Living my Belfast Life 04

I've been here for over a month now and quite settling in to the Belfast life. It is not so adventurous anymore, everything is becoming normal for me now.

I tend to live by this rule:

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. (It is polite, and possibly also advantageous, to abide by the customs of a society when one is a visitor). Hopefully my visit will be for the long, permanent run but that's still in the future.

I'd like to spend my free weekend visiting the St. Georges market or other local markets to experience that true Irish/British (I still haven't got the hang of what to call NI people, some see themselves Irish and others say they are British) feeling. I have not starting drinking like an Irish because my liver can't handle the amount of alcohol needed for it. I, myself am a light drinker.

So last Saturday I tried Irish stew. Usually made with lamb or mutton as well with potatoes, carrots, onions and parsley. The lady only had the lamb variant, but I know mutton has a stronger flavor.

I am more used to a darker colored and thicker stew mostly made of beef and with a much sweeter flavor than the Irish Stew has. I found this stew quite watery but good tasting none the less. I still prefer beef over lamb/mutton but you shouldn't ruin the traditional meals. Which the french tourists did that were up next after I received my order. To the cook's disgust they covered it in HP sauce because they thought the taste was too bland...

Next up was Indian food. 

I don't know what the most popular food would be in then Netherlands, but I have seen the current trend it being sushi, well here in Belfast it is curry. I never liked Indian food much because my dad would always make Chicken Tandoori and I really don't like Creme Fraiche in my stew...but like I said I need to live by my rule and try it anyway.

Though I am from Indonesian descent, I cannot handle spicy food. While some of my family go trigger happy with the sambal (chillipaste) I want to still be able to taste my food without it being overrun by hotness. And Indian food tends to have some meals that will make your lips feel numb. While the other curry's are promoted as hotlip curry's, I tend to stick with the mild variation. The curry-man tried to get me on the hotter stuff but I didn't listen to him.

So I picked Korma, it's a cream/coconut based curry that is very mild (excellent choice if you want your kids to eat it). The most popular version of Korma is Chicken Korma and my new favorite dish next to Babi Ketjap and Brown bean soup. 

I haven't tried making this myself yet but the one I tried at the market is way better than the pre-made meals from the supermarket. Luckily for me, the stall is there every weekend so this will be my once a month tradition (on the weekend that I work) to get myself a serving of Korma for lunch. You can never beat home-made food ;).