In my ongoing quest for new snack foods, I have discovered what is currently the reigning champ. These things are amazing. Pretzel sticks (my favorite - the only twists I like are the authentic, bready Oktoberfest-style pretzel) with a chemical flavoring of ham and cheese. They are delicious. At first I thought it was only me that was addicted to them, but Gregg took a liking to them when he was here and Lewis seems equally addicted. And the other night we fed some to the cat, who probably would've done back flips for them if she knew how.
(Sorry about the sideways video. I've yet to find a way to rotate 3gp videos without converting them to some other format)
Now, anyone that knows me knows about my passion for bacon. And pork in general. So I figured there was no way I could go wrong with deep fried pork goodness. And how right I was! It was like eating bacon on steroids. Crispy, salty, porky goodness that you eat with your fingers. I'm sure it's the most unhealthy thing on the menu, but OMG was it good! I just need to make sure that I listen to the voice in my head occassionally, or I'll be eating it every day.
The other day I ate at some restaurant I hadn't been to before overlooking Chalong Bay. Normally the view from this place is spectacular, but it was raining so we couldn't sit outside and it was nighttime so I didn't take any pictures. But that's not the point of this post. I ordered some sort of stir-fried beef, and it was served with bunches of peppercorns. I had no idea that peppercorns actually grew in bunches like grapes, but it seems they do. And man, when you bite into a bunch of peppercorns like that it fills your mouth with peppery goodness. Who knew?
I was gonna write some sort of amusing post about tonight's dinner (Chicken Satay), but I think the picture speaks for itself.
And yes, it was tasty.
I'd also like to add that Thai curry is nothing like Indian curry. I really don't like Indian curry, but Thai curry is fantastic. I dunno what the difference in preparation or ingredients is, but I'm sure glad the Thais have it down.
It's been awhile since I posted about new foods. Mostly this is because when I order something like Sweet & Sour Chicken or some other pork/chicken Thai dish, there's probably 12 things in it that are new, but I have no idea what they are so I just eat them. And most of the time they're tasty. Which means that I either need to be far more investigative into what I eat (and likely learn Thai so that when the waiter/waitress tells me in Thai I understand what he/she's talking about), or only deal with actual dishes rather than individual fruits and vegetables. Unless I'm just eating some new fruit or something.
Anyway, on to the new foods.
This large citrus fruit was very bitter. Tasted a lot like a grapefruit. I'm not a big fan, and wouldn't go out of my way to eat another one.
Tasted like mushy bananas in sticky rice. Taste wasn't bad, but didn't really like the texture. Too mushy. Felt like I had to gum it instead of chew it. Good for old people without teeth I suppose.
A sweet yellow dessert. There were three different "shapes" - ovular, star-like and stringy. The stringy were the sweetest (and obviously, tastiest). Basically they were sticky, sweet little cake-like bites. Tasty.
This image isn't really what I had (this is much fancier). What I got was a little baggy with a bunch of dried pork strips in it and another little baggy with sticky rice. And honestly, who needs the sticky rice when you have what equates to a little bag of heaven? This dried pork was like eating bacon in a snack-like format. A little leaner than bacon but with all of the bacony goodness, this stuff is the shit. I'll definitely be buying more of it.
Seeing as I didn't post (nor eat) a new food yesterday, I figured I'd do 2 today.
Char Siew Pau
Basically a doughy bun with pork inside. Tasty. Very tasty. And cheap too. I think this might be my new staple in Thailand if they're available there.
Mangosteen
Some sort of fruit with a hard shell that you crack open to get to the meaty goodness. The taste was good, but I wasn't a fan of the texture. Not sure how to describe it. Each piece was kind of like a little loose sack containing the "meat". So when you bite into it the sack sorta bursts, but has a bit of a rubbery texture to it as well. Not sure I could do this one again, or at least frequently, but only due to the texture. Also the fruit overall has an odd look to it that sorta creeps me out.
Today's food of the day is ... Dragon Fruit. So whenever someone eats dragon fruit I want you to SCREAM REAL LOUD! Err... ok, maybe not. At any rate, ate some dragon fruit for breakfast this morning. It's like 90% water and pretty tasteless. Tiny bit of sweetness and the texture is good. Kind of melts in your mouth but there's tons of little seeds in it which give it a bit of a crunchiness as you chew. Verdict: Thumbs up. I'd eat it again.
