Duvel

Green curry paste uses the roots, mostly. But I found leaves & stems do work as a pretty good substitute in a 3:1 ration (L&S:R) ...

Make Thai green curry paste and freeze in ice cube moulds ...

Ella, Sri Lanka: Freshly fried cashews with Curry leaves, followed by a fish curry with chapatis ... Lion Lager to moisten it all 😋

Tasted a bit like rum, sweet undertones. I did not feel that it taste like coconut, but then probably more than 50% of my dietary intake over the last few days contained coconut, so maybe I have already built up a tolerance ..?

Dinner in a non-descript place in Maduwanwela, Sri Lanka. Curry & rice from the curry pot bar: chicken curry, then some dal, mixed greens curry, pumpkin curry, spicy eggplant curry and some sort of raw veggie & onion pickle. All served with the local ginger beer ... Followed by Arrack & Sprite ... according to our driver the thing to drink here. And as I will depend on him for the next week or so who am I to argue 😉

Breakfast with a view at Tangalle, Sri Lanka: Mixed fruit juice, coconut sambol, rice with lentil fritters and potato curry. I could get used to that ...

“The Fat Crab” at Colombo, Sri Lanka. We had the large crabs (500g+), as curry crab (for me) and garlic crab (for the rest of the family). Extra shrimps with bacon & Pankow for the little one. All served with dhal, coconut sambol and some sort of Pullman loaf that was just perfect for mopping up the sauces. Enjoyed with tonic and a virgin strawberry mojito that was surprisingly delicious ...

After a short night (flight was delayed and we arrived at the hotel at 3.00am) the first breakfast in Colombo, Sri Lanka. All sorts of sambols, sauces, black chicken curry, fish curry, idli. Followed by a masala dosa and buffalo milk curds with treacle. Very satisfied ... and back to bed 😉

Very nice! Do you poach the tongue or SV? Would you share your method?

Well done !

A little variation to our usual Sunday pizza night: leftovers found in the fridge were Gailan, carrots, chicken thighs and eggs. Made a Japanese dinner out of it ... cold Gailan with sesame dressing & carrots, dashi tamagoyaki and three types of yakitori: Kawa (skin), Momo (thigh) and Tsukune (meat ball, minced by hand). All enjoyed with a recent discovery - “Buckskin” from Taiwan. Made my family happy and me as well ...

Sunday night is pizza night - and tonight I combined it with cleaning the fridge: Shaved asparagus & Brie, sprinkled with Yuzu shichimi togarashi. That was one tasty pizza (followed by the usual mushroom & salami and anchovy & olive ones) ...

Wow ... looks fantastic ! Just wondering: is that sausage an “exception” for you ?

Here on HK rabbitnis almost impossible to source, but when we were still living in Germany we had rabbit rather often. My wife - as all Catalans - is very fond of rabbits in their cooked form and I do enjoy it as well. Usually I chopped the whole bunny (or two) up in four pieces, sprinkled with olive oil and salt & pepper (and maybe some Pimenton de la vera) and throw it into a preheated convection oven at full whack. About 5-10 min in it gets golden on the surface, by which time I properly covered the deep oven tray with some tin foil and switched the oven off and left the rabbit in. The pieces cooked in the residual heat for maybe 1h or so and came out nice and juicy every single time. Also here, that was before I discovered SV. Am curious now how Shelby’s SV treatment and deep-fry would work out on it ...

@Shelby See, that’s all the questions you get for posting such food porn 😜 Please do continue ...

So sorry, but just for clarification: the meat is precooked via SV, then “rested” in buttermilk with beaten egg , then coated in flour and deep fried. The resting period in butter milk/egg served any purpose other than moistening the SV meat ? Is there any classic flavour contribution ? I’d assume that the typical brining function is disabled due to the SV treatment ... Regardless, that’s some damn fine looking fried chicken 🤗

Looks pretty good !

The breakfast of champions (rural Germany edition): Mett (raw spiced pork) and Fleischsalat (sliced up Mortadella with cucumbers and egg in mayo). Will keep you full the whole day ...

Braised beef with daikon, karaage and yaki-onigiri ...

Hahaha ... well, next month to Germany, to the small city of Bonn to attend my sisters wedding. Over Easter holidays we are eyeballing Sri Lanka, though ... 😉

I love that collage ... and envy your son to be able to live there ! It is really a great place to be ...

Sato's is a family restaurant and one of the first restaurants we found when we moved to Kyoto. Beside it being family-friendly it is also very foreigner-friendly with its picture menus and the quite comprehensive selection. It is also very reasonably priced ... We had to wait a bit with some friendly older fellows. Once seated, we maybe pigged out a bit Kirin ... Karaage ... Edamame (for the little one, of course) ... Gyoza ... Yaki-Onigiri ... Tsukune ... Tempura & soba set ... Tempura ... Soba. As always my favourite ... Spinach with tofu ... Sushi set ... With Tempura as well ... Oyster temaki ... Tsukemono ... And Matcha parfait & icecream ... A bit full ...

Since we were in the area, we decided to do the "touristy" thing and continued to walk to Kinkaku-ji, about two kilometers to the north. It had not changed a bit Setsubun preparation were imminent here as well. You could buy a small wooden stick, write down your wishes for the upcoming year and then leave it to be burned at the bonfire (at three convenient times) ... From there, a mere 20 min walk further, lies Ryoan-ji, another famous temple (and already announce by @kayb). The austerity of the zen garden is in sharp contrast to the almost glittering Golden Temple before. At the entrance a small shack sold croquettes made from Yuba (tofu skin). It was ... interesting. We sat down at the zen garden and mediated a bit about the meaning of life and the fate of the universe (in view of the recent shake-up in dark matter research). The stone at the nearby spring says "learn only to be content", and we decided we would be very content to have some lunch. After the unsuccessful attempt to convert the rest of my family to love Yuba, I ruled out the Yuba restaurant on the temple premises. But luckily we knew the area quite well, so we headed to a more family-friendly option ...

Today (technically a week ago) the Setsubun festival takes place, the marking of the beginning of spring. It is a remnant of the lunar new year, that is no longer celebrated in Japan, but of course shaped the traditions of this country as well. It is marked by ceremonies aimed to drive off the evil and prepare for a prosperous new year. People are flocking to shrines to participate in these ceremonies, clean their houses and throw beans at (hopefully only costumed) demons at homes and shrines alike, while shouting “鬼は外 - 福は内!” or Oni wa soto - Fuku wa uchi! (Demons out - happiness in!). For us this was the opportunity to visit Kitano Tenmangu, a shrine in the northwest of Kyoto, next to which we lived for 2.5 years. We stopped by our old apartment. We lived in the first floor of this house, the balcony on the left. 12 m2, including said balcony, but surely one of the greatest experiences of our lives. The shrine is well known for its activities on Setsubun, as well as for its lovely plum garden. The plums were partly in bloom and attracted a lot of picture taking. Many people were dressed in their Kimonos and Yukatas, to pay respect to the shrine and for the festive occasion. We bought some beans for the little one (to be thrown or eaten later) as well as some goodies for the year of the pig.

Yes. as far as I know Unagi (sweet water eel) is classified in the US as endangered, while Anago (sea water eel) is not. The one pictured is Unagi. The sensibilities towards animals in general, their treatment and their sustainability are - at times - vastly different in many Asian countries, including Japan, as to what would be the norm in many western countries. I have certainly my values as well, but as I choose to live and visit here I try just as you hard not to pass judgement on those whose views differ (unless I really have to) ...