Day 11 - Bagan (Bean Sauce Tour)

After the mornings outing we were dropped off at our guesthouse to relax a bit, nap and avoid the heat.  I took a long nap and then headed off to the nearby soybean sauce factory.  A local food only made in Bagan is a black soybean paste that some compare to vegemite, but to me tasted more like a cross between chinese black bean sauce and miso.  It's famous in the country and many burmese people come to Bagan specifically to buy the paste.  I went to one of the local production places to watch and learn about what it was and how it was made.  While they were so friendly and excited to show me around, the unfortunate thing for me was that no one spoke english so I really don't know what was happening.  I think they basically just boiled soybeans for a long time, though something else had to be added into it as why else would it turn so dark?  The waste was used for animal feed (or so I read somewhere else) and so it was green friendly, in a way.  They gave me some packets to try. When I got back to the guesthouse the older lady there saw this and asked if I wanted to try it. So we prepared it by thoroughly mixing the paste with a little sesame oil, some chopped small onions, fried garlic and a little chili. You'd mix it and mix it till it became more liquid like. Then eat. You can cook meats or veggies in this but I just had it on rice. A very strong taste, but I liked it. In fact I liked it so much that in the evening I'd order a dish of pork cooked in it.

A Missed Chance To Eat Porcupine

On my way back home from chiang mai to luang prabang my bus stopped for lunch in a small town whose name I don't know.  The lunch itself wasn't memorable however as were leaving someone notuced a weird looking animal in the kitchen.  Turns out they had caught a porcupine and were preparing it to be eaten.  I'm not sure that I've ever been so close to a porcupine before.  It's needles were something of natural beauty. Sharp enough to cut through skin but yet incredibly light and hollow. Sadly we had to leave and I didn't get the chance to taste this delicacy.



Hot washing the animal to help make the skin softer in order to have an easier time shedding the skin and needles.































Shaving the porcupine, notice the needles in the bottom of the bucket.

PotD - Making Pancakes

I love pancake, and that is a scientific fact! I've gone miles out of my way just to eat some of the self declared "best" pancakes. But being in Asia, good pancakes are hard to find. Luang Prabang is full of French and Belgian people so pancakes usually means crepes which ain't what I am talking about when I say pancakes. No, I mean real soft, fluffy, big griddle cakes. Lucky for me I have a good friend here in Luang Prabang who is always looking out for my best interests and she suggested that we make pancakes one day. I was all down for this. And when eggs and bacon got thrown into the mix, well this just made things even better. A little while later brunch was served in pancakes, eggs, bacon, fresh fruit, and the company of some funny Lao guys. But t me, the best part was eating real, made from scratch, pancakes. Thanks Amy, and thank you to whomever invented the pancakes.

PotD - Pig Teaser

This little piggy did not make it to get to go to the market. In fact looking at this picture I'm reminded of the lord of the flies chant "Kill the pig, Cut her throat, Spill her blood." I plan to post more photos soon of the Hmong Ceremony I went to where a pig was slain. Let me just tell you this, killing a pig is a lot harder than killing a sheep. The sound they make is HORRIBLE and the way they squirm and shake is very spastic and if you're not strong enough then the pig can flop around causing itself more pain. Not the easiest experience of my life, but I'm glad I was able to partake in it.

Motorbiking to The Omnivores Dilemma

Having recently read "The Omnivores Dilemma" by Michael Pollan I've found a new joy when driving through countrysides. I love to watch the cows, chickens and other animals co-exist in beneficial ways. Watching cows till the land, seeing the chickens pick through the cow dung to find grubs for food and then having the rest of the manure be left to fertilize the land. Things such as this fill me with an immense amount of joy and bring smiles upon smiles from with my lips. Not to get too preachy but as a US citizen I'm so disconnected from this natural environment. To the most of my fellow Americans we only think of chickens and cows coexisting together at the meat department of the local supermarket. But this habitat is how it's been since before man even domesticated animals.

It's very nice to get another view of how life can be lived. Moving forward isn't always progress. Technology doesn't always benefit society, or what seems like it may be better for us all (or just for big business) may not prove true over the longer period of time. But I'm not one to go too deep into all that. Right now I just love driving through countrysides, looking at animals and seeing how they live.

Eating Balut

Since coming to Asia I had wanted to find and try Balut. Balut is a fertilized duck egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside that is boiled alive and eaten in the shell. Sounds absolutely disgusting.. which is why I wanted to try it. Balut is the name I know it as which is the Philippine name, in Vietnam it's called Trứng vịt lộ. I had heard both good and bad things about it. In the end, I have to say it wasn't that bad. I don't know if I'd seek it out with the same pizzaz as I first did but I'd eat it again for sure. In fact, when I got to Lao it would be given to me as part of the New Year celebration.

it's just a normal bunch of boiled eggs, right?

even in a little cup like my mom used to serve me

wait.. that doesn't look like a normal egg. what's going on?

definitely different..

not the most appetizing to look at.

but it can't be that bad if I ate it all. :)

Nuoc Mam Hung Thanh - Visiting a Famous Fish Sauce Factory

After the Mekong, we made our way to Phu Quoc Island by ferry. We were able (with the usual vietnamese hassle) to bring our bikes on the ferry.

