Meals to Remember?

Raan is roast leg of lamb after being marinated in spices and yoghurt for a day or two. Without cutlery you have to just rip it off the bone with your right hand (or change your toilet habits) and it is superb!
 
In the 90s I worked in Malaysia where I was required to have a work permit because I was a mat salleh (foreigner or literally "mad sailor"). To obtain a work permit you needed to be qualified in a job/profession that locals were unable to perform (the same in Thailand). Because the authorities hadn't a clue what my job title meant I was refused a work permit on two occasions so I had to carry on performing my duties without one (and not pay tax :)). The only hardship to this was that I was staying there on business visas which were only valid for up to two months from the date of entry, therefore I had to leave the country every 60 days on a "visa run". Now, you may think that this would be a pain in the butt but I softened the blow by either flying to Phuket or Bali for a few days.

Anyway, that was an aside. For our first time in Bali we stayed in Jimbarang and the first night ate at a bamboo restaurant on the virtually deserted 1,000 metre beach which served grilled prawns (with shells on unfortunately) cooked over a barbecue fired by coconut husks. They were unbelievably good.

Three years later we returned to find that the beach was infested with bamboo barbecue restaurants to the extent that you could not see any sand. Very sad.
 
Yorky said:
In the 90s I worked in Malaysia where I was required to have a work permit because I was a mat salleh (foreigner or literally "mad sailor"). To obtain a work permit you needed to be qualified in a job/profession that locals were unable to perform (the same in Thailand). Because the authorities hadn't a clue what my job title meant I was refused a work permit on two occasions so I had to carry on performing my duties without one (and not pay tax :)). The only hardship to this was that I was staying there on business visas which were only valid for up to two months from the date of entry, therefore I had to leave the country every 60 days on a "visa run". Now, you may think that this would be a pain in the butt but I softened the blow by either flying to Phuket or Bali for a few days.

Anyway, that was an aside. For our first time in Bali we stayed in Jimbarang and the first night ate at a bamboo restaurant on the virtually deserted 1,000 metre beach which served grilled prawns (with shells on unfortunately) cooked over a barbecue fired by coconut husks. They were unbelievably good.

Three years later we returned to find that the beach was infested with bamboo barbecue restaurants to the extent that you could not see any sand. Very sad.
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Cooking prawns shell on (if you grill the shells) will greatly enhance the taste. Same with lobster. Not only that, but the 'liquid' in the head section which is lost on shelled prawns, can be savoured. Even if you don't like 'sucking it' out of the head part, it will flavour the prawn meat. To make an authentic bisque or prawn stew the shells are used, roasted or grilled to provide the base of the stock. You can get tremendous flavour from doing this.
 
My obsession with rice salads comes from the days when whole foods (1980's) were a new idea and there was a wonderful café come restaurant that opened up in the same town as above but much earlier. When my parents were both working in the office they were setting up, we would often join them during the holidays and it was always a problem as to where to eat. My brother would want McDonalds which both my parents and I hated. I on the other hand, wanted this little place. I don't even know what it was called, or for that matter its exact location, other than it is now underneath a bypass (which was sadly much needed) or the car parks alongside it (which were also much needed). However, this little place was in a middle Victorian terrace of the type with no gardens (gives an idea of the working class and size of the place) and how they produced what they did is beyond me. But that rice salad was to die for. I loved it. wholegrain nutty rice, sultanas (I rarely if ever eat them because I don't like them much!), and some other veg and a dressing. We are having something very similar this week only it will be made with pomegranates instead of sultanas for a change!
 
Before I was veggie... one of my favourite dishes was a typical Glaswegian breakfast every time we went back there. It was tatty scones, square sausage, dumpling and fried eggs. The whole lot is obviously fried. The tatty scones (potato cakes), square sausage is exactly that, slices of square sausage meat. The dumpling is more interesting because it is a fruit dumpling (clootie dumpling (Flour, bread crumbs, dried fruit (sultanas and currants), suet, sugar, spice, milk)). That is about a 1cm thick slice which is then fried... and of course some really nice fried eggs... I think we would also have fried mushrooms with it as well. Looking at the ingredients for clootie dumpling, I am thinking there is nothing stopping me trying to make some... mummmmm
 
Chili Crab.

Twenty or so years ago a Malay friend of ours invited us to eat chili crab. We arrived at this far from salubrious restaurant to find that the crabs were still alive in a glass “cage”. My friend chose a couple of crabs and the chef carefully retrieved them, placed them in turn on a chopping board and expertly dissected each crab with a swift cleaver action. I did not see the rest of the cooking process during which the crabs were prepared in a ‘black’ spicy chili sauce and despite my aversion to the dissection process I really enjoyed the meal. There was no cutlery and my white tee shirt took quite a pronounced battering from the ‘black’ sauce. The stains were never totally removed.
 
My first banana leaf curry. First went to the restaurant in Bangsar (a district of Kuala Lumpur) back in the middle 90s. I was taken by Chindian and Sri Lankan friends. There is no cutlery and you are brought a banana leaf and a naan bread. The waiters then wander around with bowls of stuff, you just pick what and how much you want of each and it’s dumped on your leaf. I tried to emulate it at home but it’s not the same.

bananaleafcurry.jpg
 
So many meals to remember, where to start?

Our first trip to Thailand. We arrived at the boutique hotel on Samui after dark and following a quick shower we went straight to the bar. An ice cold Singha in hand we sat at a table overlooking the beach and a portion of mixed satay and a green papaya salad was delivered to us. It was the night of the red moon party and fireworks and lanterns were filling the sky above the nearby town. Absolutely unforgetable, great location, fantastic food and the best staff. That was the moment we fell in Love with Thailand.
 
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