How to survive an Azeri feast

So I read an article on "How to survive a Georgian feast" over at BBC. It was about the Georgian supra, which the author said was only offered to the luckiest of visitors. I've never had a Georgian supra, but I've been invited to an Azeri sunnat celebration in Baku.

The first appetisers arrived around 7PM and dishes continued coming until 11PM such that plates and bowls were piled on top of each other on the table-- the picture on the banner is from our table. The dishes were quite similar to the ones described in the supra, but with Turkish-sounding names. Several kinds of olives, nuts, breads, dolmas, and shashliks; a few stews and salads; the best caviar I've had ever; plov; countless baklavas, pastries, and cakes. There was no pork, of course, but lots of alcohol ranging from red wines (for the ladies, according to my hosts) to several kinds of vodkas and brandies.

There were also a lot of toasts during the feast. I was asked to give several toasts at the table and, as the only foreigner in the room, was mandated to give a toast on the stage right before the celebrant's father. It was a privilege, of course, but I didn't really know what to say in honour of a boy who was was going to get circumcised the next day. There was a bit of ceremony then some dancing. They were teaching me the steps and hand movements, but by then I was piled high with food and alcohol that everything was a blur. I couldn't have danced any better if I were sober, so being sloshed was a good excuse for poor dancing.

I went back to the hotel around 2AM barely able to feel my face, but feeling very lucky to have partaken in an Azeri feast.

Food Trips 2

Featuring food from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Singapore, and Turkey. In chronological order; i.e., as I ate them. See the pictures here.

Bishkek, Day 1

Erkindik (Freedom) monument on Ala-Too Square, Bishkek

Currency: Kyrgyz Som (KGS)

USD 1 = KGS 43.40; KGS 1 = PHP 1.11

It is Sunday today so I have one rest day in Bishkek before the work starts tomorrow. I arrived at FRU around 2:30am today but got out of the airport around one hour after because of the long lines for visa on arrival and immigration. Tourist season + inefficient immigration procedures = nightmare.

The weather here is very pleasant, around 30C right now but at night it's about 20C. As I wrote during my last time here, Bishkek is a very walkable city. We just spent the last few hours walking around the city centre and the main city landmarks, which are near the Silk Road Lodge in which where we are staying. Not a bad small hotel, although I think it's quite overpriced given its amenities (EUR 105/night). I would've liked to post more of the pics I took today, but the hotel internet is EUR 4.00 for every 100MB of traffic.

Had lunch at the Arzu Cafe, around five minutes walk from the hotel. It serves good Central Asian food-- we had plov (below), mutton shashlik, and shorpo, all washed down with Stella Artois beer made in Kyrgyzstan (much better than the original, in my opinion).

I also bought qute a few grocey items at the Beta Stores, which is a 15-minute walk from the hotel. Beta Stores is a relatively upscale supermarket/department store in Bishkek, but a lot of products are very cheap compared to the costs in Manila. Here are a few price indicators:

1.5 litres mineral water = KGS 17.00

95 grammes fruit yoghurt = KGS 11.00

50 grammes green tea (in 25 tea bags) = KGS 28.00

1 kilo shelled walnuts, unsalted = KGS 351.00

1 kilo dried sultanas = 208.00

Mass-Produced Goodness

Mass-production and good food are two concepts you don't often see in the same sentence, but here are a few products that made them compatible. See the pictures here.

Hung Wan Cafe & Bakery Shop

My Dear and I ate at a lot of places when we went to Hong Kong but the one place we miss the most is this bakeshop, located just across the Metropark Hotel Mongkok where we stayed. We were hooked on the place after I bought a few buns and an egg tart on a whim, and it quickly became our daily breakfast place.

The venue itself isn't really much: think old-school small Chinese restaurant complete with dingy never-been-scrubbed walls and tiles and, if they had a restroom, you'd probably not want to use it. Really a hole-in-the-wall kind of place, the kind that probably existed since the 1920s, possibly even earlier, and has never been touched by any kind of interior design. It's the kind of place that won't be on any tourist map-- the Hong Kong Tourism Board won't exactly consider its grimy interiors as the island's best representative-- but it is very popular with the locals, who we see every morning when we have breakfast. It's the kind of place that has been around forever making the same things over and over until perfection; unfortunately, cleanliness and ambience aren't among their priorities.

