Just another lunch at my Aunty Dora's flat on Park Street I didn’t title my cookbook Rice & Curry: Sri Lankan Home Cooking for nothing. The best Sri Lankan food your are likely to get in country or abroad, for that matter, is not in a restaurant, but rather at someone’s home. Don’t get me wrong: I love to eat ...
Sometimes these blog posts don’t work out as planned. I had planned, for example, to do a post on string hoppers, the rice noodle “nests” popular in Sri Lanka for breakfast and dinner. Problem is, I wanted to buck tradition, or conditioning, or whatever you want to call it, and have string hoppers for lunch. Not such a big ...
specialty of the house at Juchunyuan Colombo has no shortage of Chinese restaurants, most of which serve food with its own particular character, shaped, of course, by local tastes (meaning, it’s much spicier than the run of the mill storefront Chinese in New York or any western city for that matter). It’s also probably nothing like the ‘authentic’ Chinese food ...
One of the new Sri Lankan food trucks selling lunch packets Lunch being the main meal in Lanka, I noticed that there’s a ton of places to get a quick, midday rice and curry—from street side stands and trucks that sell 100 rupee rice packets to the informal, sit-down restaurants that cater to the office crowd. While most rice packets ...
Pure Perfection in a banana leaf packet! Although I did a much earlier post about the “Battle of Lampreis” in Sri Lanka, I realized today after lunch that there really is no competition: The lampreis at The Dutch Burgher Union is hands down THE BEST and only lampreis worth eating. For all you novices out there, here’s a little refresher ...
Green Cabin, 453 Galle Road, Colombo 3 According to my Aunty Dora, who’s old enough to know, the legendary Colombo eatery, Green Cabin (453, Galle Road, Colombo 3 — Phone: 588811 or 591841), and its sister restaurant The Pagoda Tea Room (105 Chatham St., Fort, Colombo 1 – 011 232 5252)have been feeding hungry Colombo residents for a long time. ...
While Sri Lankan food is known for its heat, the regional cuisine of northern Jaffna is reputed to be even more fiery. Last time I visited the island, I had the good fortune of going to Jaffna to see for myself as I went in search of the real deal Jaffna cuisine (http://bit.ly/vsYV4X). But alas, many locals told me ...
Gonuts drive-thru in Colombo. They also deliver. I’m always on the lookout for something interesting, original, and new, so yesterday on the way home I noticed a spot that seemed more likely to be found in L.A. than Colombo–a drive-in donut shop. That’s right, Gonuts (1 Castle Street, Colombo 7), is the capital’s newest (and only, as far as I ...
The elusive but grand Isso wade Arrived in Sri Lanka a couple days ago for a quick trip to handle some business before the release of my cookbook in a couple weeks. After 23 hours of travelling, my first craving off the plane was for lampreis, a luxurious rice & curry meal wrapped and steamed in a banana leaf, that ...
I’m a big fan of soup—especially when the weather is getting colder—and Asian soups in particular because they tend to include a lot of spices and some serious flavor. Take a simple concoction like Tom Yong Gan, a favorite at Thai restaurants, for it’s strong taste of lemon grass, cilantro, and galangal and the meaty morsels of mushroom and ...
Korean comfort food gets no better than Galbi-Jjim, a braised short-rib dish and national favorite that has as many versions as the the number of cooks who make it. That said, I came up with my own recipe after doing a lot of online research and cobbling together elements from different recipes I came across. The addition of Asian ...
http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/dining/baltimore-diner-blog/bal-sri-lankan-supper-club-on-oct-13-20111003,0,7941165.story There are still plenty of seats left for my Sri Lankan Supper Club dinner at the Creative Alliance in Baltimore, this Thursday, Oct. 13th!
ped muan, roasted duck, fresh herbs & vegetables wrapped in rice paper with Sriracha sauce In case you didn’t know, ASEAN stands for the “Association of South East Asian Nations,” and true to its name, Cafe ASEAN in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, a restaurant I literally stumbled upon, is a place where you ...
My recent buffet lunch at Sigiri Restaurant in Manhattan I think we finally put this bad boy to bed. I’m talking about my cookbook, Rice & Curry: Sri Lankan Home Cooking. After a summer of editing and design, revisions and redesign we’re ready to pull the trigger and send this thing to ...
I must have been a Jamaican in a past life because I love Red Stripe Beer, I love Jamaican music (i.e. reggae and dub) and I love Jamaican food. And Jamaicans like their food hot, laced with a plenty of Scotch bonnet peppers (aka habaneros), which were the hottest chili on earth before the discovery of ...
The enchanting island of Sri Lanka, located just off the southern tip of India, has long been considered “The Pearl of the Indian Ocean,” and its unique and delicious cuisine reflects this singular status. While sharing many spices and ingredients in common with its neighbor to the north, Sri Lankan food, popularly known as “rice [...]
Eggplant or brinjals (Vambotu in Sinhalese) was never a favorite of mine growing up. That is, until I tasted this dish at a dinner party given by some Sri Lankan friends. Ever since then, when we’ve gone to their house, I have to have it, and the hostess Aunty Manel always indulges my request. This [...]
Having been to Ethiopia several times now, while working on a documentary, I’ve had a chance to see a bit of the country as well as sample a lot of its food, which has led me to to the following conclusions: 1.) Ethiopian food is as unique as its culture and history. No other country [...]
chicken lob Lob is a traditional Laotian dish usually served on holidays or special occasions. It can be made with beef, fish, duck, and wild game as well. It is usually served with sticky rice and accompanied with fresh vegetables such as cucumber, radish, or watercress, or bitter greens. Rice powder (Koa ...
Japanese Salmon & Noodle Salad Leave it to the Japanese to come up with a dish so quick, easy, healthy, delicious, and aesthetically pleasing that it was tailor made for Pan Asian. While it’s still scorching outside and you don’t feel like turning up the heat in the kitchen, this is the ...
