Stomachs on legs are proud to present

Greeting from the slob of the century with a day off! You should see my apartment - cookie boxes I cant read and empty bottles of milkis and orange juice everywhere. Im in a scruffy not working zen, Legally Blonde just came on cable with voice-overs.

For those who don't know I am living in Ulsan, just outside of Busan - basically I now live in the coastal hippier mellow regions of South Korea and in Feb will be doing alot of pop-cultural travel between here and Seoul. I am also 2 hours away from Fukuoka Japan by boat (FYI Fukuoka is my hometown Manukau's sister city and when I was 12, the Manukau City Council had me represent South Auckland as a 'promising youth' kicking off my love for Asia. They definitely didn't have a crystal ball adolescence-wise but hey, thanks!) I really like the vibe here. There is a huge river at the back of my apartments and the local skyscrapers are all casually pushed up against mountains which I really like, its like a thrifty Asian Monaco.

So i thought I'd drop another culinary bomb on you.

Have been watching Korean food television, utter kitchen pornography OBSESSED.
Mellow old ladies (ajuma) run circles around their hotter younger spikier co-hosts who are only put in there to sex the shows up a bit (totally uncalled for when you see the amazing shit these doddery mums are making). Cuisine here is all about creating a selection, creating it quickly and it has to be HOT. I loved spicey food before, but once you go spicey here, i dont know if you can ever really go back. i better have a spicey friend or 2 when i get to Berlin just sayin. On these cooking shows they make it look like all you need is a deadly knife and a pot, they make everything look delicious but so easy. Korea has a respect for soup that I didnt get previously but now am totally tuning into.

Tonight i went out and grabbed a standard $5 meal which when I weigh up the experience with the price, is always enough to seduce me for life. Included was a super spicey beef soup, and dumplings that we made ourselves (fresh cabbage, onions, bean sprouts and lots of Gochujang ie. the Korean hot sauce slathered with almost everything. Warning: it is addictive, raises your metabolism and is not for the faint-hearted). Naturally all meals are served with banchan, the experience of what feels like thousands of tiny side-dishes. Restaurants will bring out cold pickled radish of every colour, shape and cut (these often help cool down the gochujang and robust kimchi) seaweed, potatoes, sprouts in sesame oil and seafood infiltrates these side-dishes subtly, sometimes with a thinly stewed squid on the side or anchovies being tucked into the kimchi paste.

At my Hagwon (english school) there is the mind-blowing aspect of everyone being able to order food anytime while we teach. Everyone eats constantly as it is a huge sharing and feasting society (no one needs to teach Korean kids how to share, their luch times are generous touching moments that'd make a Hallmark card or Anne Geddes puke).

Delivery is not just a sloppy burger or pizza slice (although admittedly alot of kumara/sweet potatoe + sour cream pizza does get ordered). This is anything. I order dolsot bibimbap a bit, dolsot means stone pot and bibimbap is a signature Korean dish. It is rice, vegetables and meat with a raw egg that fries itself when one stirs it in against the hot stone. On top of that, the sesame oil which lines the bowl will cook the rice until it is crunchy and golden. (We leave these dishes in a metal suitcase for the mysterious delivery men to collect later, its like 'The Saint').



In junk food news, I saw a hot dog stand and froze the other night while shopping, both metaphorically and literally. I swore this hot dog (stick format) had croutons fused to it. I stepped closer in my bundled-up glory to see, and while local hipsters and old men were eating the standard skewers or shu-cream fish (a dessert of crunchy waffles shaped like fish with custard inside sold only in sets of 3) I had to taste it for myself. What I got was a vertical chip butty. The outside was cubed hot chips, the batter was infact a toasted slice of bread all encasing the sausage which was of the high-end wurst variety.

When it comes to the language not so much, but when it comes to the food - this country understands me. Heres a photo of one of my favourite students Billy as a touching closer.



Love Coco

The chimayo variety of chile grows a very convenient natural hook (which can be augmented with the twisty tie things from bread bags).

Our guajillo chiles (not pictured) are smaller - they only grew to the size of a lipstick.
I guess the harvest of one window sill plant will be about enough for four bowls of tortilla soup.
Luckily, the local Asian import supermarket began to stock a wide range of dried chiles in steroid-fueled sizes: ancho, pasilla, arbol, you name it.

