Stomachs on legs are proud to present

In terms of healthy eating I give myself a six or seven. I stop a few inches shy of bitter herbal tinctures and drinking wine on auspicious biodynamic dates. We buy very little pre-prepared food. Luckily there are no burger bars or hotdog stands around here, and despite living in cake-proud Germany, I eat cake rarely enough that when I do, I blog about it.

But sometimes, I eat trash. Not fancy truffles or gourmet artisan ice cream.... I'm talking cold, hard trash.

I'm talking about the kind of supermarket foods that exploit the weak and devilish recesses of your soul.

In NZ I had an unhealthy, secretive, co-dependent relationship with Earnest Adams ginger kisses, and Cyclops organic yoghurt with coffee jelly.

Here in Germany, I've recently developed a Dickmann's addiction (the coconut-sprinkled version is pictured above & below). When I first stepped onto German soil, my boss actually gave me a packet of Dickmann's as a welcome gift, but they didn't make too much of an impression on me. Looking back it seems auspicious (or suspicious).
A few years have passed in the mean time, and somehow, within the last few weeks - god knows how or why - I became addicted to Dickmann's. It's a mystery. I'm starting to think they put crack cocaine in those things.

The worst thing is that Dickmann's have a dubious public record - back in the day the proto-Dickmanns were called 'Neger Küsse' (Negro kisses). Dick means 'fat', and a more recent slogan on TV used to go "Man, they are fat, man" (Mann, sind die dick, mann)

I'm told that these nefarious treats are commonly eaten inside white bread rolls at swimming pools. After swimming, kids usually get either hot chips, or they take a Dickmanns and whack the two sides of a bun around it, squashing it into gooey smithereens.

A packet of six costs about one euro and ten cents. They are creepily melty and soft - like sweetened stiff egg whites. With a thin dark chocolate shell, and a thin wafer on the bottom. Rather like a next level mallowpuff or english teacake, without all the biscuit nonsense, and with a much gooier centre.

I'm afraid that I currently have a daily obsession going on. And I've found that a succession of recent kiwi visitors felt the same. Which makes me feel all the more justified in my habit. ....I think it's called 'enabling'.

But I can definitely stop. I just need one more, y'hear?

Just...one...morrrrre....



Below is a photo of my other supermarket craving, this time from the Biomarkt (organic supermarket). If I'm hungry I can't seem to resist buying a kreta-strudel and scoffing it down before someone tries to steal it from me. (It's crispy pastry with a tangy mix of feta and roasted peppers inside).
At least this particular weakness doesn't have quite the same white trash overtones as Dickmann's. It's like the bogan and bourgeois parts of me are duking it out on the daily.



What's your supermarket nemesis?

So I've been back in Auckland for a week and am heading off to Australia tomorrow. I still haven't caught up on my NYC and Tokyo food blogs but I'll get there. Anyway, one prerequisite of a visit to Auckland always includes a massage at City Chinese Health Centre Clinic. It's located at 1A/30 Upper Queen Street, in the gully when you pass over Karangahape Road (or K Road as it is known to locals). Ada and Dickson are master masseuses that hail from Hong Kong, although they've been living in Auckland for over 20 years. And together they have managed to ruin any other massage I've ever had anywhere ever again since. Whenever I get a massage anywhere else I just lie there and start to miss them. They have a knowledge of pressure points that is unbelievable and while you may find yourself writhing in pain and even letting out small yelps while they go to work on your mouse arm and tight lower back, when you finally emerge from their functional little massage room you may find that you are slightly incomprehensible and dribbling. This may come as quite a surprise to you as the massage is often not at all relaxing in the way one might expect an ordinary massage. This is not only because Ada and Dickson know exactly where you hurt the most but also because Ada, especially tends to chat to you throughout the massage. She'll poke you where it hurts and laugh and say "Chinese massage not relaxing, like Chinese torture aye?" in her uniquely Hong Kong New Zealand accent. She'll taunt your tight little muscles and explain to you that your shoes are all wrong, or that you've got the wrong chair at work. She may also share her restaurant recommendations with you, as she did with me today. As she has recently had an operation and is not working, I got a massage from Dickson, meanwhile Ada pulled up a chair and we compared restaurant notes in between me letting out small yelps of pain.

