Pork: Five Hours in the Oven for this Moment of Bliss

April 30, 2023 / Greg Hackett / Leave a comment

Pork Ribs Cooked Five Hours in Oven.

I can’t have a favorite dish, in South-East Asia.

Not even a Top 10.

There are just too many.

This pork is served with a sauce of subtle but complex salt & spice flavors, a salad of lettuce, cucumber, tomato, onion and capsicum with a light-ish, creamy mustard dressing, and sticky rice – to which I like to mix in a squirt of chilli sauce and a good dose of South-East Asian hot pepper.

If I were at home in St Kilda, I would discreetly wrap the bones and tendons in a serviette and take for my two little terrier dogs – to better explain why I’ve arrived home with such a happy, contented smile.

At the newly opened The Local Anh’s restaurant & bar, cnr Hùng Vuong and Trâng Quang Khai streets, central Nha Trang, Vietnam.

VND135,000 (AUD9), or add VND10,000 for mozzarella cheese on the pork, which our Russian tourist friends seem to savour.

At Sound Ground Zero for Vietnam’s Big Party

April 29, 2023 / Greg Hackett / Leave a comment

It’s PARTY time tonight in Nha Trang, for Vietnam’s national holiday weekend.

And, besides bass heavy music, what do young people want in today’s socialist republic?

To be treated equal, of course, and hopefully to be a bit more Very Important Person than the rest …

Stirred, Fried and Good

April 28, 2023 / Greg Hackett / Leave a comment

A simple but delicious (and big) lunch of stir fry beef, vegies & handmade (not the cheap packet variety that’s conveniently become prevalent) noodles.

VND140k (AUD9) at Quán Quê Huong Vietnamese restaurant, 97 Hùng Vuong Street, Nha Trang, Vietnam.

It’s great to see this part of Nha Trang springing back into life, with new shops, restaurants and bars opening …

Airport Macca’s Brekky Comes at a Price

April 25, 2023 / Greg Hackett / Leave a comment

Things I Love about #Airports: 2. Macca’s are everywhere.

This is AUD17.50 (400 baht) breakfast “deal” in Bangkok.

I chose the sausage-less McMuffin – only cheese & egg – as the healthy option 😁

Yes, those are chicken nuggets, which I mistook for potato gems (oh, those cunning Marketing Managers and their imagery!)

I consider chicken nuggets to be food’s version of AI.

To trick myself, I scrunched up a few and put them in the sausage-less McMuffin.

It didn’t work.

The hash brown was good.

The coffee, an extra 24-baht latte upgrade, was very good (you can’t knock a Macca’s coffee these days).

Upside: I shall never again complain about the prices at St Kilda Macca’s.

Travel is about Diversity (as is the Quality of the Morning Coffee)

April 24, 2023 / Greg Hackett / Leave a comment

Kick start the morning: there is only one universal way, and it applies here on a brief visa run to Bangkok, Thailand.

Admission: I’m missing my Vietnamese coffee.

(St Kilda coffee? ‘Tis now but a distant, cherished memory 😄)

I had to add sugar this morning, to blunt the edge on this one.

But, hey, what is travel if not discovery? An adventure.

Coffee followed by the “tourist breakfast”.

That is wholemeal toast, too!

Those poached eggs are heart shaped … awww maybe the cook likes me?

Though noon already approaches, this is a most sensible way to begin the day’s proceedings in Sukhumvit, Bangkok, Thailand.

Coffee, juice & food 155 baht (AUD6.80)

The Sauce of Food Joy

April 16, 2023 / Greg Hackett / Leave a comment

Dare to be Different?

As you can see, I was well into my spag bol – and then I added a good splash of Tabasco.

It did not alter the taste but it did add a “sharpness” to the flavor. Recommended.

As well as the tremendous local food, I have enjoyed some fabulous “foreign” cuisine in South-East Asia, and this spaghetti Bolognese joins that list.

This pasta, at Time House Bistro in Nha Trang, Vietnam, is cooked al dente – an achievement that my cooking prowess finds to be as elusive as a Higgs boson particle …

The Bacon is the Makin’ of the Meal

April 15, 2023 / Greg Hackett / Leave a comment

Brunch: eggs benedict with thin, crispy bacon, fried chat potatoes with caramelised onion, and check out those colors of the salad.

I reckon the Vietnamese and Cambodians have nailed it, with their bacon: the balance of meat & fat, the density, texture and taste … it all comes together.

At Time House Bistro, Nha Trang, Vietnam