The staff are friendly and they try to accommodate, but they don't speak any English. The menus aren't in English either. If, like us, you don't speak a word of Chinese, ordering will be done via pointing, gestures, and, mercifully, a few common English words. In our case, that one English word was "coffee". Regular tea is served on the house. Oh, bring a jacket-- the aircon is always on full Arctic blast even if it's 20C outside.

Its menu is not so varied-- noodles, baked buns (sweet and savoury), pastries-- but the few things they make they make very well. Our favourite is what we call in Manila as Spanish bread: golden brown top with sesame seeds; perfectly chewy texture; right amount of butter, sugar, and dessicated coconut for filling. They also make great egg tart (nice crumbly crust, subtly flavoured custard) and ham and egg bun (they don't scrimp on the ham or egg)-- in fact, everything we ordered was just superb. By some mysterious method, Hung Wan got the texture of their bread just right. Hong Kong, by the way, makes great breadstuffs, and Hung Wan was the best of them all. Each order of bun or pastry costs between HKD 4 to HKD 7; the Spanish bread costs HKD 5.

The coffee, which is the only drink we knew how to order, wasn't too bad either. Each order is freshly brewed using what looks like an old cheesecloth which has seen better days and some pre-War-looking metal pitchers and steamers. Only old-school coffee making here; no espresso machines in sight. Ordering "coffee" means you're served coffee with heavy cream and sugar already mixed in. I actually prefer black coffee, but I didn't know how to order it in Chinese. In any case, the standard coffee, which costs HKD 10 a cup, is quite thick and heavy-- the closest analogue I can think of is that thick Spanish-style hot chocolate. No coffee in Starbucks has this depth of texture. It was pretty good, actually, and really picked us up for a long day of walking.

Bottomline, best bakeshop ever. If you can get over the looks of the place. Here are the scores:

Quality = 9.0
Size = 7.5
Taste = 9.5
Ambience = 2.0
Service = 6.0
Value = P406.90
Price = HKD 20 = P133.60
Sulit Rating = 2.91 > 1

Here's their address and contact info, lifted from their takeaway plastic bag:

Hung Wan Cafe & Bakery Shop
726 Shanghai St., Mongkok, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Tel. 2392-6038, 2393-7852

See the pictures (and this review) here.

Hong Kong and Macau: Food Pics

See the pictures on my Multiply site here.

Hong Kong, Day 2: Stinky Tofu

It's our second day in Hong Kong (see previous posts here and here) and our feet are killing us.  Started the day with some breakfast at a Honk Kong-style pastry shop then went up to The Peak, followed by some brief shopping at Causeway Bay, a long walk along Nathan Road, and a lot of shopping at Ladies' Market (see my Dear's post here).

We've had a lot of good meals here at the Fragrant Harbour and hopefully I'll get to writing about them soon, but as the title suggests this post is about my experience with stinky tofu.  I've heard a lot about this delicacy from travel show hosts, particularly Andrew Zimmern, Anthony Bourdain, and Janet Hsieh.  It's reputed to be one of the world's more adventurous foods, often placed in the same level of funkiness with balut and century egg. Now, I like balut and century egg, so I thought stinky tofu shouldn't be that bad.

So there I saw stinky tofu on one of the street stalls around the Ladies' Market, deep fried and sitting on a strainer-- two large, greasy pieces skewered on bamboo satay sticks cost HKD 15.00.  It was crisp and golden brown, not unlike the other deep-fried tofus we get at Chinese restaurants or at home.  It did start reeking its fermented smell at that point, but it's still ok.  Nothing horrid. Yet.

The real assault starts on the first bite-- it has the same texture as other fried tofu, but with the taste of what I think would be the taste of thick cotton socks used for one week straight on a trek through a humid jungle then left in a cupboard with raw fish for a month.  No, I have to correct myself-- the stinky tofu was worse than that.  

Being true to Zimmern's philosophy I finished one piece, which was all I could take.  I just had to throw away the other one, and if you know me you'll know that's something I do not do with a light heart.  The worst part was the aftertaste-- it stays with you in your stomach for a long time and, several hours and more than a few drinks and dishes after, I can still taste it especially when I have a burp.

