Travel Tips: How to deal with the language barrier when you travel

I have wanted to post something on over-coming language barriers when you travel for a long time.

Obviously, if you speak English and stick to the 'touristy' area of travel.. it is rare that nobody could understand you at all.. also if you have WIFI and a decent programme for translation.. it may not be perfect but it will get you going... but if you are off the beaten path.. this gets tricky.. but not impossible and most of all- NEVER LET IT STOP YOU!!

1. Sticking to the tourist areas

Japan... did I tell you I love Japan? I am consistently feeding myself with a staple of anime and manga (don't judge, a creative adult is a child who survived!) and knew this was a place I wanted to visit. My first trip was in 2005 then 2012, 2013, 2014 - yes, it is that good. During my first trip, I did everything a tourist would do.. I visited Tokyo and Kyoto and took a tour to Mt Fuji and Hakone (all in English of course), we ask for where to eat at the hotels and rest of the time pointed at menus with pictures.. or those realistic food display on the window... uurrgghh I can't find a picture.. but it is a window display of the menu and price and you can't go wrong (unless if you want to know if it is beef or pork... or.?)... Train stops had both Japanese and English signs and the tourist map was clear enough for first-timers to find their way...

Hotel staff are especially 'useful'/helpful, they would speak English and would more likely recommend you a place that speaks English and can help guide you on the public transportations system.. I didn't particularly feel that language was a barrier... save for the time I couldn't find the flush button on one of those fancy Japanese toilets (it was concealed on the wall ಠ_ರೃ).

There is always a way to get around... if you like to be adventurous but not too adventurous, just stick to the main tourist areas.. and they are the main tourist area for a reason - it would be still 'exotic' enough until you are ready for more...

somehow.. my friend and I managed to book a day trip with
Japanese Rail to Atami, a hot spring village which included
access to the hot spring and a delicious lunch... (May 2005)

What has difficult is to buy a 'charm' from the temples
though.. many had no clear sign what they are for..
I also found out that for some odd reason the charm
for easy child birth is much more expensive
than the rest.. (May 2005)

2. Prepare yourself.. do your homework..

In my later trips,  I grew older and bolder.. Fred and I started venturing to areas with much less international tourist.. and things started to in a sense harder... but at the same time.. it gives fun and excitement to the trip.

We both eat just about everything save for insects and protected animals- so it is not difficult when it comes to food. Usually we do some research on regional speciality and check for famous place to eat it and usually cross check it with the hotels... sometimes you can get let down foreign guidebooks/review sites doing a review of another foreign cuisine.. sometimes it is just hype aimed at the tourist. When you have things in mind, print out the dish or the name of the restaurant or both.. just show it to reception and ask them to mark it on the map or you or even help you make a reservation.. or ask if they know a even better place to go, no harm in asking!

Same thing goes for places you want to visit, print them out or save them on your phone/tablet (to be more environmentally friendly) and ask the people you are staying with.

3. So you are fussy...

More and more people have allergies or due to other dietary reasons avoid some type of food. I always advise my friends to print out a list or a small flash card that list the most basic food type and useful phrases in the local languages. With the internet, this is incredibly easy. Avoid the pleasantries (you will pick them up as you go along) and you don't want to start compiling a dictionary.. just really  basic words you will need:

Yes, No

Chicken, Beef, Lamb, Fish, Prawns 

Nuts, Seafoo, Allergy

Hospital, Toilet 

Taxi, Train

Name and address of hotel

Everything in the local language and your language that applies to you - you might have a good memory but poor pronunciation... so unless you can say them correctly.. have them in writting. When in doubt, just point.

Or just get international roaming/WIFI or an app that works offline... we are usually too cheap to do it.. so we continue with our silly adventures.. 

