A few shots of Saigon

The Metropolis of Pak Beng - Mekong slow boat sin city.

Welcome to Pak Beng!

There was no sign to say that, it comes straight from me.

The town is a small stopover on the river for the infamous Mekong Slow Boat.
This was my third trip to Pak Beng so I'm obviously some sort of masochist.
The town itself is located on a picturesque bend in the river and is a welcome sight at the end of a gruelling boat trip.
On this occasion we travelled upstream against the current.
Our progress was like a salmon with cancer trying to jump out of a bath, but eventually we made it.
A further 20 minutes saw our driver squeezing our boat in between those already moored, with the help of some bamboo poles and a lot of running on the part of the boat boys

 Pak Beng was a tad gloomy this time around, and nature celebrated our arrival in grand fashion, opening
the skies to greet us with a sullen deluge and to wash the streets clean of any remaining hope or optimism.

This sign was not exactly true. Hive bar was not the only place in town serving beer, but they did have the advantage of offering a glass with it, a chair and some adjacent tables.
We checked into the small stilt homes opposite the Indian Restaurant.
The place was close, private and overlooking the river, a majestic view following a very short walk.
we dropped our bags inside and paid the cash.
Both of us were sticky and grimy with the blood, sweat and tears of a 9 hour adventure up the churning waters of Upper Laos and proceeded to remove clothing in readiness for a much needed shower.
From memory, it was around this time that the power died, and the whole of Pak Beng and surrounding jungle fell into a still, quiet, dark eeriness that led us to our balcony and some twilight views of the river, the only thing still visible.

My better half waited for 10 minutes then struggled against the odds and positioned a torch in the bathroom, washing with cold water as I relaxed on the verandah, taking in the sights and sounds.
I felt a little guilty, but not guilty enough to move.
She emerged wrapped in a towel, and the electricity returned moments later, thus signalling that by divine right, I, Chef Shane should take my turn sluicing the debris from my crevices under hot water, with the lights on.
I smiled, but not enough to earn me a good slapping.

Washed and ready to face the world again, we discussed our options in the culinary capital of Pak Beng.
We decided to head into 'town' about 400 metres away and got ourselves ready.
It rained again. Heavily.
We decided to go across the road to the Indian Restaurant instead. Mistake.
Not being tripadvisor addicts, we didn't write that place up, but if there are more than 2 others guests waiting, go somewhere else.
The Naan Bread was the worst I have ever experienced and the food took forever.
They did, however, chill the bottle of NZ Sauv Blanc that we bought, and served it to us in the smallest wine glasses I have ever seen. More on that on the naan bread links.
Below is the Pic of Pak Beng town.
It is pretty tiny and has plenty of accommodation options in all budgets.
Most are cheap.
From the cheap ones around $5 you can choose between bed bugs, spinal damage, mould, dirty linen, or an exciting cocktail of all the above.
From $15 onwards you can get something decent.
The food in Pak Beng is interesting if you are not forced to consume it.
The best option is definitely barbecue - great quality, cooking and variety.
Unfortunately, may of Pak Beng businesses feel the need to give the customer what they want, which is where it all comes undone.
The croissants could start wars, and the baguette is a travesty.
We witnessed young male travellers bite into a baguette 'sandwich' and then hold it up, peel it apart, inspect the contents (and lack of dressing/butter/spread) and then debate in serious, lowered tones.
Anyhow, this is the Cityscape photo of Pak Beng.

Next we have the humble stall.

The street is lined with them in the mornings in the hope that hungry and disgruntled travellers will purchase these items as sustenance for the voyage ahead.

Many will. 

Hungry and waiting for breakfast, we consider the cocktail list (or is it a personal column?)

The White Russian is a popular choice, but following the Lorena Bobbit incident we were wondering if the "Bloody Marry" may make for a more exciting holiday.

These guys below come down every morning to receive alms. I am wondering if they actually pray or chant for an improvement in the bread and pastry quality.

The monks are a nice reminder that one is in Laos, and they do add a lot of colour to the town.

