eG Foodblog : yunnermeier - Hungry in Holland,Oberhausen & Budapes

[doc slaughter]

Enjoying your blog very much. Is the fish similar to Mackeral her in the USA? Very good photos. Maybe you'll get some more local pic's for us armchair travelers.

[yunnermeier]

French fries with mayo and curry ketchup?

(er...what's curry ketchup?)

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Both of you are getting close but Rooftop 1000 needs something from nakji's answer and nakji is missing one last thing which Rooftop 1000 mentioned so the chocolate letter is still waiting to be sent!

Anyone else?

[yunnermeier]

Enjoying your blog very much. Is the fish similar to Mackeral her in the USA? Very good photos. Maybe you'll get some more local pic's for us armchair travelers.

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Hello! I'm not sure what mackeral is like in the US but the mackeral I bought this morning is ikan tenggiri batang (Spanish mackeral or narrow-barred mackeral). It has stripes and very little bones.

Abra , do tell us the results!

Edited October 31, 2006 by yunnermeier (log)

[CaliPoutine]

I had quite a fright because I thought I had a lump of belacan (shrimp paste) in my room which I bought from Amsterdam about 6 months ago but I forgot that I threw it away when I cleaned my room just before my best friend arrived! I panicked because I'd bought the fish, the red chilli, everything and without belacan, my chilli is nothing which means my Malaysian grilled fish is also nothing    I'd all about given up with today's food experiment but SURPRISE SURPRISE, a visit to the supermarket made me very happy. Not only did this tiny town (Weesp has only 15 000 residents)'s c1000 (supermarket) have belacan in the Asian section, the box also proclaimed "MADE IN MALAYSIA" . I'm a very happy woman 

The sambal is finished and the fish is in the fridge (also marinated it at 1p.m.) ready to be grilled at 6.

Because I'm in such a good mood, I will offer one Chocolate Letter (a Sinterklaas tradition!) of your choice (traditionally the first letter of your first name)to the first eGullet-er who answers this very easy question correctly

What is patat speciaal ?

Good luck!

p/s: Feel free to PM Chufi or Markemorse 

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is it french fries, curry mayonnaise, ketchup and raw onions

or fries with mayo, curry sauce and onions

Edited October 31, 2006 by CaliPoutine (log)

[ludja]

French fries with mayo and curry ketchup?

(er...what's curry ketchup?)

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Both of you are getting close but Rooftop 1000 needs something from nakji's answer and nakji is missing one last thing which Rooftop 1000 mentioned so the chocolate letter is still waiting to be sent!

Anyone else?

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Such a great Dutch treat... sounds like the patatas speciaal is french fries wth (curry) ketchup, mayo and onions....

I latched onto fries with sambal mayo while I was in Amsterdam. I even bought one last order at the airport and ended up cutting it a little too close and was one of the last people to board the plane. They had to remove the remaining frites from my little paws before letting me board the plane and the attendents were all laughing at me.

Edited October 31, 2006 by ludja (log)

[yunnermeier]

or fries with mayo, curry sauce and onions

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Yup, that's right! Please PM me with your address, letter of your choice and whether you prefer milk or dark chocolate

[CaliPoutine]

wow, I never win anything!!

I didnt know the answer so I asked a friend who's parents were both born in Holland. There is a very large Dutch population in this part of Ontario.

I've sent you a PM.

[hathor]

Piacere Mei! (Italian for what a pleasure to meet you!)

It is certainly a treat to have you blog. Did you learn any Dutch before you came to Holland? Why did you pick Holland? What will you do when you go back to Malaysia? I think it is very brave, wonderful, exciting, scary, fantastic that you are taking a year to live in a very different culture.

Your Paris pictures are great....I miss Paris!!

Looking forward to all your adventures this week...including working on a better spacecake recipe!

[saskanuck]

I love reading about Holland and Dutch food, because my husband is Dutch and his parents were both born there and didn't come to Canada until they were teenagers.

I always buy the chocolate letters for our Christmas stockings. Tony's grandma used to send them to us before she passed away, so I want to continue the tradition.

[saskanuck]

I love reading about Holland and Dutch food, because my husband is Dutch and his parents were both born there and didn't come to Canada until they were teenagers.

I always buy the chocolate letters for our Christmas stockings. Tony's grandma used to send them to us before she passed away, so I want to continue the tradition.

[Megan Blocker]

Oh my goodness, what a beautiful town! That is just gorgeous...can't wait to follow you around all week, Mei - you're off to an excellent start already.

P.S. - Chufi is EVERYONE'S eGullet idol, mine included.

[Tepee]

For breakfast today, I had nasi lemak and kuih in honour of your blog. Also...hoping to inspire you to make it one of these days. Yunny boleh! since you did such a great job with the ikan bakar. Happy to send you any of the stuff you need, like ikan bilis...since I just came back from a holiday in Pangkor.

[ludja]

^This looks so nice! What type of filling were in the kuih? Also, can you detail the accompaniements on for the nasi lemak? (I see hardboiled egg for sure...)

