We usually start our mornings like most typical Asian people with a bowl of soup. Savory, nutritious, easy and quickly digested providing an immense amount of energy to begin your day. Some mornings it's a simple packet of miso or a bowl of raman, but when guests are here we do it up!. Our latest Asian soup obsession in Laksa, the national dish of Malaysia and we decided that would make a great light meal.
This is one of many bowls of Laksa to come. We're just starting with our exploration of this soup and we shall be revisiting this dish as we expand on the intricate flavors that make up this curry-scented, thick, light, hearty, sweet, savory gravy of a soup. More to come we promise.
On a whim one morning, we decided to whip up a Japanese dish we didn't have for breakfast. In fact we first discovered this Japanese dish while walking the streets late at night in Osaka. We find them to be perfect for breakfast, brunch on the weekends and dinner anytime really.
Okonomiyaki has been described to us as a Japanese pizza or pancake, but in actually it's more on the line of a fritter. Made with a Japanese yam - yama imo, as the main binding ingredient. When ground down properly a thick gooey paste is made with little taste, but a whole lot so deliciousness!
We say fritter because the main ingredient is a vegetable - cabbage, the main base and texture. The yam paste, a little bit of flour and some eggs makes these Japanese loved fritters a light and savory way to start the day. Topped with some kewpie mayo, okonomiyaki sauce, Japanese seven spice Togarashi and bonito flakes usually charred with a blow torch, the mainly vegetable dish is a great way to start the day. It's light, filling, but not heavy and provides a punch of vitamins and natural digestive enzymes to get your body moving!
We knew we wanted to throw our friends a farewell bbq on their last Friday in town and we knew instantly what we wanted to grill. We missed all the grilled meats and foods on skewers all over Asia and we had been waiting for an excuse to go all out and grill up our favorites from our travels.
Everything had to be able to be eaten in a roll or in a noodle bowl. This is an Asian themed bbq which meant lots of greens, fresh herbs, dipping sauces and a light salad.
There were grilled shisho beef rolls
Sugarcane Shrimp
Sate Ayam - Balinese chicken skewers
Nem Nuong Ninh Hoa - Vietnamese marinated grilled pork
For a special treat we put out the last of our homemade kimchi, in case anyone wanted to add a bit of kick to their rolls or noodle bowls.
It was a great farewell bbq and hopefully it made a lasting impression on our friends. At least enough of an impression to entice them to moving up here for good!
No comments:
Post a Comment