A blog about food, history, data visualization, and more
Penang Island–a small (300 sq. km), highly urbanized island off the coast of northern Malaysia–was HOT in the food blogosphere world in the autumn, with visits by Real Thai, Rambling Spoon, Chubby Hubby, and Rasa Malaysia. I visited for a few days in October, and have finally gotten around to posting some remarks and photos.
A Shock to the SensesFor someone used to the low-key, climatically mild, and well-sidewalked San Francisco Bay Area, Kuala Lumpur can be shocking. It’s hot, often chaotic, and pedestrians need to take a combined approach of aggression and defensiveness when trying to cross a street (even when the walk sign is on). The noise of […]
While futilely chasing some shopping recommendations in the latest Footprint Borneo Guide (which includes chapters on Kuala Lumpur and Singapore), I ran across an interesting brochure at one of the many multi-floor shopping centers in Kuala Lumpur. “Try Our Delicious Rendang WRAPPO today,” it reads. Try it as part of O’Brien’s Ramadhan Set, the announcement […]
Super-dosa, as I’m calling it, stands outside of Komala’s vegetarian restaurant at the corner of Kitchner and Serangoon Roads in Singapore’s Little India (across the street from the Ferrar Park MRT stop). The first time I saw it was 18 months ago, when I visited Singapore for two days during an extended Asian trip. But […]
[update : “Gaylan district” corrected to “Geylang district” in the fresh bean curd description] As promised in an earlier post, some more details about the 9-photo collage. Through the wonders of digital photo editing, I broke the square into three rectangles, and will explain them from left to right. Yam puff. A crispy fried pastry […]
(Updated 10/8/16: changed title, added tags to photos, removed broken links) The word “unusual” has many uses: odd, abnormal, rare, unconventional. Whereas my previous “unusual greens” posts have been about rare greens, this post is about “amazing” and “exceptional” greens. The reason for this is that the “Borneo greens” aren’t from the Farmers’ Market or […]
Top (L to R): yam puff, pandan pancake with peanut filling, carrot cake (a Singaporean street classic) Middle: khandvi (an Indian chaat dish), cheese murtabak, fresh bean curd Bottom: char kway teaw (rice and egg noodles in dark sauce), dokla chaat, teh tarik After the significant detour in the last post, it’s time to return […]
Laksa is one of the stars of the cuisine of the Malay peninsula (Malaysia and Singapore) and northern Borneo (Sarawak). Laksa is a category of food — like curry or soup — but the basic dish generally comprises a flavorful broth, noodles, and seafood. The varieties of laksa include: Nonya laksa (a.k.a. laksa lemak) – […]