Thursday, July 10, 2008

My Experiments with Food

It has been one year since I got back from Malaysia and I'm finally putting up some pictures. These are some of the things I'd eaten there, which I've been boasting about for so long.

Background story : I'm supposed to be a pure vegetarian. When I got to Malaysia and asked for vegetarian food, I was given tofu (which I absolutely detest).....Finally, after being fed up by the so-called vegetarian food, I didnt bother and ate anything and everything that filled my stomach...Some of it was yummmm, some were disgusting and in some cases, I had no idea what was going into my mouth... So here are some pictures of more or less everything I ate during my 3 months in Malaysia :








All of this was SO sweet. I had a sucrose overdose !!! And this was just week 1. I dont know why Malaysians put so much groundnut and coconut in every dish. It gets annoying you know.



Roti Canai...The only reason i survived in Malaysia for so long.



Roti something...



They serve juice like that everywhere...Whatever happened to regular glasses



Me secretly sipping dal at a McDonalds outlet...I think this was week 1...still wasnt used to meat...so Vivien bought roti and dal from some Indian place, poured the dal into a McDonalds cup and instructed me to eat it quietly so as to not make anyone suspicious. What better way to eat dal than sip it



Hokkien noodles... This was not good...at all. Period.





Ice kacang...not meant for me..... They put crushed ice with some coloured flavoured liquid (very much like our ice golas) into a bowl. Then they add semi-solid steamed corn, groundnuts, some slimy green things..... and its just not my idea of the perfect dessert. Malaysians love it and I just cant seem to understand why. Why groundnuts in everything !?!?!?!



As disgusting at this may look, I actually liked this. Really good chicken, piping hot with sticky rice and chinese green tea.



This is us eating that chicken that you see above.....Look how happy I am. I really did enjoy that meal.



Roasted chicken with salad, curry and rice. Whatever



Rambutans i think...Yummy tropical fruit. You know I had durians too and I actually liked it. Most people hate it. I publicly announce it - I LOVE DURIANS !!!!!



Street food. Again lots of coconut !!!



Some more street food. Baby Octopus sautey. Ok fine, I didn't actually eat this. I just took a picture. I got very close to buying this though. I was on some sort of an culinary experimental rampage. This was after some 6 weeks i guess :)



Pau. Ohhhhhh, my favourite Malaysian mini snack. Its kinda like vada pav...only the stuffing is much better... and the outside whitish bun is amazingly soft and yum. Different flavoured stuffings also. Heaven !!!



Nando's chicken. Not bad.



Nasi goreng (fried rice)with chicken, salad and pickles. Without doubt the best meal I had at any Malaysian restaurant. A big thank you to Firdaus's mom who took us out for lunch that day.



I have no idea what this is. Not too fit for consumption.



Thai pineapple rice. Nice.



Japanese sushi and other seafood. I didnt have all of it. It was ok I guess.



The protruding fish tail put me off.



Yummy Korean side dishes. I LOVE Kim Cheeeeeeeeee...Slurp :P



Cold wheat noodles. Korean of course.



After the waiter cut my noodles with a scissor.



Some sort of weird Korean seafood broth. Didn't like very much.



Chinese dinner at someone's birthday party. I realised at this dinner party that I actually do like Chinese food.



Traditional Malay family dinner. This is what Firdaus's mom cooked for all of us. Thank you sooooooo much Auntie. Bestest dinner in the whole world. I hogged like a pig at this dinner party.



Multicultural farewell dinner, hosted by Claudia, Aika and myself. HongKong + Kazakhstan + Indian cuisine. Obviously people got intoxicated at the end of it and what followed was an unforgettable night with silly games, stupid talk, butt dances and ahem...more



Aika's special Kazakh lamb dish. Do you know that horse meat is a delicacy in Kazhakstan. You know I can eat chicken and lamb and fish and all..... but horses, I mean i ride them. I cant imagine digesting something taht I ride on. Will try it though. For sure.



Claypot chicken rice. So-so.



Kuey Teow I think. Better. Nithiya's favourite.



Nithiya's mom's special chicken-cooked-in-oven dish. Excllent excellent meal. I ate so much chicken that night, I can't even remember.



Breakfast at Nithiya's home. Some brown powdery stuff with some ochre coloured sugary stuff with banana. Nice and filling :)



Seafood extravaganza with Nithiya's family. This lunch officially qualifies as my initiation into the not-so-elite club of non-vegetarians. I ate everything on the table... and surprisingly liked most of it. My first tryst with all kinds of seafood.



Huge shrimp coated in groundnut. AGAIN



Fish with fancy fins and tail. This tasted GOOOOOOOOOOD



Crab. Not that good, but not that bad either.



Hammering the crab to crack it open.



Sotong (Baby Squid). I HATED this. Not only did this taste bad, but I always felt that their eyes were staring right back at me. Creepy baby squid. I did like the regular sotong goreng (fried squid) though. Very chewy and tasty. Babies just should not be consumed. Strict rule.



After eating everyone compares the heap of crab shells and shrimp heads next to their plate. This is what mine looked like. Wait till you see the next one.



This is what Nithiya's uncle's plate looked like. HOW do they eat SO MUCH seafood ?!!??!! And how can you put all the remains on the table with such a pretty table cloth !??!?! It's a Malaysian thing.


Well, that ends my guided tour of my experiments with food. I musy say I was very inflexible to begin with. Slowly learnt that if I want to see the world, travel to different places, I MUST learn how to eat EVERYTHING. I still can't get myself to eat pork and beef. No red meat yet. Lets see. In London perhaps.

I feel confident now that I can survive anywhere in the world without being too fussy and choosy..... And I'm happy about that. My dad however sprinkled some Ganga jal on me when I told him about everything I ate :D

I know I'll continue to try out new things and I'll continue to experiment with food. When I tried all this out, I felt such a strong sense of accomplishment and I enjoy that feeling and I want it again...so I will continue eating like this. It makes me happy to know that as every day passes by I become more and more flexible as a person. I've always been rigid with fixed ideas and opinions. I'm glad that's changing. I hope I turn into a better person with each passing day.

My conclusion : If you want to be a better person, start with food. Serious.

1 comment:

Brown wolf said...

"Not too fit for consumption."

This cracks me up everytime I read it !!!!!


Your culinary experience was... daunting to me!!