeling extremely content here. That's not something I feel (at least not for extended periods of time) very often. I'm not sure if it's a side effect of being a woman a leisure, a result of eating such amazing food at every meal, or the buzz of traveling and exploring new places... Whatever the cause, I hope it continues as I move on to Malaysia. I'm packing my bags tonight, then catching the early train to Melaka. I'm looking forward to checking out a new city, and I'm so glad I had the chance to experience Singapore (even briefly) and to begin to fall in love with this city just a bit...

TBA Day Two: So much food, so little time...

(I wrote this post in three parts, updating each time I came back to my room after venturing out into this totally awesome city... Since this is sort of a record of the trip for my own benefit as much as anything, I wanted to make sure I remembered everything...)

Morning Thoughts:
My first impression of Singapore now that I'm awake (after "Dear god, it's humid here!") was to realize that I would probably need at least a month here if I wanted to leave without feeling like I'd missed out on a lot of great food... My first 5 minutes of exploration on my way to breakfast turned up about 10 places that made me say "Ooh! I should try that place before I go!" Unfortunately, I've only got 2 full days here, so I'll just have to make the most of it and vow to return...

I was trying to track down this place that's supposed to have the best Chinese-style Laksa in Singapore, but I missed them and ended up going to People's Prawn Noodle (pictured above) and having a really delicious bowl of prawn noodles for breakfast instead. (Those of you who know me know that a bowl of noodles in spicy yummy broth is totally my kind of breakfast...) This wasn't actually what I'd ordered (I was going for the one that was a mix of prawn and pork ribs) even though I pointed at the picture on the board and the guy repeated my order back to me correctly... It was weird, though, because he said it like "Wait, you want me to MIX the prawn and the pork rib?!?" even though there's a big picture of just that on the menu over the words "Prawn and Pork Rib Noodles"... Maybe he decided I would like just the prawn better...

I also had a seriously delicious iced coffee at this place... A local saw me pondering the best way to attack my soup (there were 2 large prawns, split lengthwise still in the shell with head on... very yummy, though it wasn't intuitively obvious how to eat it in public in a dignified manner with chopsticks...) and came over to give unsolicited (and much-appreciated) advice by miming the best eating method... I think he took pity on me after watching my struggle to order the coffee... ;-)

Midday Excursion:
For lunch I took the MRT (subway) down to check out the Maxwell Road Food Centre. The subway system here (Boon Keng station interior shown above) is ridiculously clean and efficient. When I "alighted" (as they say) at Tanjong Pagar station near Maxwell Road I found myself in one of the most lovely downtown areas I've ever seen: extremely clean and very green, featuring several gardens and parks. But, of course, I didn't come to Maxwell Road to look at the shrubbery...

The Maxwell Road Food Centre (exterior pictured above, one of four interior aisles below) is seriously awesome. So many food stalls were offering extremely delicious-looking food, but I had come on a mission: to eat at Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice (blurry picture below).
I think the line was about an equal mix of locals and tourists. I drew this conclusion from the fact that about half of the people in the very long line (myself included) went and took a picture of their food when they sat down to eat. Those pictures look something like this:
As Anthony Bourdain noted when he ate this dish (from this food stall) on the Singapore episode of No Reservations, it doesn't look like much more than boiled chicken on white rice... but looks can be deceiving. The rice is so flavorful and the chicken is moist, tender, and delicious. The chili mixture, dark soy, and ginger that accompany the Chicken Rice are a nice twist, but it's honestly almost more amazing on its own due to the way it defies expectations.

Standing in line waiting to order my Chicken Rice was the first time on this trip where I paused to think to myself "Dude, I'm so glad I came here!" This city even smells great. I can't tell you how many times today I was just wandering down the street, unaware that there were restaurants nearby, when all of a sudden the strong aroma of something spicy and delicious came wafting by... I guess it depends what kind of food you like, but for a kid like me this place is pretty darn awesome. I'm even starting to get acclimated to the humidity already. So far I would say that I totally love this place...

