Local stories from Asia...
Malaysia No durian allowed here This picture was taken infront of an elevator in a hotel lobby in west Malaysia. Durian is regarded as a delicacy among the locals here and it’s often called the king of all fruits as one single fruit can weigh up to 10kg where it grows high up in the canopy. Because of its pungent smell most visitors are reluctant to try it and if you were to open a fruit in your room the smell would linger for several days. Sometimes Malaysian people describes the Durian as a cross between a very ripe mango and very smelly armpit. The durian is also a brilliant means of determining just how Malaysian you really are! So if you haven’t had “the durian experince” yet, coming to Malaysia there’s plenty of opportunities to try this strange fruit.
(From Marc Modin,
Gecko Travel)
Mongolia Turning Milk Into Vodka
Mongolian vodka ("Mongol arkhi") is not produced commercially, but is sometimes offered to guests who visit a nomadic family in their ger (yurt) home. During the summer months, milk is in plentiful supply and the surplus is processed and saved until the lunar new year celebrations in the winter.
Mongol arkhi has a good reputation especially amongst men because it was traditionally the strongest drink available.
Ingredients: -
- Milk from cow, yak, goat or sheep
- Live yoghut culture
- Yeast
Instructions:
1. Boil the milk then allow it to cool to hand temperature.
2. Add yeast and yoghurt culture left over from the last run.
3. Place in a vat and stir regularly with a wooden masher for one day.
4. Put some of the fermented yoghurt into a wok over the fire.
5. Put a special wooden bucket without a top and bottom onto the wok.
6. In the centre of the bottomless bucket attach a collecting bowl connected to a wooden channel leading out through the wall.
7. Place a second wok on top of the bucket like a lid and fill it with cold water.
8. As the yoghurt is heated it vapourizes, with the alcohol evaporating first.
9. When the steam touches the cold base of the top wok it condenses and , due to the convex shape of the wok, drips down into the central connecting bowl.
10. The wooden channel leads the condensate into a bottle.
Result:
Mongolian milk vodka, alcoholic content 10-15%
(From Catherine,
Off the Map Tours)
Thailand Ghosts, scarecrows and nail varnish! The houses in Northeast Thailand are simple wooden houses, often raised on stilts to provide accommodation for the family’s water buffalo underneath. Most of these houses display pots in front, where spring onions or other herbs are grown, but a more unusual sight is that of straw-stuffed scarecrows leering at passers-by from the houses’ entrance gates. These scarecrows are generally dressed in discarded clothes, and many carry signs around their necks bearing messages handwritten in Thai.
You may wonder whether Thai birds can read and are being instructed not to peck at the vegetables…
The more observant may also notice that young men walking in or out of these houses have at least one fingernail painted either in red or another garish colour. You may wonder whether this is part of an unspoken teenage rebellion against parental rules... In fact, the scarecrows are performing an important role, not in deterring birds, but either scaring away ghosts who pray on young men, or informing them politely – and quite specifically - that this particular house is home to no young man born on a Tuesday or Wednesday. The painted fingernails are also a devious device to confuse these very same ghosts into believing that the hands are those of a girl, not of a man.
The people of Isaan are very superstitious, and place great store in dreams, numbers and ghosts. When three young people all died within a short period of each other in a distant village hundreds of kilometers from here, news spread rapidly and a common denominator was sought out. All those who had died had been born on a Tuesday or a Wednesday - and all were male. It was rapidly agreed that the evil ghost of a deceased widow had preyed on these young men and developed a predilection for young men with these birthdays. The nail polish, scarecrows and informative signs resulted! Spirits and ghosts live almost everywhere in Thailand.
The closer you look, the more you will see: ribbons around trees pay homage to the spirits living in them, small wooden spirit houses tend to local spirits, tattoos ward off evils spirits and grant superhuman powers, fortune-tellers make fortunes, and dreams of numbers are rapidly converted into lottery tickets….
(From Charles,
Gecko Villa)
Thailand Rocket Festival
Festivals are numerous here in the Phu area of Thailand near the Mekong River. The festivals normally have there roots in Buddhism teaching.
One such festival, “Bung Fai” day or Rocket Festival is held over three days. All over Isaan you will find Rocket Festivals of different sizes. Our local one is held in “Ban Kutwah” ten minutes from our village. The first day is very full and starts with a street carnival. Many floats and dancing parades come down the road to the beat of local music. Imagine big trucks full of boy and girl bands belting out very load local music using there own amplified musical instruments, followed by a stream of dancers in unison to the music. Then huge floats depicting the mythological stories associated with “Bung Fai”. This carnival goes on all day and into the night.