One of the most famous things to do on Phu Quoc is visited the fish sauce factories. One such fish sauce factory is Nuoc Mam Hung Thanh, the largest of Phu Quoc's fish-sauce makers. At first, these very big wooden barrels may make you think you're at a winery, but just breathe in to smell the amazing scent of fish sauce and you'll know otherwise. They actually let you drink some straight from a tap of the barrels, not the best think to take shots of.

wine? no.. fish sauce

view from the top looking in some vats.

fish, fish, water and fish

some more clear than others

hello, salt

cleaning up the vats in between brews must be exhausting.

Eating Lizard

Another exciting thing that happened while in Phan Rang - Thap Cham was my chance to eat a local delicacy, lizard. Slightly hard to find at first, as most locals would deny that they eat it here (much like dog) but eventually I found the area where the restaurants which served lizards was.

flash frying the lizards till they are dead.

after that we skinned the outer layer of the skin off. I say "we" as I was in and helping in the kitchen with it all.

next you slice down the middle and de-gut them.

hello insides..

don't worry, I didn't eat the guts... pretty nasty looking here.

grilling them

covered in a lime, salt and chili rub and eaten with fresh herbs.

survey says.... delicious! actually, they really were very tasty. not sure if this from the chili, salt, lime seasoning or because they indeed tasted quite good. good and meaty.

Hue Cooking Class

While in Hue, I decided to cake a cooking class. I love most Hue foods and always love learning more about cooking in general. I found two places that did a course. One cost around $80usd, one cost about $15usd. I went with the cheaper one as I'm on a pretty tight budget. I had a blast and since then I've been using some of the knowledge learned there to cook or prepare foods along the way.

Going to the market to buy some fresh ingredients. Shrimp here.

I love going to the markets in Vietnam. I buy delicious and fresh produce from the liveliest of characters.

and sometimes fresh meat.

my stage for cooking.

the spring roll insides, all mixed up.

My teacher, Huy, frying up the spring rolls.

hello tastiness. Fresh and fried spring rolls and vietnamese fish sauce.

preparing the batter for the banh khoai, a crepe like pancake filled with fresh herbs, sprouts, pork and shrimp.

Adam and Kaja trying the final product.

batter cooking...

cooking the ingredients inside.

Bun Bo (or outside of Hue, Bun Bo Hue). As a lover of soup, I look forward to making more of this.

After class I went back to the house of my teacher, Huy, and met her family (mom and me in picture here). After leaving, there happened to be a wedding happening down the street which I sort of crashed. I peeked my head in and was immediately invited to come in and then had beer poured down my throat. I should go to more vietnamese weddings :)

playing a vietnamese card game with Huy's family, for money of course since it is Vietnam.

After the owner of the hotel I was staying at found out I took a cooking class i was basically ordered to cook for her and some of the other staff. She bought the ingredients and together we had some fun making spring rolls.

roll it up.

Final product. Verdict: Delicious

Hue Foods

Hue is known for it's food, and for me this is probably one of the best reasons to come here. Long ago (well not too long, around 150 years ago) in Hue, emperors felt that the more dishes created during their reign, the more power and sophistication they would appear to have. Emperors hand-picked Vietnam's finest chefs and transferred them to Hue. Ordering these "new" locals to whip up hundreds of new creations, chefs introduced new regional flavors and texture to traditional Hue dishes. During this time, commoners were forbidden from eating these dishes reserved for Vietnamese royalty. Now-a-days we can all relish in their good efforts.

Banh Nam, flat rectangular packets of banana leaf. Inside is a base of steamed rice flour, ground pork, shrimp.

Banh Beo, Silver-dollar disks of rice flour. Topped with mung bean powder, ground shrimp, and oil-moistened green onions. Served with nuoc cham.

Banh It, sticky rice flour balls. Filling of ground or cubed pork. Garnished with oil moistened green onions and sometimes fried shallots.

Bun Bo, Hue's spicier answer to Hanoi's Pho.

Banh Khoai, local specialty of a "pancake" filled with bean sprouts, shrimp and pork. if not too fried and oily, it's very delicious.

We ate at this vegetarian restaurant quite frequently. This was the 8 treasures dish and I found it and all it's fake meat soy products to be quite delicious.

A somewhat secret and local place to get banh mi. She only opens at night and is located besides a bridge. Some of the best banh mi I've had on this trip.

One of the secret to this lady's Banh Mi are that she adds a local specialty of banh loc into the sandwich. Banh Loc are translucent, almost gelatinous tubes of sticky tapioca flour. Filling consists of whole shrimps and sliced boiled fatty pork.

Che is Vietnamese sweet dessert soup, usually served in a glass over ice and eaten with a spoon.