Yellow, how have you been? It’s been pretty draining lately, not physically just emotionally draining. There are too many times my negative thoughts taking over; luckily, Proty and Mitty ground me back to ‘earth’ and reminded me that life is beautiful no matter what challenges we have upon us. It’s a matter of perspective.
So, I was watching this new K-Drama, The Art of Negotiation starring Lee Je-hoon. There’s a scene on episode 6 that got me thinking ‘What do I like?’. There are boundless possible answers for this simple question. I thought why don’t I find out? I can start somewhere anyway. FOOD crossed my mind instantly. There are countless food that I like and even often crave for. From simple home-made meal to fancy foods from fancy restaurants, I love food. The reason why I learn to cook and enjoy cooking is I want to recreate foods that I enjoy but for some reason it’s hard to find locally or I want to eat certain type food but it’s too expensive to indulge it at restaurants. I mean, there are foods that I often order at a restaurant; however, they often come in small portions make it too wasteful to keep ordering the same thing as the bill piling up. Sorry, eating within a certain budget is annoying. LOL…
Let’s start with Dim Sum, I looooovvveeee Hong Kong dim sum. I used to visit a yum cha restaurant for their Sunday All-you-can-eat dim sum. The thing is, taking an All-you-can-eat don’t allow me to choose certain type of dim sum only as we placed our selection/chose our set/package in advance and they would serve it as we go, at least that’s how it works at yum cha place I visited. Let’s say I selected Set A all-you-can-eat, it consists of har gaw, steamed chicken feet, xiao long bao, mian bao or steamed bun (my least favourite as it gets me full very quickly), congee, shu mai, tofu skin pork rolls, mini vegetables spring rolls with free flow iced or hot tea. I don’t like steamed bun for an All-you-can-eat; however, every time we order for another round, steamed bun would be there and it’s a hell of struggle to finish it. I’m not paying for leftovers, hence the struggles. I like my steamed bun, especially pork and salted egg steamed bun, on its own.
Since I grew up eating Balinese and Chinese food, I always have special craving for these cuisines, although I am not particularly good in handling spices – my friends say I am weak! Balinese cuisine is known for its heavy herbs and spices blend. Like many other regional cuisines in Indonesia as well as Southeast Asians’ that heavy in spices and herbs, there are foods that I can handle quite well. I tend to eat mild to bland food for Balinese (Indonesian/SEA) standards. While I do crave for Balinese grilled pork or Babi Guling for its crispy skin, I am not fond for its spices. My mouth could go numb; the blend of black/white peppercorns, coriander, chilies, ginger, galangal, and more, overwhelmed me. It attacks my taste buds and triggers my tears. Babi Guling is the first Balinese food I will look for whenever I am away from home for way too long. I couldn’t stop thinking of its crispy skin and warming soup before even we landed. Paul found it challenging; but he loves nasi goreng kampung, he doesn’t like nasi goreng terasi though. I should train him and the kids, hehehe… Proty and Mitty love Thai cuisine, Mitty is especially addicted to Thai fried rice.
I grew up in a good community mix of Balinese (local) and Chinese, generally they’re 2nd or 3rd generation Chinese whose predecessors come from China’s southern coastal regions, like Fujian and Guangdong. Hence, there are Southern Chinese cuisine that I am fond of since I was little. Probably that’s why I have an emotional attachment to many Chinese cuisine, it also reminds me of the taste of home. Of course, when I was younger I didn’t have any idea that there are different regional Chinese cuisines. Thanks to my field of work that allowed me to experience different culture and cuisines through different activities we had back then. If I have to choose only one, then I’ll go with Cantonese cuisine (Guangdong) tho. From what I observe, Cantonese cuisine utilise fresh ingredients more than any other regions, many steamed dishes too that gives delicate flavours, and those chicken feet from dim sum selection – can’t skip it, and don’t forget frog legs – damn, it’s been so long.
Growing up and become an adults mean more opportunities to see the world through different lenses, challenging my taste buds to new flavours that completely foreign to me. I remember one time when I was in Vienna, one of director of sales & marketing I was with had his birthday. He invited a couple of senior sales & marketing people who were there with us. We were clueless, didn’t know where to go as it was one late winter evening. We strolled the street near our hotel and we came to a Hungarian restaurant. After a short discussion, we entered the premise. I sat next to him, I was the youngest and he felt responsible for taking good care of me – I felt like going out with my older brother ^_^. After much consideration and as clueless as I was of Hungarian foods, I chose beef goulash. It was served with toasted bread, my Holy God, I felt like entering a whole new world. LOL… It was so good,, not sure if it was genuinely delicious or my starving belly speaking or the 0 degrees C taking over; it’s delicious, warm, the broth was red and thick and perfect those bread. I tried to recreate it at home, just wasn’t as good as I want it to be. I should give it a try again next time.