The next day is “Rocket launch day”. Out into the paddy fields go the racketeers. Youth from local villages going to compete to see whose rocket will stay up the longest. These are NOT toys, these are homemade monsters, some weighing in at 2 tons and carried onto the launch pad by 8 or 9 people. Imagine a Catherine wheel laying on its side, (yes, like a UFO) with the audience holding its breath some 500 metres away.
The green flag goes up to give the all clear and two racketeers will light the wicks. WHOOSH!!! As the boys run for cover up she goes, the crowds cheering it on, up, up, and away. This day is not without its dramas and danger. Some rockets explode on the ground, some as low as 20 metres of the ground.
Whilst all this is going on there is still a fair ground atmosphere happening in other parts of the village. There are stalls selling drinks and food, bumper cars and side shows - even a house of mirrors. It is one very memorable day.
(From David Crow,
Thai House Isaan)
Thailand Larb Pla/Moo (Fish or pork) Ingredients:
3 Grams of Lean Pork or Fish Chopped fine
1 Teaspoon of Chilli Powder
1 Tablespoon of Sticky rice powder
2 to 3 shoots of spring onion chopped
3 mint leaves (un-chopped)
1 to 2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon of fresh squeezed lime
1) Cook the pork or fish in a fry pan with a little water for 2 minutes on medium heat.
2) Turn off gas to pan and add all other ingredient and toss.
3) Serve with sticky rice. Traditionally eaten with the fingers using the sticky rice like a spoon.
(From David Crow,
Thai House Isaan )
Thailand
Somtum (Papaya salad) Ingredients:
Shredded Papaya (1 pint in volume)
1 x lime
3 x medium Tomato
2-3 Chillies
½ garlic clove
Fish sauce to taste
1 tablespoon palm sugar
Palmful of peanuts
(Alternative to papaya - carrot, celery or apple)
Method:
Use mortar and pestle to pound chillies, garlic, palm sugar, lime juice. Cut tomatoes fine and add with papaya, peanuts and fish sauce. Toss gently and serve with sticky rice.
This is finger food and should be eaten using the sticky rice like a spoon.
(From David Crow,
Thai House Isaan)
Thailand
Pah’s Chicken Massaman Curry Serves 4
Curry paste ingredients:
1 shallot
2 garlic cloves
1 stalk of lemongrass
10 peppercorns
10g dried chillies
Piece of yellow turmeric root (approx 1cm)
3-4 pods Luk Krawan*
* Luk Krawan is available in Thai supermarkets, if you are unable to find it, substitute with 5-6 green cardamon pods
Other ingredients:
Several tablespoons of vegetable oil
500g of chicken thighs or breasts
2 sweet potatoes
1 tin of coconut milk
2-3 teaspoons of fish sauce
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
Instructions:
Slice the onion and garlic cloves, but leave the other curry paste ingredients whole. Heat the oil in a frying pan, then shallow fry all the curry paste ingredients for a few minutes. Remove them from the oil using a slotted spoon, the ingredients should be well coated in oil. Leave to cool then put them into a pestle and mortar and slowly pound into a smooth paste.
Tip: You can also use a spice mill/grinder or a blender/food processor that can handle very small quantities but the flavour won’t be quite the same.
Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and peel and cut the sweet potatoes into 2cm cubes. Heat up the coconut milk in a large saucepan. Once it has reached boiling point, stir in some of the curry paste and bring the liquid back to the boil.
Tip: Pah would stir in all of the prepared curry paste, but she likes her curry hot…You could try half the curry paste (and save the rest in the fridge), or start with a tablespoon of curry paste, adding more spoon by spoon and tasting as you go along, until it’s just the right level of spiciness for you.
Now add the chopped chicken to the saucepan and bring the mixture back to the boil. Finally, add the chopped sweet potatoes, fish sauce, sugar and salt. Simmer until the sweet potato is tender when tested with a fork, approximately 10-12 minutes. Now all you have to do is serve up the curry with some steamed rice.
Tip: To make an impression, garnish with cinnamon sticks, chopped spring onions, sprigs of coriander, or a small handful of cashewnuts or peanuts.
About this dish
Most people in the south of Thailand are Muslim (rather than Buddhist, the main religion in Thailand), as in neighbouring Malaysia. The name Massaman curry is derived from the Thai word for Muslim and this sweetest curry is influenced with spices brought from traders from the Middle East and India.
Pah’s story
Pah lives in Krabi on the Andaman coast with her husband and baby son. They live on her parents’ smallholding. The main crop is rubber so they are surrounded by the tall trees but they also grow other things like cashewnuts. Pah is one of the best cooks in the area, her fragrant curries and sizzling stirfries are out of this world.
(From Pah,
Tell Tale Travel)
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