Island Of Misfits

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Hadda go to the VA horsepistol to donate blood for the roses. A giant black lady (same one drew blood last year) was my sticker. Just like last year, she got it instantly <-- She takes the samples from a vein in my hand, not arm. She's damn' good, and I told her so.

Now for the "vibe": The folks that work there are grinding-teeth superpissed by still having to wear masks everywhere (idiotic e.g. -- Cafeteria, exercise room). I wore my "snot mask" <-- Has my face looking like great gobs of snot are drooling down thickly under my nose.

So next Tuesday, I gotta go back. I will wear my "It's me in disguise" mask for the my yearly Steve McQueen/Papillon swearing: "I'm still here, you bastids!" to prove I am yet alive.
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I like Kimchi, but never heard about the urinating in it part. My recipe actually skipped that key ingredient:
Well... in that recipe, you have nuoc mam.

"2 tablespoons fish sauce (nuoc mam or nam pla)"

nuoc mam, of course, is made with rotted fish. Rotted in earthen bowls of pee**

**
Usually from a water-boo.
 
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My old partner Rick said you could smell nuoc mam from six clicks away. He said the village he went into had a different method of making it. The locals had a board that had vertical grooves cut into it with a horizontal groove across the bottom connecting the vertical grooves, and a short vertical groove in the center of that leading out to the end of the board. Think a pitch fork design with lots of tines. They'd take a layer of fish, cover it in salt, add another layer of fish, more salt, ect. Then they'd set it up on a stump, prop it up with a rock under the vertical groove side to make a slight incline, and let it rot/ferment in the sun. They had a clay jug that would catch the drippings from the downside groove.
They ate it on everything. Even dipped biscuits/bread in it. The GI's called it armpit sauce.
 
Well... in that recipe, you have nuoc mam.

"2 tablespoons fish sauce (nuoc mam or nam pla)"

nuoc mam, of course, is made with rotted fish. Rotted in earthen bowls of pee**

**
Usually from a water-boo.
That may be what they fed gullible GI's oh ancient one, but I prefer the recipes that ferment the fish in brine, vis a vis rotting in piss. If you get a chance to try some, I would value your flavor comparison of the two, as I've only tried the former.

[Authentic] Vietnamese fish sauce recipe - How to make fish sauce - YummY Vietnam
 
That may be what they fed gullible GI's oh ancient one, but I prefer the recipes that ferment the fish in brine, vis a vis rotting in piss. If you get a chance to try some, I would value your flavor comparison of the two, as I've only tried the former.

[Authentic] Vietnamese fish sauce recipe - How to make fish sauce - YummY Vietnam
Ahh... umm... You know I wuz makin' a joke, right?

The Alternate (Short) GI Story of Kimchi --

They cut up a low-grade kind of not-that-edible cabbage, mix some awful stuff in it and beat hell outa it. Not bad so far. Aggression, etc.

Then they put this icky stuff in a pot buried in the ground to let it rot. <-- This is a good idea, and the pinnacle of the kimchi story.

Unfortunately, after about seven months or so... they dig it up and eat it. 🤢
 
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That may be what they fed gullible GI's oh ancient one, but I prefer the recipes that ferment the fish in brine, vis a vis rotting in piss. If you get a chance to try some, I would value your flavor comparison of the two, as I've only tried the former.

[Authentic] Vietnamese fish sauce recipe - How to make fish sauce - YummY Vietnam
I've seen many different fish sauces all over the Pacific Rim. The kinds are as different as different mustards. <-- That would make sense considering the source fish are all kinds.

All foolin' aside, I got cured of even thinking about nuoc mam by learning that s hit-eating catfish are used to make it. I useta have some photos of raw sewage flying out of a big pipe and going into a pen with catfish with their mouths agape. :oops:

This winds up with numbers like this for fluke infection:

"...one type of FZT, H pumilio, (intestinal trematode) was recorded in the catfish. Farm prevalence was highest for black-spotted catfish (20 percent), followed by hybrid catfish (16.7 percent). The lowest FZT prevalence was seen in river catfish (5 percent)."

The above just sticks in my mind as my throat gags on the smell.
 
I've seen many different fish sauces all over the Pacific Rim. The kinds are as different as different mustards. <-- That would make sense considering the source fish are all kinds.

All foolin' aside, I got cured of even thinking about nuoc mam by learning that s hit-eating catfish are used to make it. I useta have some photos of raw sewage flying out of a big pipe and going into a pen with catfish with their mouths agape. :oops:

This winds up with numbers like this for fluke infection:

"...one type of FZT, H pumilio, (intestinal trematode) was recorded in the catfish. Farm prevalence was highest for black-spotted catfish (20 percent), followed by hybrid catfish (16.7 percent). The lowest FZT prevalence was seen in river catfish (5 percent)."

The above just sticks in my mind as my throat gags on the smell.
Lot's of native diets in Vietnam that turns my stomach, including the small fish from rice paddies that they chop up in their rice dishes. As you note, they dump their raw sewage in the rice paddies and if you were going to catch a parasite, it would be more likely from fish parts than fish sauce.

I learned early on dating to not eat anything that smelled too fishy.

Along those same lines, I've caught Rainbow and Brook Trout from pristine snow melt high mountain lakes and packed them in snow in the cooler, only to find them covered with parasitic worms that have crawled out of the dead meat. Must be cooked to be safe to eat...............
 
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Ahh... umm... You know I wuz makin' a joke, right?

The Alternate (Short) GI Story of Kimchi --

They cut up a low-grade kind of not-that-edible cabbage, mix some awful stuff in it and beat hell outa it. Not bad so far. Aggression, etc.

Then they put this icky stuff in a pot buried in the ground to let it rot. <-- This is a good idea, and the pinnacle of the kimchi story.

Unfortunately, after about seven months or so... they dig it up and eat it. 🤢
How did flavor compare to Kimchi made the regular way?
 
Hadda go to the VA horsepistol to donate blood for the roses. A giant black lady (same one drew blood last year) was my sticker. Just like last year, she got it instantly <-- She takes the samples from a vein in my hand, not arm. She's damn' good, and I told her so.

Now for the "vibe": The folks that work there are grinding-teeth superpissed by still having to wear masks everywhere (idiotic e.g. -- Cafeteria, exercise room). I wore my "snot mask" <-- Has my face looking like great gobs of snot are drooling down thickly under my nose.

So next Tuesday, I gotta go back. I will wear my "It's me in disguise" mask for the my yearly Steve McQueen/Papillon swearing: "I'm still here, you bastids!" to prove I am yet alive.
View attachment 325446
Gotta new picture for my Garden.😁
 

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