I know, another weak food. But I must say it's tough to try new foods with Ken around. He's kind of sick of the whole Asian food culture and prefers to eat pizza and pub food (and who am I to argue?). So at the breakfast buffet this morning I had some bread butter pudding. It kinda looked like a slice of cake, but was a little more runny (i.e. puddingy). And it was really buttery. I couldn't finish it, deferring to my chocolate croissant instead. I'd have to say I'm pretty neutral towards it. I'd eat it again, but it wouldn't be my first choice. Also, I should take pictures of these things.
Yesterday's new food of the day. If a snack food can be considered a new food (which I say it can). They're made of corn and rice and somewhat resemble a Cheeto. Except they're not as tasty, nor cheesy at all (though that could be because I bought the BBQ flavor). Overall I think I'd prefer Cheetos, or BBQ chips, or most other snack foods, even those shrimp chip things I had the other day. Have to give this one a thumbs down.
Ok, I know it's weak, but that was my new food for the day. Apparently bacon isn't available in Singapore due to religious issues with a large percentage of the population. So Ken and I went to Burger King and got BBQ Turkey Bacon Cheeseburgers. It was tasty, but if I have the choice I'll stick with the original.
At the airport in Tokyo I was thirsty and so purchased something that looked like a bottle of water but was called Pocari Sweat. I don't know what a Pocari is, but their sweat is pretty tasty. No wonder the Japanese decided to bottle it. It was a slightly carbonated, slightly citrusy water which apparently included electrolytes like Gatorade or such.
Out at some rocker club with Ken and David I ate a fish ball. It's kinda like a chicken ball but made from fish. I don't like fish. And it tasted fishy. Have to give this one a thumbs down.
Yesterday I tried a bunch of new things at some Thai restaurant with Ken. In no particular order I tried shrimp chips, Tom Yum Gai (Hot & Sour Chicken Soup) and fish cakes. The shrimp chips were odourless and had a consistency similar to rice cakes. Apparently the "shrimp" portion is just flavoring (according to Ken anyway, my resident Asian expert), and really they just tasted a little salty. I'd eat 'em again. The Tom Yum Gai was tasty but one spoonful and the back of my throat was burning... and not from the temperature. And apparently this particular bowl was quite mild. I fear Thailand. But it was tasty and I'd eat it again... slowly and with a lot of water. The fish cakes were far less fishy than the previous day's fish ball, and seemingly more breaded and deep fried (hence automatically tastier), but still tasted like fish (duh). They're something I'd eat late at night if I was really hungry and didn't have a lot of options, but not something I'd go out of my way to find.
I figure since I'm such a picky eater I'm going to attempt to try at least one new thing a day and then blog about it. Exciting stuff, I know. Not sure of the best way to do this, as I'd kind of like everything to end up in one post, but since it won't move to the top of the page each time I'm not sure that's the best way. Maybe I'll use a label. Hmm... ya, that's the ticket. Food label. So without further adieu I'll get to the first post.
I was going to post this with a picture, but I decided to do that after I'd already eaten one, and I can't bring myself to make another right now due to the obvious lack of nutritional value and the serious sugar rush which I haven't quite recovered from. So, pictures might happen tonight or they might take a few days, depending on how long it takes to muster up the courage to eat another one. That being said, it was delicious. And to paraphrase Ferris Bueller, if you have the means, I highly recommend whipping one up.
- 2 Brown Sugar / Cinnamon Eggo Waffles
- Peanut Butter
- Marshmallow Fluff
Serves 1.
The Craft
Originally uploaded by dos-boy.
I found this place called Red Charcoal that delivers bbq goodness. In addition to standard fare, they have a very interesting burger menu. Yesterday I ordered the Craft... A burger with macaroni and cheese (photo above). It was a novelty, and was a similar taste to hamburger helper, but it was pretty heavy. A couple of weeks ago I ordered the Nutella... A burger with nutella, peanut butter and gouda cheese. It was, as my sister likes to say, gouda. Very strong nutella flavor, which is all good if you ask me.
This pic, last post
Originally uploaded by dos-boy.
This pic should've been sent with the last post. I didn't realize that even if i'm not really _saying_ anything, I can probably still take a pic that will apply. So there, that was my revelation for the day. And it gives me a new appreciation for "mobloggers" and "photoggers".
Are those even real words??
