Travel - Retro Food For Modern Times

27
Oct
2014

Cha Ca La Vong

categories: Chilli, Dill, Fish, Pickles, Tomatoes, Tumeric, Vietnam

Let’s step back in time to a few years ago and a completely imaginary pub quiz. Let’s suppose I am poised on the brink of winning the meat tray. Believe it or not, a meat tray is a valid prize in Australian pubs. I won one once. It was awesome.

it was a whole tray of steaks and chops and sausages and, if I recall correctly, some very nice bacon. You may scoff, but it’s actually a pretty good prize. As long as you’re not a vegetarian.

And here comes the question.

And for the tray of meat “What is a Cha Ca La Vong?”

“Oh……:A Latin American Dance?”

“No, wait a moment…isn’t it the name of the slutty girl from Grease? The one stole the dance competition from Sandy?”

Ba-Bow.

No, Cha Ca La Vong is not the name of the best dancer from St Bernadette’s (with the worst reputation) or the type of dancing she may engage in.

It is a super delicious Vietnamese dish of fried fish with turmeric, dill and tomatoes.

I first came across this dish last year when I did the awesome Hanoi Street Food Tour with Mark Lowerson from Stickyrice. You can read about that here.

When I had Cha Ca with Mark it was a soupy style. And it was super, very fragrant and possibly my favourite dish (apart from the a-may-zing coffee with yogurt) of the whole tour.

This year however, I discovered a new way to have Cha Ca. We read about a restaurant called The Gourmet Corner. And being cautious, we dropped in one afternoon for a cocktail. I like to call it scoping out a restaurant before commiting myself. You can call it afternoon boozing if you wish.

Well, one meal later this became our favourite place to eat in Hanoi. I think we pretty much ate there every night after that. Fabulous food, great cocktails, and 360 degree views of the city. And all as cheap as chips!!!!

Cha Ca La Vong - Gourmet Corner Hanoi — Cha Ca La Vong – Gourmet Corner Hanoi

Their Cha Ca? O. M. G. One of the best things I have ever eaten. In. My Life.

First up, the combination of fish and dill and onion took me right back to my first ever time in Hanoi, my first ever full day in Hanoi and the tour with Mark. Kind of like Proust’s madeleines. But fishy. And second -So, so tasty. Perfectly cooked fish, perfectly spiced, the most amazing flavour of the dill and the tomato and the turmeric….I ate this EVERY night for pretty much a week. And I had such a craving for it the other night, I decided to make my own!

Two disclaimers. One. My version, whilst being pretty damn good, is not a patch on either version I had in Hanoi. There really is something about eating in situ that can make any meal super special. But, that being said…it doesn’t totally suck either. It’s actually pretty tasty. And so fun to eat! Particularly if you have a group of people. Set it all out and people can wrap and roll what they want. It would be best served outside on a tiny chair and table as at a Bia Hoi Bar and washed down with some icy cold beer but failing that, your own home or garden would also be fine. But do have that ice cold beer!

Which leads me to my second disclaimer. It’s an absolute bastard to cook. Not difficult but there are a lot of moving parts. Don’t even try to do what I did and make it all in the same day. Do the pickles at least one day ahead. I would also try to do the tomato and dill mixture the day before too and just heat it up when you need it.

I couldn’t find the right sort of rice paper rolls and the ones I had turned into a hot mess so I I wrapped my Cha Ca in lettuce leaves. They added a nice crunch. You could also use tortillas to make it into a kind of Vietnamese Fish Taco.

Alternatively, ditch these all together and make a noodle bowl – I had one of these with the leftovers the following day and it was super.

I’ve added a few photo’s from Hanoi. I’m really starting to love that city! And I think even possibly more that Saigon is a great food city. Food is everywhere and in such fresh abundance. I hope you get a feel of the city from these…looking at them and eating the Cha Ca really took me back to our holiday. And got me thinking about the next….

Hanoi Street Food – Suckling Pig and Duck

Hanoi - Freshly Made Tofu — Hanoi – Freshly Made Tofu

Hanoi - Street Market — Hanoi – Street Market…and a fabulous rose dress

Hanoi - Banana Shop — Hanoi – Banana Shop

Hanoi Chickens dressed with roses for a festival day

Hanoi - Street Scene — Hanoi – Street Scene from a Bia Hoi bar.