So, yes, my adventurous tastebuds have met their match.  I wouldn't want to have to eat (or smell) stinky tofu again, but I have to say I'm glad I tried it.  At least I can relate with Zimmern, Bourdain, or Hsieh when they say how disgusting it is.  Being a foodie isn't all about gourmet dishes and haute cuisines.  Sometimes, well, stinky tofu happens.

Spice Trade

There was a time when spices were so expensive in Europe that they were more expensive than gold.  After centuries of subsisting on salt, herbs, and cheeses to flavour their food, Europeans couldn't get enough of exotic Eastern spices when these were introduced by Arab merchants.  This hunger eventually forced Europeans to find alternatives to the Arab spice monopoly, bringing in the Age of Exploration, the "discovery" of the New World and the Philippines, and eventually colonisation and all the problems it generated.

Fast-forward to today where mass production means spices are affordable by everyone and globalisation means they're potentially available everywhere.  Thanks to these economic forces of our day, here's what I got from my last Bay Area trip, and how I plan to use them:

7 Spices-- Arab spice mix, also known as bokharat; stews, rub for roasts

Berbere-- Ethiopian spice mix; stews, rub for roasts

Cayenne Pepper-- ground Mexican cayenne pepper (really a chilli powder); seasoning

Chile Arbol-- Mexican dried chile, hot; stews, sauces

Chile Chipotle-- Mexican dried chile, hot; stews, sauces

Chile Pasilla-- Mexican dried chile, mild; stews, sauces, for stuffing

Furikake-- Japanese condiment mix; rice topping

Jerk Spices-- Jamaican spice mix; rub for roasts

Kabsah Spices-- Arab spice mix; stews, stock base for rice

Ras El Hanout-- Arab spice mix, literally meaning "head of the shop"; stews, rub for roasts

Shichimi Togarashi-- Japanese seven-spice mix; seasoning, rice topping

Sumac-- ground Iranian sumac fruit; seasoning, stews, rice topping

---

By the way, for the English nuts out there, here's a guide on the proper usage of chile, chili, and chilli:

Chile refers to the pod of the Capsicum genus of plants; e.g., habanero chile.

Chili refers to the Latin American or Southwestern dish made with meat and beans; e.g., chili con carne.

Chilli refers to the ground spice sold as a seasoning or in a mix; e.g., chilli powder.

Singapore Food Trip

Took a lot of pics, so I'm posting on my multiply. I have two posts:

Hainanese Chicken Rice, Char Kway Teow, etc.

Sha Tin Kitchen- restaurant review

Sushi Nights and Steak Dinners

Whenever I go to the Bay Area, I make a list of restos to visit and dishes to taste-- Masu for sushi rolls, Joy Luck for dimsum, Red Robin for burgers, La Petite Camille for banh cuon, etc. The list often changes and is subject to whim, but there are always a few constants-- dishes I have to taste each and every Pacific crossing because, well, they're just too damn good. Two of those constants (see title) are courtesy of my brother-in-law, Chef Richard.

Sushi Night is all about California-style rolls and nigiris, which are Richard's specialties. The actual composition of the rolls depends on whatever was just bought at the supermarket, usually Suruki Supermarket in downtown San Mateo. Mainstays are unagi (roasted eel), maguro (tuna), toro (fatty tuna), and shake (salmon), usually combined in some combination with avocados, nori (seaweed sheets) and sushi-meshi (vinegared rice) to make the sushi rolls. Those red dots you see in the picture are drops of sriracha, a Thai chili sauce, which can also be used to make spicy tuna.

Another meal I always look forward to is my Steak Dinner. Now, I usually avoid beef and other red meat, but I drop my beef abstinence for special dishes, and this is one of them. Unlike most American steaks, this steak needs no sauce to make the meat taste better. There's really nothing better than perfectly-cooked marbly beef just off the griddle/pan/oven and onto your plate. I like my steaks medium rare, a little pink in the centre and very juicy. Richard says he doesn't make good steaks-- nonsense, since his steaks are some of the best I've had, and I'm not saying this just to be nice. Much better than the steak I had at Outback, really. On the picture you'll see my steak topped with herbed butter, on a bed of peppered brown rice and steamed vegetables (hey, we need something healthy to counter the steak).

