Food Lessons
Things I've learned eating around the world
Two of my favorite things to do are eat and travel. Fortunately, I have been able to indulge those interests by visiting a number of countries for work and pleasure. As I wrap up this week in Hong Kong, I wanted to take a break from the science and medicine journalism beat to share a few photos of memorable dishes I’ve had, the stories behind them, and then over-extrapolate life lessons from the deliciousness.
Bon appétit!
Spicy Duck Noodles with Gizzard (Singapore)
I was originally trying to find the hawker stall that sold peanut pancakes recommended by Anthony Bourdain. I had traveled a ways from our hotel to the Tanglin Halt Food Centre, but when I got there I found out the vendor had recently closed up shop for good (though the news hadn’t trickled out to the major food websites yet). It was late morning and I was starving, so I had to find something to eat.
Following my usual rule of “look for the longest line full of locals” I queued up for a stall that looked popular. With plenty of time to wait, I looked at the menu that was entirely in Mandarin and couldn’t make heads or tails of it. So I asked the gentleman in front of me what he recommended. He suggested the spicy duck noodles, and if I was feeling adventurous, to add in the gizzard, beloved by the locals. Even though I hadn’t had breakfast, and I’m usually not a savory-food-in-the-morning kind of guy, I decided to go for it.
I’m so glad I did—this dish remains one of my favorite meals I’ve had not only in Singapore, but anywhere abroad. The spice was at the edge of what I can tolerate, but enhanced everything from slurping the noodles in the rich umami broth to the delicate duck meat. What’s more, the guy asked if I wanted to sit at a table and eat with him, which I happily obliged. We chatted about Singapore food culture, he provided some recommendations for sightseeing, and even exchanged WhatsApp info in case I needed anything.
What could have been a disappointing bust (the vendor I came to see was out of business) turned into a wonderful experience and I even made a local friend.
Cantonese Seafood (HK) & Hot Pot (Singapore)
Several of the best meals I’ve had in Singapore and Hong Kong were with a group of colleagues from Mars Vet Health Asia. They have graciously treated us to several meals and delight in showing us adventurous local dishes. This week we went to a local seafood restaurant in the quiet fishing village of Sai Kung (entrance shown above) and feasted on mouth-watering shellfish and grouper prepared in the local Cantonese style. Unlike other types of Chinese cuisine that use intense peppers and spices (I.e. Sichuan style), food from the Guangdong region is often steamed and lightly seasoned with soy sauce and subtle herbs to retain as much of the natural flavors as possible. As we cracked our mantis prawns and chewed through delicious abalone, I really appreciated that we had local friends who could guide us to order things we wouldn’t have even known to try on our own.
Last year we had two incredible meals together in Singapore. The first was at a Chinese restaurant where we enjoyed crispy Peking duck as well as the local delicacy chili crab (pictured at the top of this post). The latter was highly messy to the point where the restaurant offered clear “lunch lady” style gloves to the more squeamish patrons such as myself to stay clean during the cracking process. It pushed me a little out of my comfort zone, but the flavor was totally worth it.
Another dinner in town was at a local “hot pot” restaurant. With this type of food, diners cook a variety of meats, shrimp, and fish balls in different flavored boiling hot broths. Another draw to this particular establishment was them theatrically preparing hand-drawn noodles. The servers performed a variety of tricks and flung noodles into patrons at the table to everyone’s surprise and delight, as shown in the video below:
These dinners stick with me not only because of the excellent food and ambiance, but because of the company and fellowship. Food is not simply sustenance or gustatory pleasure, it is how we bond and share our culture.
Thai Ahka Cooking Class (Chiang Mai, Thailand)
Lenore and I honeymooned in Thailand and ate a ton of great curry as we traveled from Bangkok to the northern mountains to the sleepy southern island of Koh Lanta on the Andaman Sea. One of the most memorable meals would have to be the one we prepared ourselves at the Thai Ahka cooking class in Chiang Mai.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am not exactly an expert chef, and happily let Lenore show off her prowess at home. However, we both wanted to try our hand at making some classic Thai dishes, so I did my best to follow instructions and not cut myself in the process.