To make your week fabulous why not cook something from a place you love? And don’t forget to tell me all about it!

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15
Sep
2014

Running Amok in Siem Reap

categories: Cambodia, Curry, Seafood, Travel

Amok is the national dish of Cambodia – it is a yellow curry and can be made with chicken, fish or seafood. I ate ’em all. And they were all delicious! It is also served a variety of ways – often it comes wrapped in a banana leaf:

Or a coconut:

Or sometimes, rather boringly on a plate! Boo…

When we were in Siem Reap, I did a cooking class and learned to cook it! Here’s what I made in the class:

And Here’s one I made when I got home:

But first…Siem Reap is a pretty town with sights ranging from the traditional:

To the distinctly more modern:

Pub Street - Siem Reap — Pub Street – Siem Reap

I couldn’t resist putting in this photo, it looks like Mark’s been photobombed by a pineapple!

Siem Reap - Cocktails — Siem Reap – Cocktails

There is also a bustling market for souvenirs and some lovely gift shops. But dominating tourism in Siem Reap is it’s proximity to Angkor Wat, which is Unesco Heritage listed and the largest temple complex in the world. The tourism system is very well organised, you can buy a one, three or seven day temple pass so can spend as much time as you want exploring the area.

We did a one day pass which was possibly a mistake. By the end of the day, we were utterly exhausted! I felt a bit sorry for our guide actually, he kept valiantly trying to explain the history to us but, by late afternoon, most of our group were beyond listening. And there were monkeys…

And not just any monkeys…baby monkeys!!!! Otherwise known as the cutest things in the world!

Monkeys - Angkor Wat2 — Monkeys – Angkor Wat2

I am a five year old.

Seriously though, the temples were pretty amazing…

Angkor Thom

Angkor Thom was stunning and probably my favourite out of all of them.

And you could rub noses with Buddha…

Told you I was a 5 year old!

Ta Prohm

Then on to Ta Prohm which is the tree temple. And pretty spectacular in itself:

And then there was the big one, the one they all come to see.

Angkor Wat

You can get pretty high here..in a completely natural way:

But whoo…those stairs are steep! I’m really, really scared of heights..the going up was fine. The coming down on these very steep, but also very narrow steps, when it had just started to rain so everything was a little bit more slippery than it should have been? Completely terrifying. One of the most nerve wracking things I have ever done….

What was not terrifying but totally amazing was the cooking school at The Temple I attended the next day. And just whilst we’re on this. The cooking school at the Temple? $US10. Best bang for buck cooking school EVER. Did I mention before that the default currency in Cambodia is the US dollar? You only ever get proper Cambodian money as small change. It’s really weird….

Anyway, for your $10 you get to make three things. You have seen my Amok. I also chose to make a Green Mango Salad which was super delicious:

The third thing was a dessert but it wasn’t very nice. Hence no photos.

Making Amok

There was a funny moment though. When they laid out the ingredients for the amok, I looked at them and thought. “Wow, carrots must be expensive here. But what’s the point of that one teeny, tiny piece. What the hell good is that going to do?”

That my friends, is not carrot. It is turmeric. Which I had only ever seen as a bright yellow powder before, hence my confusion. IT is also what gives the Amok it’s traditional yellow colour. If you can’t find fresh turmeric, you can use the powdered version. However I managed to find some in my local asian market so it is available. It looks a bit like ginger but is bright orange! It is also super good for you!

One thing to be aware of with either the powdered or the fresh version…book a manicure for the day after you make your amok. Otherwise your fingers will look like you smoke a pack a day for the foreseeable future!

I”m off to have mine now!

Have a fabulous week everyone!

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PS. They didn’t really give us a recipe for the Amok in the class. Here is the one from taste.com.au which is what I used for my home made version.

18
Aug
2014

Holiday in Cambodia: Phnom Pehn: The Worst and Best of Human Nature

categories: Cambodia, Travel

Before this holiday I knew very little about Cambodia.