Other great dishes I've had the pleasure of savouring include roasted vegetable antipasti, stuffed mushrooms, chicken breast in veloute sauce, beef stew, clam chowder, eggplant parmigiana, the list goes on-- all of them superb hits. There have been a few misses from time to time, of course, but Richard would be the first to call them misses. He sometimes dabbles in the catering business, so far limiting himself to small parties (20 people or less) in the Bay Area. I'd add his contact information right about now for would-be clients, but so far my Sis (Richard's wife) hasn't emailed me the contact info they'd like posted here. ;) When/If she does read this post, you'll see the info in the comments section below. Do contact them if you happen to be in the Bay Area and are thinking of having a small party.

Manila, log off

Arrived in Manila three days ago. I started this habit of "logging off" my travelogue upon my return when I went to Central Asia last April, mainly because I was actually blogging while I was on travel. On this trip, however, I logged a measly five posts (two not about travel) in the three weeks I was in SFO. But I'll still log off, even if the bulk of my entries for my SFO trip will be written after I've logged off. Oh well.

Like my work, I have a backlog of stuff to blog about, mostly about food (which is why I'm logging off here and not in the other blog). Stuff include Red Robin, my brother-in-law's steak dinner, Noche Buena, Chinese-style fried flounder, and 25-year-old port wine. Maybe I'll get to writing about them next week, when my boss is gone (hehehe).

Anyway, for now here's a few stuff I found over at BBC:

Wine and snottiness

Playing with food

San Francisco Bay Area, Day 9

Arived in SFO nine days ago, and have been too, um, occupied to blog. So here's a run-down of what I've been not blogging about the past few days.

Day 1 onwards: My Mom's home cooking-- Yes, I only get my childhood comfort food when I'm on vacation in SFO. After all the countries, cuisines, and restaurants I've tried, nothing beats Mom's cooking. So far, I've had pork sinigang, garlic-fried salmon belly, soy-marinated catfish, linguine in meat sauce, and lots of fried rice. Looking forward to the stuffed cabbage, beef mechad or nilaga, etc. Michelin and Zagat have nothing on this.

Day 1: Masu (3rd Ave., San Mateo, CA)-- This is a Japanese restaurant specialising in the quick-fire production of California sushi rolls. It features an all-you-can-eat lunch for $12/person, which of course we availed ourselves of. There is no buffet table here; rather, you order each dish you want after you finish the last one you ordered. As far as sushi craftsmanship goes, Masu will not exactly please the aesthetic sense of the shogun-- the rolls look like they were haphazardly done (something to be expected here) and the rice sometimes falls as soon as you dip into the soysauce. Flavour-wise, it isn't bad with its varied selection of sushi rolls, and the raw fish are fresh enough for the average Joe (i.e., no fishy smell). Aside from sushi rolls, you may also order tempura, ramen, and teriyaki-- the salmon teriyaki is actually good. Service is pretty fast and efficient, and your order usually comes within five minutes, longer if you order cooked stuff. Bottomline, Masu isn't haute Japanese cuisine, but it offers superb value for money and is much better than the average buffet lunch in its price level.

Day 2: Godiva Chocolates (Hillsdale Mall, San Mateo, CA)-- Godiva makes some of the smoothest chocolates I've eaten. Quite pricey, but good. As usual, I prefer the white and milk chocolates over the dark. They also make blended chocolate shakes in this store, which for me defeats the purpose of going to Godiva.

Day 4: Marina Food (Norfolk St., San Mateo, CA)-- No this isn't a restaurant, this is one of the many Asian supermarkets in the Bay Area, and a very well-stocked one at that. The reason Marina made it to this post is because of what it sells-- Victorias Spanish Sardines and Bangus. After weeks of looking for them in Manila (my folks wanted be to bring some to SFO), this is where I find those orange-and-yellow cans. For those who don't know, Victorias are a Filipino company selling goods manufactured in the Philippines. A stocker in Landmark Supermarket (Gateway Mall, Quezon City) told my Dear and me that Victorias have stopped delivering their products to local stores and instead export practically all their stuff. Well, this confirms his story.

