Question from Joey

What is your favorite new food that you have discovered?


ANSWER: Ok, so when I lived at home I loved Ramen noodles, you know the cheap ones you can buy like 10 packages for a dollar? Well, living in Asia they have taken noodles to completely new level!! One of my favorites is called curry laksa (see photo) and it's a noodle soup made with coconut milk, chili, lemongrass, cilantro and whatever else you can throw into it. It's a little spicy but I've gotten used to it...it is soooooo good!

Another food that I've grown to love is deep fried pork belly (don't be shocked, pork belly is just unsliced bacon so you know it has to be good!). At first I didn't know that it was bacon so I was a little scared but after tasting it I was hooked. The top of it is crunchy like a pork rind and then the meat is very juicy like a stack of bacon. I have learned how to make this one and have even BBQ'd one with great results! (see photo)

Even though I'm diabetic, I occassionally get a sweet tooth and the one dessert I found that hits the spot is pandan layer cake (see photo). Pandan is actually a plant, we would call it screwpine leaves and the cake is made from the essence or juice of this plant along with some coconut milk and flour and lots of eggs. It's not that sweet, it's just right, so it cures my sweet tooth. The green layers are the made from the pandan leaves and is like sponge cake, the whiter layers are actually called kaya layers or coconut jam. This is one dessert I always bring home with me for everyone to try!

One of my favorite Chinese dishes but can't find yet in Indonesia is a yam basket. They mash up yams and form a bowl out of it and then deep fry it, then they fill it with various meats and vegetables. It's both sweet and savoury and very healthy even though it's deep fried. (see photo)