Comfort foods that I miss…

I have lived and traveled all over Asia, North America, Australia, and Europe. There are quite a number of dishes and foods that were delicious, hearty, and comforting. Perhaps its because these foods are linked to memories and events or perhaps they are just too mouthwateringly delicious. Whatever it may be, going through memories of comforting foods seems right for the challenging pandemic 2020 year since we can only safely travel digitally until everyone gets vaccinated and achieves herd immunity.

Chilli Crab in Singapore

This dish is probably truly Singapore’s own concoction. Its actually really hard to find foods in Singapore that truly come from there since almost all the inhabitants of Singapore were immigrants at one point. The melting pot of cultures makes the Singaporean cuisine eclectic and in modern day Singapore, you can find restaurants from all over the world. A foodie city from its humble years, as the joke is always said that Singapore’s favorite pastimes is eating and shopping.

Served with steamed or fried buns, this messy dish is often accompanied by disposable aprons, wet towels or a bowl of lime water to rinse your hands. Chilli crab is one of those dishes that you order with a number of people at the table and rarely ordered as a single person’s dish. The fun part is sharing this dish with your friends and family. Within my personal network of friends and family in Singapore, I usually eat this dish only once a year or when there is a cause for celebration or visitors. Its always a treat to go to the seafood restaurant and order this fun, tasty, and messy dish.

My favorite restaurant for getting Chilli Crab is Jumbo Seafood restaurant in Dempsey Hill. The Dempsey Hill location is set in a tree lined hill with popular restaurants, cafes, bars, and specialty shops which makes it feel a little less urban and more tropical island getaway.

Wiener schnitzel from Vienna at Gasthaus Zur Gruabn

Wiener Schnitzel in Vienna, Austria

You remember that meal while traveling that you have eaten before in other places but something else happens when you eat it in the city that invented the dish… Wiener schnitzel in Vienna was definitely that foodie experience that sends one into foodie heaven and back down to earth. After arriving from the airport and finally put our bags down in the hotel nearby, we looked for a local place to grab a bite to eat that isn’t pretentious or a tourist trap. Gasthaus zur Gruabn showed up in my yelp search for Wiener schnitzel.

Upon arriving the gastropub, we thumbed through the German menu. I had taken a semesters’ course of elementary German the year before in Switzerland and could still make out what käse, würstel, gemüse, schinken, kartoffel salat, and of course schnitzel on the menu in addition to still being able to order in German. This local gastropub catered mostly to a German speaking customer base and the service staff working there spoke very little English. Perfect spot to practice a little German but also eat local food fare!

The portions are super large for the affordable prices and main dishes could easily be shared between diners. Upon biting the thin schnitzel with a perfect fried breading, you understand why this is the place to order a schnitzel. They have eight different kinds of schnitzel offered on their menu! I remember we ended up at this gastropub twice on that trip.

Scotch eggs in London’s Borough Market from Scotch Tails

Scotch eggs in London, UK

Scotch eggs are usually served as a snack in pubs throughout the United Kingdom. What are they? A boiled egg in the center encased by a meatloaf-sausage then breaded and deep fried. I wouldn’t call this health food by any means. Its probably not very healthy and calorie-dense but hey, this post is all about yummy comfort foods!

Usually Scotch eggs are greasy with a hard boiled egg in the center that makes a lot of locals cringe when I try to tell them that one of my favorite things to eat in London is a Scotch egg. I discovered a street vendor named Scotch Tails in Borough Market that specialises in Scotch eggs. You can order it by itself (which comes on a bed of mixed salad greens) or with a side of sweet potato fries.

That crunchy breaded exterior, juicy meat, and runny egg yolk center is seriously addictive and keeps me craving for more. I try to get an order of Scotch eggs whenever I am in London because it is just too scrumptious and a fairly affordable lunch!

Pomme Frites with Satay Sauce in Amsterdam

Frites with Satay Sauce in Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Pouring creamy Indonesian satay sauce (peanut sauce) over freshly fried frites brings some memories of eating fried potatoes dipped in satay sauce and chilli sauce when my grandmother made steak and potatoes during my childhood in Jakarta. The creamy peanut sauce and the fried potato combination really complement each other in this Dutch Indonesian fusion. The first time I walked into a frites place was actually in New York City. There was a pommes frites place in the East Village (unfortunately, there was a big fire many years later and the place burned down) that was serving frites with almost every kind of frites sauce combination. I really liked getting satay sauce and sweet chilli sauce with mayonnaise. A number of years go by and I had forgotten all about the frites with the buffet of sauces.