I had vaguely heard of Pol Pot and a film called the Killing Fields. I knew some bad stuff had happened there. And that was about it.

That was about to change.

Whilst in Phnom Pehn, we spent a morning at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. This is a former school that became a prison (S21) during the Pol Pot Regime. It is estimated that 20,000 people were imprisoned here. Seven survived.

In case you didn’t quite catch that, let me reiterate.

Seven.

Not seven thousand.

Not seven hundred.

Seven.

Out of 20,000.

Here they are:

And this was only one of the many, many prisons in the country. All up about a quarter of the population was killed during Pol Pot’s regime. That these were largely the educated people – doctors, teachers, engineers, scientists and bureaucrats only made rebuilding the country even harder afterwards. How do you even start to rebuild an infrastructure when all of the people who would normally be in charge of that type of thing are dead?

In the museum there are rooms and rooms of photos of the people who were murdered. Many of the officials from the Khmer Rouge died here. But who really gives a shit if those murdering arseholes turned on each other? Live by the sword, die by the sword.

Whoo, look at me getting all Biblical on the Khmer Rouge.

And if you have a defunct political party you would like me to trashtalk, you know where to find me.

Back to Tuol Sleng. What was depressing was…well, pretty much all of it.

But what was truly distressing were the photos of the hundreds of children who were executed.

Jeez….Some of them don’t look old enough to be potty trained let alone be plotting the downfall of the government.

Tuol Sleng is a blood chilling place where the dark marks on the floors and walls are blood stains and the reminders of man’s brutality are everywhere. I couldn’t bring myself to take a photo of this because it was just too horrible but there was a board of children where their prison ID’s were pinned into the skin of their chests or necks

Murdering arsehole doesn’t even begin to describe the people who did that.

There is a name for them.

Which I will not repeat because I’m a lady.

(That breath of air you just felt? That was my mother breathing the hugest sigh of relief ever).

But you know exactly the word I mean.

Visiting Tuol Sleng also made me feel kind of stupid. Why didn’t I know about this? I studied history dammit! Let alone being alive, albeit a very young child whilst this was happening. It actually made me really angry. We spent a whole semester in History class learning about the Dutch guilds of the 17th century. And despite that being a truly fascinating subject (said no one ever) it may have been slightly more important to learn about the stuff that was happening on our doorstep. Then again, that we did nothing to help the Cambodian people as a quarter of their population was decimated may have had something to do with that.

The people who actually saved the Cambodians were the Vietnamese. Short version, Pol Pot tried to do his crazy arse genocide thing on a couple of Vietnamese villages. He too, obviously, was not au fait with recent history. Because here’s one thing I do know. If you go into Vietnam and try to push your agenda onto them, the Vietnamese will not only kick your arse but they will also hand your testicles back to you on a platter. And if you don;t believe me, ask France. Or America. Snapping Pol Pot’s nuts was a walk in the park for them. Seriously, it took all of about ten days for the Vietnamese Army to invade Cambodia, take control of Phnom Pehn and send Pol Pot back into the jungle crying for his mummy.

After Tuol Sleng, our Tuk Tuk driver asked if we wanted to head out to the killing fields. This is apparently a thing. We politely declined. There is only so much horror and unremitting cruelty I can cope with on any one day.

So after an experience like that, how do you shake the feeling that humanity is not only doomed but deserves to be?

A visit to the Lotus Blanc Restaurant.

The Lotus Blanc is an initiative by a French NGO called Pour un Sourire d’Enfant” (For the Smile of a Child) and is a venture similar to Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen. Except without the shitty attitudes and sense of entitlement. PSE trains disadvantaged Cambodian kids in hospitality skills in order to give them a career and a life off the streets.

This was truly the best meal we had in PP. Not just for the food, which we will get to. But for the sheer joy of the young people who were working there. From the wait staff to the cooks, you have never seen a team of people so proud of what they are doing and so delighted to be sharing it with you. This place was an absolute delight from the moment we walked in to the moment we left. It was truly a magical evening.

Lyheang lead the team who looked after us and did a fabulous job!!!

