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yes, I've had the salmon before. I think I prefer the trout, although it was pretty salty. Thankfully, I hadn't added any salt to my salad so it balanced out well.

@BeeZee the TJ's smoked trout is quite nice . hopefully , you have tried the canned lightly smoked salmon nicely complementary to the trout.

Had brought a salad from home for work lunch-seedless cuke, avocado, tomato, roasted yellow pepper, just a little lemon juice-intending to add some kind of protein. Went to TJ's and picked up the canned smoked trout fillet, quick lunch!

Today's bake. This dough was started with a sourdough biga on Saturday night, June 8th and went into the fridge immediately after the last stretch and fold for a long cold fermentation. Dough had more than doubled in the fridge over four days. And more than doubled again on the counter from 8:00 PM last night until 4:00 AM this morning. Gave Matt 525g of dough for a pizza and baked three loaves.

@PatrickT, you had me at brown butter. Great photo.

Interesting. Not a problem I've ever come across, though. If it's common in some places, then the ban would make sense.

Durian is forbidden in lots of public places all over SE Asia, and I get completely get it but I'm curious about the denial of mangosteen as well. I've never had a problem bringing it into hotels in Singapore, Penang, parts of Indonesia, etc. In fact, I remember having a long conversation with a porter at a hotel in Singapore who told me the story of him growing up in Malaysia as a son of a mangosteen farmer. He also showed me the Malaysian farmer way of opening them (no knife required) that is so much easier than the way I used to do it. The only thing I can think of was that one time I bought a bunch of mangosteen in a market in the middle of nowhere about an hour outside of Bangkok. When I got back to the hotel room, I noticed that it was infested with small ants. I brought it into the bathtub and hosed it down completely and had no further issues enjoying the now bug free fruit! But that could probably happen with any sweet fruit, I'd imagine.

I understand the durian and, to a lesser extent the mangosteen but the jackfruit has me beat. Durian is banned in many hotels and even on buses across SE Asia because it stinks. I don't mind the smell and love the fruit, but many people find it revolting. I have a friend here who won't even walk past a shop selling it. I'm guessing mangosteens because they stain a purple color when peeled. The certainly don't smell. I look forward to @BonVivant's thoughts.

Yam talay with poached bay scallops, shrimp, and halibut. Salad included lemongrass, shallots, mint, and cilantro over lettuce. Dressing was bird chiles, garlic, fish sauce, lime juice, and sugar. 10 bird chiles in the dressing will make you feel alive, but next time I make it for the family I will sub in a few milder red chiles. Salad in progress:

Why are those particular fruits not allowed in the hotel?

The fish market is behind the central market. Being next to the water makes it easier to unload fish from returning fishing boats. Small speed boats are like water taxis. People who live on nearby islands or stilt/water villages use them. My new favourite seaweed. Comes in big "clusters" looking exactly like green coral. Now that I've been to markets in every place on the trip so far and they all have both this and the caviar seaweed. Beautiful seaweed. It's quite heavy for its size. Has a large capacity for storing (sea) water. When I was done making this photo I removed one big cluster from the basket and asked the young fishmonger how much to pay. He could speak very little English and I zero Malay... He was able to tell me the entire basket would cost me 5 ringgits ($1.06). I couldn't possibly eat all of it. I pressed a 1 ringgit ($0,21) note into his hand (I really wanted to eat a little bit of this seaweed raw later). He staunchly refused and pressed the money back into my hand. He said it was OK, and that I have come from so far away. He let me keep a small amount of this beautiful seaweed. This is just one of the many of my encounters with friendly and kind locals on this trip. At the end of the day when I was looking at the photos again I thought maybe I should have bought the whole basket and gave the rest to the market eatery where I enjoyed my small lunch of seaweed and mango salad. Tiny caviar seaweed seems always sold in portions on a plate. Flatfish are so big and fat. I never see them so big at home. A huge fish head for the curry. Fish head curry is very popular. Smaller ones for smaller portions of fish head curry There are at least 3 different species of shark in this photo. I see a small hammerhead. A few stalls had sharks. Not sure if catches and species of anything are strictly controlled here. If you are the easily squimish or Green Peace type of person then stay far away from fish/meat markets in some developing countries. Many types of crustacean, especially lobsters. First time seeing these scallops. Brown and smooth shells with no ridges. On the way out I tried to make one last photo thinking the 3 men would not notice. When I looked at the photo much later and guess what, they all saw what I did. They even posed for me. Some market/street vendors actually asked me to take their photos. Who am I to say no to that?! ----------- A few last photos taken in the capital. My hotel is about 50m/yd on the same street. Bought water from this shop every day. Check out the name and fruit. All the hotels never miss a chance to remind you specific fruits and foods that are verboten. Signs are clearly visible from the moment you approach the check-in counter, wait for the lift and enter it, and in your room as well. "American breakfast" in Sabah usually looks like this: Crispy fish skin snacks. My favourite is still salted egg (everything). Sabah used to known as British North Borneo and Jesselton was its capital. After WW2 it was reduced to rubble. This small clock tower was the only structure that remained. KenT, yes the biggest market in town. Food stalls are located on the level above where I ate the best salads of mango and seaweed at this simple eatery. I have been eating mango salad whenever I see it but it's not exactly the same. Every vendor has their own recipes.