Here is a funny story, Jayce and I were invited by some fancy friends to attend some horse auction and race in Australia in 2011.We took days off and booked our flight into Brisbane.. only just a couple of days before the flood shut off the roads out of the airport..  there wasn't much sense to go to stay at the airport... so we ended up having the money for the air tickets back but it goes into a fund which allow us to use the money to buy another ticket with the same airline (of course).. as Jayce had already taken her days off, she has adamant that we go somewhere.. with little time to plan, we needed somewhere relative close and with no visa required, she choose KOREA.. (eh?) I was working in Germany at that time and came back with only summer little summer dresses to frolic around Queensland and was looking to escape the cold.. but we went anyways and it was an adventure... nothing was planned saved for the first night of hotel.. we knew nothing outside of her knowledge of Korean gained from Korean dramas.. It was a fun but funny trip.

We visited Seoul and Gyeongju. The average guy on the street can't speak English in Korean- and we spoke 2 words of Korean so hilarity ensues. Just to randomly tell a (there are more) story of how we survive a the language barrier by chance..

We ate in a couple of touristy places in Seoul and they had English menus or menu with pictures, so we wanted an authentic experience of having Japanese BBQ on charcoal.. not a fancy place but a wholesome local hangout... so we asked the guy at the hotel and explicitly said this. He gave us 2 addresses close by in case one way close and it was both in the back alleys of some street... We went into one and everything looks great.. locals on the floor.. charcoal grill.. wonderful.. then we tried to order... the staff spoke no word of English!! None.. Jayce doesn't really like beef and lamb but will usually humour me but we will get a pork or chicken dish too so she doesn't starve...

As the menu was all in Korean, we resorted to sign language.. hands on the head like horns and went 'moo'... Beef? Moo.. we could then understood a nod or a shake to say no.. as we were continuing our stand-up comic, Jayce and I were discussing that maybe we just randomly point at something and just take it.. then a helpful staff that heard us speak in Mandarin walked to us and started speaking to us in Mandarin!! We were saved.. everything else went really after that and we got by with with Mandarin.. So here is what we had (part of it):

delicious Korean charcoal grill.. yum (Jan 2011)

And with our point and wait to find out strategy- just point to the most expensive (but still reasonably priced) item on the menu.. we got this at Gyeongju :

Namsan was worth the climb
(Jan 2011)

Just to end Korea with another funny story, Jayce read that Namsan is a must see spot..'you have not seen Gyeongju if you have not seen Namsan' she said the brochure (only in Korean or Chinese) wrote. The park ranger was a friendly old guy who spoke very little but some English.. we want to know how long the trek will take to see if we could make it... I think he said something like an hour (we think) but at the end it took us 3 hours (up only).. with many pit stops to take pictures and really slippery slops because of the snow... to go up and a bit faster to descend... we ended up spending the day at Namsan.. We are still not sure if we understood him wrongly or we were just really slow.. but plenty of senior citizens were trekking and floating by us.. so, we may not be the fittest one around and most people can make it up in 1 hour.

Would some translation be helpful for us at any of these points.. of course! Less traumatic.. but perhaps less memorable? Good news is though.. recent friends who went to Korea said that information in English is much more readily available now.

I couldn't find my pictures for Korea so I pinched all these
from Jayce's facebook (Jan 2011)

and now for some helpful tips...

Cooking without Recipe - Stuffed Tomatoes

Haha.. another cooking without recipe post. 'cause it is just that simple. You don't need a recipe! It is also a good dish to make when you have vegetarians friend coming over. 

Pictured here is the non-vegetarian version though. You need those big super-sized tomatoes. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture so that you could gauge the size of these babies but they are roughly as large as my palm.

Preparation is easy peasy. First, cut off the top of the tomato then spoon out the inside part of the tomato. Chop what you got out into smaller cubes. Mix them with some minced meat (I used beef) and add salt, pepper and some olive oil to taste. The stuff them back in. I sprinkled a bit of breadcrumbs and some Herbes de Provence (but this is just because I have them) and put the 'cap' back on. ((I always have some Zucchini left, I have them because I buy lots of them.. you can make lots of yummy things with Zucchini and eggplant!)) Well, so I sliced up the Zucchini (seasoned it with salt, pepper, olive oil) and pop them together with the tomatoes and then bring them in the oven. 180'C fan and 20-30 min later, ta-da.. this comes out:

A vegetarian option is to use rice instead of minced meet and that's very tasty too.. But keep in mind that the rice grows when it is cooked and the meat shrinks.. so 'stuff' wisely..