Next year's home-growing project : fingernail-sized tomatillos?

Is it that our olive oil reserves get depleted in the six months following Barcelona's Sónar festival in June? Whatever the reason, me & Erik seem to have established a tradition of eating Spanish food at Christmas. All thanks to Anya von Bremzen's cookbook 'The New Spanish Table', which, with a little exploration, yields many bangers (don't be put off by a few clangers - like the cloying almond soup and the too-bready tuna empanada).

Above is the Pollo con Frutos Y Frutas Secas from a recipe she cites by Ferran Adrià (excerpted from his Cooking at Home book). Roast a free range chicken (or use rotisserie if you like). Then cut into pieces and warm with a reduced sauce made of sautéed dried fruits (including sour cherries), citrus peel, pine nuts, cinnamon & tawny port. So delicious!

Cinnamon-infused meats are my main carnivorous buzz right now - from Lebanese or Syrian kibbeh to Mexican baked chicken a la Veracruzana
. Adrià's chicken should definitely be in the cinnamon hall of fame.



Roasted squash soup with saffron ice cream & crispy basil leaf




On Christmas eve me & Erik watched the Australian classic Picnic at Hanging Rock, while chowing down on salty Canary Island-style boiled potatoes with a cumin-chile-paprika-parsley-garlic mojo sauce, tofu salad, and the zorongollo 'salad' above.
It's made by roasting red pepper (roast a green one too if you have it), and marinating with grated tomato (winter supermarket tomato worked fine), thinly sliced white onion, aged sherry vinegar, salt and olive oil. Sprinkled with finely chopped garlic when serving.
Adding a sneaky can of smoked mackerel to your zorongollo comes highly recommended.

Serve with haunting pan flutes, girls in cultish white frocks, and sinister rock formations.

I've been debating what to call this blog post over in my head for a while now, I was thinking about calling it Mae Hong Son, The Other Provence, or Cooking with the Stars.

Let me explain. A couple of weekends ago I headed to Mae Hong Son for the weekend, where my long suffering beloved was taking a week long bromance with Thai food aficionados Austin Bush and Andy of Pok Pok fame. I got to stay for a single weekend, during which it mostly rained. So we decided to stay in and cook. We went to the markets and bought a huge array of not-so-exotic mushrooms other required ingredients for making gaeng hed.



I insisted on buying stink beans.



We also got the ingredients for Burmese pickled tea leaf salad and picked up some larb kuat, larb dip and grilled chicken on the way home.



Cooking got under way.




Some people would and do spend a fair sum of money to cook food with AB and Andy, instead I got bossy and insisted that someone invent a new yummy dish involving stink beans. Andy delivered big time with a dish of stink beans with kapi and mushrooms



Our other favourite Thai food expert was unable to attend the gathering as he was busy in Bangkok promoting his new fish sauce brand Mega Chef and couldn't make it to MHS, he was however present in fishy spirit.



We sat down to an astoundingly good meal





In an outdoor dining room located next to this picturesque rice field



Mae Hong Son is truly beautiful and I wish that I had gotten to spend more time there. Initially my plan was to finish writing my PhD up in MHS but this plan was scrapped after hard words from my supervisor and the realisation that job hunting from the sticks probably wasn't the smartest idea I've ever had. Nonetheless I plan to go back. It's not quite Provence however, as it was apparently described to my friend in New York by a hi so Thai acquaintance, but if fish sauce is your balsamic, stink beans your broad beans and larb dip your beef tartar, it could well be even better.

Alex went pale and called for milk, yoghurt and anthing else available to stop the burning

WATCH

Why even bother, when you know Manuel Quiroz is king

On two occasions now I have been corrected on my pronunciation of Asakusa, both times by white guys who giggle at me and then say something along the lines of "don't you mean Aaahhh-saak-saa". So I asked my friend Kumiko who comes from Japan...."how do you say Asakusa?" and she looked at me blankly and said "Asakusa, just how you said it". I said "are you sure" and she said "of course I'm sure I'm Japanese"

Which made me giggle, cause I've always just pronounced Japanese words in the same way that I learnt how to pronounce Maori words at primary school and it seems the two languages have a lot in common in terms of their use of vowels.

