Dusty Pepper Trail

Phu Quoc

I'm not the type of person who goes on a holiday to a tropical island or any other beach destination to spend time off the sand away from the water. I want to see that blue liquid surface, choppy or glassy, every waking moment of my time there, to be hypnotised by the ebb and flow of waves, to feel my skin taut with dried salt water.

A beach holiday should be enjoyed prostrate, turning pages, elbow bending a beverage to one's lips – totally sedentary. I wouldn't even throw a frisbee. But when your travelling companion has a tendency to hyperactivity, a stinking rotten compromise must be made.

When I was forcibly wrenched from my banana lounge, it was not unlike a surgical procedure, the wooden slats of the chair leaving a lasting impression on my ample thighs.

And then I had to walk!

To the motorbike.

For we were journeying inland, on a dusty trail in search of pepper.

Phu Quoc

Just out of the main town, the road was unmade and the colour of Uluru. Not a drop of rain had fallen on Phu Quoc for several weeks. We knew it would be downright dirty. White safari suits and matching pith helmets were definitely out of the question!

An expedition ensued though. Our map was rather vague in its depiction of the location of the pepper farm. The map reference from memory was F5, which had not a road running through it. Vietnamese strategies for finding the way would need to be deployed – the good old common denominator technique in which a bunch of assorted locals are consulted along the way for their 'interpretation' – a bit like a game of charades. The problem is that many of them had not been to the pepper farm before. Some of them thought for inordinately long periods of time and then pointed in precisely the opposite direction to the one we were headed in. We persisted, southerly, where the majority of the fingers were pointed.

Along that southerly route, every feature of the roadscape was milk-chocolate brown. What would be green was brown, every surface tarnished. Clouds of dust swirled, lifted and descended behind each passing vehicle, eventually settling to create this brown colourless world. Travelling the dusty slipstream, where the brown powder attached itself with vigour to my sunscreened skin and was fast turning clean clothes into brown ones, could only have been worse had it been raining.

The further we ventured on, the more we felt that the pepper farm had perhaps been entirely coated and thus camouflaged in brown. Just before we were ready to retreat back to my preferred location – horizontal by the sea – a crude board with the word tieu (pepper) appeared attached to a fence at roadside. At this stage, we weren't concerned about whose pepper farm it was, whether it was the pepper farm or a pepper farm.

There was pepper in groves, dusty near the road, green and clean deeper in.

 Phu Quoc

In a hot sunny courtyard, the male pepper folk were swinging in hammocks under some shade. Peppercorns, recently harvested from the trees, were being sorted in all manner of bamboo vessel, some still bunched, others rolling around like tiny fruit marbles. The red fruit is ripe and produces white pepper, the green produces black. Processes involving soaking, rubbing and sun-drying take place over a period of days. Keeping the dreaded brown road dust out of these steps has added further time and complication. The women pepper folk are soldiering on, crouched over and probably sick of the sight of these little heatballs.

Phu Quoc

It is not a crop of gold, with a kilo of pepper going for 120,000VND (USD.35, AUD.95). And that's the price for dumb tourists who ride miles on pot-holed trails, lungs full of dust, arriving like they've just come up from the mine. The majority of their crop must be sold for a song.

We buy up big. The mortar and pestle is going to get a right royal workout this year!

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Back to Luang Prabang

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Two days days ago we flew from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang. We were last here in 1995. As might be expected, things have changed.

Perhaps the biggest shock is the town at daybreak. Almost without exception, in Asia rising before dawn has guaranteed us peaceful near-empty streets. Not so here. By 6:30am Luang Prabang is buzzing with tourists, alone and in guided groups, many toting cameras and stalking alms-collecting monks like hunters in a wild game park. Not a pretty sight.

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But the small morning market in the center of town is much as we remembered it: gaggles of shoppers-with-a-purpose choosing from such a plethora of fresh ingredients that it makes me ache for a local kitchen to call my own. Happily, for the kitchen-less among us there are also plenty of tempting foods to eat on the spot.