Day 6: Copenhagen Bakery & Cafe (Burlingame Ave., Burlingame, CA)-- I've been going here since 2001 usually for coffee and desserts, but this is the first time I had breafast here. People here will find this weird since Copenhagen has been a breakfast institution in Burlingame for decades, with many people walking here from church on Sunday mornings. I got the Veracruz omelette ($8.95)-- roasted peppers, avocados, sour cream, and cheese-- which was that day's special; my Dad got the Popeye omelette ($7.75), which had spinach and cheese; and my Mom got blueberry pancackes ($6.95), which always seem to come in threes. All omelette orders come with country-fried potatoes and buttered toast, which makes this a very hearty breakfast indeed. Copenhagen has a relaxed and casual atmosphere, and, despite its brisk business, has managed to keep its neighbourhood feel. And yes, avocados are a good filling for omelettes, depending on what goes with it.

Day 8: Noche Buena-- I'll have a special post for this. Eventually.

Day 9: Carl's Jr. (Triton Dr., Foster City, CA)-- I got the Portobello Mushroom 6-Dollar Burger. It was very good, I should say. Much better than the restaurant burgers I get in Manila. For one, you can actually taste the beef here, which is thick and juicy, not the anemic and shrivelled patties in most burger places in Manila. They are also generous with the lettuce, tomatoes, and mushrooms (of course). And to think Carl's Jr. burgers only rate 18 out of a possible 30 in Zagat surveys, so at most it is above average and in no way an outlier. So yes, the Americans make a pretty darned good burger.

Hong Kong, T minus 2 hours

At the CX lounge in HKG now, the one called The Pier (CX has two lounges in HKG, the other called The Wing). As far as airport lounges go, the CX lounge in HKG is the best in amenities and food. Top marks for design, though, goes to the TK lounge in Istanbul with its palatial interior design.

The food in the CX lounge in HKG is superb, complete with a Noodle Bar where you order freshly cooked noodles. In no other lounge have I seen freshly cooked food; usually the main course is a bunch of cold sandwiches and soups kept on warm. For this layover, I got the following: wonton noodles, spring rolls, fried rice, sausages wrapped in bacon, vegetable tempura, and a fruit plate. And before you start making aspersions about my appetite (which, if you know me, are not necessarily off the mark), the serving sizes I got were very small, like a piece or two of each dish. So, no, I'm not about to burst with all this free food.

Next stop, SFO.

KL food trip

It's been almost a week since I got back from KL, so this post is long overdue. Unfortunately, my KL trip wasn't the food trip I expected (work getting in the way of what I should be doing in KL, hehehe), but it did have its highlights.

1. Otak-otak. I wrote about this in a previous post, and I did get to try it in KL. Rather than baked or grilled, the version I tasted was steamed. It basically tastes like a fish-flavoured tamale with a good hint of chili and curry. It was actually not bad, although I don't see myself craving for it either.

2. Nasi Ayam. Nasi means rice, ayam means chicken, and nasi ayam is a common meal served by street hawkers in KL. An order of nasi ayam costs around RM 5 to RM 6, giving you a generous serving of spicy fried rice and a modest piece of fried chicken breast, sometimes with a soup of garlic and cilantro on the side. One can also order nasi daging (beef or mutton) instead of chicken, or mee ayam (noodles) instead of rice. Basically, street hawkers have a set of staples on one hand (fried rice, fried noodles, noodle soup, fried bread) and viands on the other (chicken, beef, mutton, seafood) and you can order any combination of staple and viand within a reasonably narrow price range.

3. Teh tarik. Basically black tea sweetened with condensed milk (RM 2). Teh means tea and tarik means altitude-- the tarik in teh tarik comes from the process of mixing the tea and condensed milk. Place piping hot black tea and condensed milk in one cup (usually metal) and pour it onto another cup, increasing the distance (or altitude) between the cups as you go proceed. This process cools down the tea and gives it a frothy texture. Now, I'm more of a green tea person, but teh tarik ranks high in my list of black tea favourites, second only to Indian masala chai.