You can have this as a main meal when you have 2 of them.. it fills you up.. or as a starter.. either way, it is something that is easy to make and looks pretty attractive when served. 

Have fun!

Cooking without Recipe - Salmon & Leek Quiche

I love Quiche. It is my go-to food when I have something left in the fridge that I need to get rid off or make a simple starter when I have friends over for dinner!

Basically, it is a bit like pizza - there is no limit to what you can do. Although Fred insist that there are some rules and tend to shake his head when I do a new strange-to him combination.

As we had some leek left the other day, I thought of a quiche.. mm.. and maybe a fish quiche for a change.. so I got some smoked salmon and had 2 tomatoes left uneaten - might as well add that too. 

As  this is a 'cooking without recipe' post, it is more of an idea to what you can do rather than a precise recipe of how to make something. I am going to also add some tips that I discovered a long the way to make a 'beautiful' looking quiche. I did a lot of trial and errors on this and welcome new tips for you too! hehehe.

Ok, let's start. You  need a base. We use 'pate brisee'.. We buy this from the supermarket and keep it frozen. If you don't have it.. it is easy to make, just look up a shortcrust pastry recipe (e.g http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/8894/basic+shortcrust+pastry) throw everything in the food processor and voila!

I usually use the basic fillings of a 'Quiche lorraine'. 

Crème fraîche + cheese (I use Emmental) + eggs.  Some people add milk.

I usually use around 1 cup of  Crème fraîche, half a bag of grated emmental and 3 eggs.. the quantity of course depends on the size of quiche that you want to make.. Here is a simple recipe you could try. There is just so many of them on the web that you'd be spoilt for choice. 

First, I sauté the leek in olive oil to soften it. Then I make cream + cheese + egg mix while the leek cools. Usually most recipes will ask that you mix the other ingredients into this mix. While it taste great, it leaves you usually with unattractive brownish top. The ingredients don't 'float' like how they seem to do in those glossy recipe books. I have discovered that you should instead 'deck' the quiche last with the 'main ingredients'. After preparing the mix, I pour it into the pastry then I add the leek, followed by the salmon and then the sliced tomato on top of this mix. This way I am controlling how it looks on the quiche instead of having one big lump of mixture. Then I pop it into the oven. I bake for usually 30 min under 180'C with fan in the oven.. and this comes out:

You can make it with anything you have left in your fridge. I love Tomato + Spinach, Ham + Zucchini + Goat cheese, the lorraine version of course.. and I once mixed 4 different kind of cheeses into on cheesy quiche..

Try it out with a conventional recipe and once you know your way around.. this is one great dish to experiment with. Usually it has lots of success in parties too! Have fun & enjoy!

Takumi - Ramen Restaurant

Immermannstr. 28
40210 Düsseldorf

http://brickny.com/takumi/  

I like this place. I call this a Ramen restaurant because they predominant serve Ramen - A Japanese soup noodle dish. You get some other stuff like gyoza or some teriyaki dish. You can check out their website for the menu: http://brickny.com/takumi/  

The Ramen is pretty decent and it has rather authentic feel to it, the small cramped interiors, the Japanese staff, plus load of Asian faces easting there. Unless you go off 'normal eating hours'. We were there at 3pm the other day, the restaurant can be kinna full.. and I think they don't take reservations.

 

Lunch has good deals (if you are hungry) to get 2 dishes for what is usually the price of one plus maybe 20%-ish.  But overall, you can eat below EUR 10 and have free flow of tea. Otherwise you can always order Japanese beer to quench your thirst.  

How do I find this place as compared to what I have tried in Japan? I find it a bit saltier.. but could be in my mind... and a more liberal use of mayonnaise.. I had it in my teriyaki chicken with rice.. taste good but I think this is kinna unusual.

Otherwise, if you are looking for a casual place to go for a nice Japanese bowl of ramen at a warm, friendly atmosphere. Do try this one.