On our first morning in town we identified two stalls that will be regular stops in the coming days.

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The first is operated by a mother-daughter team (cool and unsmiling, but hopefully that will change in a day or two) who make and serve Vietnamese banh cuon-like rice flour pancakes rolled around a filling of chopped pork and mushrooms. They're topped with crispy fried shallots and eaten with a dipping sauce of fish sauce, lime juice, peanuts, and chilies.

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Called nem kao in Lao ('nem' means spring roll and 'kao' means white), they're larger than their Vietnamese cousins but, aside from the lime juice and peanuts in the dipping sauce, quite similar. Their combination of easy textures and bright flavors makes them just right as a first taste for a still-waking stomach.

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And then there's the Lao coffee spot, operated by a meticulously made-up and manicured (but camera-shy) auntie with a generous smile. It is somewhat hidden by greenery, but we knew it by the wood-fueled boiler supporting two stainless steel pitchers of black gold.

An order of kafe Lao — and you must specify kafe Lao, or else you'll end up with Nescafe (you might add 'mai sai Coffee Mate', while you're at it; the white powder has become a staple at stalls serving traditionally made coffee here and in Chiang Mai) — starts with a hefty dollop of sweetened condensed milk, followed by a pour of thick brew from one of the pitchers and then a ladle of hot water from the boiler.

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Hers is by far the best Lao-style coffee we've yet found here in Luang Prabang. In fact it's some of the best coffee we've had in a long time, anywhere — hefty and full-flavored, with a bit of smoke and a hint of sourness. The sweetened condensed milk makes barely a dent.

(If you're a Lao coffee fiend, another worthwhile stop is Apsara Hotel. Their Lao coffee isn't made traditionally, but it's fantastic nonetheless — beans freshly ground and brewed in a stove-top espresso pot.)

Nem kao and kafe Lao, Luang Prabang morning market. Look for the nem kao vendor — there's only one. If you are facing her the coffee lady is at the next corner to your right, same side of the street. Mornings, obviously.

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Cilantro Oil

Like i have said in my previous post on Cilantro Pesto, i came to like cilantro and use lots of it, adding it to lots of dishes especially soups. When you have more than you need of fresh cilantro and before they die on you, besides making Cilantro Pesto,  the next best option is to turn it into a infused oil,.  It is not quite the real thing, it is less pungent but it is there in your refrigerator, to put on almost anything – noodles, rice etc. 


Ingredients:

250 ml (1 cup) vegetable oil or olive oil
2 bunches of fresh Cilantro

Method:

.Drop the cilantro into boiling water for a few seconds and refresh in ice water.

.Squeeze the blanched cilantro dry.

.In a high speed blender/food processor, blend the oil and cilantro together for 30 seconds, strain it through a cheesecloth.

Serves

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Bonjour Amanda, hands down the best food blog in town!

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Meet Bonjour Amanda, the latest sensation in foodie bloggieland simply has it all: sparkles, style, passion and talent. Reading the culinary adventures of Amanda is like watching a Paris fashion show in the front row!  Amanda’s intoxicating technique to allure readers with her glamorous food stories bears a shocking resemblance to a piece of see-through, boho-chic siphon dress in daring ombre color that graced the runways 2 years ago, i.e, S/S 2008. But let’s make no mistake, in the age of fast fashion and dull tweets, Amanda’s blog is here to stay.

With every single entry, Amanda manages to display the utmost blending of sophistication and simplicity about cooking that as trend-setting and seductive aesthetic as Lady Gaga’s stage outfits. Simply put, Amanda’s BA is the ‘it’ blog to read when it comes to eating.  Every single post is like a breath of fresh air — so does her creamy nude hue lipstick. We love your blog, Amanda!

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Hosed

Dear Readers,

I hosed myself. Twice. I am a double self-hoser!