Lyseang - Lotus Blanc — Lyseang – Lotus Blanc

Here is our entree which was a prawn (Shrimp) salad. Just the right blend of chilli and lime to make it truly delicious and you can almost taste the crispy freshness of the vegetables!

I had a traditional Amok for my main. Needless to say delicious!

Normally we don’t have dessert. But Lyheang convinced me that the Crepes Suzette would be a good idea. He was right.

It was flamed at the table:

And looked and tasted divine!

That this place exists gives me hope.

If you ever happen to go to Cambodia, please make this a must on your list, it really is worth it.

And it is a powerful antidote to the evil.

Have a great week!

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03
Nov
2013

Hanoi…I don’t care, I love it!

categories: Hanoi, Travel, Vietnam

Most of the Vietnamese people I know come from the South and their reaction when I mentioned I was going to Hanoi fell into two categories.

Actually, cancel that.

There was one main response which was a pause, followed by a frown, very shortly followed by a comment along the lines of “WTF do you want to do that for?”

There were however two distinct subcategories behind this response. The first was “Oh my God, you’ll be robbed / stabbed / murdered in your bed. The people are rude, the traffic is awful, and the food is terrible.”

The other reason was “There’s FA to do there…”

Before leaving I mostly put this down to a little bit of North / South rivalry. However, this malaise seems to have also infected the people of Hanoi. The first sentiment was echoed by the girl who checked us in to the hotel who whispered to us “You’ll find the people here are not very polite.”

“But you’re lovely” I said.

She shook her head. “Other people” she said.

Huh.

The first question most people ask you in Hanoi is “When you do leave for Halong Bay / Sapa?” Thereby reinforcing the second response. It’s like no one can believe you actually want to be there.

Well guess what? Wrong and wrong peeps, wrong and wrong!

We had a wonderful time in Hanoi – we lived to tell the tale, found the locals friendly and, even though we were there longer than expected we found plenty of things to do. Just walking around and admiring the fabulous colonial architecture can take a few hours.

Hanoi Opera House

And the Hoa Lo Prison is also definitely worth a visit. This is where ex American Presidential candidate John McCain was held prisoner for many years.

My photo and the name Maison Central give this place a rather welcoming look, a bit like a swanky hotel. This may have helped to give the Hoa Lo the nickname of the Hanoi Hilton.

Hanoi Hilton

Believe me, after spending a few hours inside and learning about the history and some of the awful things that happened within these walls, this is one hotel where you really do not want to be a guest!

One of the best things I did in Hanoi was the Street Food Tour hosted by Mark Lowerson. A long time resident of Hanoi, Mark knows all the places to get great tasting authentic food, which would be unlikely to be on most tourists’ agendas. On top of this, Mark is a charming and knowledgeable host and despite the weather being against us (it was bucketing down the whole time) this tour was one of the highlights of Hanoi for me and something I will definitely do again.

Just one tip, if you are planning on doing this tour (and you absolutely should) – skip breakfast. No, skip dinner the night before and skip breakfast!!!

You can find Mark at: http://stickyrice.typepad.com

and on twitter at https://twitter.com/stickyinhanoi

I did the tour in July and on occasion, still find myself debating over which dish I liked the best. The Bun Ca which was fish with dill and tomatoes made with tea flavoured noodles? The crispy prawn fritters? The freshly made yoghurt with local coffee? Of the many dishes we tasted, they were definitely my top three although it was all delicious!

For some culture, we went to Ho Chi Mihn’s Mausoleum. Don’t let the long lines here put you off, they move pretty quickly. And who doesn’t want to see a perfectly preserved cadaver? You can also visit his house and see the rooms from where he conducted the war. You need to be on your best behavior though – no smirking or pointing or behaving in any manner that is not utterly respectful whilst viewing Ho.

Ho Chi Minh House

Whilst we’re on the topic of showing some respect…how about, we try to adopt that as a general rule of travel? This is particularly directed at the young gentleman (and I use the term in its loosest form) who burst into the office of the travel agent I was in the middle of having a discussion with, blind drunk at midday, shirtless and trying to haggle over a coolie hat.

One, dude, I was already there…wait your damn turn.