Imagine my surprise when I first set foot in Amsterdam and discovered all of the Vlaamese frites spots around town that served frites with so many choices for sauces including my beloved Indonesian satay sauce! It was like eating a childhood memory in a new land! Kroket, frites with satay sauce, and all the little Indonesian restaurants in Holland seem to trigger all the flavors I was accustomed to in my childhood. Perhaps the fusion flavors were the types of foods I grew up with as a child and gravitated towards instead of the highly spiced Indonesian foods that could burn a hole in my stomach. Although the Vlaamese frites are actually Belgian exports to their tall giant neighbors, the popularity of these frites places really brings up the vibrancy and fusion nature of Dutch cuisine.

Hearty beef soup in Taipei, Taiwan

A bowl of hearty beef soup with noodles is probably one of Taiwan’s popular food exports along with soup dumplings from Din Tai Fung. I was visiting Taiwan for the first time in 2018 and really wanted to have both of those dishes but knew that I would probably feel really full if I ate both a beef noodle dish and soup dumplings in the same meal. What’s the next best alternative? Order the beef soup without the noodles and a plate full of soup dumplings! Of course it was still too much food for us but the soup was hearty and bursting of beefy flavor. Often times on rainy days, I crave Taiwanese beef soup. I only wish that I knew how to recreate this iconic dish.

Oxtail soup in Jakarta, Indonesia

Since I’ve started talking about hearty soups. Oxtail soup or Sop buntut as its known is one of comforting bowl of soup you can find in Indonesia. It is a clear soup with potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, garlic, shallots, and oxtail. Though simple in nature and served in a lot of hotel restaurants. For as long as I can remember, my father and I would go to Hotel Borobudur in central Jakarta to get their oxtail soup served with rice, sambal, and crackers. Those were some good childhood memories with my father. This soup is hearty and really comforting on a rainy day or a long day.

I found this recipe online and hope some day to recreate this dish as it doesn’t seem too complicated to recreate. The soup is probably not the most photogenic but so many foods in the world look really weird in pictures but in person, it smells and tastes amazing!

This indulgent hotdog from Hlemmur food hall in Reykjavik, Iceland

Icelandic hotdog in Reykjavik

Hotdogs are already fun to eat and comfort foods for much of the Western world from the US to Germany to Iceland. Iceland?! Icelandic hotdogs were made famous by the late Anthony Bourdain. What makes them different? The sausage itself is made with a blend of beef, pork, and lamb. Usually Icelandic hotdogs are served with a blend of mustard, ketchup, remoulade sauce, thin pickles, white onions, and fried onions. Sounds simple yet delicious!

Before coming to Iceland, I had seen the episode where the late Anthony Bourdain goes to Iceland and ate the famous hotdogs on his show, No Reservations, as well read about them in some travel guides. The hotdog stand Baejarins beztu pylsur is still attracting tourists and residents. I tried the hotdog from the stand and another one from the Skal restaurant inside Hlemmur food hall across the other side of town. We couldn’t get enough of the one from the food hall because the ingredients used and the comfortable indoor setting (it was still winter when we visited) lends itself to an enjoyable hotdog eating experience. We returned a couple times to order the hotdogs! Its a seasonal item so look out for it on the menu if you’re ever in Reykjavik.

Seabass salad with fresh avocado in Malta

A heart healthy delicious salad in Malta

What do you think of when you think of Malta and the Mediterranean? Soft blue waves lapping up on the shore. Long strolls on the coastal regions under the sun. The sun shines brightly in Malta for much of the year and the temperatures can get into the high 30s degrees Celsius. Maltese cuisine is filled with a lot of stuffed vegetables, stews, seafood, and influenced by Italian, Middle Eastern, Arabic, Spanish, French, and British cuisine. Though it can be quite heavy at times to stomach these traditional dishes, Malta has a large growing expat population from other European countries as well as a sizeable population that is Asian, American, Russian, and British.

My favorite restaurant, U Bistrot in Malta serves a hearty fare that is fairly light, healthy, and so scrumptious. Its a favorite spot for brunch or a leisurely lunch but they also serve the same menu at dinner. Some items on the menu are seasonal but some are just so well-loved that they keep it on the menu almost all year round. The seabass salad is served with a healthy portion of crispy seabass fillet on top of crisp greens. You can also add items like couscous and avocado too. The restaurant underwent a renovation in 2019 and it looks like a garden party inside so its perfect for that Instagram foodporn post ;-)

Truffle taglioni pasta from Sole di Napoli in Brussels

Truffle pasta in Brussels

I lived briefly in Brussels for a short time in 2016 and during that time, I spent a lot of time alone and cooked a lot. However, I did manage to discover some delicious hidden gems with the recommendations or invitations of my fellow coworkers. The office was located in an area that was very industrial and only consisted of other office buildings. One day, the boss of our department invited us all out for lunch.