Evening Wandering:
My goal for the evening was to hit the Makansutra Glutton's Bay. I had a vague idea of where this was (which subway exit to alight at, at least), but the directions were a bit fuzzy... It started raining just before I left, which complicated things a bit. Anyway, it turns out that when you get off the subway you then follow a winding maze of art exhibits, escalators, and malls until you arrive at a concert hall. Then, if you're like me, you go ask the guy at the information desk how to get to Glutton's Bay and he directs you through one more mall and a few more escalators, around a winding covered path (assuming you don't want to walk in the rain) until you see the awnings poking out behind some trees (pictured below).
Forgetting for a moment about the starving orphans in Africa, I went ahead and ordered more than I could eat just so I could try two things - a fried oyster in egg thingy (left) and char kway teow (right) - for a grand total of US$6. Both were really good. The char kway teow is like something I used to order from the trashy noodle shop down the street from me in Brunswick, except that it was made with much nicer ingredients and tasted far more complex and delicious.

As I was finishing dinner these loud drums started pounding. The food center was behind a stage, and when I wandered around to the front there was this amazing group of drummers putting on a show. I sat in the rain for about 20 minutes watching them do their thing, and it was seriously pimp. This goes a long way towards supporting my theory that if you go where the best food is, you're bound to stumble upon interesting cultural experiences and get a good feel for the city you're in...

I said it after lunch and I'll say it again: I totally love this place.

The Big Adventure (TBA) Day One: Getting to Singapore

Well, I made it to Singapore relatively uneventfully (if you ignore the part where I was in Perth), and my backpack arrived, too, so things are off to a good start. Turns out all the rooms at my hostel are up some stairs, but other than that it seems pretty nice for the price... The A/C is starting to work its magic, and my room has a private shower (which was a pleasant surprise since it was listed as "shared bathroom" when I booked it, and the shared shower is the only annoying part of a shared bathroom...) and is close enough to the lobby to pick up the wi-fi... Thus I am typing this as I sit on my bed in the spot the A/C seems to hit most directly, after just having taken a nice refreshing shower and changed into my pajamas, looking around on the internet and sending an e-mail or two from the comfort of my room before getting a good night's sleep...


So far I really seem to suck at communicating. I guess I don't find that entirely surprising since I have a tendency to use larger/stranger words than are necessary on occasion (because words are fun) and to do a bit of rambling and fast-talking... I guess I'll see tomorrow if it was just the wheelchair guy at the airport or if it really is me... Already I can tell I need to work on enunciating more clearly when confusion arises, rather than doing the classic American repeating-exactly-the-same-only-louder approach... although I think that was mostly a side effect of the exhaustion of travel and my desperate need to get to my bed. Let's hope so, anyway...

There was a young (early 20's?) Chinese guy next to me on the flight from Melbourne to Perth who didn't seem to speak much English. As I watched him during the flight, I felt like it was a bit of a preview of how people would be seeing me here, and it reminded me how much I'm used to being a part of the majority who speak the same language... He first asked for a "soda" and was handed Coca-Cola... which he looked at quizzically, took a small sip of, and left alone. His next beverage attempt was "juice?" which seemed to go a little better but still wasn't quite right. When the meal came I noticed that he was trying to eat the rock-hard dinner roll by balancing it precariously between the plastic fork and knife (he didn't seem to want to touch any food with his hands), which was pretty impressive, really. Then came the sprinkling the sugar packet (for coffee, or so I always assume) onto the single-serving Sharp Cheddar that comes with the meal. Initially I thought he was a little crazy for that one, but then I remembered that I'll probably do something that seems equally silly to locals when I order and eat food here. When the flight attendant came by with the tea I showed the guy that the mug for tea was hidden under the little packaged water cup that he'd just added sugar to, and he was inordinately grateful. Hopefully someone will do the same for me when I become baffled by the intricacies of the awesome food around me and the manner in which it should be consumed... And maybe I'll have to try that sugar-on-cheese thing next time I fly... He seemed to really enjoy it.