Yesterday... ' No purchase of these lovelies was made due to an out-of-town event we're going to this weekend.

Nice day at the greenmarket yesterday. Peas (fresh shelling), pancetta, Parmigiano, pasta. Endive salad with an anchovy dressing alongside.

Beautiful clear skies this morning however showers forecast for later today. Hearty breakfast to take advantage of the weather and get some things done outdoors. Eggs soft scrambled with Thai chili, green onion tops and cilantro, hot Italian sausage and a WW English muffin with Bonne Maman orange marmalade. V8 and a mix of strawberries, grapefruit and orange.

@Shelby Nice haul.

回香 (huí xiāng) Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) 回香子 or 回香籽 (both - huí xiāng zǐ), Fennel seeds have been available here for longer than I’ve known them. They are one of the more common seeds in in five spice and other powder mixes, they are easily obtainable. In fact, most people don’t even bother saying or writing the final character meaning ‘seed’; it’s taken for granted. However until very recently (by which I mean about two weeks ago) fennel bulbs (回香头 - huí xiāng tóu) or fennel leaf/fronds (回香菜 - huí xiāng cài) were totally unknown. Suddenly they popped up all over my food delivery app. I still haven’t seen them in any store or market. Seeds are around $2 USD for 100 g; leaves are 70 cents for the same amount; whereas the bulbs $1.40 for 300 g. The bulbs are still the most difficult to find.

Northern Pork Larb over rice

There is a thread on commercial lever presses here. I think the Vinci extracts less oil than my Hamilton Beach. Whether that is better is a matter of taste. Certainly the Vinci makes good juice. And it juices grapefruit! Would you use a masticating juicer for citrus?

Report from the Uptown Manhattan Bluestar: broiler won't light!

I always have this 'sea caviar' in the pantry. Known here as 海葡萄 (hǎi pú tao), 'sea grapes'. My usual brand is sourced from Vietnam (just down the road) but last but one time I reordered it the supplier was out of stock so I bought it from another. The new supplier's 'grapes' were tiny; less than half the Vietnamese ones. Yes, they came from Malaysia. My usual Vietnamese grape supplier has now restocked.

Great minds think alike. I'm making something quite similar for dinner tonight.

I've tried and enjoyed most of the recipes that show up at the end of this Serious Eats article. It’s really good with eggs. I’ll try it with mussels later in the week when I get my fish share. Edited to add that those previous recipes were made with other brands of ‘Nduja. Haven’t opened the new stuff yet!

Bolognese with penne.

The Pasta Grammar folks think it's pretty good, and more than most, they should know. I've not yet decided how I'll use it for the first try, besides just a scoop and a taste. Thinking of using it on spaghetti or fileja. I'd be interested in knowing your reaction. https://www.the-pasta-project.com/fileja-pasta-alla-silana-recipe-from-calabria/

I have made the recipe in that book for Kalbi and I imagine some others too. We have at least half a dozen Korean cookbooks. I also have the" Korean BBQ" book and have made around 5 or 6 recipe from it. Charlie's favorite is" Discovering Korean Cuisine- Recipes from the Best Korean Restaurants in Los Angles"© 2007, and he frequently calls his mom in Las Vegas to ask for her recipes.