Sauternes - something sweet

Here's a mighty good intro from Wiki:

Sauternes is a French sweet wine from the Sauternais region of the Graves section in Bordeaux. Sauternes is made from Sémillon, Sauvignon blanc, and Muscadelle grapes that have been affected by Botrytis cinerea, also known as noble rot. This causes the grapes to become partially raisined, resulting in concentrated and distinctively flavored wines. Due to its climate, Sauternes is one of the few wine regions where infection with noble rot is a frequent occurrence. Even so, production is a hit-or-miss proposition, with widely varying harvests from vintage to vintage.

I personally love sweet wine - this has been a bit of a joke with my wine loving friends who prefer drier wines and pretty much think that sweet wines are nothing more than grape juice. But hey, I am all for individuality and I will proudly say, I love sweet wines. I really adore Sauternes. It can be quite hard to find out side of France and most probably it is because wine snobs like my friends are consistently ignoring sweet wines.

While I like cheaper sweet whites (will save this for another post), Sauternes is one which has pedigree. Sauternes' wines have been around for a long time (documented since 17th century) and are extremely expensive to make, hence the end product is not cheap too. Premier Cru Supérieur from the estate of Château d'Yquem is supposedly the most premium you can get. This poor cat has never tried it but what other 'cheap' ones I had was never disappointing. Sauternes typically starts out with a golden, yellow color that becomes progressively darker as it ages - so find the darkest shade that you can and if possible from a good year of harvest that fits your budget. 

Sauternes can be drank as an aperitif to being a dessert wine and whatever is in between. Like other white wines, it is usually served chilled. I (please take this with a pinch of salt as I am no sommelier) would suggest having it with stronger tasting food.. as it is a 'strong' and sweet wine. I feel that it goes especially well with South East Asian food which is heavier on the spices, or spicy food in general as the sweetness work well with the spices. Traditionally food pairing however is - Sauternes with Foie gras. 

Here's a list of the vintages if you are interested... 2007 is a good year it seems a 2008 no so good for instance.. but for me, I justly just go ahead and grab something I fancy that fits the budget. One man's meat is another man's poison and you don't know until you try.. if you don't get it right, try and try again.. mm somehow that sounds like the recipe for alcoholism.

Happy drinking!

Homemade Pasta

It started with me wanting to make Mee Hoon Kueh (Hand-pulled noodles). Belle and I were eating and talking about the the best places to eat it. But as I came back to Germany, I thought hey.. why not start with pasta.. that should be easy (??)

So I did. 

Actually, it isn't hard. I use basically this two videos below as guide and instead of the pasta machine just rolled the dough with a rolling pin. 




The recipe basically calls for one egg per 100g of flour and 100g of flour feeds 2. There are many other recipes.. some to add a bit of salt and/or olive oil and others detailed in the type of flour (or flour mix) to use. 

I tried the simplest with egg and flour.

Basically:

1. Chuck everything into the food processor or knead by hand..
2. Some recipe calls for the dough to be rested for 30 min, others say go ahead..
3. Run it through the pasta machine or use a rolling pin and make it really thin...
4. Spread some more flour on it so it doesn't stick and cut.

my pasta in the making

So, how was it....? a bit too thick.. I need to roll it more but otherwise OK. Not spectacular but hey, a novice attempt. I think fresh pasta has more 'buoyancy' or is more 'elastic' than the packaged dried ones... and it is not hard to do.. so I will keep it up and maybe invest in a rolling machine too which I can then use to also make other chinese noodles.

Today, I served the pasta with the leg of the rabbit cooked with fresh cream and mustard. You need a cast iron pot or they call it a 'French oven'. I use Le Creuset. 

1. Brown the meat then 
2. add fresh cream (I use Crème fraîche) and (french) mustard, 
3. turn down the heat to minimum and let it cook slowly. 
4. Serve.

This is a good dish with pasta ;) My boss, Mr. Fred said I didn't put enough mustard though.. but otherwise I should still be able to keep my job as resident cook.

Top Nyonya Dishes to Try

 uurrgghh.. a total lack of planning.. I thought I have more pictures than this. It seems that I only have a not so nice picture of one dish.. I'd add them as I go along when I eat them but click on the links if you want to see how they look like! Bon Appétit! ** latest updated: managed to add new photo's from making mum cook!