All in all, we cooked a total of nine courses ranging from simple soups and vegetable salads of the Ahka people to more classic red and panang curries and mango sticky rice. Surprisingly, everything turned out delicious, even though we were amateurs with these specific ingredients and techniques. And it tasted even better knowing we put in the effort to make it ourselves (with a lot of guidance, of course!)
Charcuterie and Wine (Nantes, France)
I was fortunate to present two talks at the European Society of Veterinary Clinical Pathology (ESVCP) congress in Nantes, France in 2016, a case report and a platform abstract presentation on my early PhD research. We had a ton of amazing meals during this time, including one where we simply found a hole-in-the-wall place in an alley with a plat du jour that looked enticing and rolled the dice. The restauranteurs showed us great hospitality for trying our best with my terrible broken French, while they turned away some rude British tourists who loudly asked DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH HERE???
More than any specific meal at a particular place, what stuck with me during the France trip was the numerous street cafes where you could find mouthwatering meat and cheese and incredible wine for just a few euros. We would spend hours just talking and people watching. The relaxed pace of life was amazing, and it was refreshing to be able to pick pretty much any cafe and know you would get a good meal without having to frantically scroll TripAdvisor or Yelp looking at the reviews.
Italian Pasta (Germany & Hong Kong)
Surprisingly, some of the best Italian food I’ve ever had was in decidedly non-Italian countries like Germany and Hong Kong. For whatever reason, dishes from northern Italy are really popular in Bavaria and Hong Kong. One of the meals we had in Munich was at a highly rated Italian bistro that offered a tasting menu with a fusion of classic and modern dishes, including an amuse-bouche of tuna flavored sorbet—I was sort of grossed out seeing that on the menu, but went with the flow, and it somehow managed to be sublime. These meals were a good reminder to not be close-minded and assume that (a) you can only get great ethnic food from the country of origin, and (b) that you HAVE to eat only local cuisine when you’re visiting a foreign place. It’s also important to be open to non-traditional dishes that take an old favorite and remix them to weird new places!
Meat and Beer (Augsburg, Germany)
On the other hand, this spread at Riegele WirtsHaus is exactly what one would expect in Germany! Lots of heavy meats, sausage, pâtés, cheeses, eggs and bread, along with free-flowing beer. Some of the things on this platter were tasty, others…not so much. It was very heavy, and some agita followed. You can’t eat a strictly Bavarian diet like this and feel light and refreshed, which may be why locals like to mix it up with other types of food!
(Also, eating nothing but meat and cheese reminds you why dietary fiber is so important...)
Shake Shack (Hong Kong)
It was hot that day. Really hot. With humidity the heat index was close to 100F. I was sweating through my soaked shirt, and so were a lot of the locals. I traveled to the Man Mo temple in Sheung Wan and was walking all over town gawking at the waterfront and trying to find a place to eat lunch. I was looking for someplace local and “AuThEnTiC” (whatever that means), and it had to be delicious, but I couldn’t have put into words exactly what I wanted (bad product management 101). Between the heat, my sore feet, and the overwhelming amount of choices, I was getting frozen with the paralysis of too many options.
Starving and feeling like a dumb American tourist, I finally gave up and went to Shake Shack. In my defense, there was a killer view from the roof of the IFC mall overlooking the Victoria Harbour. But it was delicious and hit the spot all the same.
As I was eating and my level of “hanger” went down, I realized that it’s OK to eat at a familiar Western place when I’m traveling. Trying to make every meal an exotic adventure puts too much pressure on every decision. Paradoxically, that can make it harder to enjoy any meal, whatever you pick. While I wouldn’t want to fly halfway around the world and only eat US fast food, it’s OK to be boring and safe once in a while.
Fin
I hope you enjoyed these photos and blurbs from my favorite culinary memories eating abroad. This is only a tiny cross-section of things I’ve eaten and I unfortunately don’t have pictures of every meal I’d want to share (especially random street food). Over the years, I’ve certainly had my share of less than 5-star meals. Sometimes when chasing great local dining experiences I’ve endured flavors I don’t enjoy at best, or nasty indigestion at worst. But as Anthony Bourdain once said:
“If you don't risk the bad meal, you'll never get the magical one.”
That’s good advice to live by.