All in all, a nice wee town, but if you stay there, get some nice digs for the night.
It won't cost much and it will make all the difference.
For food, eat early and eat local - it will be the best experience.
Coffee - only nescafe. Bugger!
The Indian restaurant - don't do it.
Get a place with a river view - stay up late, get up early.
The town runs on tourism - boat arrive from 3pm and go until 9am. For a really surreal visit, stay an extra day and see the place implode when the boats go.

General info about the slow boat:
Slow boat is around $35 from Thailand for boat only from Houay Xai (Thai Border) to Luang Prabang
Cost is around $65 from Luang Prabang to Chiang Mai including boats, accom in Houay Xai, mini bus, transfer.
Thailand to Luang Prabang is down stream (with the current)
Luang Prabang to Houay Xai is upstream (against the current)
You'll get in to Pak Beng on sunset going upstream, and an hour or 2 before going the other way.
No need to buy cushions now - the slow boats have contoured soft chairs.
Cold beer, tea, coffee, softdrinks on board. Bring anything else.
The boat leaves at 8am to 9.30am in the morning from all 3 places - Houay Xai, Pak Beng & Luang Prabang.
It takes 6-8 hours each day over 2 days to go from Thailand to Luang Prabang (or back) by slow boat.
The speedboat takes just 6 hours but is fast, noisy, more dangerous and you need to cover up from sun and spray (which stings at high speed). You'll end up rattled and jolted.
Vietnam Airlines fly to Luang Prabang and Chiang Mai from Hanoi and Saigon. Easy to plan a circular trip.
Luang Prabang airport has direct flights to Siem Reap.

Our trip was:
Flying Vietnam Airlines: Danang to Hanoi, then Hanoi to Luang Prabang.
Slow Boat Luang Prabang to Houay Xai.
30 baht boat across the river, Houay Xai to Chiang Khong Thailand.
Mini bus at 10.30am from Chiang Khong to Chiang Mai.
Flight on Air Asia from Chiang Mai to Bangkok.
Vietnam Airlines from Bangkok to Saigon to Da Nang.

Please ask if you have any questions on the slow boat.
It's my third time up and down, so happy to share anything I've learned, for better or worse.
Travel stuff will be posted here and my food & cooking related stuff on http://www.chef-a-gogo.com

North Thai sushi - Mad about Mekong Maki

This morning's breakfast was a great one.
When I say breakfast I mean the meal that we tuck into around 9am after being up at the crack of Dawn.
And yes, before you write in - Dawn loves it!


As I've been saying we eat a lot of sticky rice.
Every meal, sticky rice. It's the staple.
Today we grabbed a couple of fresh catfish, slashed them along the side and flung them into a wire press and fired up the charcoal burner.
Ten minutes later we had 'pla dook yang' or grilled catfish.

Another use for the wire and the charcoal was to make the accompanying dip.
Char roasted shallot nam prik.
This is an easy one.

• Red shallots, golden shallots, or small onions 80g
• Garlic, fresh cloves 15g
• Chillies, fresh, whole 3-4 each medium size, medium hot. 
• Salt flakes

1. Roast the whole unpeeled shallots over charcoal until charred and cooked
2. Roast the chillies over charcoal until charred and cooked
3. Crush the garlic in mortar and pestle with salt flakes
4. Crush the chillies into the garlic and salt
5. Peel the shallots and crush them into the mix also.
6. Check seasoning - That's it. ready.

The next step is so easy and it's a taste sensation.
Grab a chunk of sticky rice and flatten it into a rectangle.
If there are no sushi chefs watching, just flatten it into any shape!


Pull some barbecued catfish flesh and skin off the whole fish (no bones).
Lay it in the middle of the rice
Spoon some nam prik of roasted shallot on it, and roll it up.

It takes no skill and the Japanese would hate you and mutter Nipponese curses at you for being an unworthy unskilled faux-maki-rolling peasant.
But put this into your mouth and you'll be swapping insults back with them.
It's a taste sensation. Just delicious.
No need to drown them the same old soy and wasabi and fumble with chopsticks.
Just grab this bad boy and get it "in yer belly"




To learn how to cook sticky rice step-by-step with photos, visit my chef-a-gogo website, now up and running at http://chef-a-gogo.com/?p=56



Could you, would you should you make this? Hell yes! 