For dim sim, Ada recommends Sunshine Restaurant in the city, near Grand Harbour which she believes is not as nice, has bad service and poor seating arrangements.

She also recommends Sichuan in Remuera

Cinta, Malaysian restaurant in Dominion Road also gets the Ada Lee seal of approval

Finally Grandma's House on Dominion Road at around 585 gets her approval although I couldn't find it on the web.

And at Ada and Dickson's bargain price of 55 NZD for one hour massage, you'll easily find money left over in your wallet for a meal.

I did just that today after I left them sore and dribbling. About three shop fronts up from their shop is a hand made dumpling shop run solely by a rather abrupt Chinese lady. Tianjian Dumplings, Northern Chinese dumplings, Ada said with a slight air of disdain. Ada warned me that they were a little on the salty side but since I am a salt freak they were fine to me. The shop is filled with formica tables with a few taken up with empty dumpling trays and one covered in flour with a rolling pin. Most of the varieties had sold out already, always a good sign, so I ordered the pork, shrimp and egg, 20 for $10 NZD. I couldn't finish them. I'm a little under equipped at the moment and don't have a camera to show you photos to attest to their deliciousness. But they were delicious.

So my recommendation for Auckland....go see Ada and then use the change to eat some home made dumplings.

Mofongo was introduced to me by my pen pal and fellow PhD freak Andy aka Mandevu.

Mandevu is a bit quiet on the blog front these days as he's also writing his thesis

One fortunate evening in Brooklyn Andy and his lovely wife Michelle (an ER doctor at a hospital in Brooklyn) took us out to a restaurant in their hood for some good old down to earth Dominican eats at El Gran Castillo De Jagua....during which Andy proclaimed his love of mofongo



Mofongo is mashed plantains with garlic and bacon

Mofongo with a side of fried plantains


It's pretty good, imagine mashed potatos with garlic and bacon but with a hint of banana flavour and there you have it. Here is a recipe I found but I cannot vouch for "authenticity" (it says Dominican mofongo...but who knows they could be lying?)

Mofongo Appreciator


We also had king fish in tomato sauce



and soup of the day - tripe



Plus chicken and beans and bread and there was some salad in there too, far too much food and the bill a mere $37.00 USD plus tips. A feast that could have fed another three to four South Koreans or five to six North Koreans to put it in McCain terms.


This place is right at the "Seventh Avenue" stop on the Q subway line.
Take the Brooklyn-bound Q train, and get off at the "7th Avenue" stop, and go up the right-hand stairway after you pass through the turnstyle, you'll be right next to the place (and smelling the meat already!). Easy to
find. Even if you went up the left-hand stairwell, you'd see the place right across the road.

I used the River Cafe cook book as a basic guide for this.

Soaked white beans over night and removed their skins.

Cooked white beans in simmering water for about an hour with whole head of garlic and old herbs (thyme, marjoram)

Sauteed onion, garlic, carrot and celery, flat leaf parsley and added canned tomato and simmered. Added beans, some mushed up some whole. Added lots of salt and pepper and then torn up old bread.

Served.

When I went to eat it I realised that the soup is both delicious, with the bread adding a creamy texture, but it was also entirely vegan friendly. Definitely hearty food for tough times

One of my favourite food sites is Blue Lotus. It's a simple review of home cooked meals that I find quietly riveting. I find that there is something restive about looking at photos of what other people eat on a daily basis, in the same way that checking out someone else's trolly at the supermarket is mildly interesting.

I've been cooking a lot lately to try and use up all my dry store of goods. So if you too are a food voyeur, here is what I have been cooking and eating lately.