---------------------

Peranakan or Nyonya cuisine is something that visitors to Malaysia & Singapore (also Indonesia but I am less familiar with the variety) must try. They comprises of many speciality dishes that you just cannot find anywhere else in the world except these few specific regions. Over the different regions these dishes then vary from each other- Cooking in Penang for example would have differences to Singapore. Even within the same region the dishes will be different as every family will have their own recipe. Hence, the look and taste of these dishes may be some what different from what you see from my pictures.

If done right, real nyonya cooking have these 2 similar traits:

1. It is laborious (time consuming to prepare)
2. It is an explosion of flavours (ingredients are never few or simple)

Early Chinese settlers came in the late 15th and 16th-century to what was major ports in this part of the world- Melaka, Singapore, Penang, Java and married local spouses of local origin. A good spot to learn about the uniqueness of the Peranakan culture is the Peranakan Museum in Singapore

I find the museum well organised and pretty comprehensive. But otherwise - live it.. you can still find its legacy best kept (for me personally) in Melaka. Here is a good wiki entry to explain the Peranakan/ Nyonya Cuisine and as to not reinvent the wheel, I will not write more.

However I must add that the life of the Nyoya (women of the Peranakan communities) are pretty hard. They are stay at home housewives and life is pretty competitive to gain favour with the in-laws (monster-in-laws is a global timeless theme),  husband and the society in general. Women should be stellar cooks, great at needle work as well as all kinds of housework. If you want to marry well, you must first have all these prerequisite of a 'fine lady' (or these days a good house maid). No kidding. Because of this, the nyonya left with them a legacy of fine recipes and impressive needlework. Most of the tradition of needlework are unfortunately gone. There is the nyonya kebaya which endured perhaps thanks to Indonesia but the real hand embroidery work are hardly seen in normal daily life. 

Luckily, Malaysians and Singaporeans remain gluttons. Recipe thrived over the years and there are a number of great Nyonya restaurants around. As most traditional Nyonya dishes are incredibly time consuming to make, most people opted for modified recipes at home or just crawling to the nearest restaurant to get a fix.

The ladies on my grandmother's side comes from a lineage of Nyonya women. My mum has recipes were pass down from my grandma and aunts and friends and my mum is a pretty good cook. So, I will be a bit biased as I will be recommending what I feel are the top 3 must try distinct Nyonya dishes predominantly based on Mummy's cooking. Before you ask, nope. I don't. Plus a short list of other stuff to try which you can also get at other restaurants and street food stalls in Malaysia/Singapore as well as the nyonya version at nyonya restaurants.

Very often people in this region are passionate about their food and would argue who has the best version or where it originated from in the first place. See an example. So it may not be the best topic to discussed with locals. Good food is good food and everyone has their own taste - just try it and find your own favourite version.

1. Kueh Pie Tee

Mum's Kueh Pie Tee

Sometimes called Kueh Pati or Top Hats is a super appetizer/snack. Kueh Pie Tee is a thin and crispy pastry 'shell' filled with  thinly sliced vegetables and prawns. The shells are made of flour and the fillings are similar to popiah - a fujian version of spring rolls but that's another story, there is also the nyonya popiah but it isn't that distinctly different from the Chinese popiah which is why it is not on this list.

Anyways, Mummy's lazy to make the cups these days and they don't taste as good when store bought, so I have been missing it for some time. I will try to give her some pressure and maybe update this post with some pictures. I found this cute youtube video on how you can make the cups.. lots of work for a bite size snack. There are plenty recipes online too. Here's 1. Here's 2. But this is a 'mainstream' favourite.. I don't know anyone that doesn't like it yet.

The dish is usually an appetizer and is garnished with Monya chilli sauce (but of course) and Chinese parsley or some spring onions.. But as I may already be over emphasising everyone has their own recipe and the commonality would be the crispy cup-like shell and the main filling is sliced vegetables.

