Long Beach: Chilli crab and geoduck

Chilli crab and black pepper crab are must do’s in Singapore. They’re like the pyramids in Egypt or Macchu Picchu in Peru. Only you can eat them. Long Beach (http://www.longbeachseafood.com.sg/outlets.php , it doesn’t really matter which outlet) does pretty good renditions of both of them, especially the curry crab. Just don an apron, and use your hands to get stuck in.

But don’t forget some of the less well-known options. Prawns stir fried with salted egg and curry leaves are rich and incredibly moreish. My favourite however, was geoduck, sashimi style. A bit pricey, but well worth it. So you might be asking, what actually is a geoduck? To put it simply, it’s like a giant white clam. It’s flesh, however, is smooth, silky and sublimely sweet, and when dipped in the peppery heat of wasabi-infused soy sauce, alas you have a formidable partnership.

Sambal Stingray and more...

East Coast Lagoon Food Village (1220 East Coast Parkway) is symbolises what is great about Singaporean Hawker dining: alfresco (by the beach), reasonably priced, full of seafood and most importantly, highly delicious.

It’s a shame that I can’t remember which stall I ate at, but it’s hard to go wrong with sambal stingray. Spicy, zingy sambal sauce; tender, almost creamy stingray wing; a winning combination in my eyes. Barbequed crayfish with garlic butter is another safe bet; the sweet flesh of the strange looking ocean dweller marries perfectly with the smokey, earthy garlic butter which I’d highly recommend you ask them to smother it with.

Izakaya Style

Pub food in Japan is at least a notch if not two notches above your average Western pub grub (except for gastropubs, but they don’t count as pubs in my eyes). Singapore, like Vancouver, is pretty big on Japanese food, hence the plethora of izakayas. One of my favourites is Shunjuu Izakaya (http://www.shunjuu.com ) in Robertson Quay.

It’s a combo that’s hard to beat: refreshing, crisp Japanese beers, alfresco dining and inventive skewers char-grilled to perfection. Highlights included melt in your mouth ox tongue, surprisingly flavoursome chicken with basil, tender iberico pork neck and wagyu beef steak. Vegetarians don’t despair; the veggie options were delicious too – particularly the stuffed mushrooms.

Japanese-Peruvian Sushi

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I’m not normally a ‘fusion’ man. But note the word normally. There are occasions when fusion food is incredible. And Japanese-Peruvian fusion is one of them.

Upon trying some of Edo Sushi Bar’s (http://www.edosushibar.com/, we went to the Miraflores branch, Berlin 601) creations, instead of analysing the food, the very first thing I thought was “damn, I’m gonna need to get this outside of Peru, somehow...”. After pondering that business venture the food thoughts kicked back in again.

My favourite was probably their Edo Maki, a prawn tempura maki roll topped with baby octopus sautéed in butter. Sushi doesn’t normally come with anything dairy related – but this Peruvian touch adds a rich element which, well, is best described as godly. The roll next to it, another winner, ‘Tartare Maki’, a panko-crusted prawn and avocado maki roll topped with a tuna and salmon tartar, laden with with eel and spicy sauces with crispy wonton strips to finish.

The maki roll with conchas (scallops) was also sublime...sweet, creamy, ridiculously fresh...

In the pic below, the roll at the top depicts their acevichado, an avocado and scallop maki, wrapped in tuna slices and topped with their classic ‘ceviche sauce’. Another example of Japanese-Peruvian fusion working its magic.

In short, another place you must eat at.

The Sea

Our last lunch Peru had to be a good one. Actually, it had to be knockout one, so having counted our remaining soles we decided had enough to go to one of Lima’s best cebicherias, La Mar (Avenida La Mar 770, Miraflores, Lima). It wasn’t hard to decide what to get, especially when we could choose their ‘degustacion ceviche’, which takes away that need to decide, allowing you to taste 5 of their ceviche portfolio. 

The clasico was, well, classically good (almost as good as the one at Punto Azul).  But the standout was undoubtedly their nikei ceviche de atun. Fresh tuna pieces marinated in a lime-soy-sesame oil dressing, whose balance of sour-salty-nutty flavours was right on the money. Stunningly good.