Anyway, we had a lovely time when we stayed in ASAKUSA.



As warned by Nalika, yes it's a bit old and a bit touristy and that suited us down to the ground

I couldn't be bothered being yelled at by grumpy old ryokan owners this time like we were last when we stayed further out in cheaper areas. And being very jetlagged neither could we be assed catching trains for hours to go anywhere. Instead we just hired little bikes and rode around the neighbourhood and Ueno park with all the other little old Japanese people who seem to inhabit ASAKUSA.

ASAKUSA was also right next door to a very festive looking temple with a lot of touristy street vendors, convenient for gift purchasing and sampling



We found this man who makes fresh and slightly overpriced shichimi out of the seven original spices: dried chilli, orange peel; sesame seed; poppy seed; hemp seed; nori and ground sansho



I've only ever tasted the mass produced togarashi shichimi, never freshly made. Needless to say when all the flavours are fresh the spice mix tastes incredible.

There are other vendors in the area too selling local specialities like mochi balls and tempura, all who are equally willing to pose enthusiastically for tourists.







Since discussing the idea of finding one's spiritual home with Ms Q the week earlier in NYC and pondering where mine is, I decided after another thoroughly enjoyable and successful stay in Japan, and since I'm not very spiritual, that on an extremely superficial level I love Japan!!!! For starters there are clean toilets everywhere, I never worry about having to crack a squat in a dirty or compromising place in Japan, the toilet seats often even open themselves and play pleasant flushing noises. There are cheap and yummy noodles and pork buns and tofu everywhere.





A seven eleven can quite easily provide me with over an hour's browsing and entertainment, not to mention a nutritious low fat and yummy meal. People are generally polite and gracious and I loose all fear of being mugged or loosing my wallet. Crime is low. I love a good scolding hot Japanese bath. The shopping is excellent and they have restaurants solely dedicated to crab, or eel or whatever your present seafood fixation happens to be. The public transport is easily navigatable and if it isn't some kind stranger will usually come to your rescue

I explained this to Kumiko and she shook her head, noting how difficult and oppressive Japan is if you live there, and I'm sure Japan is, should you happen to live there or in some way be embroiled in Japanese daily life. But for the tourist it really does provide the perfect hassle-free experience. I love Japan, or should I say Nihon? Naahhhhh.....Japan.

ScienceDaily (Aug. 12, 2008) — If you're a fan of habañero salsa or like to order Thai food spiced to five stars, you owe a lot to bugs, both the crawling kind and ones you can see only with a microscope. New research shows they are the ones responsible for the heat in chili peppers.

The spiciness is a defense mechanism that some peppers develop to suppress a microbial fungus that invades through punctures made in the outer skin by insects. The fungus, from a large genus called Fusarium, destroys the plant's seeds before they can be eaten by birds and widely distributed.
"For these wild chilies the biggest danger to the seed comes before dispersal, when a large number are killed by this fungus," said Joshua Tewksbury, a University of Washington assistant professor of biology. "Both the fungus and the birds eat chilies, but the fungus never disperses seeds – it just kills them."
Fruits use sugars and lipids to attract consumers such as birds that will scatter the seeds. But insects and fungi enjoy sugars and lipids too, and in tandem they can be fatal to a pepper's progeny.
However, the researchers found that the pungency, or heat, in hot chilies acts as a unique defense mechanism. The pungency comes from capsaicinoids, the same chemicals that protect them from fungal attack by dramatically slowing microbial growth.
"Capsaicin doesn't stop the dispersal of seeds because birds don't sense the pain and so they continue to eat peppers, but the fungus that kills pepper seeds is quite sensitive to this chemical," said Tewksbury, lead author of a paper documenting the research.
"Having such a specific defense, one that doesn't harm reproduction or dispersal, is what makes chemistry so valuable to the plant, and I think it is a great example of the power of natural selection."

link

So, before the Olympics ends, I thought I'd slide in a more than predictable restaurant recommendation for Beijing, to add to your Steingarten recommendations

It was nearly five years ago that I was in Beijing (on my honeymoon after being married in Yokohama with Kjam in attendance), but the memory of this meal still lingers

After a tough day climbing, around 36 turrets of the great wall.....(things to do before you die: climb great wall - tick) we managed to drag our sorry tired legs out for the evening and headed to South Beauty inside the World Trade Centre for dinner

South Beauty is an upmarket chain restaurant serving Sichuan food. And though I've never been to Sichuan and cannot therefore attest to its "authenticity", it was by my humble standards, a damn good meal.

