Living in the UK for so long, and in a rural English village for the past five years, has caused me to forget about a lot of the food I grew up with, because it's so uncommon.

Whenever I visit the US, I try to go to an (East) Asian supermarket just so I can have a happy trip down memory lane, and also get some tasty food to eat. The closest one to my parents' house is Vietnamese.

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Me with a guava-flavoured soda.

Guava is such a common flavour in Hawai'i, as are the fruits themselves. I guess they don't export well from the tropics. Whenever I have it, I'm reminded of how much I miss it. I used to eat them fresh every day from the tree in our garden.

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This is a sticky sweet rice dessert wrapped in a banana leaf. The black/purple things are sweet beans (optional; my aunties usually didn't put anything but sugar in theirs.) I don't know what the Vietnamese name is, but the Filipinos call it suman. It is usually served warm. I would behave like a little angel all day as a child if I was told I would be given suman for dessert that evening.

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Here's another thing that doesn't seem to be popular with those from temperate climes: Jackfruit. It's very sweet. The Filipinos put this in halo halo (a dessert).

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Anyone who tries to tell me that Spam (or any other tinned meat) is gross is likely to get a bop on the nose, or at least a stern look with raised eyebrow. Spam is fine. Spam belongs in saimin (noodle soup), and in fried rice. SO THERE.

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Coconut cream, coconut milk, coconut gel, coconut flakes, and of course...coconuts. COCONUT. YESSS.

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Ube, or purple sweet potato, is used as an ice cream flavour included in halo halo and also as a spread (jar on the left). My dad has promised to make halo halo with the fruit mix and coconut gel (jars on the right) before I leave. The ube jam is coming back to England with me.
cmcmck: (Default)

From: [personal profile] cmcmck


Love Vietnamese food- one of the few things we miss about down south.

You'll find guava juice at least in multi ethnic groceries in the UK.
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