// update 15.12.13 : Managed to get mum to prepare them! So pictures are duly added. ;)

2. Acar

Acar is basically picked vegetables. Trust the Nyonyas to make it complicated. Much like the family turkey, every family has their own receipe- hence every restaurant will be different. Some spicier, some more sour and ingredients will vary. Acar Nyonya or Acar Awak is the Nyonya version which contains special local spices/sauces which count for the 'secret recipe' part. There are plenty of recipes (1,2) out there and again this is an acquired taste- everyone says their mum or grandma makes it the best.

Acar however is commonly served as a side dish to be eaten with something else. Usually it is the normal plain rice or nasi lemak, nasi kyunit etc. My favourite way of eating it is with the keropok (seafood crackers).

//I thought I have pictures for this, but I must have deleted it... and I have finished our Acar.. *sob*

3. Ayam buah keluak

Mum's Ayam Buah Keluak with rice

The first 2 dishes pale in comparison when it comes to the amount of work needed for this dish. Most people have plenty of short cuts such as buying pre-prepared buah keluak etc. But still this dish is difficult to come by due to the scarcity of its main ingredient the buah kelauk, the hard work needed and it is a bit of an acquired taste. It doesn't look enchanting like the first 2 and the taste is a tad odd.. You'd like it or you'd not.. if you do, you most probably are willing search and to pay top money for it. Like this person or try cooking it like this one.

The dish is made with chicken pieces (ayam in Malay) combined with “keluak” nuts (Pangium edule). Mum removes the fillings of the nuts and combine it with minced pork and stuff it back - but not everyone does it the same way and again cooking method will vary. Again be-warned that the taste may be odd for first timers. The dish is best eaten with plain fragrant rice as it is pretty strong and you don't need much else.


Other  dishes to try:

Nasi Lemak 

I am in love with Nasi Lemak, I like Nasi Kunyit too but again there is such a fine line of it being Malay/Indonesia food as it is to being the nyonya version.  But if you are in a nyonya restaurant, this should not put you off from trying. I always order nasi lemak. How much I like the restaurant will depend largely on its nasi lemak.

In any case Nasi Lemak is the perennial favourite Malaysian dish. You'd find it everywhere.. eaten breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper. You will find that the Malays, Chinese, Indians and Nyonyas all have their won Nasi Lemak.

Otak Otak

The Otak otak is risky... everyone makes it a bit differently again (there is so many versions!!!) and a good fresh fish makes a good otak otak obviously.. so if someone recommends it to you, by all means try - other wise try your luck because you might end up with a substandard dish because substandard ingredients were used . I prefer the grilled to steam version though.. Love the flavour that grilling the leaves leave to the otak otak. I detest those cooked in aluminium foil.. sigh.. it spoils it for me :(

Curry fish head

Mum's Curry Fish Head, cooked with curry and coconut milk

Nothing too surprising for Asians who love to eat the head of the fish- this is another regular favourite. For others it is something interesting to try - I kid you not, there is soft tender meat surrounding the head.

Cooked in curry you'd find the Malay version, Chinese version, Indian version, Nyonya version - in fact it is listed as 25 things you must eat before you die.... I wouldn't go that far though.. but it is not hard to find, so why not give it a try. Mum sometimes cook it without coconut milk, this time it was the creamy version with coconut milk cooked with aubergine and garnished with steamed ladies fingers. 

Salted Vegetable Duck Soup (Itik Tim)

So many versions again.. some are thick, some are light and everything in between.. key ingredients duck and salted vegetables. This dish is even sometimes a bit spicy.. really depending on the receipe.

Chap Chai

Mum's dish with pork meatballs

'chap chye' just literally mean mixed vegetables. So basically this is a vegetable stewed. The common ingredients is the use of fermented soy bean paste. Mum's family family recipe calls for pork meat balls which she claims is the most crucial ingredient in a vegetable dish *shrug*. Here's a nice post/recipe about making your own.

Nyonya Desserts (Nyonya Kuih)

Nyonya desserts are usually colourful cakes(kuih) which are sweet. I am not too big of a fan of sweet sticky cakes but some people swear by it. The Nyonya version is very similar to the javanese kueh though.