Spring Rain Noodles


This is bean thread vermicelli, soaked in hot water and then tossed with fried pork mince, dried shitake mushrooms (soaked in hot water for 30 mins), bean sprouts, spring onions, diced eggplant (salted and rinse to remove bitterness) and Chinese chili bean paste and ginger. Basically you add pork and fry off then all the other ingredients. Then in a side bowl mix tblspn or so of light soy, xiaosheng rice wine, chicken stock or water or mushroom juice (1/4 to 1/2 cup) with 2 teaspoons of corn flour. Add to pork to make it all saucy then add noodles and toss. Finally flavour with some sesame oil and sprinkle with corriander and beansprouts. You can make a vege version of this minus the pork and chicken stock using mushroom stock or water.



I served the noodles with this really yummy tomato salad of sliced tomato, sprinkled with corriander, sichuan pepper corns and cumin seeds and a sauce made of spring onions, rice vingear, pinch of sugar, salt, crushed garlic, and sesame oil.

At Wat Suan Dok in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, there is a cute outdoor restaurant under a big tree.


It's a part of a project, Pun Pun, which means one thousand varieties in Thai.

It started with a Thai husband Jon Jandai and American wife Peggy Reents team. Their homeground in Thailand where they maintain a sustainable farming, earthen house, and seed saving center is in Mae Taeng, approximately two hours from the city of Chiang Mai.

I met Jon and Peggy early last year at one of the open talks about sustainable agriculture and movements against GMOs.

A couple of months later I bumped into them at a vegetarian center operated by Santi Asoke, a Thai Buddhist group that supports sustainable living (to make it short), and learned that they were opening a restaurant at Wat Suan Dok.

I stopped by when they were preparing to open, and painted some of the signs :-)

..and I also visited them at their farm in Mae Taeng.

This is one of the earthen houses they have built.
... and a hut I slept in.
... and a view from the hut.


At their restaurant at Wat Suan Dok, they offer one of the best cost performance lacto-ovo vegetarian food in town.

They use as much produce as possible from their farm where they do not use chemical inputs. When they are short of supplies, they obtain supplies from other regular organic markets in town.

The chef, lung (uncle in Thai) Wat used to work in Bangkok hotels, but decided to work with Jon ... and he knows how to make an eye-catching presentation.

For instance, this is "super salad"
...with salad leaves, beans, dragon fruits, tomatoes, carrots, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, scoops of avocado and sweet corn niblets, with pumpkin or sesame or avocado dressings to choose from.

Phat Thai served on a banana leaf.
You can even request brown Phat Thai if you can wait a little longer, because brown noodles take longer to soak.


Fried rice with fried egg on top.
The rice they use is by default brown rice.

Most of their menus are between 30-40 baht range.

They also have lovely smoothies and juices.

For instance, I like their banana/mango/yogurt lassi and beetroot/ginger juice with no sugar added.

They also make lovely soap-based shampoos with kaffir lime, which, according to Maytel, Hock really liked when I brought a bottle once.

Pun Pun Restaurant is now closed on Wednesdays.
Opens all other days from 9am ish to 6:30pm or so.
Bring repellent if you are popular with mosquitoes, like me.

On the Sukhumvit Soi, next to Emporium, Sukhumvit Soi 24 I think it is, there is a izakaya which is not particularly tasty but exceedingly cheap. It's on the right hand side of the Soi, near the beginning of the street and on the 3rd floor of an extremely eccentric building...If you climb the odd staircase and pass by the Hong Kong-style hotpot joint you'll know you're on the right track.....follow the potato heads



Inside you'll find a large booze selection and laminated menu with usual izakaya suspects....



great wall adornments and decor....


and games where you can gamble on the size of your portion...play the "beef game", roll the dice and let fate decide if you get above or below the standard portion...fun times


The food photos below attest more to the skill of Hock and his N95 than the actual quality of the food





For example this sushi roll is far nastier than it looks


Of course the main indulgence here is not the cripsy rice cakes, but the lashings of cheap sake and beer to be had alongside. Food is really rather incidental here.