For mains, I went for the saltado pacifico, a dish with clear Chinese, Italian and Peruvian influences. Fresh sea bass, juicy prawns and sublimely sweet scallops, stir fried in a tangerine and chilli sauce, lathered generously on top of paper-thin ravioli stuffed with a creamy pumpkin filling. What really made this dish standout was the heat of the wok which imparted an addictive smokey aroma in the sauce. Genius.

Aji de Gallina

This dish is Peruvian comfort food at its very best. It’s basically a Peruvian chicken curry, only with some pretty luxurious ingredients.

Moist, juicy chicken breast is shredded and enveloped in a sauce comprising milk, evaporated milk, parmesan cheese, bread, pecans and aji Amarillo (yellow chilli), served with rice, hard boiled egg and olives. The flavours range from sweet to earthy, spicy to creamy, yet as a dish it somehow tastes so simple, as if it were somehow made of the simplest ingredients around. Inka Grill (www.cuscorestaurants.com on the Plaza de Armas)  in Cusco does a pretty good rendition of it.

More Cusconian quality

Cicciolina (www.cicciolinacuzco.com) is widely regarded as one of Cusco’s top restaurants. And rightly so. Let me cut straight to the chase – I went for their special of the day, a fresh tuna steak, chargrilled to perfection on the outside and deliciously rare in the middle, accompanied by a slightly sweet and spicy sauce no doubt infused with some form of aji. Not pictured is a classic ossabucco, also more than worthy of a try.

And for dessert, we had another dish to fuel our lucuma addiction. This time the stars of the dessert show were an intensely rich lucuma cream partnered by a dark chocolate mousse topped with sea salt.  Again, simply sublime, and needs no further description.

Guinea Pig aka cuy

If I had left Peru without trying our little friend the Guinea Pig my reputation as an open-to-try-everything foodie would have come into question. So, probably Peru’s most famous dish, cuy (guinea pig), had to be tasted.

We had it roasted at La Choza de Oscar (www.lachozadeoscar.com), and I must admit, even before trying it, I was wondering where the meat was... Ok so first bite was a lot of skin, but crispy, aromatic skin nonetheless, the type you’d expect on a confit duck. As for the meat, it was quite like chicken thigh, only darker, almost slightly gamey. All in all, worth a try, but para mi, it was nothing to write home about.

The Next Big Thing in World Cuisine

I had heard through the grapevine (amongst other sources) that Peruvian food was destined to be the next big thing in world cuisine – a cuisine that embodied fresh seafood, quality meats, unique fruits and grains, jungle cuisine, unique flavour combinations... it certainly got the juices going. So when Brujas de Cachiche (Bolognesi 472, Miraflores) was suggested as a great place for an introduction to Peru’s culinary prowess, I happily obliged.

Seeing the picture above in real, edible form was clearly going to make me a happy man, and indeed it did. Here you’ll see a seafood starter platter demonstrating the best of coastal cuisine; clockwise from bottom left: tiradito – raw slices of sole, marinated in local lime juice with chilli; deep fried prawns with a quinoa coating; anitchuchitas con pescado – fish kebabs, only better, I guess; conchitas  a la parmesana – baby scallops grilled with parmesan cheese; pulpo al olivo – octopus in a smooth olive sauce, and in the centre: causa de pulpa fresco de cangrejo – mashed potato cake stuffed with fresh crab meat (looks and tastes much better than my inadequate description). I could go on all day about each individual dish, but I won’t...

In the background of the picture you’ll see their ‘creole’ hors d’oeuvres, most notable of which was their rocoto relleno, a beef-mince stuffed bell pepper (with a kick), just delish.

Desserts, well, more new delicious things on show here, showcasing the best of Peru’s unique fruits. The yellow one in the bottom left depicts lucuma cream, the fruit responsible for a three week addiction which unfortunately had to end, the dark purple one in the top left depicts a chicha morada (fermented purple corn) dessert which you’ll normally find in drinkable form, and also of note was the chirimoya (aka custard apple, top right) blancmange (another creamy, sugary, moreish postre).

All of this goes well with a pisco sour or three.