Then, there’s this Hainanese Chicken Rice stall in Singapore. I like the one in Lucky Plaza, Lucky Chicken Rice on ground floor. My friends told me there are many more options, but I always return to the same spot again and again. Just make sure to arrive before lunch/rush hours; the queue is long. Probably, it was the first Hainanese Chicken Rice I had in Singapore and it’s engraved in my memory that makes no other chicken rice can beat it. The same thing with Singapore Chili Crab, my top pick will always No Sign Board Chili Crab in Geylang. Why? Because I had my first chili crab from that restaurant?? But the food is good, I love their thick savoury sauce, their man tou is to die for. Dip it into the sauce and taste that unique blend of spicy, sweet, savoury.
For Bakuteh, I don’t really have special place, probably that Song Fa Bakuteh is my top pick and everything in Chinatown can be my favourite; oh, not to mention that one uncle who’s selling roasted chestnut at the corner, 天津栗子 (Tianjin Chestnut) Bugis 102 Roasted Chestnut. His roasted chestnut is still no 1! Market foods generally tasty plus there are heaps of options to choose from.
Let’s move to Ha Noi – Northern Vietnam. When I was there, I felt like home because of familiar foods options. We stayed in Hanoi’s old town (French Quarter), so I have no idea how it was in the city. The Indonesian Embassy is within walking distance too from our hotel. Learning from my past mistakes, hotel near food centre or market will always be my top consideration, second one will be access to public transportation. Since everything was within walking distance, we walked nearly everywhere. Only when we felt totally beaten up we took taxi. Before we left for Hanoi, I did a little research on what to try in Hanoi. We tried egg coffee, huge Bahn Mi at a cafe (Coffee 24) on our way back to hotel after conquering the crazy traffic in Ha Noi, and one breezy early winter evening, we went to this Bun Cha restaurant (we skipped the one visited by President Obama), Bun Cha Ta in Hoan Kiem, Ha Noi. And what is Bun Cha, you ask? Bun Cha is Vietnamese grilled pork patty serves over rice noodles with fresh herbs as side dishes (there were many herbs I never tried before and I grew to love it, just it’s hard to get in Bali or in Sydney). I love their sweet and tangy sauce to dip in, they just coming together harmoniously in my mouth. Every bite made me crave for more. Guess what, I had two servings in every visit and I was there twice (we didn’t stay that long after all). One of my bosses said that if they abandoned me there, in Ha Noi, I could be a local within one month. Hahaha… Good food, good noodles, endless selections of street foods, French like pastries, coffee culture and cheap. It was crazy affordable. I got cheated by a street vendor tho, like in many different tourist areas, it’s common to find local vendors cheated on tourists. Not that I agree or encourage them to, just… Be careful!
Then we moved to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), I didn’t like their hot and humid weather, their traffic kind of reminded me of Jakarta – but worse, but I did enjoy many dellicious foods. We stayed within a walking distance to Ben Thanh Market, the place where we got lost for beautiful Hao Dai fabrics and fresh foods. Oh, I got drunk a bit after hitting 2 bottles of Saigon Red beer. I, foolishly, overestimated my alcohol tolerance. Fortunately, none of my friends needed to drag me back to our hotel. LOL… Pho and their fresh spring rolls were fantastic. Rich yet light Pho broth combined with fresh ingredients for their spring rolls, just PERFECT!
For Thai foods, there is one street food that I always crave but can’t recreate it at home, Miang Kham, It’s a salad wrap that easily found in the market or street food vendors. It consists of random raw ingredients such as ginger, bird’s eye chili, toasted shreded coconut, roasted peanuts, raw shallots, dried shrimps and then wrapped with Thai betel leaves with sticky, sweet and tangy sauce. Thai betel leaf is hard to find in Bali, I tried to ask a Thai restaurant owner I frequent to but she said that she didn’t find any. Hence on every visit to big Thai restaurants or every time I am in Bangkok, I’d make sure to get my share. Other than Miang Kam, I don’t have any particular Thai dish that I have to have as I mainly open for new dishes I found. There was a crispy pork stall in MBK food centre (I think it’s on the ground floor), I’d like to have that and then Thai fried chicken thigh, pomegranate cold pressed juice, Tom Yum is okay but please, don’t give me Pattaya style Tom Yum – I found it too heavy. In Ubud (Bali) there is this Thai restaurant that I love, Bird’s Nest Thai Kitchen, they serve home-cook style Thai dishes with affordable price and in my opinion, tasty! We can ask the owner to adjust the level of spiceness. My favourite from their kitchen are Laab, basil chicken and their Thai green curry.