(makeshift food lighting enhancements)

Which was confirmed when I woke up on Sunday morning after a night at the Potato and remember that I had gotten drunk enough and so enamoured with the sake enough to have purchased their signature potato sake set. I recall making statements along the lines of "this sake set speaks to something deep inside my soul"

If Auckland were Melbourne then Mexican Specialties Ltd would be overrun with food junkies and their insatiable appetites for "mom and pop" run food stores that mix ethnic authenticity with quirky service, cheap prices and hard to find locations. Food writers would be falling over themselves and arguments would probably ensue over who found out this quirky little Mexican Specialities store that is hidden deep in the suburbs , run by recent Mexican immigrants and only open for lunch Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. They would all however agree that Mexican Specialities was indeed special and worth supporting with continued patronage. If Auckland were Melbourne, high flying cashed up restaurant investors would probably have offered the proprietors a deal to move into renovated premises, closer to the city and open for lunch and dinner, as well as streamline the service, and the production and sales of all the homemade Mexican sauces and condiments made by the owner, and in a matter a months a new star would be born on the Melbourne food scene. People would sigh happily and proclaim...finally somewhere that makes 'proper' Mexican food

But as it happens, this is Auckland and not Melbourne and despite being open nigh on two years little has changed to this tiny hard to find Mexican store in Ellerslie...Aucklander's are not driving here in large numbers to eat the best Mexican they are ever likely to find this side of the Pacific.



Pictured above are the owners. Despite being under-appreciated by Auckland's cafe going crowds...they have expanded their business and now have their own line of fresh Mexican sauces and condiments which draws in regulars from Auckland's small Mexican and Spanish expat community.



in addition to the imported ingredients they sell from their deli/lunch bar



We went to buy some ingredients and have lunch....thankfully it was open because often and without notice they will close and pop back to Mexico

We started by ordering the chilli nogada....I had no idea what it was and Maria (behind the counter) explained that it is a dish traditionally served on Mexican independence day but at the store they seem to just serve it everyday because people like it so much. It is a grilled whole chili stuffed with slow cooked beef and covered in walnut sauce with pommegranites. I was sold....then we ordered the chicken mole. Maria shook her head and pronounced with her excellent Mexican accent "oh no...now you go too deep" meaning "you shouldn't order the mole as it is far too Mexican for you". Hock explained that he's been to Mexico and has and uncle that lives there, Maria relented and allowed us the chicken mole. We also ordered the chicken taco and beef burrito to share with Kinakojam and Erik and lastly K-jam ordered the tostada.

We were given a laminated tree sign and sat down at our table. Some fresh sauce arrived by a strange blond kiwi waitress who we never saw again


Dishes arrived one by one and intermittently....first was the tostada...covered in salad, dried fruits and nuts, it was light, crisp and refreshing


The chicken taco came next. It was simple, crispy and tasty, no cheese or sour cream here thank god...instead the side salad was sprinkled lightly with a yummy flavoured salt that the chef and owner (pictured above in the white shower cap) makes himself with salt, dried chilis and lemon powder. He said he plans to make it for sale in two months time


A bit later the beef burrito arrived, full of smoky flavours and mixed in with fried bacon


The mole was fantastic


But the highlight was definitely the nogada....my god......the sauce was amazing, not walnut tasting at all, just subtle and creamy.


Along side we had fresh lime juice that tastey lovely and grassy


There were no forks during our lunch experience, just knives and teaspoons. Maria popped out and said they were all dirty and that she must get round to cleaning some more. We nodded and continued to eat regardless. Hock, decided to let himself go and ordered one more things that never arrived because some Mexican patrons arrived and both the owners got caught up in a conversation. We were full anyway.



We went inside to buy some ingredients for a mexican chicken bbq and although we'd paid the bill before we sat down, the owners couldn't remember and we had to rejog their memory

No big deal though. We told them how much we loved their food and asked why they were only open 3 days a week for lunch. We were told that on Wednesday, they make the fresh sauces, they take Sunday off and on Monday and Tuesday they do the accounts. It seems like the perfect set up to me and probably a good thing that they're not in Melbourne. If you live in Auckland I recommend you go and order the chili nagado. It's on Celtic Cres in Ellerslie and it may be best to call before you go. The number is at the top of the post.

