Tastes of Thailand.... crazy food

 

The Thailand country has rich heritage structures namely palaces, superb temples, meditation stupa, en number of Buddha statues from huge (gold /rock) to little (jade & emerald 12”), beautiful people always smiling, the streets busy in morning & evenings, Chinese /Japanese /North east Indian tourists mingling with the locals, Indian tourist groups in awe of landscape n structures, honeymoon couples in awe of themselves, Indian males (some) ogling at the females, shops clean and small eateries serving good local, Asian as well as European food, 7/11 supermarkets catering to all needs from coffee to scotch to bread to exotic cheeses to ready to eat food.

The food of Thailand is noodles, sticky rice, pork n beef, vegetables n greens in variety of combinations. 

MBK mall has unique food stalls and serving style. I picked up the debit card for 300 baht and proceeded to explore Thai food experience. There the stalls are lined up serving ducks (roasted /broiled /steamed) hung on the hooks with poor guys legs tied as if after all the cooking process they will run away. I asked the food stall server why you have tied the legs ? and I was in for a hilarious unexpected but very logical answer. He smilingly untied the legs of one duck and OMG...legs spread it was a vulgar sight and we had a hearty laugh. The ducks are served sliced or in mince form on rice topped with a barbeque sauce or own juice sauce (this has lot of melted fatty oil but tastes awesome). The rice eaten is typical small grain /sticky (apna malvani/goan ukda chawal type) and has a slightly sweet taste. The mince or diced duck mixed with soy, green chilli, spring onions & carrots and served along this rice is a great combination. One of the most popular thai dish is Guey Teow (noodle soup) primarily a nonveg soup made with rice or egg noodles mixed with either pork or beef or chicken. It is almost a meal. Pot souped pork with pokchoy leaves is soup to relish, the thin watery dark soup after eating the solids is supposed to be drunk straight from the bowl.

The malls food court is all of different aromas as you pass various counters. The pork counters are bit put off due to all parts displayed and typical harsh aroma of the skin. All stalls serve noodles /rice /soup based dishes. There are thai curry rice stall with 3 types of curries- red (red chilli based), green (leafy greens), yellow (coconut galangal) and then there are sauces for the various starters chicken (wings, legs), pork (meat, fried skin) duck (feet, legs), cubes of vegetables. It took 3 hours and 5 dishes to sample the food...yes sample as the portions are large. All this was in 300baht, damn cheap. The food court was swarming with people but I did not find a single Indian.....we are not used to raw display of meat n guts.

There are stall selling dried fish, prawn crispies, fish wafers, prawns rice chakli. Pork toast like chilly cheese toast comes with spicy minced pork on toast served with tomato sauce and cheese dip.

The roadside stall outside the mall and in market place sell all meats /fish in fresh & dried form, One can order noodle or rice or just order the meat or fish starters. I could not eat from these stall because of the odd smell.

There are nice restaurants serving steaks, I tried the filet mignon with pepper sauce. It was well done, sauce just as smokey as required and the accompanying sautéed vegetables complimented the steak. The tenderloin with dill sauce was also excellent. I tried the thai omelette Kai Jeow, it is created by frying whisked eggs in hot oil mixed with spring onions & fish sauce. It’s a delicacy.

The thai desserts are also different, many with coconut base (mind you the coconut does not like it does in India, it si almost tasteless( coconut cake with fluffy coconut icing was good and delicately sweet, Thai fried bananas (reminded me of Vasai Kela, large size), Thai black sticky rice pudding are some dishes one must try to feel thailand. 

Congo....unexplored cuisine !

 

Congo....unexplored cuisine.

Congo is a small country in the African Continent. It took 14hrs journey by Kenya Airways to reach my first African destination Lubumbashi via Nairobi. Congo is rich in minerals, primarily Copper. There are many mid budget or 3 star hotels in the town of Lubumbashi. The capital of Democratic Republic of Congo is Kinshasa. The major language apart from Congolese is French. One must know French to communicate or navigate thru the country.  The weather was excellent between 10deg to 26deg C

Food habits are often linked to the region of origin: fish is a staple food for those living on the rivers, meat-heavy dishes for Congolese living in tropical savannah regions, while those living in wooden tropical areas primarily eat vegetarian food. It would not be possible to describe all the gastronomic diversity of the DRC as there is vast array of food, regional and French eaten and popular in Congo.

I had a great time enjoying the food and tasting local wines, beers. Let us begin exploring some of the unexplored cuisine of Congo.....jinga la la.

Liboke - 

It is a dish generally composed of boiled fish with tomato, salt, and chilli and wrapped in banana leaves which imparts the fish with their aromas. The addition of seasonings, garlic, celery adds to the flavour and everything is then put on a grill. The fish can also be replaced with chicken, pork or squash.

Pondu – 

is one of the most popular dishes throughout the country. The dish is made using prepared cassava leaves that are cooked in a pot, with or without spices. Some use oil, particularly palm oil—and spices like black peppers are added along with eggplants and scallions (spring onion). The taste is unbelievable with the aroma leaves infused with peppery tang.

Lituma - 

A popular accompaniment for a meal It consists of plantains (rwa banana) that are boiled and then peeled and pounded, mixed with aromatic spices and the mixture flattened in a dish, cut in squares and steamed. It reminded me of Kothmirwadi from Maharashtra or Besan wadi from Rajasthan.

Mbinzo (Caterpillars) –

Next to mushroom’s popularity, there are mbinzo (dried caterpillars). In Kinshasa, they are generally cooked with a light white sauce made of onions and a little oil with the essential red chili pepper. But mbinzo’s I ordered (didn’t have the guts to eat) were cooked in palm oil with diced vegetables, tomatoes, red chillies and lemon juice.

Ya Jean -

 it is smoked goat meat. The freshly slaughtered goat meat is seasoned with salt, pepper, chilli oil and the pieces are wrapped in parchment paper and then put on the grill. After three-quarters of an hour, the meal is served with fried plantains. This with cold beer is heavenly.

In Lubumbashi there are nice French restaurants and the food is awesome. I tried a few dishes:

Frog legs in Lemon Butter sauce –

thin but meaty legs, tossed in palm oil and the sautéed in lemon butter. This with a glass of wine went well.

Scallops of Beef with fries –

a very well done beef scallops, rolled with drizzled with brown dill sauce (real meaty flavour)  topped with cheese were a treat to eat. The fries of local potatoes were crisp and just about sweet.

Shrimp cocktail in Avacado –

 one of the best shrimp cocktail I had in years. It was fresh shrimps, the thousand island dressing perfect and avocado cooked just right served with crispy lettuce.

The food exploring will continue in my next trips to DRC.....Till then “Kende Malamu” (goodbye)