Moving on...

Well, here I am nearing the end of my last full day in Melbourne. The movers have come, boxes have been shipped, and I've handed in my apartment keys... I've officially begun the transition from Person-Who-Lives-Somewhere to Nomad...

It's hard to believe I've been here for two years already. As much of a cliche as it is, the time has really flown by. I think a large part of that time-moving-too-fast experience is due to how happy I've been here. This is probably my favorite city that I've ever lived in, and I have to keep reminding myself that (barring catastrophe) Melbourne will still be here whenever I feel like I need to come back and visit... Still, it will never be the same as living here, and I'm having a bit of trouble getting my head around the fact that I'm really leaving.

As I head off to the hotel where I'll be spending my last night before a morning flight to Singapore, I feel oddly compelled to make a list of some kind. Below, in no particular order, are some of the things I'll miss most about Melbourne:

• My awesome neighborhood (Brunswick): Because of my ankle issues, I've never in my life lived within walking distance of anything. It's been so cool to live somewhere that allows me to just wander down to the produce store, to the butcher, or to the bakery that sells the world's greatest sandwich. (Also, running 50 feet out your back door to get emergency butter when you're cooking for a dinner party is so much better than having to hop in your car even for a short drive.)

• My awesome friends: As tends to be the case with me, it took a good chunk of time after I got here before I felt comfortable enough around people to actually start making friends. As also tends to be the case with me, I've made some really good friends who I'm going to miss a lot... just in time to move a few thousand miles away from them. Fantastic. Hopefully with help from the interweb we can stay in touch, and my guest room in Boston will be very comfy if they ever find an excuse to make the Uni pay for them to come visit...

• Vic Market: For those who don't know, Victoria Market is pretty much the greatest farmers market in the whole wide world*... Amazing produce, piles and piles of super-fresh meats and seafood, and stall after stall of delicious artisan breads, cheeses, and cured meats. Oh, and did I mention wine tasting? Basically, any meal that starts out by wandering around Vic Market is bound to end up being delicious.

• Cleanskins: Speaking of wine, the availability of moderately to incredibly affordable wines of moderate to pretty-darn-tasty quality definitely helped me get over missing my fabulous winery-worker hook-ups from Santa Barbara. Even if it meant experiencing a few sub-par wines along the way, it was always fun to discover a $3 wine that could hold its own against its more specifically-labeled, more expensive shelf-mates or a downright delicious wine for $8 to $10 - no winery discounts necessary...
  

• The adorable Aussie dialect I was just starting to figure out: It took me a while, but I think I've mostly adapted to the world where "entree" means "appetizer," "grill" means "broiler," and you "hire" something rather than "renting" it... A world where people ask if you'd "Fancy some brekky, love?", where the freeways have "overtaking" lanes, and where they apparently refer to the afternoon as the "arvo" for some arbitrary reason. They sort of speak English like a bunch of weirdos over here, but like a bunch of incredibly charming weirdos with cool accents. ;-)

Now is not the time to get into the things I won't miss (like, say, getting up at 3am on Mondays to stream NFL football, or the many many hills of UniMelb). Right now I'm just feeling a mix of nervous excitement about the adventure I'm about to embark on and a bit of sadness about how awesome the place is that I'm leaving behind...

* Claim based on comparison to the 3 other cities I've previously lived in... which is not technically all of the cities in the whole wide world, I suppose...

Woohoo! (alternate title: Emily Finds a Job)

So, if you're a bit compulsive and are planning an international move, it can be a tiny bit stressful to have no idea where it is that you're moving to or what job you'll have when you get there. It's the type of thing that can drive a girl with OCD completely insane, as a matter of fact.

With that back story in place, maybe it will be easier to understand why I am so totally and completely ecstatic to have received a job offer yesterday from a place I've wanted to work pretty much since I found out it existed. I have extricated myself from the trials and tribulations of academia and will officially be working an interesting job with reasonable hours and fat paychecks in a totally awesome city.

