food - China - Georgia - Xinjiang - Central Asia - Uighur - Kashgar - dumplings - Ben Thanh market - Saigon - HCMC - Chinese food - Tbilisi - Uzbekistan - seafood - market - Thanh - Ben - Kakheti - Urumqi - Xinjiang Uygur - laghman - Uighur food - Qingdao - Shandong - Vietnam - street food - food markets -
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This woman had teary eyes from chopping mounds of onions for somsas (meat filled pastries). Our concern grew when we spied her reddish hands. The tinted rings on her fingers are due to henna, not blood. ..Taken in Kashgar, China..© www.uncorneredmarket.com
In the alley just beside our hotel, we found a woman making sticky rice snacks - purple and black sticky rice, coconut, sugar and some type of soy or coconut milk topping all wrapped in a rice paper. We were enjoying our snack immensely, snapping photos of it, when everyone around us started teaching us the name of the snack (and other phrases) in Vietnamese. Of course, unable to navigate the tones, we mauled their language and amused the whole street with our futile attempts.Read about our journey from Saigon to Phnom Penh on the Mekong.
Che, a sweet, layered Vietnamese drink (or soup) served as a snack or dessert. And, it's all about choices and texture. A che stand will look something like a penny candy store.Do I want the red bubbles or the blue bubbles? Do I want mung beans or kidney beans?Out of fascination, Dan got into the habit of ordering these drinks at the Vietnamese market in Prague's Malesice district.Read about snackin' in Saigon.
Lena introduced us to Khingkale (meat filled dumplings) on our second day in Tbilisi and taught us how to dust them with pepper and eat them with our hands (without spilling the juices).FYI, 25 dumplings were more than enough for the 3 of us!Read more about Georgian Food and our visit to Georgia.
A great selection of huge prawns on offer at Ben Thanh market in Saigon. We were fortunate that our hotel was just half a block away, making it a easy to pop into the market for a small (or substantial) snack at one of the stalls when we were feeling peckish.Read more about snackin' in Saigon.
One of our favorite areas of Yangon (Rangoon) was this market street with beautiful produce, lively vendors and friendly smiles. Read more about Myanmar (Burma).
Pork, shrimp and leek dumplings at Da Yu's dumpling joint near the No. 6 bathing area in Qingdao. Fresh, delicious and perfectly steamed. Read more about thesedumplings and curious menu.
When Lali sensed our enthusiasm for Georgian food, she agreed to make khingkale (meat filled dumplings) from scratch with us. Once the meat filling is made, it's all about the fill, turn, tuck and twist.Depending on whom you talk to, khingkale tops require 21 or 37 turns. But who's counting??Read more about Georgian Food and our visit to Kakheti.
Suoman gush siz is one of the only phrases of Uighur we learned (we're afraid to admit) while in Kashgar, China. It's this delicious dish of vegetables, peppers and homemade laghman noodles. A very welcome vegetarian change after months of mutton on the road in Central Asia..© www.uncorneredmarket.com
Natural and non-so-natural sweets at the Osh Bazaar in Bishkek.Read more about our visit to Bishkek and the rest of Kyrgyzstan.
We couldn't get our imagination to bend around this one, so we gave it a pass. Any suggestions as to what this dumpling might entail?© www.uncorneredmarket.com
Pulled noodles, known in Xinjiang province (and Central Asia) as laghman noodles get thrown around, beaten and pulled to ensure the right consistency before being used in soups and suoman (noodle, vegetable and meat mixture)...Taken at the animal market in Kashgar, China..© www.uncorneredmarket.com
Dan jumped out of the train and onto the platform at one of the stops on a marathon 24-hour train ride from Urumqi to Lanzhou in China and found these delicious steamed bun dumplings. Ground meat, onions, carrots and some sweet spice. Perfect with a cold beer. Read more about our visit to Xiahe, China.
These women dug into this Active Fitness Cream jar to grease up the loaves of bread at the Samarkand train station. Made us think twice about buying shiny bread on the street. Read more about our visit to Uzbekistan and tourism in Uzbekistan.
The result of Lali's lessons with us on how to fill, twist and tuck khingkale. After a few twists, some turns, a wing and a prayer, they are dropped into a pot of salted, boiling water in order to cook the meat inside. If assembled correctly, all the juices stay in the dumpling just long enough to dribble down somone's shirt on the first bite. The trick: eat khingkale with your hands, while keeping the hot juices inside the dumpling as you eat. Not to be missed when in Georgia.Read more about Georgian Food and our visit to Georgia.
Some of the best green beans we had in all of China was at the start of our trip, in Urumqi. These beans were smoky, cooked perfectly and seasoned with garlic and peppers. The been was also incredibly tender and tasty. And, no MSG. © www.uncorneredmarket.com
A popular restaurant outside of Mtskheta served up ceramic mugs full of our favorite Georgian bean dish - lobio. Here, it's complemented by mchadi (cornmeal bread that weighs as much as a brick).Like all Georgian feasts, this was only one of the numerous courses; we could barely move afterwards.Read more about Georgian Food and our visit to Georgia.
A mosaic/collage depicting how we chose to eat our way through Singapore in four days.
After almost three weeks of the same four Central Asian dishes (plov, manti, laghman, shashlik), our taste buds were thrilled by a Korean meal of bibimbap in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.Uzbekistan has a visible Korean population whose families have lived here since WWII. It's quite odd (for us) to see Koreans speaking Russian to each other. Read more about our visit to Uzbekistan and tourism in Uzbekistan.
Khajapuri, the ubiquitous signature Georgian cheese-stuffed bread oozes gooey goodness. A common site on the Georgian table - breakfast, lunch and dinner. Very addictive.Read more about Georgian Food and our visit to Georgia.
Prawns and shrimp lined up for you to choose at the Ben Thanh market.
Roasted strips of eggplant filled with a ground walnut and garlic filling. Delicious!This particular batch crafted by the capable hands of Lali in Kisiskhevi.Read more about Georgian Food and our visit to Georgia.
An example of one of the giant prawns we ate along the Mekong River in Vientiane. Read about our first impressions of Vientiane, Laos.
So many eggs. Even red ones.Taken in Kashgar, China.© www.uncorneredmarket.com
The handmade noodles are what made this laghman special. You can find it at an outdoor cafe next to the Bolo-Hauz Mosque and across from the Ark in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. Read more about our visit to Uzbekistan and tourism in Uzbekistan.