Have I said that I go crazy with Japanese food too? Well, I don’t remember how I fell in love with Japanese food, all I remember is that I love sushi, sashimi, ramen, bento, miso soup, tempura but no Udon. I don’t like Udon as I get full very quickly every time I have Udon. Although I have my own trick up my sleeves every time I went to Udon restaurant, I still won’t put Udon on my top pick. In order to not be wasteful (since I tend to order different side dishes along with my mean dish), I’d order kids’ menu then I’d order different side dishes to satisfy my craving. I think it’s a win-win. I get to finish my udon yet I also still able to finish all the side dishes I have ordered. There are 3 Japanese restaurants I love in Bali, one is a hidden gem. I would never thought there’s a nice home-cook style Japanese restaurant amongst residential places. Over a decade ago (probably around 14 years ago), a friend of my former boss introduced me to this place, he invited me (with other colleagues) for a farewell dinner as he was leaving for Sulawesi. When we arrived at the restaurant, I thought we were lost since there was no significant sign of a restaurant within a residential area. I called him and he showed up from a sliding door, right in front of me. Fukudako is ran by a couple, a Japanese married to local woman (if I remember correctly). Foods were fresh, no fishy after taste and the most important was I could eat Takoyaki here. Like the real Takoyaki, fried octopus ball!!! I’ve been wanting to go visit again, just I had no chance yet. This upcoming conference, I wish I’d be able to.
Then there’s this Take Japanese restaurant. My former boss brought me here for a company dinner. My good God, food was amazing but a little pricey for me. And another option for my go to Japanese restaurant would be this, Ryoshi. I used to go to the one in Sanur and Ubud area; however, after Covid-19 hit I haven’t visited this restaurant yet. I liked their Sashimi bento set, unsure if they still serve it now. Like Take, they also serve my favourite sashimi – Shiro sashimi or butter fish. They are creamy buttery like fish that just melted once you chew it. I could finish several set of butterfish sashimi but I know I have to limit myself for some obvious health reasons.
My first meal upon landing in Tokyo was a set of Chirasi sushi that I had from a restaurant somewhere within Yamanote Line. I cried my eyes out because it was so delicious. The fish was fresh, heaps of tobiko on top, miso soup was thick and rich, then plenty of side dishes too. The hike to Ropongi Hills for a set of Takoyaki from Gindaco was satisfying, I had to ride a taxi back to hotel tho. LOL… Gindaco has opened its franchise in Indonesia, it’s available in Bali too. It was good, though I can’t tell their franchise in Bali.
When we moved to Osaka, I missed my chance to enjoy Ekiben. But I rather missed my Ekiben than missed my Shinkansen that day. Hahaha… Upon arrival, I was starving. There were too many foods to choose and it kind of suck when I’m all tired and starving. My eyes fell on this restaurant, I had no idea what kind food they served tho. Why so? I couldn’t read Japanese Kanji that well, my ability is limited to basic conversation and basic reading & writing ability that will save me from starvation. We went to the restaurant, reading all menu on e-kiosk and chose Dashi Chazuke. I was so proud as I could read the menu after a little struggles.
The next day, we were invited for a Shabu Shabu dinner, somewhere in Namba. I stuffed my face with good fresh ingredients. I didn’t even ask how much did it cost. Hahaha… We were treated by Osaka Manager for an airline company. For that, I didn’t have to queue at Kani Doraku in Dotombori, just took a photo in front of this restaurant and posed to imitate that famous Glico signboard.
I’ll cut it shorter, although I haven’t mentioned Korean foods that stole my heart. Let pictures tell my story and also, I have not mentioned regional Indonesian foods that I definitely love. From Nasi Padang to Gudeg to Rawon and then Bubur Manado, Coto Makassar, Sate Bulayak Lombok. I’ll list them down with picture (I think I have my stock file for these foods). Let me know if you’d like to try or have tried them.
Rice dumpling that commonly found as a side for Coto Makassar.
I guess, that’s for now. I will try to write every one and each dish to furhter sharing on why I like them. If you have tasted any of it, please let me know your thought. If haven’t, would you try?
Love, xx
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