You can play with the concept a bit and tell me all about it. I hope I've explained it well enough.

Do you have any questions?

How to cook and eat a crocodile

Crocodile fillet stir-fried with Ancho chili, coconut and basil


Sorry about the misleading blog title.
I should have called it "croc around the clock" as this dish has been on my lunch and dinner menus in a few different incarnations. Croc is pretty available as it's produced in Asia, US, Australia, New Guinea, China and Africa and is often stocked frozen by 'progressive' suppliers and supermarkets.
There are different cuts, but I always go for the tail fillet and then slice it thinly across the grain.
Crocodile has a mild flavour and the texture its meat and fat is similar to pork.
It's well worth a try - but don't overcook it.
A short burst of high heat is great, and you should cut it thinly, and not cook too much at one time so the pan doesn't lose its heat.
The picture above was taken a couple of years back - I had red capsicum and snow peas etc in there. It didn't need it. The picture and recipe below is the evolved version. Simple, tasty and minimalist. Give it a try.
If you can't find or catch a crocodile, then you can use pork. 


Ingredients

• 220g Crocodile tail fillet, thinly sliced
• 50g   Green beans, sliced thinly
• 50g   Onion, sliced thinly
• 1/2    Large red chilli, thinly sliced if you like
• 1      Dried Mexican Ancho chili. (soak in a little boiling hot water for 5 minutes, then blend or pound to a paste)
• 125ml Coconut milk (half cup)
• Sweet basil leaves
• Fish sauce
• Black pepper, freshly crushed or ground
• Oil for cooking
• Sweet basil leaves, picked off the stalk

Method

1. Heat a wok or pan until hot
2. Add a little oil, it should come to almost smoking
3. throw in the first 4 ingredients: Croc, beans, onion and chilli
4. Stir-fry over high heat for 1-2 minutes only
5. Add ancho chilli paste. Stir fry for 10 seconds then add coconut cream to stop it from burning.
6. Working quickly, stir it around and toss to combine, toss the basil leaves through, then season to taste with fish sauce and black pepper. In this one minute period, the coconut and Ancho chili should have reduced to a sexy sauce thick enough to coat the crocodile, onion and beans.
7. That's it. Serve with potato crisps or sweet potato crisps. Cook them fresh - don't use Lays or Pringles! ;-)

Serve with rice, or freshly cooked potato crisps or sweet potato crisps, or a bit of both. The rice is great for mopping up the delicious gravy. And the crisps are just great for no particular reason. (actually, for textural contrast if I were to give a professional reason)

Eating your loofah and having it too.

How to cook an old scrubber
Enter the loofah, that coarse wiry thing that hangs somewhere in the bathroom, and sometimes gets used for back scrubbing.
Mine has a wooden handle, and used to hang off the window hook at a bit of an angle because of the short string. From time to time when my back felt particularly reptilian, I would remember to grab it and start see-sawing it across my back to pry off the scales.
When I was a kiddie, we used to have a long Phallic loofah that laid nonchalantly around the bathtub - threatening quick dippers with its unknown potential.
For me, that was the loofah.
They do have other uses.
One, apparently, is for sexual fantasies and envisaged by Fox TV show executives. Wikipedia makes reference to this seemingly innocent dried gourd skeleton in the Bill O'Reilly harassment suit "Mackris produced quotations from phone conversations between herself and O’Reilly in which he suggested various sexual fantasies he had for her. A widely publicized portion of one conversation included a scenario where O'Reilly would massage her with a loofah in the shower. At one point during the conversation, O'Reilly referred to the loofah as "the falafel thing." "Falafel" eventually became a short-hand reference to the affair."
Each to his or her own.
Broadminded though I definitely am, I find it difficult to become aroused over the inclusion of any type of loofah in my sexual repertoire. Perhaps that's my loss, or maybe I'm just getting old. In my culinary repertoire however, it has definitely found a place. 

