Post by Aly on Mar 17, 2006 6:36:42 GMT -5
So... there's that punchline.
I have malaria. yep. And it sucks. I couldn't walk on Wednesday and yesterday morning I could barely sit up. Now i feel better and the meds i'm on are working well.
So now that I don't feel like eating anything at all, i have one hour to write to you guys.
Nana, my homestay house is an apartment, upscale even for the US. Very clean and nice view with a mosque on every side.
Wanna cook some kenyan food? This is how you make Chapati, Kenyan flat-bread.
1/2 kilo flour
1/4 cup water
3 table spoon oil (olive, vege... doesn't really matter)
extra oil and flour for cooking and rolling dough.
1. Mix ingredients and knead until it looks like dough. They tell me it should be "soft" but I don't really understand that, so use your best judgement. If you're not getting a doughy consistancy, add more flour or water as needed.
2. Separate into balls the size of your fist. If you have big fists, that makes big chapatis.
3. Put some flour on your rolling surface so the dough doesn't stick, add more flour after each one has been rolledout. Roll out balls into flat circles, put a spoonful of oil onto the dough and spread it around. Then roll up the dough into log-like strips.
4. Take the strips and make buns kinda like honey buns (should still be the size of your fist people, if they've gotten bigger, you're doing something wrong. Smaller is okay.) Tuck the end of theroll underneath. let the dough rest.
5. Do the flour thing again. Roll out the dough into circles, make them pretty so that look pretty when you serve them. (I hate this part because my cicles always look the way eggs o when you crack them into the frying pan: no distinct shape.)
6. In a flat frying pan, with a thin layer of oil, place one circle of dough at a time, turning it while it cooks. Cook both sides until golden brown, or crispy.
This should make about 5 to 8 Chapatis depending on how big your fists are. if you don't want that many, the dough will keep in the refridgerator.
Chapati is one of the staple foods here on the coast and goes with everything from rice and beans to potatoes to fish to chicken, really everything. But my advice is that if you are going to make chapati, makesome sort of main dish that can easily be wrappedup in flat bread, OR do something really smart and order your favorite Indian food with rice and make your own Chapati to save on the Naan. That way you're almost eating Kenyan food.
Dad, When you're in Vietnam:
I stayed at the DeSoloyia Hotel which is about four blocks from the main lake/pond thing (Hoan Kiem Lake) in the middle of the city. It was a good, cheap hotel with breakfast included and a great view.
You might be tempted to go to the french restaurant Le Bealieu (or something like that) at the Sofitel But DON'T cause its really expesive and not worth it, but right across the street is a small cafe (on Ly Thai To (not P. Le Thai) or Ngo Quyen St.) that a lot of the Ex-pats go to that has both american and vietnamese cuisine. Its sooo cheap in comparison you won't believe it (like 2$ a plate compared to 100$) and their iced mochas are really good.
Also on our last night we went to a place that was expensive by Vietnamese standards but was really only 20$ per person. It was the most amazing thing ever with some of the best food i've ever had. The restarant is called Seasons... maybe... but its on Ngo Quyen before the opera House. Its a big wooden building on the same block as the iraqi embassy... uh... i think. Really ask around for it cause its amazing.
There is also a vegetarian restaurant on the same street (possibly Cay Cau... check first) at the DeSoloyia hotel (Tran Huong Dao St.), about 5-6 blocks down towards the lake. Its kind of hidden and you'll only see the sign above the alley-like entrance. Try the fried tofu- only time i ever liked tofu. Really inexpensive (like everything) but also, really well prepared vegetarian meals.
And if you're going to be in Vietnam you have to have Pho at least once. Its traditional vietnamese soup with scallions, somethimes meat, and you mix in all these local veges and stuff. Really good, even for breakfast.
Order spring rolls at every meal because each restaurant does them differently and its fun to compare.
Also, there is this really great jazz club that i know you'll love called Ming's Jazz Club (on Can Luon Van Can St.). It doesn't really start up until around 9 or 10 but its totally worth it. Bill Clinton played there once. Drinks are pretty cheap too beer in particular, but I don't drink, so i know thisfrom being on a trip with 10 other college students.
If you want to bring me back anything, I would like some slip on shoes with red silk outsides (size 91/2 or 10) and maybe dragons on them.
And if you want to see something cool, after going to the fine Art Museum (musee des Beaux Arts) go right down the street towards the entrance of the Temple of Knowledge (or something) and there is a restaurant called KOTO (know One teach one) its food cooked by student chefs and is really good.
water puppet theatre is interesting, and for as cheap as it is, worth going once.
So thats all i have for you.
And for the rest of the people who read my blogs, I am okay, really. Try some CHAPATI.
I will be in Taita for twn days but i will try to write once more before sunday. i will have my cell from friday to sunday.
