Well, here’s a few memories from my trip to India. Now I have been to India before–it was almost exactly five years ago. After my previous two weeks in Mumbai and Goa, I moved on to Thailand and there was such a contrast that I had pretty much decided I had no need to ever go back to India again. First of all, I found India to be very dirty. Everything was old and broken. And the Indians…well, I’ll just say they have their own way of doing things. It was actually quite dissappointing because I was so excited about going to India in the first place.
Anyway, despite having thought I was done with India, sure enough I found myself in Mumbai again five years later. Unfortunately, it hasn’t changed at all. It is just as dirty, grungy, and old as it was the first time. Slums everywhere, people sleeping all over the streets (a huge amount of the population is unemployed and homeless-I think more than 50%), tons of pollution, and really not much to do at all.
At least I was there for a reason: a friends wedding. In this regard I defintely got to experience a part of India I never would have otherwise. Staying at the Royal Mumbai Yacht Club was certainly an experience. And it was nice having some old friends around, too. Even so, I think it’s pretty safe to say that none of us really enjoyed India.
Anyway, on to the photos:
India 2009 (the album has a few mistakes that I am working on fixing)
Posted in photos, travel |
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By admin | August 11, 2008
Here’s a few photos from Indonesia. Mostly from Bali since Jakarta basically has nothing worth taking a phot of. All in all a fun trip.
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Bamboo salad
This here is an Isaan dish called supnawmai [ซุบหน่อไม้]. It is basically a bamboo salad in a similar vein as somtom. I really enjoy this dish and for a little while was going on a binge ordering ever day. It is nice and sour from the pickled bamboo that forms it’s base, but it’s got a lot of other tastes as well. I especially like the texture of the stringy, shredded bamboo alongside the crunchy, roasted bits of rice thrown in the mix. Many other bamboo dishes have a firmer, stiffer texture to them. This meal is often served in typical Isaan fashion with some grilled chicken and sticky rice. And to top things off, bamboo is supposedly very healthy for you!
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Unpeeled pak grachet (water mimosa)
This is an interesting, leafy vegetable that is common around Thailand but I’ve never seen elsewhere. In English it is called water mimosa (sometimes water minosa), and in that it is called pak grachet [ผักกระเฉ] or pak runawn [ผักรู้นอน]. The pak grachet name seems to be much more common. It is one of what I consider the three common leafy vegetables of thailand, the others being morning glory (pak boong [ผักบุ้ง]) and kale/chinese broccoli (pak kana [ผักคะน้้า]).
Anyway, this vegetable is aquatic and grows along ponds or near rice paddies. It basically floats on the tops of the water with long stems that can reach to the bottom. It is fairly tedious to prepare. In the first picture you can see how it looks when freshly picked or purchased at the market-covered with a white, foam-like skin which needs to be peeled of and then the gra chet can be broken into pieces. The skin is quite thick so it probably loses half its weight by the time you finish peeling. Afterwards, it can be eaten raw with chili dips, but I believe it is more common to simply stir-fry it with some chilis and garlic. It ends up being a crispy, crunchy, tasty meal.
Water mimosa after peeling
Closeup of the pak grachet
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Santol
Slice and bashed santol fruit
Here’s a strange fruit, called gratawn [กระท้อน], but known as santol in English. A bit large, about the size of a grapefruit with the same thickness of skin, but definitely not a citrus fruit. The taste is very strange; a combination of sour, bitter, and sweet. The texture is also odd, like a thick slime.
Perhaps the weirdest part, though, is that you need to beat the fruit before you eat it. Whether it’s hit with a bottle or smacked on the floor, there is no question that it must be beat up first. I have not been able to discern exactly why, but I think it has to do with some combination of mixing up the juices inside and softening up the flesh.
Anyway, once it has been bashed around a bit it’s ready for opening. After cutting into slices you can eat it, usually pausing to dip it into a sugar and chili pepper mixture. A very strange flavor, but somehow I like it still.
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Bag full of ants
While sounding weird, this dish is amazingly simple: ants mixed with coconut. In Thai called miang mod daeng sai maphrao [เมี่ยงมดแดงใส่มะพร้าว] which literally means ‘mixed ants with coconut’. From what I hear, they collect the ants by knocking their nest out of a tree into a basket. Then they have to quickly (these ones bite) take the basket with a wet cloth and somehow get the ants into a bucket full of water. Yeah, I’m missing some details here, but in the end the ants die by drowning. Finally, they are stir-fried with the coconut and you have yourself a nice tasty snack! I don’t find them to have much flavor, but they’re not bad. Definitely one of the better insects I’ve tried.
Hanging off the spoon
Big spoonful
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By admin | April 27, 2008
Catfish 'fingers'
Here’s a plate of catfish pieces from Dinosaur BBQ. I prefer to call them catfish ‘fingers’. nothing too odd about these, but they are very different from the catfish in Thailand. Thais eat a lot of catfish (bplaa duk [ปลาดุก]) prepared in many ways. Thailand is also known for some of the largest catfish in the world: the mekong giant catfish. These fish can be in excess of 250 kilograms! Unfortunately, they are very endangered due to overfishing so I don’t plan on giving them a taste anytime soon.
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By admin | April 26, 2008
A wonderful scallop entree
Here’s an entree of scallops from a restaurant in Rochester. Nothing too strange about this one, but it was so tasty I couldn’t resist posting the picture. While scallops are common in some asian cuisines, it is rare to find them in Thailand. As far as I know, even though the use of shellfish is common in Thailand, no Thai dish makes use of them since they are not harvested in the region.
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By admin | April 25, 2008
Another delicious meal
Well, everytim I make it back to the US, I must have a trash plate at some point during the trip. Here’s this visit’s. Wow it makes my mouth water just looking at this photo. Too bad there’s nothing like this available in Bangkok.
Posted in america, food | Tagged america, food, usa |
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By admin | April 25, 2008
Deer and goose meat
Nicely cooked goose meat
Some pheasant meat
Here’s a nice collection of some less common meats. I certainly wouldn’t consider these rare or strange, but we don’t see them all that often. And they sure are tasty! This is venison, goose, and pheasant all three of which my friend hunted and smoked for our eating pleasure. We should have made some Thai dipping sauces for them.
Posted in america, food | Tagged america, food, meat, usa |
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