A couple of months back, I found out that there was a scraper site (http://asianfood.aqimg.com/)stealing the House of Annie’s (and several other food blogs’) content. With no contact info on the owner, there was little I could do to get them to stop. It wasn’t like the other scraper site I dealt with, who was hosted on Blogspot.

But I tried to file a DMCA report anyway, to see if the mighty Google could help.

Hosed


Unfortunately, I screwed up and told Google that the infringing content was located on the chezannies.blogspot.com domain, while the original content was on the scraper’s domain. (Serves me right for not reading the form carefully.) When I realized my mistake, I sent an email to Google notifying them of my error. I also filed a corrected DMCA form. Then I hoped for the best.

Today, Google informed me that they had taken down the reported content…ON THE HOUSE OF ANNIE SITE. And then in a separate email they informed me that I can file a counter claim to get the content added back.

Say it with me: AAAAUUUUUUGGGGHHHHH!!!

I sent an email back to Google, saying I made a mistake and could they please reinstate my posts. Thankfully, they read the email and replied, saying I could take the posts out of Draft and republish them. Whew!

Double-Hosed


But then in my haste to get everything back online, I published all those posts without making sure they went back at the correct date. So that was why for about an hour, it looked like I had published about 20 posts today. And why a bunch of them got sent to you RSS readers.

I frantically went back and corrected the dates. I think everything is back to normal, and hopefully there was minimum confusion to those of you out there in RSS land.

To our dear readers: Sorry about that.

To the scraper site: I hate you.

To Google: It was my bad for not reading the form properly. Thanks for doing what I asked, twice.

To self: Get off BlogSpot, you hoser!

Aloha, Nate


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In the Most Unexpected Places

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Memorable food in unexpected locations — this is something that Thailand seems to specialize in. Stalls by the side of the highway or tucked in the bowels of a market, dull looking shops with dour-faced staff, restaurants that appear to entertain rarely more than a table of customers at a time — here, all of these are potential sources of darned good dining.

Case in point: Khao Soi Mae Jam Bpaa, an out-of-the-way (but not unreachable, from the city) spot off Chiang Mai's Mahidon Road.

We stopped here nine days ago on the way out of town with friends. The taxi driver turned off an ugly stretch of road at an unattractive yellowish concrete building into a vast, dusty parking lot. We got out of the car, squinted in the sun. Our friend pointed and there it was, as if conjured out of nothing — a squat little wooden restaurant hunkered in a patch of greenery beside a trickle of a klong.

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It's a pleasant place to while away an hour or so. The decor is classic Thai country-casual: open-air, lots of timber, bench and stool seating around family- sized wooden tables. Across the street, a sundries store but not much else. A little oasis of deliciousness in an unlikely location — but on a Sunday around noon nearly every table was occupied.

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The specialty here — no surprise — is Chiang Mai's mascot dish khao soi (read about the dish's history, or one version of it, in this post from last year). I chose chicken, and it rivals the version served at my favorite spot in the city, Lamduan Khao Soi. Mae Jam Bpaa's soup boasts the perfect ratio of meat broth to coconut milk; it's satisfyingly rich but not enough so to leave you wanting.

Each sip of soup is a firecracker burst of chili heat soothed by sweet coconut milk augmented with warm dry spices — cinammon and star anise especially. Together the ingredients set a fine stage for the squeeze of lime, tart pickled mustard, and sliced shallots you'll add from your condiment dish. 

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In addition to chicken, the restaurant serves pork and fish khao soi as
well. Purists will no doubt label the latter blasphemy, but it's wonderful: meaty fillets swimming with noodles in a piscene coconuty-spicy soup that's rather lighter, but no less satisfying, than that served with the meat versions.

Come to Mae Jam Bpaa not for a snack but for a meal (and preferably with friends) because the place does much more than khao soi. There's somtam (green papaya salad) which, if you order it with crab (bpuu), arrives crowned with a gorgeous cooked-to-order crustacean.

I wasn't up to tackling the claws but the meat was deemed sweet and fresh by our fellow eaters. The salad itself was — in the northern (as opposed to Isaan) style — spicy and salty, a welcome counterpoint to our opulently soothing coconut milk-based mains.

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Also recommended: yam khaw muu, or pork neck 'salad', a medley of pounded tomato and snake beans tossed with sliced shallots, phak kanaa (gailan or Chinese broccoli) leaves, and fatty crackly-skinned strips of grilled pork neck in a tart, fish saucey dressing. The sprinkling of crisp-fried tiny fish  on top of the dish is a nice touch, and a wisp of shallot, a strip of fire-kissed pork, and a crispy fish together make for an inspired mouthful.

Mae Jam Bpaa is probably 15 or 20 minutes by tuk-tuk from Wat Ket (across the footbridge from Warorot Market) — well worth the effort if you're a serious khao soi connoisseur.

Khao Soi Mae Jam Bpaa, Mahidon Road near intersection with Nong Hoi Road. There's a big parking lot behind Waree Chiang Mai School — the restaurant is right across the small road. Daytime only.

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Shrimp Spaghetti with Cilantro Pesto

A pack of pasta is a must in my pantry, so are many more musts.  I must confess, i am a hoarder, i can never pass off a good deal and a sucker to new brands and types of noodles.  They are like recipes, you try them once, if they are good, then they are keepers.  My freezer is packed,  my daughter would warn my grandchildren that they are not to open the freezer, if they have to do it, they would have to have their bike helmets on.  My most favorite item in the freezer, is the 26 – 30 shrimps,  when they are on sale, ,00/lb, i will buy a few packets(2 lbs/pkt).  They are the quickest to defrost and shrimp dinner will be served as soon as they are defrosted.  Having a tub of homemade cilantro pesto in the freeser,  aided my quest for dinner too, especailly when friends or family decide to drop by.


Ingredients:

1 pound spaghetti pasta
1  pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup vegetable oil (for frying the shrimps)
1 cup Cilantro Pesto

Method:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.

Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes.

 Drain pasta.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large heavy skillet (i like using the wok) over high heat.

Season the shrimps with salt and pepper.  Add a few in the hot oil and cook shrimps until they turn pink.  Remove and set aside.

Repeat frying the shrimps in small batches, this is to prevent crowding as shrimps fried this way is succulentand juicy.(This is the chinese way – passing through oil)

When shrimps are done, remove all the oil from the skillet/wok.

Put the drained pasta into the skillet/wok, add in the cilantro pesto and toss to combine.  If the spaghetti seems like too tight(dry), add a little of the pasta water to loosen.

When pasta is well mixed, add in the cooked shrimps,  Toss well and adjust the taste with salt and pepper and more olive oil as you wish.

Serve immediately and garnish(optional)

Serves

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Super Fruits and Fruit Sushi: Cherry Coconut Cream Gelee and a GIVEAWAY

Certain red and purple colored fruits like cherries, blueberries, black plums, blackberries, raspberries and pomegranate are called super fruits as they are rich in substances known as antioxidants.  Antioxidants protect our cells from damaging effects of free radicals thought to be involved in cancer, aging and various diseases. Flavonoids, beta-carotene, lutein, lycopene, selenium, vitamins A, C and E are examples of antioxidants in fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, meats and fish. WebMd talks about antioxidants, their sources and how to get more of these in a healthy diet. You might want to check it out. 

Another health food is agar (agar-agar/ kanten).  It is a vegetarian gelatin substitute from seaweed extract and it contains about 84% fiber.  In Japan where nearly everyone thinks “thin is beautiful”, the kanten diet is getting a lot of attention as a potential weight loss agent. When eaten as part of a meal, agar triples in size and readily absorbs water so a person feels full quickly and becomes less prone to overeat!

