We opted out of the 5AM tuna auction, instead heading to the Tsukiji fish market after the bustle of the wholesale event subsided. Throngs of tourists from all over the world purchased overpriced raw fish–often grossly overpriced–from the vendors and restaurants in the sprawling outer market that surrounds the more famous indoor wholesale section. I only slightly regret…
Category: Food
So What is Japanese Ramen Really Like?
It takes years of training, a lifetime of commitment, a bellyfull of emptiness. That’s what it takes to eat a healthy bowl of real Japanese ramen. Top 5 Ramen of Japan: Kikanbo Spicy Ramen (カラシビ味噌らー麺 鬼金棒)! Loved everything about this ramen! It’s the bees’ knees. The boss hoss. And word up–they have a Tsukemen-only joint next door!…
A pop-up blog about laksa!
If you want a distraction from whatever it is you’re doing, check out my new pop-up blog about laksa. It’s got pictures of laksa, reviews of laksa, and that’s it. Simple. Delicious.
Makan Malay Part I: Tempeh
Unless you’re Indonesian or Malay, you might think only vegans and health nuts eat tempeh. That would be sad. Tempeh is not supposed to be some overpriced block of hippie meat. It’s a traditional and tasty ingredient used in Malay and Indonesian cooking. Tempeh and tofu are both fermented soybean products but they differ in significant ways: Tofu is made from…
Photo Essay: Cape Town’s Food Markets
Trade embargo and economic isolation can have a positive effect on a nation, if its land is fertile and its people resourceful with food. South Africa has evolved a distinct and rich food culture characterized by an unselfconscious locivorism. The food in South Africa reflects necessity and pride, not trendiness, although in Cape Town hipster…
Peaceful Noodle, Vancouver
In a city known for the overall high quality of its Chinese food, it can be hard for eaters to find much beyond the Cantonese and to lesser degree Shanghai cuisine. Enter Peaceful Noodle, and the game changes. Even if Peaceful were the only place covering northern and western Chinese cooking domains, it would be…
April Poll: Fig vs. Date
You are stuck on a remote island in the Mediterranean. You can take with you either figs or dates. Which do you choose?
How to Make Instant Noodles Pass for Real Food
I am a pure half-breed. One of the only Jewsies (half Jew, half Parsi) to have ever lived. I’ve been told I “look like a shiksa” and “look like my dad,” which are two totally contradictory statements. I have been mistaken for Greek, Turkish, French, Arabic, Punjabi, Italian, Nepali, Malaysian, Balinese, Latin American, Iranian, Indian, and…my…
The Dan Dan Project
This month, we are house sitting in Gibsons, BC, Canada, on what is known as the Sunshine Coast. Because it’s January, the sun is not shining much on the Sunshine Coast and we are staying indoors enough to induce Cabin Fever. One good thing about Cabin Fever: it forces you to undertake projects that have been…
Memorable Foods, Memorable Meals: 2013
We spent about half of 2013 in the South Pacific, a good deal of the rest of it in the North Atlantic, and then a few months of autumn in coastal Italy. Such an itinerary bodes well for the seafood lover. 2013 was characterized by non-stop access to freshly plucked fruits de mer and still-twitching…
Bacon Dahl…A new flavor in the East-Meets-West saga
As he is wont to do, Josh brought home bacon. He bought it from the local meat shop, owned or at least staffed by Fijian Indians. Without asking for advice, Josh was given some anyway, from the friendly lady who said (conspiratorially?), “It tastes very good in dahl.” Why an Indian lady would volunteer this…
Poisson Cru–Raw Fish
The Polynesian diet is very limited because there is hardly anything that grows here other than fruit. We eat about 1 kilo of raw tuna per week on average. Sometimes we eat even more, like on islands where there were no grocery stores. Most of the time, we prepare raw tuna dishes ourselves in the…
Love and Barley 