Food in Asia - some howlers

[The Bigfella]

Do we have a fine food thread. Maybe this isn't it?

My first culinary treat in Asia was fried crickets in Siem Reap with some locals who have become firm friends.





I've tried some interesting flavours and textures since then.

Raw prawns and dipping sauce, Siem Reap - bought for me by some local guys - after I bought the beers



Shellfish in Phnom Penh



Prawns in Ho Chi Minh City



First experience with fish sauce and shrimp sauce - in Hanoi - which despite the facial expression, I do like

 

[The Bigfella]

Chicken feet, Hanoi



Cat - Sapa. Did I ever mention, I hate cats? I like dogs btw... won't do that one.




Was impressed when the staff at my favourite guesthouse in Hanoi... the Hanoi Guesthouse - bought me this for my birthday



Pineapple - lower Mekong floating market



Don't bother... Dalat wine



Western pig-out with some Aussie friends, Pakse



Rat soup - roasting the key ingredient, Ban Pindong (southern Laos)



More local ingredients, Ban Pindong

 

[The Bigfella]

Speaking of dogs. No doubt about the pending fate of these poor yelpers. I wasn't impressed - but that's Asia



Enjoying something that included boiled eggs and meat... courtesy of a roadside Laotian farmer - who provided a bed too



It ain't Beer Lao, and it ain't water



Free, of course, because I'd shouted all the kids who turned up... orange juice and Red Bull



Offered, but refused. I hadn't got hungry enough at that stage



How could we get by without pigs intestine soup for brekkie? Laos, of course



When only the best grub will do....

 

[The Bigfella]

Only the best ingredients too



I take it that these are the equivalent of a tin of stew in the pantry?





What the hell are these?



I think the odd cockroach snuck in here?



Nope... not interested, thanks



The old standby.... point at someone else's bowl and nod



Frogs... Hongsa

 

[The Bigfella]

More raw ingredients, Hongsa







Plenty of protein in Boten





Chiang Rai cakeshop



Yeah... I pigged out



Pass



Chang Mai

 

[The Bigfella]

Someone tell me please? Some Burmese delicacy given to me in the Nu Pho refugee camp



The finest dining in the camp



... except during the religious festival. Two days of non-stop food preparation led to this.



... and when I say non-stop... this was it. 48 hours solid... and that's my bed roll there at the back.





Plenty of protein. Carp?







I'm not sure this is food....





Another cafe in the refugee camp



God bless those people in the camp. I went for a day, stayed six... and when I left, look what I found tied to the back of my bike at the first stop.... lunch... complete with metal fork and spoon



A camp of a different kind... and food of a different kind. Handing out some biscuits to the rubbish dump dwellers, Mae Sot



- - -

 

[The Bigfella]

More raw ingredients - Mae Sot




I do hope these are cicadas



... ask me for money, you'll probably get fed, but you won't get money





Some folks get it tough.... I hope she wasn't looking for food, but I suspect she was



OK Ed... what is it?



This bloke's lucky to get fed, rather than be feed



The monks getting a feed, start of a charity run, Chiang Mai



Dried fruits... and nuts. Delicious... north of Mae Hong Son



Burmese fundraiser, Chiang Mai



Lunch... Riders Corner



Riders Corner... staff picnic



You can get a beer in the middle of Malaysia



Here



... and, believe me... that's the only place in town

What I want to know, is what the hell are these? A seafood restaurant, on the coast, north of Malacca. I had the crab



Best fish head soup in Malaysia according to Lonely Planet (one of whose writers I happened to be travelling with).



No, not him, the bloke out of shot. Its here... place on the left



Thats in some grotty mining town, up the middle of the peninsular, beween KL and the Cameron Highlands... a good ride btw

Speaking of fish



Ronnie promised me the best food in Penang. Its out of town... adjacent a car park.... and cheap as chips. Good too



Ronnie likes his food. It was the cigarette that got me...



Best booze in Penang. The corner grog shop. Cheapest by a long shot too... and by far the best company.

Mr Lim, on the right is 83, would be 84 about now. Was there during the occupation in WW2.



More ingredients. Roadside stall, approaching Phuket

 

[The Bigfella]

Man can not live by food alone. Sometimes he (or she) needs a drink



There's those damn leaves again. My guide gave them to me. Bit naughty, apparently.



You reckon drying all these fish doesn't stink? Think again...



The lads working the nets that all that fish comes from





Its hard work... done with rhythm - to a song



Reunion dinner with my friends (and a ring-in).

Bill came out at 180,000 - grabbed by my mate who sounded angry. "What wrong?"... "Mistake on bill"

It came back... 80,000. It helps to be friendly with the locals.



Ahhh... cooked Tonle Sap prawns



served with beer again



Another day, another beggar. Looking at this again, I feel guilty for not getting that kid to a hospital



Commercial kitchen, PP



Yeah... I ate it. Wonder if the white stuff is as good as penicillin?



I don't recall the beer being cold.



I ate it. Don't recall what it is. I know I ate more of that garlic than I should have too



Gifts of sticky rice from some random folks who helped me change a tube



Bali



Ferry food... Indonesia



Monster prawns, Gili Trawangan. Dinner with my daughter



Something my mate's mum handed me... in Bali. She runs a restaurant





OK... I'll go you halves in a lobster



WTF? I ordered fish... and got a 4" long bird - Java





Fish.. Java style



I took a friend's mother and children out to that restaurant... with chaperone of course. I'm willing to bet its the first time they'd eaten in a restaurant.

 

[KTMphil]

Xam Nuea, NE Laos bush meat at the market

 

[The Bigfella]

Some more fried crickets, at a boat race in Laos



And these looked so scrumptious...

 

[bsacbob]

Looks like you've already had a nibble Ian think there called Bi Ka Tom or something like that, better than wacky backey or so i'm told.

 

[bsacbob]

One from 2010 at the Phoukhoune junction on the 13N, these little guys had been dunking ducks into hot water to pluck them, their prize for all the hard work was to be able to eat the innards for free.

 

[2wheels]

Just out from Luang Prabang.

 

[2wheels]

Udom Xai.



- - - Updated - - -

Muang Sing.