4. Roti bawang. Roti (RM 3) is an Indian bread cooked on a hot griddle instead of baked. It begins as a ball of dough that is stretched many times over, giving the final product a chewy texture-- you'll see the same process in making pizza dough. Unlike pizza dough, roti is much thinner and folded over when cooked, so it is pretty light despite being cooked in oil. Bawang in Bahasa means onion, so I got the onion roti. One can also add an egg or even some meat to the roti. It is served with a thick curry sauce (taken from any meat curry dish they have lying around) on the side.

Manila, T minus 24 hours

I'm going to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, tomorrow. This is actually my second time in KL and, if the first trip is any indicator, I think this will be a good food trip (hopefully, work won't get too much in the way).

Among the highlights of my previous trip:

1. Hainanese chicken rice in Suria KLCC (below the Petronas Twin Towers). Unlike the dish that goes by the same name in Manila that is basically glorified tinola (not that tinola is bad, but if I wanted tinola I'll order tinola), the chicken here is roasted, not boiled. The chicken is first cooked ala-Peking duck, then chopped and served with rice cooked in chicken broth and some vegetables.

2. Salmon/Beef teppanyaki at Concorde Hotel. Ok, this is not Malaysian, but their teppanyaki sauce is so far my favourite. It's very garlicky that it's almost a cross between teppanyaki and ala probre sauces. Not really traditional Japanese fare, but I like it.

3. Some set meal in Suria KLCC. Ok, I was in Suria a lot-- that's because it's a 10-minute walk from my hotel. But this food court is in the non-touristy part of Suria where the real and cheap Malaysian food is served. For the equivalent of P70, you get three big viands and rice. I got two vegetable dishes-- something like curried taro leaves and curried langka-- and a spicy chicken dish (I like to say rendang but I'm not so sure). Best meal in KL I had, including hotel and resto food. No kidding.

4. Malaysian halo-halo in Suria KLCC and Bukit Bintang. The main difference with our halo-halo is (1) different fruits like durian, lychees, and others I don't recall or recognise, (2) coconut milk instead of evaporated milk, and (3) no beans.

I'll try to pay more attention this time, and take some pics.

Saciçi (sa-ji-chee)

I had this dish during my trip to Baku. It tastes like the Filipino aftritada and is a good introduction to Azeri cuisine. It's easy to prepare and all ingredients are available in the Philippines. Saciçi literally means "in the sac". The sac is the paelleri-looking dish in the picture.

Ingredients:
butter
water
chicken
potatoes
onions
tomatoes
bell peppers (preferrably green)
eggplants/aubergines
oranges
salt

1. Heat the sac; in the absence of a sac you may use a wok or any other shallow pan. Place butter and water in the sac. Keep in mind to keep the butter-to-water ratio at 2:1 or 3:2; i.e., more butter than water. The water is there to keep the butter from burning as you cook the chicken. Bring to a boil.

2. Place chicken (slightly salted) in the sac. The chicken would be of the same size as in afritada. Cook the chicken in the butter-and-water mixture.

3. When the chicken is almost cooked, add the onions, potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers, and eggplants-- again same size as if you're making afritada. Cover the sac and cook until the vegetables are done.

4. While it's hot, garnish with sliced oranges then serve.

Azeris usually serve this with greens on the side and pita bread, but I'm sure this will go well with rice.

Looking for Grechnevaya Kasha

No, this isn't a personal ad for a Russian girl-- there are other sites for that.

Grechka (гречка) is Russian for roasted buckwheat groats and kasha (каша) is porridge, so grechnevaya kasha (гречневая каша) is buckwheat porridge.

I had grechnevaya kasha twice when I was in Dushanbe-- once in my colleague's house (pictured) and the other time on board Tajikistan Airlines. The kasha is the brown-rice-looking stuff on the left side of the plate; beside it are mutton rissoles (kotleta in Russian), some mashed potatoes, and pasta.

Grechnevaya kasha is simply prepared by boiling the groats like one does to rice; in special preparations it is cooked in broth and some onions. It is quite similar in taste and texture to brown or red rice, albeit much nuttier and coarser. It is often topped with some butter and served as a side dish-- bread is the omnipresent staple-- but of course, I took to it like rice and treated the rissoles like my ulam. On the plane, I was served kasha with roasted chicken.

Anyway, I recently found myself craving for grechnevaya kasha and can't find it anywhere. So if you know where to find it, do tell me.