Loofah is a type of gourd.
The ones you find in shops for bathroom use are a bit like me. Old, past their prime, and allowed to hang on their vine and die, drying out to expose their dry fibrous interior.
The young ones however, are a bit like zucchini.
You can slice them and fry them up in a similar way.
This recipe was actually done with bamboo and glass noodles after what you see below. Also good, but I was really getting into just eating the loofah part out of the wok as cooked below. Awesome.
Here's the recipe and method.


Stir-fried loofah with pork
Cooking oil
Loofah, sliced thinly
Finely chopped pork fillet (or could use chicken, or onion if vegetarian)
Chillies, fresh, chopped
Oyster sauce, Thai Maekrua brand
Black pepper, freshly crushed

First wash, then chop up your young loofah.
Slice the chillies also. To taste.
Slice the pork thinly. If you have a less tender cut, it can be chopped or coarsely minced

Heat a wok or frying pan.
Add a little oil, and when smoking, add the pork. Stir-fry 1  minute until just coloured and sexy, then add and stir-fry the loofah and chilli, still over high heat.
It should make a loud sizzling sound the whole time, just like my lily-white skin during an hour in the midday sun. If it doesn't, then the wok isn't hot enough.


We want to stir-fry it all at high heat for about 2-3 minutes until almost cooked.
Next, add the oyster sauce. About 1 tablespoon for this amount of pork,  loofah and chilli.
Season with a liberal sprinkle of freshly crushed/ground black peppercorns.
that's it.
Eat it with rice, or just as is.

Whole fish braised with lemongrass, chilli and turmeric root

Pink tilapia fish with fresh curry paste, wrapped  in turmeric leaf

This meal is possibly the best 80 baht that I have spent this week.
That rounds out to about $2.60, and as a Saturday brunch it was beyond compare. If one dish with sticky rice and morning glory could be described as an orgiatic feast, this could possibly be it.
We used pink tilapia - a freshwater fish with no fishy taste - and softy white flesh. This would be awesome with snapper, grouper, blue eye cod, sweetlip, red emperor, coral trout or the usual premium white fish suspects.


This is another simple recipe that is easily achieved if you decide to plant a couple of turmeric roots in your garden or make a quick trip to the Asian market.


Ingredients:
1 each Whole Pink Tilapia or similar meaty white fleshed fish
1 stalk lemongrass, smashed
1 each Turmeric leaf for wrapping
1 cup water

To make fresh curry paste
12 cloves of fresh Garlic
1 tsp Salt flakes
7 grams/ 1 dsp Turmeric root, fresh, peeled
10 each Dry red chillies
1 stalk Lemongrass, fresh, thinly sliced

1. Pound the curry paste ingredients together in a mortar and pestle until you have a paste
2. Split the fish open along the back on one side, butterfly one fillet open only so it can be stuffed. see pictures. Don't fillet it fully. The bones add flavour and you're going to leave some anyway unless you are a pro.
3. Remove the guts and discard them, feed them to the cat, or mail them to a friend. Up to you. Be generous with your imagination. If you like Pro Hart, you can even chuck them at some canvas and then open an art gallery, but you don't need them for this recipe (thank God!)
4. Spread the fine-smelling, salubrious curry paste combo onto the inside of the fish as pictured.
5. Lay the other stalk of lemongrass on top. Just cut in in half or quarters and smash it a bit first to break the fibres and release the flavour into the fish as it cooks.
6. Close fish, lay it on a turmeric leaf, and fold the leaf over the top to wrap it inside.
7. Put into a saucepan with a little water only. About a cupful / 250ml is fine.
8. Put the lid on, and simmer GENTLY until cooked.

There you go - the tastiest fish you've had in ages.
I got the lions share for brunch today - but you end up cleaning the plate anyway and mopping up the delicious sauce. Guaranteed.
Not having enough can actually cause family feuds, so make sure you are generous with the amount you make.
Health benefits of turmeric: This wicked, memorable root is considered to be an anti-inflammatory, it fights infection and also helps settle the stomach.
I believe it also brings one close to orgasm if my experience eating it today was anything to go by. You could marry this dish!