Not the fuzzy wuzzy angel track....the raw fish salad of Fiji, pronounced as "ko-kon-da"...and here's why

We bought it for $5 New Zealand dollars a pottle from the fish shack outside of Nola's (where I was once fired from my after school job as a 13 year old when I told the boss that he was racist for calling me "Little China" and I got my revenge by making an appointment to see the Council for Race Relations, which forced him to write me a humble and apologetic letter)

Back to the point, the proprietor is a older Maori lady with a very impressive facial moko and a good selection of fresh fish at reasonable prices (whole smoked fish only $7 NZ)

It was very fresh, white firm fish marinaded in lemon or lime and salt for a few hours and then mixed with fresh coconut milk, tomato and green onion. We added some corriander and some hot sauce and ate it with taco chips and guacamole as a starter for our Mexican feast of sweet potato, corn, Mexican flavoured bbq chicken and refried beans and salad.



It is very easy to make yourself at home...but if you're in Auckland I would just head to the fish shack outside of Nolas and buy it, on account of the fact that it seems extremely difficult to find very fresh fish in Auckland, plus my sister's Fijian Indian boyfriend reckoned it was pretty damn good....although he adds chopped cucumbers to his.

...translates literally to "house of crab" in Thai, and although I'd like to make some jokes here to amuse Phil about "riding the tide of shit" or pooh as it were, it wouldn't be fitting for what is an excellent eating experience.

Baan Phuu (House of Crab) is located in Trat province on that mainland eastern seaboard of Thailand on Cape Ko Phuu (cape of Crab), all along this cape is aquaculture farms and crab processing factories. It is in short a good place to go and eat crab.



I had been here around 6 years ago on a family holiday and had ever since tortured Hock with stories of giant fresh crab, the crispiest freshest soft shell crab: "think Kentucky Fried Crab but with Asian seasoning, crunchy deep fried and fresh with cripsy shells you just bite straight through" I would tell him and watch his face contort with a mixture of both excitement and resignation to the idea that it may be some while until we had the time to take a leisurely 5 hour drive from Bangkok to Trat to eat crab.



Being somewhat nostalgic and over enthusiatic I booked two nights at Baan Phu Resort, thinking that it would be the perfect quiet holiday retreat to eat crab, lounge by the pool and relax in their rustic accommodations. Unfortunately 6 years had not done this very quiet and unpopular resort much good, We checked in to a horrible old stale room, with musty bed spread, moldy bathroom and mosquito friendly floorboards set amongst a mangrove forest.



The pool didn't look very inviting, the tv channels didn't work and the hotel was very run down, slightly depressing and altogether stingy with its service and amenities. We upgraded to their brand new garden wing at an extra cost of 35 dollars a night and consoled ourselves in the restaurant...Suan Phuu



The restaurant makes up for everything that the hotel lacks, good service, friendly staff, stunning views, and reasonable prices for what it is. I think in fact that the resort and restaurant are run seperately because the hideous breakfast at the resort did not seem to emerge from the Suan Phuu kitchen. Suan Phuu is set right out over the mangrove forest and offers spectacular views of the bay, of local birds and wildlife and of course great food.






It seems to be popular more amongst the locals who converge on the restaurant in large families early in the evening to celebrate special events. Unlike many of the tourists who we sadly observed ordering one dish per person and not sharing, the tables full of large Thai families sat down to steaming soups, plates of crab and traditional curries.

The first night we sat down to

crispy soft shell crab deep fried with shallots and garlic



One of the best wing bean salads I have ever eaten


crab egg and pineapple curry


Whole fish in ginger soup with parsley leaves and Chinese plums (umeboshi). Not enough ginger too much parsley leaves but still yummy.


The next day I did a border run to Cambodia - another funny story in itself - and we drove along the Trat coast and found untold empty beaches and cute little Thai beachside huts that were largely devoid of lounging Thais which they were built to serve



In the evening we headed back to Baan Phuu to survey the sunset and sample the crab (not as meaty or as large as last remembered)



shrimp meang and more crispy soft shell crab


an unmemorable deep fried fish and a very Khmer soup of fermented fish paste and vegetables that was not at all to my liking but Hock seemed to enjoy it

The price each night came to around 700 baht for two of us
You can bring your own wine


Banpu Resort
199 Moo 1, Tumbol Nongkansong, Moung
Trat
Thailand