I'm super-excited to be moving back to Boston, and it will be fun to re-explore the city from a new perspective (older, wiser, no longer impoverished...). It will be interesting, too, because I've been away so long (7 years) that even the things I thought I knew have changed... Every time I think of Boston, my first thought is of Shino Express Sushi, where we ate pretty much ever Sunday when I was an undergrad. It was the first place I ever had sushi, and I still remember it fondly as one of my very favorite sushi restaurants. Apparently, though, there's been a "brown rice revolution" over there, so prices are higher and sushi is no longer made with anything but brown rice, which sounds... odd. Sounds like I may need to find a new favorite hole-in-the-wall sushi place... Pretty much all of my dining experiences in Boston have been of the budget variety, so it will be fun to explore some of the higher end options now that I won't be quite so poor... I've heard rumors that there's some damn good food in Boston, and I'm looking forward to finding out first-hand...

Recipe: The World's Greatest Sandwich?

Still in Melbourne for a couple more weeks, but wanted to post one more time about the delicious food here...

One of the things I'll miss most about Melbourne is the ubiquity of a sandwich known as the Vietnamese Pork Roll (or Banh Mi). I've seen several versions of this sandwich around on the interweb, but my addiction is to the version available at the Hot Bread Bakery on Sydney Rd in Brunswick (conveniently located on my way home from the market where I buy all my produce on the weekends, such that the aromas wafting out from the bakery lure me through the door far too often...). This sandwich (pictured below on the right) consists of a baguette (fresh baked at the bakery) topped with pate, mayo, Chinese BBQ pork, two types of Vientnamese pork coldcuts (I have no idea what either is called), braised pork meatballs, pickled carrots, cucumber, cilantro, chillies, and a dash of fish sauce. The mix of the bright fresh flavors from the cilantro, cucumber, and carrots with the richness of the pate and meatballs is truly a thing of beauty.

I think most of my favorite things that I cook started out as something I tried at a restaurant and fell in love with, only to either move far away from that restaurant or have it taken off the menu, leaving me with no choice but to try to make it on my own... That's the story behind why I first started making an (awesome) thin-crust pizza with caramelized onions, prosciutto, and a lemon-pepper cream sauce... why I started making pineapple-ginger chicken with coconut rice... beef rendang with roti canai... crab Rangoon... the perfect roast duck curry... And, as of this weekend, that was the motivation behind the making of a totally kick-ass sandwich (pictured above on the left), which I will refer to as the Emily-Style Vietnamese Chicken Roll.

The "recipe" (it's a sandwich, so a recipe is mostly an ingredient list assembled on bread...) is below, along with recipes for the components. This took a couple hours of prep the day before, and led me to wonder if I'm a bit crazy to make this when I realized I have to take 9 different components out of my fridge when I want to make this sandwich for dinner on subsequent nights... but I honestly think the result is well worth the time and effort. I'll rest easier knowing that I'll be able to have a taste of "home" (Melbourne-home, that is) when I'm back in the US and can't find a $3 Banh Mi less than a block from my apartment like I can here...

Emily-Style Vietnamese Chicken Roll
*Amounts on all items are "to taste" or as dictated by the size of your sandwich roll. It is necessary to start prep on the components (recipes follow) at least a day before you plan to make this sandwich.

   - Whole-egg Mayonnaise (homemade or purchased from a gourmet grocery...)
   - Chicken Liver Pate (recipe below, or substitute store-bought)
   - Grilled marinated chicken breast, thinly sliced (recipe below)
   - Vietnamese Chicken Meatballs (recipe below), broken up to easily fit in the sandwich
   - "Chicken Loaf" (store-bought processed chicken product), thinly sliced
   - English cucumber, sliced ~1/4" thick on a bias
   - Pickled carrots (recipe below)
   - Cilantro leaves
   - Red Chilies, thinly sliced
   - Fish Sauce (optional)
   - Crusty sandwich roll, toasted briefly in the oven

Slice roll most of the way through, leaving a "hinge" intact. Apply mayonnaise to one side and pate to the other. Top with the 4 types of chicken, followed by the cucumber, carrots, cilantro, and chilies. Add a couple drops of fish sauce and serve.