So enough for today.. I'd update the post if I think of anything new and definitely try and take some pictures for it! If you have a recommendation or 2 - please share ;)

"Ugly fish"

Hi, Siew Fong here, with my first post written from Tokyo, eating la vida loca (haha). Nice to meet you all and looking forward to sharing fun stuff here.

For my first post.... tadaaaa... i present to you.... Ugly Fish!!!! No, this is not the official name for this traditional Tokyo delicacy which has delighted Tokyoites since the Edo period.

My colleagues and I went to a famous restaurant in Asakusa, Iida-ya(どぜう飯田屋) which specializes in anything ugly fish related, as this dish is believed to be best eaten in summer and is extremely nutritious during this season. Ugly Fish stars the Dojo Loach (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus), a freshwater fish that live in paddy fields and wetlands all across Japan. The Dojo loach has also been made famous by the previous Prime Minister of Japan, Mr. Noda who likened himself to this bottom-feeding, humble species. Try googling it, and you will see his face plastered all over your screen.

It was not easy to be excited about this dish, as no matter how they tried to decorate and beautify the plate, they still consisted of scrawny black little things. When fried, these flavour-less fishies pick up the salty taste of the batter, and the earthy taste of fried burdock root shavings. I love anything fried and salty, and this is not an exception.

When uncooked though, Ugly Fish is covered in a slimy film, which is said to help them live a little longer even out of water. Resilient little things, these guys! The freshest heroes are served in all their naked glory, their greyish, at times bluish naked glory, a la "hot pot" style. One of the highlights of serving it this way is for one of us to gross out a newbie to this dish, squiggling them fishes to feign life. Of course after a while, it gets stale. Covered with dashi stock, the fire was turned up, and the fishes made their inevitable jumps along with the gurgling stock.

The Ugly Fishes soon lost the twinkle in their eyes, the glisten of their skin. Death descended, and Death became. We enshrouded them with a blanket of thinly-sliced green onions, a yin and yang of flavours. The Dojo nabe (どぜう鍋), as this style is called, was then served sprinkled with Japanese shichimi powder (chili and mixed spice) and a kind of Japanese pepper called Sanshou (山椒). The fishes are to be eaten whole, head, body, bones. Chewing on their softened bones can be a challenge for the uninitiated, and one has to take care not to rush too much and choke. The perk? Calcium.

They are actually pretty good, really, once you deal with your initial reluctance and suspicion. At least, do it for the sake of seasonal traditions, and the experience is well worth it, especially when accompanied by some good warm sake...

Check out Iida-ya's homepage & menu

Somersby Cider

I love cider.. I usually drown Magners as it is most easily found (called Bulmers in Ireland) mainly because I like the taste and it is the most common cider you can find in Malaysia. I particularly like Magners Pear which will give you an indication that I like them sweet. Not all the time but most of the time. I find that this is the perfect drink for a hot summer day. Which is every day in Malaysia.

I was at a meeting (I kid you not, a proper business meeting) and saw that they sold Somersby Cider - never seen it but again I haven't been out much these days. This means I must try it.

Then I read the label and seems that it is made in Sweden and distributed by Carlsberg. Eh? Swedish cider?

Searched it up on Google and it seems that Carlsberg owns this brand. It has 4.5% abv but because of its sweetness you won't feel a thing. This is the perfect girly drink or one for those that don't like the 'bitter' taste of beer but wants a kick of alcohol. Not a bad at all - taste like apple juice with sprite/7up and a tinge of beer. Be careful though - it still has a fair amount of alcohol so don't gulp it down too quickly.

One small note on serving methods; I find that my Magners/Bulmers usually will come in a pint glass with ice in the UK and Ireland but I don't see this when served local ciders in Germany, France and Italy. Somersby in Malaysia though it came with ice. Hmm... It’s nice that is cold but I feel it gets more and more diluted in the end when you are drinking outdoor in tropical weather - unless you drink very quickly. Maybe it is better to serve it with a big chunk-type of whisky ice cube or just no ice?

Type: Modern cider with 4.5% abv

Where: The Royal Selangor Golf Club

When: A warm evening

Accompaniment: Muruku and peanuts

Conclusion: Love it, will order again. Highly recommended for those that like sweet, light bodied alcoholic drinks.