Almost the best weekend ever, but not quite there by a really long shot

YO

So I am trying to make it a habit of updating this blog every Sunday (East Africa Time). We'll see how long I will actually be actively working on this blog.

Lately, it has been pouring cats and kittens, 24/7 with some days having endless rain.  I did not know so much water can be stored in the atmosphere all at once in one location, perhaps since I am so used to living in one of the driest places on earth.  In all of the 24 years that I have been alive, I have never been exposed to as much rain as these past few weeks.  Some days I could not even leave my house because the rain was pouring heavily, literally a torrential downpour.  But all of this rain is also a blessing, my garden to flourish tremendously.  My papaya trees are almost as tall as me now (not that great of a feat) and one of them is even flowering.  Papaya coming soon to a table near me.

For some reason, even with the rainy season, the daily catches have gotten better.  In the market this week, I was able to find a fine specimen of Istiophorus platypterus (Sailfish).  I would have estimated it to be about 2.5 meters SL.  It made for a scrumptious curry sauteed lunch.  Gymnothorax favagineus (Laced moray eel) makes a good deep fried dish after an afternoon of marinating with salt, pepper, and lemongrass.  On Friday and today, I was able to procure a decent amount of Fenneropenaeus indicus (Indian white prawn).  I don't think I am able to show you the excitement that I have been experiencing this whole weekend on this blog.  For a while, I have been craving some Canh Chua and Bún Riêu, 2 of my most favorite Vietnamese dishes.  To make these dishes, one would need to use some sort of crustacean as a base for the stock.  Seeing as how crabs, prawns and lobsters are no where to be found these past few months, I was left with no choice but to suffer the craving, but no more am I afflicted with such wantings.  This weekend I have successfully crossed these 2 dishes off my list of cravings.

Here are some pictures of the homemade Bún Riêu I was able to make by scavenging together all the essential ingredients in my village.

I just threw in some ukwaju (tamarind), bilimbi (Averrhoa bilimbi a fruit similar to starfruit), some matungule (tomato), chumvi (salt), pili pili manga (black pepper), kitunguu saumu (garlic), fish sauce, some for the F. indicus, and some loving (MSG) for the stock.  For the riêu (crab/prawn cake), I used a lot of prawns, some pili pili manga, kitunguu saumu, 2 mayai (eggs) (although I should have used 3 or 4 instead, to give it a more appealing coloration), fish sauce, chumvi, and some loving, all in a blender.  For the bún, I would like to thank my friends Andy and Khuyen for supplying me with some sweet and tender rice noodles.  Overall, it made for a great Sunday brunch.  Next up on my list of cravings is ramen albeit without the pork . . .

Today, having too much time on my hand, I was able to transfer one of my batches of wine into another bucket to age.  This batch has been fermenting for a while now, I hope that it has not gone bad.

O yea here are some pictures of my little cheetah

Until next time.
Peace