Chicken Liver Pate
This recipe makes more than you’ll need, but the leftovers are delicious on toasted baguette. I made mine “rustic” by using the coarsest blade on my food mill to puree it (since I’ve already sold my food processor), but a food processor would be faster and give the pate a silkier texture… although I sort of like the “rustic” texture I ended up with…

   4 T + 125g butter
   3 cloves garlic, smashed, peeled, and thinly sliced
   1 onion, chopped
   ~1T thyme leaves
   500g chicken livers
   2 T cognac

Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over moderately high heat. Add the garlic, onion, and thynme and sauté until softened and starting to color. Add the chicken livers and sauté until just cooked. Add cognac to deglaze, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

Puree the mixture (either in a food mill or food processor), adding 125g of butter in small chunks as you work. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until firm.

Marinated Grilled Chicken for Vietnamese Chicken Roll
The flavor on this reminds me of jarred roasted peppers, and works nicely in the sandwich.

   2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, butterflied
   1/4 C rice vinegar
   2 t sugar
   1 t salt
   4 small red chilies, thinly sliced

Combine all ingredients in a zip-top bag and marinate overnight. Remove from marinade and grill until just cooked through.

Vietnamese Chicken Meatballs

   600g lean chicken mince
   4 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
   3 large shallots, finely chopped
   4 garlic cloves, finely minced
   1/4 cup chopped cilantro
   2 teaspoons arrowroot or cornstarch
   1 teaspoon sea salt
   1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
      granulated sugar for rolling

Combine the all ingredients (other than the sugar) in a bowl, mixing well with your hands to combine. Leave overnight in the refrigerator for flavors to develop.

The next day, preheat the oven to 400° Fahrenheit. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment or a silpat. Put about 1/2 cup of sugar on a plate. With slightly moistened hands, roll the chicken mixture into ~1 1/2-inch balls, then roll each ball in the sugar to evenly coat. Transfer meatballs to the baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, until just cooked through and beginning to lightly brown.

Pickled Carrots

   1/2 cup white vinegar
   1/2 cup granulated sugar
   1 teaspoon kosher salt
   1 1/2 cups peeled and coarsely shredded carrots

Combine vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat when the sugar and salt have dissolved and combine with the carrots, stirring to coat. Leave the carrots in the pickling mixture for at least 30 minutes or overnight. Drain well before use.

I Heart Beef Rendang...

OK, so I haven't left Melbourne yet… but I cooked some damn tasty food over the weekend and wanted to share... and this sort of relates to the food-obsessed-traveler theme, since it's about a food I tried for the first time when I moved to Melbourne. I remember my first Beef Rendang with Roti Canai like it was yesterday...

When I first moved to Melbourne I was staying in a temporary housing situation that offered breakfasts and dinners during the week, but left us to fend for ourselves during the weekend (and with no kitchen facilities). My first weekend in Melbourne, I still hadn't found my way to the fabulous tram network and I was a bit too jet-lagged and exhausted to venture out as a motorist in search of food. Feeling defeated and desperately hungry, I started to walk towards the crappy fast food restaurant that I'd seen less than a block away, figuring the food would suck but would at least keep me from starving to death... Luckily for me, the culinary gods had other plans. Next door to the crappy fast food was a small "Chinese" restaurant (it seems that most Asian ethnic restaurants here have a mix of cuisines from several different countries, regardless of what ethnic cuisine their sign claims they serve). I wandered in and saw a picture on the menu of something that looked sort of like heaven. It was called, simply, "Roti Canai - Beef."