We ordered the selection of cold appetisers, the spicy crab, the south beauty tofu and the Number One South Beauty Dish

The appetisers and crab were good, but not mind blowing.



The tofu, on the other hand, was amazing. A chef appeared at our table and made fresh tofu, then a waitress doled it into little bowls and added savoury toppings. It was warm and creamy, and although memory fails me as to what exactly the toppings were I remember they were salty and sharp and balanced with the tofu perfectly.







The number one dish emerged as a bowl of seasoned oil into which a piping hot mineral stone is placed

This sends hot oil spitting all over the place....which is where the table cloth comes in handy



Then thinly sliced veal is added and cooked briefly, fished out once the oil splatter dies down. Yes it is oily, but not in an over bearing way and when eaten with the tofu, balanced things out well again.



although there are many places on my "to go and eat list" in the world, Beijing eats are hard to beat in my book.

Thai/ Chinese porky stew goodness with star anise, cinnamon and whole boiled eggs...what's not to like?

1 tablespoon oil
4 garlic cloves (kratiem), minced
1 lb (500 g) side pork/pork flap, cut in 1-in (2.5-cm) cubes ( used short ribs because its all I could find in the dumb stores of Canberra, you can use trotters)
8 oz (250 g) fried tofu
1 teaspoon five spice powder
1 stick of cinnamon
2 star anise
2 -3 cloves
1/4 cup coriander root (raak pak chee), minced
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 cup (2 fl oz/60 ml) sweet soy sauce (I forgot to buy and just used normal soy with extra sugar)
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
1/4 cup (2 fl oz/60 ml) fish sauce (nam pla)
3 tablespoons sugar or brown sugar (palm sugar is probably more ideal)
2 cups (16 fl oz/500 ml) water
6 hard-boiled eggs

fry pork and then garlic and then add all ingredients and bring to the boil. Rapidly simmer for as long as possible to bring out all the juicy flavours, or until the pork is cooked if you are a greedy guts and just can't wait



Serve with white rice (or brown if you're a freak) and steamed gai lan or other green asian vege (not bok choy unless you want to anger the gods or if you're white) and pickled mustard greens if you're all about "authenticity"

Sprinkle with coriander leaves if you want to make it less beige

You can also put little sliced chilis in fish sauce and serve this on the side for extra salty spice

It has been a long held dream of Hock's to slow cook ribs inside of my sister's chimney bbq. So being back in NZ we obliged his fantasy.

We picked up Louisiana styled rib cuts at Westmere Butchers, which was packed to the gills the day before Easter Friday. We took our ribs back to my father's apartment in town. Hock protested that we hadn't bought enough ribs so Ginny ran up the road to Parnell butchers and got more. We began the preparation by removing the membrane from the back of the ribs and then rubbing them down with a dry rub. The ribs marinaded overnight.



Hock put Ginny to work pounding the chicken marinade. A paste of vegeta, Mexican oregan, oil, smoked paprika and a Mexican spice mixture containing Annatto .




Ginny was also instructed to start the fire in the BBQ early the next morning to make sure the heat had died down just enough to keep the bbq warm but not hot. She was instructed to never let the embers flame, but to always have a small pile of burning embers in the corner of the bbq, just warm enough to slow cook the meat with warm smoke.

BBQ-ING




Hock put together the bbq sauce, choosing a recipe from Mike Mills.

Moppping



Ruby the dog gave out tortured whimpers



Hock cooked Corn Bread



The Finished Product


Kereru landed in nearby trees but this time no one was interested in speculating on their flavour


The ribs were good, but would have been better if we had used a proper smoking device. Still it was a perfect evening and a perfect family meal.

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.