Fusion food

Wandering through supermarket aisles may be considered odd by some, but I admit to doing my fair share. I especially enjoy taking tours of supermarkets or drug stores or even hardware stores in countries I travel to for the first time. It can tell you a lot about the local culture, not to mention finding items you are familiar with at home, stocked in a supermarket thousands of miles away; it helps with any homesickness you feel when travelling.

Taking in the wares at Rustan's supermarkets over the holidays I noticed they've added a whole selection of French imports. I perused the packaged foods, noted a lot of coucous and herbs for cooking couscous, chestnut spreads, sea salt from Guerande, Riz d'Or bouillon cubes, and.. wait... El Paso Guacamole??? Er, ok, so it has some french words on it, but when did a product with Tex-mex roots become a French import? I guess since it sat next to the Harisa herbs for couscous, french cuisine is no longer xenophobic, at least not here in Asia.

Nang Leong Market: city walks, part one

As a tourist, there are places you must see in a particular country or city. You hit the museums, the parks, the sports stadiums, the restaurants, trek out to a volcano or castle, and for food lovers, the markets. If you've been to a place more than once, you have the opportunity to wander down the less travelled path, and peek into the lives of residents in more detail. If you're lucky, a few befriend you on the way, and allow you insight to better understand the context of their lives.

I've been to Bangkok more than a few times over the last ten years. Good friends who live and work there are reason enough to go visit, plus there's the added attraction of great food, crazy shopping, and the spirituality of the wats. When friends T and L announced that their new baby boy was going to be born in August, a few more friends and I decided to celebrate their new addition with a visit. We knew this might be the last time to catch up while they're in Asia, as they will be back in Eastern Europe for another year.

Other than celebrating the new baby (who manages to sleep through any noise level! Such a sweetheart of a boy.), I knew I'd have a couple of mornings, and most of Monday to ramble. What would I do for those spare moments? I've seen every single wat and shopping mall, plus my fair share of the canals, wet markets, and street food. This time around I wanted to walk into more residential neighborhoods and be a nosy passerby. There were two places in particular that I had on my sightseeing periscope - lunch at Chote Chitr and finding the old market of Nang Leong.

One of my favorite food blogs, Eating Asia, is composed of the talented duo of Robyn and Dave, her writing + his photos = magic! They seem like a great couple with an amazing nose for market foods and adventurous eats. They've helped me find food in Manila! Bangkok is a favorite city of theirs and they have many posts about the city's markets. One of their favorites is Nang Leong, a venerable city market that is hidden away in one of the city's many urban neighborhoods. Built in 1899, it was one of the first markets that was not built on the canals. Over the century, it has remained the center of its neighborhood, but it disappeared from the city's travel literature and maps - don't expect to see any markers for it. Reading Eating Asia's tribute to the market on their blog and in an article on the Wall Street Journal, I decided I had to go in search of the market, spend at least an hour wandering around, and finding me some good eats.

I started out later than I had planned, as breakfast at chez Eugene had to be downed properly. My able host, his nephew, and a good friend all pooled their talents to make a homecooked meal, and I wasn't about to be a disrespectful guest. By the time I tore myself away from the comforts of my home away from home, it was 10 am, and the heat was on high. Mental debate ensued - take a cab or walk to the corner-get a motorbike to take me to the skytrain-take train till Victory Monument-then cab it to the Golden Mount?

One straight taxi ride later, I got off at the Golden Mount, a wat built in the shape of a mountain. It was extremely quiet and unburdened by tourists, and I would have spent more time there if I wasn't aware that I didn't know where the market was and had to do a hide and seek walk. I headed in the direction of the Royal Princess Hotel, which was on the corner of the area I had marked as the market's location. I was tempted to duck into the airconditioned hotel lobby to cool off after the short walk, but I persevered, and started to round the corner along the street. I saw a vegetable truck go into an alley, and figured whither goeth the vegies, there lies the market. My instincts proved correct as the tight road wiggled in and around the market. I soon found myself in the middle of Nang Leong, where no more than twenty vendors sold fresh fruits, vegetables, butchered pork and chicken; the rest of the market was taken over by food stalls, and the perimeter of the market was where family diners (for the lack of a better description) sold great bowls of noodle soups, curries, and all manner of thai food. I stopped inside one of the inner market stalls, and bought myself a plate of noodle salad made out of wide rice noodles, dried shrimps, a stew of chinese mushrooms, pork and tofu in a herby soup, topped with fried garlic, chives, and chilli. I ate my second breakfast at one of the metal tables, giving a smile at the older gentleman sitting diagonal to me. He returned the smile and began to chat me up. He was Dang (possible misspell in the name, but that's the closest phonetic rendition of his name), 65 years of age, and a longterm resident of Nang Leong. A retired civil servant, he proudly showed off the newly built market roof, and pointed to a corner diner for the best curries. He offered to get me a bottled water, but what I needed and bought was a glass of manao or slightly salty lime juice, my favorite refreshment after thai iced tea. We were sometimes joined by the beverage stand owner and his personable dog. The dog follows his owner to the market everyday and keeps watch over the tables. Dang helped me buy a guava as I headed off down the road towards the Democracy Monument, and I left Nang Leong happy with my short communion with Thai life.

Fresh donuts

There's a wonderfully detailed article about breakfast and all sorts of delicious looking breakfasts available in the New York magazine. The series on breakfast includes a interesting piece about why we should eat breakfast but it also notes how often most adults skip the meal. Another follow up deals with all sorts of breakfast cereals, and there's a piece just about coffee. While I agree that in the US, breakfast is primarily a solitary chore to cook and eat, leading one to grab and go, part of the problem may lie in the less than appetizing options for healthy breakfasts. Why should it be limited to cereal and milk, or a bran muffin? I love Asian breakfasts - congee with toppings, soup noodles, chinese crullers with soy milk, a spicy bowl of pho, fried rice! Eggs, meat, vegies, pickles even. Garlicky, fruity, hearty. You can eat it leftovers, but better to eat something fresh and newly made no? A favorite breakfast is garlicky fried rice, a couple of yokey eggs, and crunchy dilis or dangit. Have some hot chocolate with it too!

On a recent market trip, I went to a few suki's - the coffee stand, the piaya man. Now, I was reading a recent post about the best piaya in town. My favorite piaya is the freshly made disks at Salcedo. Go around 8, and you'll find the piaya guy cooking them fresh on the flat cooker. Hot and sweet, they match the acid bitterness of the coffee bought a couple of stalls down. On this visit, I was buying empanadas (also a good breakfast option!) for my folks when I saw the vendors cooking up hot and fresh doughnuts, 8 inch logs of doughy goodness, dropped into a baking sheet of sugar before wrapped in wax paper for the customers waiting. One lady before me bought 10 of them! I was determined to try them out, for what fresh donut doesn't taste wonderful? I'm not one for the overly sugary doughnuts of many large multi-national brands, but something made right in front of me, and eaten hot is always a great way to start the day. I bought three, one for me and two to give to my parents. The doughnut is not round, it's a log. It's puffed up from the cooking, and dangerously hot to the tongue. But after a few moments after its sugar dressing, melted a bit on the surface, I take a bite and have that moment of mouth-stomach-brain contentment. What does it take to make someone happy? Sometimes it's just as simple as frying some dough and dusting it with sugar. Add a cup of coffee, and watching other people walk by. It's not rocket science, and it doesn't get any better than that.