Two, no one needs to see your disgusting sweaty beer belly. Put on a shirt. And some shoes.

Three, I don’t know how you managed to get that drunk that early…but don’t do it again. It didn’t make you look cool. It made you look like an idiot. And if the people of Hanoi were as bad as everyone said they were – that kind of obnoxious behavior would have got you stabbed. And you would have deserved it. It’s almost a shame they weren’t!

Ok, rant over. One of my favorite shops in Hanoi was the Sun Tailor. They make all sorts of gorgeous clothing, purses, jewellery, hair accessories, etc with a cute retro sort of feel to them.. Great for gifts…or for yourself and it’s all as cheap as chips!

The button necklaces and bracelets are just adorable and the headband with pictures of Italian cities like Rome…

Venice…

And….oh…erm…places that sound like they may be Italian..are just gorgeous….

Another cool thing about Hanoi are the street bars. By day, these are normal shops. By night, the grills go down, plastic tables and chairs make an appearance, someone rolls out a cooler full of beer and some snacks and voila, the street corner becomes a bar! We visited the same corner bar in the old quarter several times and by the end of our stay, far from being hostile, the owners were greeting us like old friends!

For a day trip, we went to the Perfume Pagoda, which was for me, one of the highlights of the trip. It gets a bad write up in a few of the guides mainly for the over zealous nature of the women hawking cold drinks, beer, food etc both along the river and at the base of the mountain. Ok, this is kind of annoying…but try not to let this jade your perspective. The Pagoda itself is worth this.

And you gotta hand it to the women who row the tourist boats. They are tiny and each boat fits six tourists for an hour long ride to the pagoda and another hour long ride back. It was scorching the day we went and believe me…that woman rowing us deserved every cent of the hefty tip we gave. Although, if I had been her, I would have been a little snippy with her country women who were rowing alongside trying to sell us food and drink. In fact, whilst I don’t speak a word of Vietnamese, I swear our rower said something to them along the lines of “For the love of God, can you just sod off? It’s stinking hot and these bastards are fat enough without you getting them to cram beer and Mars Bars down their gobs.” It must have been her tone…

The only way to get to the Pagoda is by boat, then, after you land and fight your way through the ladies hawking their wares.including some quite scary looking rats in cages…you can either get a cable car up the mountain or walk. Some of our group chose to walk up the mountain to the pagoda, I went by cable car. Firstly because it was a cable car….I have no idea why I love them so much, I just do! And you know…walking up a mountain in blazing heat could give you some sort of ecstatic religious moment…or heatstroke. You choose!

The actual Pagoda is magnificent and really has that atmosphere of being a sacred space. Instead of being a Pagoda as I know it – a structure like the one we visited in Hue, the Perfume Pagoda is a series of rock formations set in a cave at the top of a mountain. The air is dark and cool which is a lovely respite from the blazing sun and just adds to that “otherworldly” atmosphere.

We never got to Halong Bay as the bad weather prevented it. However, the upside of that is that it gives us a great reason to travel back to Hanoi!

I’m going to spending my week looking at flights to Hanoi, have a fab one whatever you get up to!

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14
Oct
2013

Is Hoi An The Ryan Gosling Of Vietnam?

categories: Cocktail, Ginger, Hoi An, Travel, Vietnam, Vodka

I’ve struggled to write about Hoi An and I only just realised why – I like it just a little bit too much for my normal snarky tone to be used. There’s nothing funny about Hoi An. It’s lovely to look at, a great place to spend time…in fact the only downside is that because everyone else loves it too, it’s in danger of becoming overpublicised and losing everything that made it charming in the first place…Huh…it’s kind of like the Ryan Gosling of Vietnam. (Shut up, I haven’t mentioned him for MONTHS…)

One awesome thing about Hoi An, is that the old town is car free. You still need to beware of crazy bike riders but the old town really is a haven after the hustle and bustle of a city like Saigon. The other lovely thing about Hoi An is that it’s small enough to walk around and see everything on foot. Alternatively most hotels have bikes either, push bikes or motor bikes, either included in the room rate or that you can hire to explore the local countryside (which I recommend – rice paddies, great beaches, it’s really pretty and flat so easy to ride even if, like me you’re not an avid bike rider).

