tropical sandwiches

I call this the Silat Buah Edition of my continuing bread story! smirk

1. Mangosteen sandwiches

mangosteens

It’s the season for mangosteens now. Mangosteens season is the end of the year and the smaller ones do not have seeds, making it perfect for sandwiches!

mangosteen sandwiches

It’s a refreshing experiment but to be honest, not all that good.

2. Starfruit sandwiches

starfruit

I saw this jar of local government FAMA produced belimbing (starfruit) jam on sale once and bought a tub of it. I then sauntered over to the fruits section and got myself 3 starfruits.

I decided to slather the starfruit jam and then cut starfruit slices on top of it to make a starfruit sandwich with real fruit.

starfruit sandwich

I had to choke it down – the jam is crappy and almost inedible, full of sugar and a weird flavoring that has little to do with starfruit. Another one of my failed experiments. I still can’t bring myself to eat the jam – it’s still sitting in the fridge after another try on it’s own. Vile stuff.

3. Jackfruit sandwiches

jackfruit

You can get the fresh ones at SS2 night market. I found it much better than the ones at the local hypermarket. It’s one of the more expensive fruits around at over RM 9 / kg. I just slid the fruit between bread since it’s quite flavorful by itself.

jackfruit sandwiches

It should probably be noted that seeds should be taken out before inserting into bread. It’s pretty good – especially when paired with cream cheese spread!

4. Durian sandwiches

durian

It might be heresy to some to use the precious durian as a sandwich filling. It’s expensive (recently bought a Holo durian for RM 33 with less than 10 seeds, costing over RM 3 each) so I used the more common D24 strain (RM 6 / kg) for this experiment.

I thought since it works so well with glutinous rice (seriously, durian and mangoes are perfect with glutinous rice) I reckon it might be okay with bread.

durian sandwiches

Nope, I still consider it a waste – I had to use about 4 seeds to gather enough flesh for a sandwich – it’s good, but durians deserve better treatment.

5. Jambu sandwiches

jambu

I saw this juicy local fruit at RM 8 / kg from a local roadside stand and it turned out to be one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever made! :)

fruit sandwiches

The secret is chunky peanut butter.

Jambu with chunky peanut butter has a very complex texture – the pure water squirting out of the fruit, the stickiness of peanut butter and the chewiness of bread. The flavor profile is amazing too – kinda like eating an apple with peanut butter (used to do that as a kid).

This is the tropical version – salty and buttery and sweet with refreshing bursts.

I did a lot of tongue-in-cheek sandwiches for fun but this…

jambu sandwiches

…this is the eureka moment, I discovered something I’ll really continue eating. It’s truly a great fruit sandwich! :)

old shop cafe

Old Shop is the strangely named cafe along Jalan Padungan than
embraces the old days in the decor while maintaining a modern menu
repertoire. It blends well into the existing old and moldy looking
architecture of the old part of Jalan Padungan.

old shop interior

Old Shop or lau tien as it is simple called in Chinese is
usually packed at nights and yesterday night was no different. It
offers a menu which lists anything from NZ Tenderloin Steaks to local
fare. They also serve alcohol. Old Shop is indeed a place of contrasts
between the new and the old.

old shop pictures

The walls of the interior are decorated with the occasional black
and white picture which shows Kuching back in the old days. Yet, the
back of the cafe is filled with a full bar serving alcohol. The place
is contradictory, and it pulls it off well. It embraces both the past
and the present.

old shop noodles

Well, despite all the customers ordering mostly Western fare, it has
been my policy to try out the eating establishment’s flagship dishes
first, and I tend to lean in favor of the dishes that are named after
the cafe or restaurant. The above shows Old Town Fried Noodles. Please
ignore the baked cockles in the frame, there were eight of us who went
there last night and we ordered baked cockles to eat.

old shop noodles flash

Going back to the Old Town Fried Noodles, with a flash shot this
time, it tastes really good. I squeezed the lime onto my spoon (to
separate the lime juice from the pips – this is the old skool way to do
it) and splashed it liberally on the fried noodles before eating it. It
tasted wonderful, it’s salty and there’s enough seafood and meat to
give it a good texture.

old shop rice

Since I was pretty hungry, I also ordered the Old Town Fried Rice.
That’s the only two dishes that are named after the place, so I figured
I might as well eat the both of them.

old shop rice flash

Here’s a clearer shot of the Old Town Fried Rice. It is fried in the
same sauce that gives the fried noodles such a great and different
taste. There are treasures like bits of prawn, cuttlefish, sotong and
meat hidden inside to surprise you. It tastes good and it’s good value
for money at RM 4.50.

old shop durian

I finished the meal off with Durian Shaved Ice. It’s a mountain of
shaved ice with the usual suspects inside, topped off with a liberal
dousing of fresh durian paste.

old shop durian flash

My friends asked me whether the fresh durian paste is really fresh.
It’s not. I didn’t have time to go to the toilet this morning and I can
feel the Durian Shaved Ice screaming “Let me out!” right now. Excuse
me…

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