Although this post is about making virgin coconut oil from scratch, the real star of the show is the coconut palm. If you ever find yourself stranded on a desert island in Malaysia, or any other tropical location around the world, the one thing that could be your saving grace is the multi-purpose coconut palm. […]
Learning Singapore Cultural Cooking Via Zoom
Travel may be limited for many foodies and kitchen aficionados, but a taste of Singapore is just a mouse click away. Food Playground, one of Singapore’s top cooking schools, has taken the Covid-19 lemons and made lemonade by now offering online cultural cooking classes. Now that’s a pandemic silver lining I can appreciate. By silver […]
Vietnamese Food Guide For Hanoi Newbies
Two Vietnamese foods that I learned to love on my first trip to Vietnam were Beef Pho and Spring Rolls (gỏi cuốn). That was about it for my culinary expertise. But for years I exclaimed, “I love Vietnamese food!” Seriously, right? As if I even had a clue beyond those two dishes I had eaten. […]
Laksa 101: Written By A Clueless Tourist
I am a clueless non-foodie tourist. There, I’ve said it. And I feel much better confessing that straight away. Yet I am driven to untangle the mysteries of Malaysian Laksa. Not because I am a massive fan of Laksa, per say, but because there is so much heritage wrapped into this dish. I had erroneously […]
Discovering Ramadan Market Food in Langkawi, Malaysia
Without going into the details of Malaysia’s Ramadan fasting month and what it means for Muslims, I will say there is a lot of food involved (between fasting). For non-Muslims, if you aren’t fortunate enough to be officially invited to a traditional ‘break fast’ (buka puasa), you can still experience some of the cultural aspects […]
Meeting Stingless Honey Bees in Langkawi
When someone lifts the roof from a Kelulut (box-style) bee hive, plunges a straw into the comb and offers you a taste, you very well don’t turn that experience down. This is how I found myself eye to eye with some very busy but nonchalant bees. I obviously wasn’t the first human they had seen […]