Category Archives: – Featured Food Discoveries

Ulaanbaatar post #2: Korean UB

In last week’s post I mentioned that Korean staple food items could be found not only at Ulaanbaatar’s specialty “Asian Markets”, but also at “regular” grocery stores all around the city.  That was probably an understatement. Items such as kimchi, … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, - Guides, Korean food, Mongolian food | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Asian Markets of Ulaanbaatar

Greetings from the land of the great blue sky! Over the next few weeks I’ll have a series of posts from here in Mongolia’s capital city of Ulaanbaatar, and its environs. Food shopping here is very interesting, and in recent … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, - Featured Markets, - Guides, Central Asia/Uyghur food, Chinese food, Mongolian food | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Urad dal and dal makhani

Dal can refer to the types of pulses from all over South Asia, and it can also refer to a soup made from those beans and lentils.  Soups with lentils or beans are economical and protein-rich, are popular all over … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, - Featured Markets, - Recipes, Indian food | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Fresh mangosteens and rambutans

For those out there who have been to Southeast Asia, fruit is something you likely miss dearly if you are now elsewhere.  For me, Guangzhou was a perfect introduction to many fruits, at a time when food in China was … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, Malay/Indonesian food, Thai/Lao food | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Making a better espresso with a home machine

You may be like me, where you’ve gotten a start of the line home espresso machine, and you can’t seem to use it to make an espresso (at all) similar to what you might get at a reputable shop. Well, … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

More Indonesian delights from Cafe Pendawa Lima

Cafe Pendawa Lima is not super convenient for me to visit, but the sheer variety always includes new, interesting, and delicious finds.  And the prices are right.  If I spend an additional 45 minutes to go out of my way … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, Malay/Indonesian food | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Uyghur style rice pilaf with beef and yellow carrots

Happy Eid!  Over the weekend friends will be feasting around the world, and in Xinjiang no doubt people will be eating the dish I’ll describe below.  Half a world away in Philadelphia, the weather is changing from hot to quite … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, - Recipes, - Unique food traditions, Central Asia/Uyghur food | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

A brief visit to South Philly’s Indonesian neighborhood

In South Philly there is an area west of Broad St in between Tasker St and Snyder Ave, where you can find many culinary staples and treats that are unique to Indonesia.  Today I took a long overdue trip there … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, Malay/Indonesian food | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Recent book finds

This week I was in New York, and I came across a bookstore that specializes in out-of-print cookbooks.  You can find this place, Bonnie Slotnick Cookboooks, at [Updated] 163 W 10th St in Greenwich 28 E Second St in the East … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, Chinese food, Thai/Lao food | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Tiny eggplants and prahok pork dip

I found tiny pea-sized eggplants at my local Cambodian market in North Philly.  This fruit (Solanum torvum, aka turkey berry) is commonly used in Thailand, and is known there as “cluster eggplant”, or makheua phuong มะเขือพวง.  In Thai food, perhaps … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, - Featured Markets, Cambodian food, Thai/Lao food | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments