Category Archives: – Recipes

Kluwak seeds and a savory black beef stew from East Java

Posted on October 23, 2016 by David Dettmann

The black flesh of fermented kluwak seeds (aka keluwek or black nut) adds a very unusual and thick earthy base to meat stews in regional cuisines of Indonesia and Malaysia. It is particularly well known as a key ingredient in … Continue reading →

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Selamat pagi, Yogyakarta: a surprisingly rich and savory chicken rice porridge for breakfast

Posted on August 11, 2016 by David Dettmann

I’ll start by saying that I’m not one for sweet breakfasts. As regular readers will know (ex. 1, ex. 2, ex. 3), I prefer savory foods leftover from the night before to American breakfast cereal or glazed donuts. A recent … Continue reading →

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Kassod tree leaves and a leafy Thai curry with grilled fish (gaeng khiilek)

Posted on August 4, 2016 by David Dettmann

I am back after a nearly four month hiatus. Although I didn’t report on them as they were happening, over these past several months I was fortunate enough to have many incredible food experiences in Mongolia, China, Thailand, and Indonesia–experiences … Continue reading →

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Guilin rice noodles for breakfast

Posted on April 12, 2016 by David Dettmann

My 2014 posts on Guilin rice noodles (Guilin mifen 桂林米粉 master stock and noodle staging) are two of the most viewed posts on this blog. Google is the primary referrer, and I attribute these search engine queries to: 1. people … Continue reading →

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Sticky rice as thickener and Isaan chicken stew

Posted on February 7, 2016 by David Dettmann

In a previous post I discussed Southeast Asian sticky rice (a.k.a. glutinous rice, or khao niao) in some detail, along with a few ways it can be used as a cooking ingredient. I mentioned it could be dry roasted in … Continue reading →

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Dried ngiu flowers and a Northern Thai spicy noodle soup

Posted on December 10, 2015 by David Dettmann

In the States we don’t generally think about eating flowers, but flowers have long been culinary tradition in many parts of the world. Mainland Southeast Asia is particularly fond of including flowers in meals, whether they are used as a … Continue reading →

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Sweet preserved daikon and Pad Thai

Posted on September 26, 2015 by David Dettmann

Pad Thai (ผัดไทย literally “Thai-style fry”) is one of the most popular and best known dishes in the genre of Thai cooking, both in Thailand and abroad. The name of this dish comes from a time of nation-building for Thailand, … Continue reading →

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Spicy pickled cowpeas and leftovers for breakfast

Posted on July 9, 2015 by David Dettmann

For me, breakfast is an important meal. I’m not big on cereal or doughnuts or the like however. Ever since my time living in Thailand, I adopted the habit of eating leftovers, fried rice, noodles, or random things on toast. … Continue reading →

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Southern Thai-style curried okra

Posted on July 6, 2015 by David Dettmann

Today’s ingredient isn’t super exotic. Okra is of course widely available in the US. Okra looked particularly good at my local Cambodian market, and it became today’s breakfast. This recipe comes from a beautiful Thai language cookbook that I found … Continue reading →

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Cured kudampuli fruit and Kerala-style fish curry

Posted on July 2, 2015 by David Dettmann

Several months ago I found a South Indian market (Kashmir Garden–interesting name for a market specializing in Tamil and Malayali cooking…) in Northeastern Philadelphia. Among my finds there of unique chile peppers, I also brought home a cured sour fruit … Continue reading →

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