Garlic: Health Food in Danyang

Asians love their garlic. Koreans not excepted. Garlic can be found in most Korean dishes. Even their most beloved import, kimchi is made with plenty of minced garlic. In some less luxurious versions of samgyetang 삼계탕 (ginseng chicken soup), a lot more garlic than usual is added to supplement the flavour lacking from the relatively smaller quantities of the expensive ginseng.

So why do we love garlic? Well, first and foremost, garlic is delicious! A quick midweek stir-fry of bokchoy with a dash of soy sauce can be elevated with a few cloves of minced garlic. The addition of the humble Allium sativum can make a relatively mundane side dish more savoury.

Bulgogi 불고기 in Pyeongchang

In Indonesia, we have this Dutch influenced Javanese stew called semur, of slowly simmered beef dominated with nutmeg and peppery undertones with a hint of sweetness from kecap manis. Every household has slightly differing version of semur, at our house we make them with potatoes and glass noodles.

It might be odd to be thinking of this dish while in Korea, but the consensus with the Indonesian tour group was that pan-cooked bulgogi is basically Korea’s semur. I am chuckling to myself here as I am writing this. It’s funny because it’s somewhat true. The bulgogi we had that night was not dissimilar to that of semur, peppery and sweet, the colour of its broth was brown from soy sauce, and it was abundant with glassy, chewy potato noodles. It wasn’t a stretch for us to make the comparison.

Soybeans of Sokcho

Soybean, and in particular sundubu (soft tofu), is a specialty for towns surrounding Mount Seorak (Seoraksan). It is said that tofu around these parts are more flavourful due to the pure mountain spring water used in their production.

Ribless Chicken Ribs in Korea

Last winter, I was given a chance to go to South Korea for free, all I had to do was pack enough warm clothes for a week and get there. Being a huge K-drama and K-pop fan, it should be a no-brainer. Not to mention my long torrid affair with Korean food, my fondness was to the point where I jokingly told my husband if ever we got fired from our current jobs, we should think about starting fresh in Korea.

Porcine Head-to-Tail Eating in Nusa Dua

From left to right:
Babi guling ala bakas - Rp 50,000
Babi guling campur - Rp 50,000
Sate babi - Rp 40,000

The practice of using every bit of the animal is not some fancy new-fangled phenomenon in Indonesia. And eating these lesser than prime cuts is also not something that’s extraordinary. It’s a normal everyday occurrence, examples of which can be found all over the country. Like sop kikil (broth with soft cartilage from cow’s feet); or babat hitam (beef tripe cooked in spices); or the ubiquitous soto daging (beef and intestines in tumeric broth).

In Nusa Dua, Warung Bakas specialises in pork, spit-roasted pork to be exact. This place leaves the infamous Babi Guling Ibu Oka in the dust.

Seminyak "Eat Street"

When I’m in Bali, I avoid having western-style food. The variety of Balinese cuisine and the general Indonesian food in Bali is immense, it’s almost a shame to eat food I can readily access back in Australia.

naughty ribs in ubud, bali

The sound of charcoal crackling, flames flaring up to meet the dripping fat, the sweet smoky smell of sticky ribs on the grill. It was enough to make us salivate. Three ribs please!

preserved duck in vieux québec

Preserved duck. The image of duck jerky is conjured up in my head, it doesn’t sound appetising. Salted then drowned in its own fat. That sounds even more disgusting.

It’s quite a feat for French Women to not Get Fat. Considering how butter laden, fat drenched, delectable dessert aplenty French cuisine can be. Our guide for the Québec walking tour recommended to us the Bistro Sous le Fort, a modern yet cosy little bistro, where we ordered the beef spare ribs and the duck confit.

over-seasoned evening

We haven’t had a lot of bad luck with our choice of restaurants in Canada. So we were particularly taken by surprise when we had an appalling meal at Le Cochon Dingue (the crazy pig), a restaurant specialising in porcine cuisine.

québec hospitality

When I told friends about my trip to Québec, a minority furtively said in a low voice, “Aren’t the French…. like….. errr… a bit rude?” Years ago, the same question and/or statement came up when I relayed my stories of my travels in Paris.

a day in québec's eastern townships

Instead of taking the straight and most efficient route from Montréal to Québec City, we decided to spend a day exploring the eastern townships instead. First we went for a duck brunch at Le Relais in Knowlton. The nearby Lac Brome is famous for its ducks.

a mouthful of dumplings

There's a small restaurant in a local-traffic-only street, opposite a university in Beijing that makes delicious dumplings. The restaurant itself is not particularly famous or outstanding, it's a dependable local restaurant serving food to mostly local residents and students, of which I was one such student. I bought a lot of takeaways from this restaurant. I vaguely remember a fried tofu dish with its crispy crunchy skin and its silky smooth tofu innards that was heavenly. But what I will never forget is their jiǎozi (dumplings, 饺子).

guuing may be addictive.

I have a big issue with small bites: overeating. Ordering almost everything in the menu because their small portions inherently means you can eat more will lead you to a state where euphoria borders on pain. Eating at an izakaya certainly did this to me.

santouka ramen, great expectations

Shio ramen - $8.95

What is it about ramen that inspires countless fanatics? There are movies about ramen and inspired by ramen. The web is saturated with ramen-only blogs, most of them by expats currently living in japan. Outside of japan, the appetite for ramen is abated -- or stoked, whichever way you want to look at it -- by the numerous ramen shops that seems to be popping out in every corner. A particularly heartwarming story is that of ramen shop owners and chefs who organised themselves to provide freshly cooked ramen to those hardest hit by the 2011 tsunami in japan.

lake louise: skates, skis and dogs

There are days when all I want to do is rug up with a warm blanket on a comfy couch, turn on the TV and watch Game of Thrones in an endless loop.

But today was not that kind of day.

fairview dining room, 'twas a fair view indeed

Five peppercorn crusted bison carpaccio - $10

Before we tuck in for the night inside our plush king-size bed at the Fairmont Chateau in Lake Louise, we headed for dinner at the Fairview Dining Room.

We got ourselves a window-side table for two. The snow that is now falling in earnest is framed beautifully by it.

coyotes, big man breakfast

Southwestern frittata - $12.95

I watch too many food shows: Masterchef, Masterchef the Professionals, Top Chef, Kitchen Nightmares, Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown just to give you a few. As much as it is for frivolous enjoyment purposes, I like to think that there's a bit of educational aspect to it. For example, I learned in Kitchen Nightmares that Gordon Ramsay likes to swear, a lot. In Masterchef, that sometimes the story behind the food than the food itself will get you ahead. And in Top Chef I learned what cook-to-order means.

the maple leaf, classy with a lot of substance

We're in Banff, people! Ah... Finally.... We can straighten our hunched backs and uncurl our toes, stretch those arms upwards, breath in the fresh mountain air and absorb the breathtaking vista.

dadeo, po'boy oh-boy oh-boy

There were a few instances during the road trip in Canada when I didn't bring my good camera with me, thinking that it wasn't worth carrying to lunch or dinner or any other meal I was having at the time. This was such an instance.

old spaghetti factory, to fill our bellies

Lunch-size spaghetti (with meatballs) - $8.95

My first encounter with the old spaghetti factory (OSF) was in Winnipeg at The Forks. I was charmed. The decor at the Winnipeg branch had a paris-meets-wild-wild-west feel to it, with its stained glass windows and art deco lampshades and furniture. Though they had a combination of seating arrangements, we picked one of their comfy and intimate booths.