[Susan in FL]

Oh my goodness, what a beautiful town!  That is just gorgeous...can't wait to follow you around all week, Mei - you're off to an excellent start already.

P.S. - Chufi is EVERYONE'S eGullet idol, mine included.

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She sure is mine, too, and now I have another eGullet idol to add to the list.

All I can say about this blog is that it is just too cool. Thank you, Mei!

[Tepee]

^This looks so nice!  What type of filling were in the kuih?  Also, can you detail the accompaniements on for the nasi lemak?  (I see hardboiled egg for sure...)

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The round ones are deep-fried glutinous rice balls rolled in sesame seeds. These ones were filled with peanuts, mashed green beans and sugar.

The long one is kuih ketayap or kuih dadar, basically a fragrant pandan-flavoured pancake filled with a sticky coconut cooked in palm sugar and fragranced with pandan leaves.

Curry puff for the smirky smile.

The nasi lemak is a basic one...comprising the coconut milk rice, roasted peanuts, fried anchovies, sambal, cucumber and hard-boiled egg. It's an addiction (worse than any space cake I should think) and costs only RM1 (US$0.28) almost everywhere in Msia.

Here's a recipe.

Edited November 1, 2006 by Tepee (log)

[yunnermeier]

Aunty Tepee (in Malaysia, younger people call older women 'aunty')

Why are you doing this to me. I miss nasi lemak so much. Once on the bus, I was SO SURE I smelled nasi lemak but I think I was just dreaming since there were only 2 Dutch farmers on it!

Thanks for your offer to send me ikan bilis but surprisingly it's readily available here (although it's definitely not as fragrant as the ones from Pangkor!) . What I'd really like is pandan leaves but I guess that isn't possible

I was actually thinking of making curry puff this week but my schedule this week is crazy so probably not~!

This is a picture my mum sent me of the kuih talam she made on Sunday.

I'm not a big fan of kuih , I prefer western pastries and Japanese wagashi but one kuih I always eat is kuih pulut teratai/pulut tekan/ pulut taitai (it's the blue and white block ).

Edited November 1, 2006 by yunnermeier (log)

[yunnermeier]

All I can say about this blog is that it is just too cool.  Thank you, Mei!

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Wow, I'm just so cool

I also have done my shopping for the spacecake operation on Thursday or Friday . eGullet kills me, it really does! Here I am, an au pair on an allowance of a very sad 70 euro a week, spending half off it on 4 grams on hash (the recipe recommends 8grams but I'm too poor and I'm making a much smaller batch). If my parents disown me, I can always say "eGullet made me do it"!

Coffeeshops (there are also much better looking ones... it's like a cafe or a pub..high-end,low-end, neighbourhood,swanky...)

Edited November 1, 2006 by yunnermeier (log)

[yunnermeier]

Piacere Mei!  (Italian for what a pleasure to meet you!)

It is certainly a treat to have you blog. Did you learn any Dutch before you came to Holland? Why did you pick Holland? What will you do when you go back to Malaysia?  I think it is very brave, wonderful, exciting, scary, fantastic that you are taking a year to live in a very different culture.

Your Paris pictures are great....I miss Paris!!

Looking forward to all your adventures this week...including working on a better spacecake recipe!

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Hello hathor (and Megan Blocker & saskanuck) ! No, I didn't know any Dutch before I came but my host family pays for me to go to Dutch class (all Dutch host families do this) at the local ROC. It's not the best because it's mostly for people who will be staying here long-term (so you mostly learn how to make appointments). I think they term it 'integration course" but at least I learn something (especially since my host family and I only converse in English).

Why did I pick Holland No, it's not for the uh.. liberal policies ! I knew I wanted to go to Europe but I didn't want to go to an English-speaking country. After crossing out a number of countries not allowing non-EU ,non-first world au pairs, and countries I had less interest in, I was left with France, Belgium and the Netherlands. My host family contacted me and they seemed great so Holland it was!

When I go back, I'll continue my degree at college but the thing is, I may not actually be going back at all. My boyfriend and I have been seriously discussing if we should get my visa switched to a relationship visa but this all depends if we get a house/apartment (living together is a requirement under this visa) . I'm a little bit stuck on this one though because I know life back home (for me) is definitely better than over here and by living here, I'd have to be resigned being a cashier at the local supermarket plus I'd have to be completely dependant on him the first 6 months or so (not allowed to work until immigration decides to approve your application).

Help! I'm only 21! But I've never liked a guy so much

Edited November 1, 2006 by yunnermeier (log)

[KatieLoeb]

Mei, thank you so much for the photos. Weesp is lovely and reminds me of Leiden with the lovely houses on the canals. I spent a summer there playing au pair for my cousins' little daughter who now has a baby of her own. I must be getting old! I was 15 then and I was just old enough to know how much fun I might be having if I'd been allowed out on my own, but just a little too young for them to let me do it!

[yunnermeier]

Pontormo asked if I could tell how I prepared the fish. Now, my mother is very generous with her recipes (and no she doesn't hide steps or ingredients) but my father's family isn't (long story about some food writer stealing one of their kuihs and Nyonya dish!).