Making the most of coastal cuisine

Having proceeded south down the coast from Lima, we arrived at Arequipa, Peru’s second city. This was our last chance to savour coastal cuisine before heading into the highlands, so it was imperative that we made the most of it. After a longer-than-necessary taxi journey with a driver who didn’t know where he was going, we arrived at El Tio Dario (Callejon del Cabildo 100, Yanahuara, Arequipa), a quaint little semi-alfresco restaurant with a stunning view of El Misti, a snow-capped volcano which provides the backdrop to this city. Add to this spectacular food and solid service and you have a must-go-to restaurant.

First up was their house special tiradito; melt in your mouth sole marinated in lime juice with a slightly creamy reduction as an accompaniment. Perhaps too sour for some but delectable to my tastebuds.

Second, their house special lomo saltado (a Chinese-Peruvian dish (chifa)) comprising beef tenderloin flambéed in red wine with soy, onions and red peppers. One of those dishes where you can taste the smokey heat of the wok. A must try.

The star of the show was undoubtedly their deep fried chita (a local Peruvian fish), partnered with a white wine, butter and garlic sauce and fried yuca chips (cassava). Crispy skin, moist flesh, rich yet somehow light sauce – no more description is needed – just come here and eat this.

When in Cusco...

My blog’s normally about street food so this whole Peru section doesn’t really fit that theme very well. But I don’t really care, since this country has a plethora of top restaurant options, at pretty darn good prices. One such example: Incanto (Santa Catalina Angosta 135, Cusco), just off the Plaza de Armas in Cusco. Now fusion ain’t really my thing, but seeing as Peruvian food is already a fusion of many cuisines, I knew this was going to work out just fine.

I went for the squid ink linguine with sautéed prawns in an aji (chilli) sauce – definitely a winner. Spicy yet not overpowering aji, juicy prawns and a strong dose of the sea was evident in the linguine, all components of a quality dish.

Then, my flavour of the month, in the form of lucuma mousse with a pisco and dark chocolate sauce. Rich, earthy and slightly sweet lucuma mousse and the warmth of bitter chocolate = a winning combination.

The Best Char Koay Teow Ever, and more

If I was backpacker visiting Penang for the first time, I would stay around the historical part of Georgetown close to Chulia Street. Why? On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings (correct at the time of writing this), a special talent comes out to cook the best Char Koay Teow ever.

That might sound like a big, enormously bold statement, especially in Penang, the home of this amazing dish. (For those of you not so familiar with Malaysian cuisine, this dish is composed of flat rice noodles, egg, beansprouts, chives, soy, chilli paste, prawns and cockles stir-fried in a fiery wok). But this Chulia St based hawker makes char koay teow using a special touch, by using a traditional charcoal-based flame. It imparts an unbelievably addictive smokeyness which a conventional gas-based flame cannot compete with. Furthermore, all his ingredients are super-fresh, culminating in a treat which can even make the fullest of stomachs feel hungry again (this was another Penang supper after a deliciously enormous dinner).

Chulia St also has another trick up its sleeve; awesome Curry Mee. A flavour-packed, rich, coconutty broth envelopes fresh egg noodles, crunchy bean sprouts and an abundance of seafood make this another flag-bearer of Penang’s embarrassment of culinary riches.

Chendol: pandan jelly noodles in sweet coconutty soup

For people unfamiliar with South East Asian cuisine, particularly Malaysian cuisine, the concept of eating green noodles as a dessert might be slightly offputting. But trust me, having Chendol at the famous stall on Penang road pictured below, and you’ll be in for a treat.

Three main themes run through this dish: slippery, vanilla-esque pandan infused noodles, an icily refreshing coconut soup and sweet, deep red bean goodness. Mix it up, slurp it down; this is one of Asia’s best desserts.

Honey butter cod

CRC is one of those Penang institutions which keeps going and going. It’s always a favourite amongst local Penangites for dinner, and for good reason. It does a number of solid dishes like sweet-n-sour pork ribs, stuffed bean curd amongst others, but there is one dish which it does particularly well: their famous honey-butter cod. It’s a dish I’m currently in the process of reverse-engineering that so I can enjoy its deliciousness at home. Succulent cod, crispy on the outside yet juicy in the middle, lightly coated in a not-overly rich sauce probably amalgamated from butter, honey, soy and rice wine. A Penang classic.

Also pictured below are their prawns fried in an egg batter with curry leaves – which although tasty, could’ve done with a hand-full more curry leaves to intensify the fragrance of this dish.