The restaurant picked was Sole di Napoli. A small Italian restaurant in an unassuming area. This restaurant was so authentic and ingredients were fresh with every dish prepared “a la minute” - made to order. I ordered the truffle taglioni pasta and was blown away by the generous helping of shaved black truffle on top. It was divine and one of my favorite meals in Brussels. Some of my colleagues ordered pizzas and OMG, they looked delicious too! I remember going back to the restaurant with some friends and ordered the pizza. If I ever get a chance to visit Brussels again, this restaurant will be a foodie stop!

Veal Swedish meatballs at Restaurant Hillenberg

Gourmet Swedish meatballs in Stockholm

I’ve had a fair share of really good Swedish meatballs over the years either at home or from a restaurant but there are two restaurants in Stockholm that really stand out with their meatballs. One does a classic dish in a traditional way with a no-nonense fun pub atmosphere at Blå Dörren (the picture is at the top of this post!). And the other has a more gourmet approach to the classic at Restaurant Hillenberg. I remember ordering the meatballs at Hillenberg on a trip to Stockholm with a good friend (who traveled all the way from the US) in 2016. The restaurant is very popular among the beautiful trendy types of Östermalm but don’t let that scene dissuade you from booking a meal because the food is worth it. (I even had a sighting of the late Avicii aka Tim Bergling once at the restaurant!)

The meatballs were made out of veal, the mashed potatoes were decadently creamy, the gravy was more meaty than the usual, and served on the side are the classic lingonberries and pickled cucumbers. Though it may look classic in the picture above, the taste was luxurious, tender, comforting, and lingering. When the weather outside is cold, this is like eating a warm hug.

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Parma ham prosciutto and fresh spaghetti from New York

During my NYC years, I wish I had taken and saved the pictures of all the delicious food I had eaten. I only wish that I had saved that for documentation. What is left are only memories and tales in my head. Almost every celebration meal (except for a few times), was at Basta Pasta NYC. This Italian restaurant with Japanese influences is my absolute favorite restaurant in the city and so many fond memories of eating there when there was a cause for celebration.

A seasonal menu with a seasonal artwork displayed in the restaurant. Dining there at least 4-6 times a year was such a treat! Their signature dish is a simple pasta dish served table side. The server would roll out the trolley to the table. S/he would then take a portion of freshly cooked spaghetti and toss it into the carved out parmesan wheel. The hot pasta is then swirled around the cheese wheel grabbing chunks of cheese with it. Then carefully placed on a simple pasta dish with thinly sliced prosciutto and topped off with a bit of salad greens on top. Elegant, simple, and mouthwateringly delicious.

Bubble waffle in Hong Kong

The sweet scent of freshly made waffles wafts through the air in the busy streets of nonstop buzzing Hong Kong. Those smells are the best marketing ploy for passerby’s to stop and purchase a freshly made bubble waffle. Those bubbles of slightly sweet waffle, slightly crunchy on the outside, pillowy soft when you bite into the bubbles. Best eaten piping hot from the street vendor who lets the sweet scents speak for itself and only sells these freshly made bubble waffles in their stall.

Iced kopi and mee rebus from Killiney Kopitiam

A bowl of mee rebus and iced coffee in Singapore

Mee rebus is a gravy like noodle soup that has Malay origins and popular to be eaten as a breakfast or during “kopitiam”. Mee rebus is one of those dishes that I crave whenever I land in the island. The thick gravy soup covering the egg noodles, fried beancurd, chives, beansprouts, shallots, green chillies, and a hard boiled egg is like a comforting hug with a bit of a spicy kick. My beverage of choice is usually something cold to pair with the hot bowl of noodles. Iced coffee or rather “kopi” is a must to beat the hot humid climate of Singapore. I order my “kopi” as “kopi o kosong Peng” which basically means iced black coffee with no sugar, no milk, no condensed milk, on ice! It took me years to learn how to order coffee properly from local joints in Singapore. Growing up as an expat kid in a bubble didn’t help. We preferred to go to Starbucks or Coffee Bean and tea leaf for our iced mocha Frappuccino. Oh how tastes have changed!

Some of my favorite spots to get mee rebus is at Killiney Kopitiam, Nonya Delicatessen, Kampong Glam Cafe, and Toast Box.