However, this is Mum's so here you go! She didn't give me an exact recipe (it was on MSN, she said things like "Rub the fish with the kunyit" but this is what I used:

Ingredients:

For the fish

Kunyit powder (According to Google, also known as Kurkuma, Turmeric or Indian saffron)

salt

Sambal belacan

7 chillis (no bird's eye or red peppers please!)

a small amount of belacan (I used a small block of about 1cm)

Asian limes (quite a few) if possible, if not large Brazillian limes are fine too

1 redonion /shallots (chopped)

salt & sugar to taste

Fish

i) Make slits and liberally rub kunyit powder (and also some salt)

ii ) My mother didn't say this (so Tepee , if I'm wrong please say something), but I did this early and left the fish to marinate so that it'd have more taste (at least that's what I think)

Sambal

i) Roast the belacan (shrimp paste) in a pan on the stove. Make sure not to burn it or it'll be bitter.

ii) In a granite/clay bowl (you know the one Jamie Oliver made famous? comes with a pestle) , pound the chillis and belacan until to a pulp (or nearly)

iii) Squeeze lime juice (until everything is nearly submerged) . Add sugar and salt to taste (I think I didn't add that much salt actually but quite a few teaspoons of sugar).

iv) Add chopped onions

I also made this in advance because I believe this way the flavours get to develope.

This is a very easy dish but it tastes great (in my opinion). The chilli compliments the fish beautifully. This is not for people who enjoy bland food

If anyone tries this, please tell me. I'd love to know how it turned out

Edited November 1, 2006 by yunnermeier (log)

[Chufi]

Thanks for your offer to send me ikan bilis  but surprisingly it's readily available here (although it's definitely not as fragrant as the ones from Pangkor!) . What I'd really like is pandan leaves but I guess that isn't possible 

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Mei, do you ever go shopping in Amsterdam, we have some pretty nice toko's here, they might have stuff you're looking for!

I also have done my shopping for the spacecake operation on Thursday or Friday . eGullet kills me, it really does! Here I am, an au pair on an allowance of a very sad 70 euro a week, spending half off it on 4 grams on hash (the recipe recommends 8grams but I'm too poor and I'm making a much smaller batch).  If my parents disown me, I can always say "eGullet made me do it"! 

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I am so glad that you are going where no other Dutch blogger (= me ) has dared to go.

[Tepee]

Fish

i) Make slits and liberally rub kunyit powder (and also some salt)

ii ) My mother didn't say this (so Tepee , if I'm wrong please say something), but I did this early and left the fish to marinate so that it'd have more taste (at least that's what I think)

Sambal

Good to slit to enable the fish to cook more evenly and quickly. Yes, rub kunyit into the slits as well as the belly.

Where's the sambal belacan in the pic? I'd slather it thickly all over and inside the fish for oomph.

The nasi lemak was meant to motivate, not to torture, lol. Apologies!

[yunnermeier]

Where's the sambal belacan in the pic? I'd slather it thickly all over and inside the fish for oomph.

The nasi lemak was meant to motivate, not to torture, lol. Apologies!

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Nooooo, cannot slather on the fish! This is not the other kind of ikan bakar (I think that's Nyonya Portugese style) where the sambal is quite thick and grilled in foil. This is.. uh.. is this Penang style? (could be the other way round) You dip your bit of fish in the chilli before you put it in your mouth. This sambal is more tangy (because of the limes)

Edited November 1, 2006 by yunnermeier (log)

[yunnermeier]

Mei, do you ever go shopping in Amsterdam, we have some pretty nice toko's here, they might have stuff you're looking for!

I am so glad that you are going where no other Dutch blogger (= me ) has dared to go. 

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Chufi, I have been to a few tokos but I've never seen fresh pandan leaves yet . Have you? Care to point me in the right direction?

KatieLoeb : Leiden is a beautiful city! My host mum grew up in Leiden so we've gone there a few times. Unfortunately I have yet to see the city up close because we hop in the boat at Warmond and always go on a canal cruise but that's in the summer. I hope to walk through Leiden sometime soon

Edited November 1, 2006 by yunnermeier (log)

[Pan]

[...]When I go back, I'll continue my degree at college but the thing is, I may not actually be going back at all. My boyfriend and I have been seriously discussing if we should get my visa switched to a relationship visa but this all depends if we get a house/apartment (living together is a requirement under this visa) . I'm a little bit stuck on this one though because I know life back home (for me) is definitely better than over here and by living here, I'd have to be resigned being a cashier at the local supermarket plus I'd have to be completely dependant on him the first 6 months or so (not allowed to work until immigration decides to approve your application).

Help! I'm only 21! But I've never liked a guy so much

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Has he visited Malaysia yet? When he does, he may want to stay!

I think Asam Laksa costs $4.95 or $5.95 at my favorite Malaysian restaurant in New York (Skyway in Manhattan's Chinatown).

Enjoy blogging! I'll check in when I have the chance.