Food epiphany: Som tam tod (fried papaya salad)

Sometimes, you have a realisation, which leads you to change the very manner in which you approach life itself. In my dictionary, I call those realisations epiphanies. I recently discovered at Koh Lipe’s Khonlay Restaurant (on Walking Street) that you can also have the food version of such realisations: a food epiphany.

What made me have a food epiphany? The dish pictured above, som tam tod (deep fried papaya salad). Why did it make me have an epiphany? Firstly, you would never expect a fried salad to be so good, and thus the extent of its excellence surprised me, even shocked me (but in a good way). Secondly, it was so good that I struggle to put it into words, but let me try. Soft on the inside, crispy on the outside tempura-esque slithers of fried green papaya, whose slight oiliness is cut through by the sour, spicy and sweet sauce on which it lies. Throw in crunchy snake beans, acidic tomatoes, earthy nuts and juicy deep-fried prawns, and you have a dish so good it shakes the very foundation of the old rule-of-thumb that som tam, gai yang and khao mun (som tam, grilled chicken and sticky rice) was always the way to go when eating som tam – well, I must say, after eating som tam tod, that perception has changed – hence, my food epiphany.

My only word of warning about this restaurant is that the service is extremely slow – so come for lunch, or an early or late dinner.

Razor Clams Two Ways

Khonlay Restaurant also knows how to cook seafood very, very well – exemplified by their use of razor clams. Below, you will see these creatures stir fried a la pad krapow – that is, with Thai basil, chilli, fish sauce and a slightly sweet soy. The aniseed hits marry beautifully against the juicy, ocean-sweet razor clams.

Even better than this, in my humble view, were the grilling of these unbelievably tasty sea dwellers on the barbeque in a light curry-based marinade, partnered perfectly with a delightfully heavy-on-the-ginger and garlic sweet chilli dip. 

It’s not just the flesh of the razor clams which will  awaken your taste buds, the smokily sweet juice of the clams of the shell are worth throwing your etiquette out of the window for a quick lick of the inside of the shell here and there. Just 250 Baht for both dishes (half kilo of razor clams), a bargain by any standards.

Simple ingredients, elegant execution

Koh Lipe’s best dinners tend to be of the barbequed type, with Monkey Bar’s being no exception. Here, their unique spicy-and-refreshing (I’m sure there was a hint of lemongrass in there) curry marinade does the trick. When laid atop fresh, succulent squid and charcoal-grilled to perfection, an additictively smokey taste leaves you wanting more.

When laid atop juicy, meaty tuna of the local variety, you have another winning dish.

Not quite as good but nonetheless a tasty treat were their grilled prawns (both xl and normal size).

This dinner, including matchingly refreshing large Chang’s, set us back only 300Baht each. Koh Lipe just kept impressing on the seafood front.

Southern Style Treats

Wonder along walking street and you’ll find a little restaurant focusing on roti, by the name of Roti Mina. This same restaurant doesn’t really cook your ‘classic Thai’ favourites like Phat Thai very well so stay away from those. What it does do well is a range of Southern dishes, which are hard to find elsewhere on the island.

First up is their deep fried clam omelette. Powerfully rich little clams, encased in a crispy egg based batter, are refreshed by the greenery of spring onions and the crunch of beansprouts, brought together by a sharp, sweet chilli dip. Good stuff.

Second is a special request from their menu – you will see a dish with a name which resembles “Beef/chicken fried with Southern-Style chilli paste” – get this but ask for prawns (goong in Thai) instead. The result is below. Simple, clean flavours, with a slight chilli and curry-esque aromatic hit.

My little guide to Bangkok’s Sao Ching Cha area

Just a ten minute walk from Khao San road will reveal a haven of some of Bangkok’s best street eats in the charmingly old-school Sao Ching Cha area. The map below will hopefully guide you to some of the treats that I've had the privilege of indulging in.

Sometimes places aren’t actually overhyped

Chote chitr (Map: No. 3) was catapulted into the spotlight when the New York Times featured this seemingly unassuming hole-in-the-wall restaurant in their Bangkok street food feature. I’m not normally one to frequent places visited by the masses, but since so many other foodies have been raving about it on their blogs, I thought I’d give it a try.