I’ve been trying to be creative in getting more super fruits in our meals. So today I’m sharing a recipe using 
FruitFast—a liquid fruit supplement. Each teaspoon of FruitFast contains 100-200 mg of anthocyanins (a flavonoid antioxidant).  FruitFast products are made from Michigan red tart cherries, pomegranates, wild blueberries and the fruit pastes are placed into yummy snack bars, fruit goos and liquid fruit supplements.  The process maintains the fruits’ original composition so it is not a fruit extract or a powder. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to enter the FruitFast giveaway.

To create this fruit sushi, I used FruitFast Cherry Flex derived from 100% Montmorency Tart Cherries.  I made two kinds of gelee — cherry and coconut cream—and let them set in separate containers.  The base of my fruit sushi was a layer of cherry gelee.  Over this, I placed coconut cream gelee and another layer of cherry gelee.  On top this stack I had a slice of fresh, ripe mango and kiwi. The tartness and intensity of cherry is beautifully balanced by the delicate flavor of the creamy coconut gelee and the sweetness of ripe mangoes and kiwi. If you like to try a new dessert, here’s the recipe:

Cherry Gelee

1 cup water
2 Tbsp Fruit Fast Cherry Flex
3 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp agar
Mix everything in a saucepan.  Make sure the agar is completely dissolved than turn on the heat. Let simmer for a couple of minutes till all the sugar and agar granules are in solution. Pour into a rectangular mold and place in the refrigerator to set for about 2 hours.

Coconut Cream Gelee

1/2 cup water
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tsp sugar
1.5 tsp agar
Mix everything in a saucepan.  Make sure the agar is completely dissolved than turn on the heat. Let simmer for a couple of minutes till all the sugar and agar granules are in solution. Pour into a rectangular mold and place in the refrigerator to set for about 2 hours.

Assemble the fruit sushi and cut to serving sizes. Enjoy!

GIVEAWAY ANNOUNCEMENT

You have a chance to try FruitFast products!  FruitFast is giving away fruit bars and liquid supplements to one of my readers.  Their Montmorency Dried Tart Cherries and fruit supplement bars are amazing but they have a variety of products you can choose from so if you want to enter the giveaway, visit their website and tell me (in the comments section) which three products you’d like to try by March 21.  They will ship it to the winner directly.  If you don’t have a blog, you can still win –you don’t have to place your email address in the comments–send it to momgateway@gmail.com to keep your privacy.  Good luck to everyone!

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All I Have to Give Is Fish

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I've spent the last couple hours wrestling with a couple of posts. I throw up my hands. It's just not going to happen today.

So I give you this instead: a lovely mosaic of light and shadow — and fish — taken by the photographer this morning at Chiang Mai's Muang Mai market. Click the image for a larger view.

It's evening now, finally cooling down, the light is perfect. We're out the door.

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Cilantro Pesto

I have a  hate-love relationship with this herb – Cilantro.  I used to hate this raw green leaf that sat side by side, closely clustered together with shredded green onions, like a couple who are in love and they were or still are, sitting on top of all dishes served in the restaurants.  At home, it was a different story, garnishes like these two never appear with our meals, cos we had to be frugal and garnishes were luxury,  perhaps that was why i hated garnishes, not because it did not taste good, it was because i have not eaten enough to like them.  Now, it is a different story, i don’t know when i started to like these garnishes but i really love them.  Cilantro can be very expensive especially during the Chinese New Year Celebration in Malaysia but strangely and luckily, it is pretty cheap here.  The problem arises when it is cheap, i will buy a few bunches and cilantro don’t keep so well and knowing this fact, have to find ways to use/cook them before they wilt.  Making pesto is one of the ways and pesto keeps well in the freezer until you need to use it.

Ingredients:

2 cups, packed, of cilantro, large stems removed
1/2 cup blanched almonds
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/2 teaspoon chopped and seeded serrano chile(optional)
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 cup olive oil

Method

In a food processor, pulse the cilantro, almonds, onion, chile(if using), and salt until well blended. With the food processor running, slowly add the olive oil in a steady stream.

Add more oil as needed for your use.
Makes about 1 cup.

Serves

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