Map of Hoi An

We stayed at the Vinh Hung resort, marked by the number 1 in the above map. This was a great resort and has a boat that takes you into town. Who needs a bike?

If you ask nicely they even let you drive…

The town itself is famed for its silk, and gorgeous coloured lanterns are a popular souvenir.

Silk Lantern Shop - Hoi An — Silk Lantern Shop – Hoi An

And if you think this looks pretty during the day, look at it at night!

Cafe at Night - Hoi An — Cafe at Night – Hoi An

By day the mustardy coloured buildings and the purple flowers are a striking combination…

Hoi An is a great town for tailors. They are everywhere although there is a mass of them along Hoang Dieu, across the road from the cloth market. Also on Hoang Dieu are shoe makers who will hand make shoes for you for fraction of what you would pay for something mass-produced. And you wonder why I love this place!

My favourite tailor and shoe maker below:

cards 001

Hoi An is also a great place for food and a great way to learn more about Vietnamese food is to do a cooking course. I’ve done two, one at the Park Hyatt in Saigon and also one at the Morning Glory Restaurant in Hoi An. Both were excellent. The format for both was similar, a trip to the market to familiarise yourself with the raw ingredients….

Then on to the school for some learning and, better yet, some eating. At the Morning Glory class we made a number of standards of Vietnamese food including:

Rice Paper Rolls:

Bahn Xeo

My favourite – Green Mango Salad

Turmeric Chicken Skewers

And yes, all of this tasted as good as it looks. Maybe even better.

You can find the Yotam Ottolenghi version of Bahn Xeo here.

And Luke Nguyen’s Green Mango Salad with Tiger Prawns here

For the Turmeric Chicken, which was awesome, you’ll need to go to Hoi An.

After some hefty shopping and your cooking class, or just because it’s hot, hot hot, you might be in need of an afternoon libation. And you can do a lot worse than the Q Bar for this..

Q Bar Hoi An

One of the specialties of the Q bar is a Tamarind and Ginger Martini which is awesome!!!

Here is my version:

I based my recipe on the Tamarind Ginger Fizz recipe from Food 52 which you can find here.

Spicy Tamarind Ginger Martini (makes 2)

Spicy Ginger Sugar Syrup

1 knob of ginger about as big as your thumb, sliced

2 small birdseye chillies

1 length of lemongrass about 10cm long, chopped

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of water

Combine in a saucepan. Boil until the sugar has dissolved then take off heat and allow to steep. Transfer to a container and refrigerate. Can be kept in the fridge for 3 weeks.

Orange Chilli Salt

Zest of 1 orange

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 tbsp salt

1 tbsp dried chilli, ground to same size as the salt (I kept mine a bit chunky)

Mix ingredients together and place on a plate.

Tamarind Ginger Martini

1/4 cup Tamarind pulp

1/4 cup Vodka

1/4 cup lime juice

6 springs of mint, preferably Vietnamese mint, plus more for garnish

Soda / Seltzer water to top up

Strain ginger syrup and reserve the chillies.

Combine tamarind pulp, ginger syrup, vodka, lime mint and vodka in a shaker with some ice.

Shake.

Slide an orange or lime wedge around the rim of the glass and dip in the chilli salt.

Pour the vodka mix into the glasses about 3 /4 of the way, topping with the soda water.

Garnish

Orange & Lime Wedges

Chilli from Syrup mix

Piece of Crystallised Ginger

Mint Sprigs

Garnish the drink with the orange and wine wedges, the chillies, the sprigs of mint and a piece of crystallised ginger.

Enjoy!

There’s so much more to say about Hoi An…but you know what? I’m not going to…just go there, you won’t be disappointed.

Actually, I’ve changed my mind, whatever you do, don’t go there. It’s awful. And while you’re at it, leave Gosling alone too. There are some things in this world that should be just for me!

I’ll be spending my week absolutely, definitely, 100% not booking my next trip to Hoi An…have a fab one whatever you get up to.

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Category: Travel

Angkor Thom

Ta Prohm

Angkor Wat

Making Amok