Love you all. (and boy too)
-Aly-
I have malaria. yep. And it sucks. I couldn't walk on Wednesday and yesterday morning I could barely sit up. Now i feel better and the meds i'm on are working well.
So now that I don't feel like eating anything at all, i have one hour to write to you guys.
Nana, my homestay house is an apartment, upscale even for the US. Very clean and nice view with a mosque on every side.
Wanna cook some kenyan food? This is how you make Chapati, Kenyan flat-bread.
1/2 kilo flour
1/4 cup water
3 table spoon oil (olive, vege... doesn't really matter)
extra oil and flour for cooking and rolling dough.
1. Mix ingredients and knead until it looks like dough. They tell me it should be "soft" but I don't really understand that, so use your best judgement. If you're not getting a doughy consistancy, add more flour or water as needed.
2. Separate into balls the size of your fist. If you have big fists, that makes big chapatis.
3. Put some flour on your rolling surface so the dough doesn't stick, add more flour after each one has been rolledout. Roll out balls into flat circles, put a spoonful of oil onto the dough and spread it around. Then roll up the dough into log-like strips.
4. Take the strips and make buns kinda like honey buns (should still be the size of your fist people, if they've gotten bigger, you're doing something wrong. Smaller is okay.) Tuck the end of theroll underneath. let the dough rest.
5. Do the flour thing again. Roll out the dough into circles, make them pretty so that look pretty when you serve them. (I hate this part because my cicles always look the way eggs o when you crack them into the frying pan: no distinct shape.)
6. In a flat frying pan, with a thin layer of oil, place one circle of dough at a time, turning it while it cooks. Cook both sides until golden brown, or crispy.
This should make about 5 to 8 Chapatis depending on how big your fists are. if you don't want that many, the dough will keep in the refridgerator.
Chapati is one of the staple foods here on the coast and goes with everything from rice and beans to potatoes to fish to chicken, really everything. But my advice is that if you are going to make chapati, makesome sort of main dish that can easily be wrappedup in flat bread, OR do something really smart and order your favorite Indian food with rice and make your own Chapati to save on the Naan. That way you're almost eating Kenyan food.
Dad, When you're in Vietnam:
I stayed at the DeSoloyia Hotel which is about four blocks from the main lake/pond thing (Hoan Kiem Lake) in the middle of the city. It was a good, cheap hotel with breakfast included and a great view.
You might be tempted to go to the french restaurant Le Bealieu (or something like that) at the Sofitel But DON'T cause its really expesive and not worth it, but right across the street is a small cafe (on Ly Thai To (not P. Le Thai) or Ngo Quyen St.) that a lot of the Ex-pats go to that has both american and vietnamese cuisine. Its sooo cheap in comparison you won't believe it (like 2$ a plate compared to 100$) and their iced mochas are really good.
Also on our last night we went to a place that was expensive by Vietnamese standards but was really only 20$ per person. It was the most amazing thing ever with some of the best food i've ever had. The restarant is called Seasons... maybe... but its on Ngo Quyen before the opera House. Its a big wooden building on the same block as the iraqi embassy... uh... i think. Really ask around for it cause its amazing.
There is also a vegetarian restaurant on the same street (possibly Cay Cau... check first) at the DeSoloyia hotel (Tran Huong Dao St.), about 5-6 blocks down towards the lake. Its kind of hidden and you'll only see the sign above the alley-like entrance. Try the fried tofu- only time i ever liked tofu. Really inexpensive (like everything) but also, really well prepared vegetarian meals.
And if you're going to be in Vietnam you have to have Pho at least once. Its traditional vietnamese soup with scallions, somethimes meat, and you mix in all these local veges and stuff. Really good, even for breakfast.
Order spring rolls at every meal because each restaurant does them differently and its fun to compare.
Also, there is this really great jazz club that i know you'll love called Ming's Jazz Club (on Can Luon Van Can St.). It doesn't really start up until around 9 or 10 but its totally worth it. Bill Clinton played there once. Drinks are pretty cheap too beer in particular, but I don't drink, so i know thisfrom being on a trip with 10 other college students.
If you want to bring me back anything, I would like some slip on shoes with red silk outsides (size 91/2 or 10) and maybe dragons on them.
And if you want to see something cool, after going to the fine Art Museum (musee des Beaux Arts) go right down the street towards the entrance of the Temple of Knowledge (or something) and there is a restaurant called KOTO (know One teach one) its food cooked by student chefs and is really good.
water puppet theatre is interesting, and for as cheap as it is, worth going once.
So thats all i have for you.
And for the rest of the people who read my blogs, I am okay, really. Try some CHAPATI.
I will be in Taita for twn days but i will try to write once more before sunday. i will have my cell from friday to sunday.
Love you all. (and boy too)
-Aly-
