My first day walking around Manila, the Philippines and I happen to stumble upon a food item that I simply could not possibly pass by.  I took one look at the pile of “1 day old” chickens and decided I had to partake of them.

I ordered as the chef quickly threw one of the baby chickens into the boiling oil to reheat it.  He then poked it with a stick and pulled something very small out the mid section of the bird to discard (no idea what it was, but …

Throughout my brief stay in Singapore, I willingly indulged in various famed Hainanese style chicken rice platters.  Chicken rice is rather famous in Singapore for being a food to rely upon, something that is made with simple ingredients, but made correctly as a homey comfort dish.
Singapore chicken rice is as far away from regular chicken on top of rice as possible, yet still chicken and rice.  Artfully created by hands that have been making the same style chicken for countless years, boiled or roasted perfectly so the flesh is cooked …

An immediate sensation of welcoming, a homeliness, shocked my body (from my tongue downwards) as I chewed the first bite of my debut clay pot chicken rice in Penang, Malaysia.  It was a sense of comfort, relaxation, like I could sit there all day and eat, a great feeling, leaving me ultimately satisfied, and craving more.

Walking through one of the many food court, hawker centers in Georgetown, Malaysia, I noticed a lady cooking a dish using multiple clay pots.  The smells were unworldly and I immediately without hesitation had to …