Follow Laura's Compass: Food Friday 6

It's that time of the week again, food Friday! Ok so I need to get more on top of this because technically its Saturday morning in Singapore and for my viewers in the US I've only got 2 more hours left of your Friday. Time to type fast!

So this past week wasn't full of too many exciting dishes so this week I'm going to stick with just a couple new foods I tried.

Hopefully you've read my Bali posts and saw some of the cool foods I tried there. I don't want to re-hash my love of the volcano cooked banana sandwiches or the smooth Luwak coffee so I'll let you all go to those posts on your own.

Let's talk snakeskin fruit! This fruit grows near the bottom of the tree and is nestled in some pockets of the tree. Why is it called snakeskin? Because its outer shell has the same shiny, scaly feeling as actual snakeskin! For those of you who fear snakes like this blogger, it's a creepy but great way to feel a snake minus the whole venom/constricting stuff to worry about.

Taking a bite of the snakeskin fruit

What it looks like when you start to peel it - thanks Niles for the photo!

When you peel back the skin it reveals what looks like very large, peeled garlic cloves. Now when Ethan first started peeling the fruit I'm not sure whether it was the early morning hours or the long hike but I wanted nothing to do with it. Ethan gave me a look that could only mean you eat chicken feet but you won't try this fruit are you crazy?! Well after he took the first bite and it was confirmed it was tasty, I had a piece and oh I am glad it did! It has the texture of a crunchy apple and tastes similar too but a little bit like a pear too? Man it's hard to explain how these exotic fruits taste!

Our weekend in Bali included mostly western food as we ate at our all inclusive resort for every meal. I mean I guess I could explain how french fries, pasta, or chicken taste but I'll leave it to your imagination hah.

Hokkien Mee noodles - Singapore traditional dish

This past week in Singapore called for some typical meals including more steamed dumplings (have I mentioned I'm obsessed yet), sushi, Niles+Laura fried rice, and noodles. HOWEVER, last night (Friday night in Singapore time) we had our first taste of one of two Singapore classic dishes: black pepper crab.

After work on Friday, Ethan, Niles, and I headed to Clark Quay to go to Jumbo Seafood. We met up with two Singaporean friends Glenn, and Melissa. Our first stop was to grab a drink (emphasis on the singular of drink remember Singapore=expensive drinks). Niles only has a few more days left here so he decided it was time to try a Singapore Sling. Let's just say that he can officially tell people he had a Singapore Sling in Singapore and I'm sure that will be the extent of his story. Not the most amazing drink in his opinion.

Niles and his Singapore Sling

After our drinks, we headed to Jumbo Seafood, a popular seafood restaurant known for their classic crab dishes. Thank goodness for Glenn and Melissa who helped out with the ordering process. For the 5 of us we had 1 black pepper Sri Lankan crab, drunken whole prawns (heads included), oatmeal fried prawns, green veggie, and white rice. Oh my was it a feast! We started with the prawns. The drunken prawns came in an alcoholic broth. We got our hands dirty and dug in! We peeled the head and shell off and I enjoyed mine dipped in the chili sauce yum! The fried prawns were yummy too. The oatmeal makes for a very crunchy outside. The green veggie was nice balance to the seafood and looked very similar to brussel sprouts. And finally we were presented with the crab. I was served the first piece and dug right in. Oh my oh my, this was FANTASTIC! The sauce was wonderfully spicy and pepper-y and the crab was so tender. I was a total mess by the end of the meal but was completely satisfied. All those recommendations I got to try pepper crab were 100% on point. No one can come to Singapore and not try this! Chili crab will be next!