I fell in love that day with their version of Beef Rendang with Roti Canai (who knows if it was authentic or not, I just know it was ridiculously delicious), and even after I moved to a different suburb I would return to that restaurant for my new favorite comfort food whenever I was having a rough day... or a Friday... or whatever... Then one very bad Friday I returned to the restaurant and ordered my usual... only to find it had been taken off the menu. I was rather depressed about this at first, but soon I resolved that I would one day make something just as delicious in my own kitchen. After many many google searches and much perusing of food photography, I finally figured out that the "Beef" in "Roti Canai - Beef" was actually Beef Rendang, and finally, after several months, I could put a name to what had become one of my favorite foods.

I first made this about a year ago and haven't found a restaurant version I like as well since then (again, making no claims to authenticity, just what my palate likes...). Below is (roughly) the version I made over the weekend, which I personally think is pretty awesome... if I do say so myself... This was my first-ever attempt at making Roti Canai (I’d just used store-bought like a loser previously) and I was quite pleased with how they turned out (see photo)…

Beef Rendang
(Serves 6-8, based largely on the recipe at Saveur.com)

   10 shallots, peeled and chopped
   8-10 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
   4" piece fresh or frozen and thawed galangal, peeled and chopped
   5" piece ginger, peeled and chopped
   1-2" piece fresh or frozen and thawed turmeric, peeled and chopped
   6 shelled candlenuts, chopped*
   1 nutmeg seed, chopped**
   Salt (~1tsp?)
   2 kg boneless beef chuck, cut into 1 1⁄2" pieces
   4 stalks lemongrass
   5 cups unsweetened coconut milk
   15-20 kaffir lime leaves
   10 fresh curry leaves

1) Working in batches, combine shallots, garlic, galangal, ginger, turmeric candlenuts, nutmeg, and salt (to taste) in a mortar and pestle, pounding into a smooth paste. Combine the meat and spice paste in a large bowl and toss to coat the meat well in the marinade. Leave to marinate for at least one hour or overnight. (I tend to go with overnight.)

2) Bruise the lemongrass stalks with the dull side of a large knife. Cut into ~2” segments and set aside. Bruise the lime leaves and curry leaves as well to release more of the flavor.

3) Preheat an oven to 350°F. Bring the coconut milk to a simmer in a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add all other ingredients and bring to a boil. Partially cover the pot and transfer to the oven. Cook for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced to a thick paste. Continue to cook on the stovetop over medium heat for 15-20 minutes to further reduce the sauce.

4) Remove lime leaves, curry leaves, and lemongrass before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature with Roti Canai (recipe below).

*I use dried candlenuts for this, but I’ve heard a rumor that you can substitute macadamia nuts.

**If you wimp out and make the spice paste in a food processor instead of a mortar and pestle, make sure to finely grate the nutmeg rather than just chopping it. Otherwise, you can end up with big chunks of nutmeg in your final dish…

Roti Canai
(Makes 10)

   1 1/4 cups water
   1 tsp kosher salt
   2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
   3 cups flour, plus extra for kneading
   2 tablespoons melted ghee (plus extra for coating and frying)

1) Combine the water, salt, and condensed milk, then slowly add to the flour, kneading to combine. Add the ghee and knead this in, adding extra flour as needed, until you have a soft not-too-sticky dough. Leave the dough covered with a damp cloth for ~30 minutes.

2) Divide dough into 10 portions, rolling each portion into a ball and lightly coating with ghee to avoid sticking. Leave the dough to rest for at least 2 hours (or refrigerate overnight after 2 hours at room temperature, then bring to room temperature before proceeding)

3) Lightly coat your hands with ghee, and flatten a ball of dough between your palms. Continue stretching and pulling the dough until it is quite thin. (This can be facilitated by spreading it out over the butter-coated bottom of a large wok.) Sprinkle the dough with ~1tsp of ghee and fold four edges into the middle, attempting to achieve a square shape. Lightly sprinkle with flour and roll out slightly.

4) Pre-heat a skillet over medium-high heat and grease it well with ghee. When hot, add the roti and cook for 2-3 minutes per side (until golden), applying additional ghee when you flip it if needed.