And yes, I was not disappointed. My first port of call was their sublime Mee Krob (written on their menu as crispy noodles, a name that certainly does not do it justice). Sweet, tangy, crispy and somehow incredibly addictive deep-fried to perfection rice vermicelli are accompanied by prawns, chicken, beansprouts and chilli in what has to be one of the best fried noodle dishes my tastebuds have ever been graced by. The secret to these masterful noodles, flavoured with palm sugar, lemongrass and ginger, is the addition of som saa, a very tart version of an orange which you’d be hard pressed to find elsewhere in this city of angels.

Accompanying this was another one of their famous dishes, the banana flower salad, which, again, was truly excellent. Shredded banana flower, juicy prawns and slices of moist chicken breast are enveloped in a dressing of coconut milk, lemon juice and chilli amongst others, to create a dish whose tartness is expertly mellowed by the presence of coconut milk to provide a soothing and refreshing flavour combination.

Truly local ice cream

Just down the road from Chote Chitr is the perfect spot for dessert, another hole-in-the-wall famed for one thing; traditional Thai-style coconut ice cream (Map: No. 4). Nattaporn seems to be constantly packed with locals – telling you straight away, it’s good.

Unlike Western ice cream or gelato, it’s not creamy at all, and is incredibly light, kind of like an icy powder which instantly melts in your mouth to give way to a really unctuous hit of coconutty tones. The toppings aren’t bad too; but really, it’s all about this ice cream, a snippet at 30 baht per bowl.

Hainan noodles: noodle soup not to be missed

I think this was one of the best noodle soups I’ve ever had (Map: No. 6). At first glance, it doesn’t look that special, but trust me, this is a truly brilliant display of culinary prowess. Firstly, let me start with the Hainan-style noodles themselves – they look a bit like udon noodles, but with one key difference – they are incredibly light and dare I say it, even more slurp-able than udon noodles.

Secondly, the broth. Chicken-and-pork bone based, packed full of flavour but not overly rich, with a ever-so-slightly sour edge provide by Chinese sour cabbage. Really refreshing stuff. Lastly, there’s the toppings; with crispy belly pork the standout star here – somehow, the belly pork skin stayed crispy-ish in the broth. Must’ve been magic.

And if all this wasn’t enough, this little eatery on Thanon Mahannop offers another broth, slightly yellow-ish (possibly indicative of a curry-type influence) in colour for which unfortunately I had no time to try. On my hitlist for my next Bangkok visit.

Smokingly sweet rice noodle goodness

Phat see eew, or stir fried flat rice noodles with pork, vegetables and a slightly sweet soy-based sauce, is the type of street food staple I wish I could have access to more often.

At Radna 40 years on Thanon Tanow (Map: No. 1), you’ll find a truly awesome rendition of this dish, for just 40 baht. Smokeyness, induced by the incredibly huge wok and matching dangerously large flame, is married perfectly to the sweetness of the dish. To help guide you to this phat see eew specialist, here’s a picture of the shop front. 

Also worth noting that they apparently do a mean radna (flat rice noodles in a gooey seafood gravy).

Pork in all its glory

Thong Lo Soi 38 is a mix n match of excellent Thai street food stalls (note this is far away from the Sao Ching Cha area), often frequented by clubbers looking for their fill. My favourite without doubt is this shop doing a superb pork noodle soup.

It has an English menu, so it’s not hard to order their yellow noodles with crispy and roasted pork. The broth is saltyly moreish with a hint of sweetness from pork bones, and the crispy pork, well is self explanatory. The clever addition of Chinese celery adds a deliciously refreshing hit to round off a superb bowl of noodles.

At that time, even this outstanding bowl of noodles didn’t quite satisfy my hunger for more pork; so I nosily peered inside to see what else was on offer. Standing before me lay a huge pot containing a pork stew of all the flavour-packed offcuts, whose aromas were just too enticing, so I asked for a small bowl. The stew was incredibly rich and yet so incredibly good, and the meat that lay within was unctuously tender. Based on this, I’d say it’s worth being nosey every now and again.

Nearby, also on Soi 38, you’ll find a stall which does so called award-winning Phat Thai. I tried a bit of their Phat Thai Goong, and whilst it’s a pretty good rendition, I’d still say there’s room for improvement.