Binignit, Init!

a burst of colors and flavors!

During cold nights, it is so easy to crave for something warm and homey and it just turns out that I am craving for binignit!  I don't know how folks would call this native Filipino dish in English but what I am only aware of is that it is made of rootcrops, bananas, and sago pearls cooked in diluted coconut milk and sugar.

I haven't tried preparing binignit on my own yet.  This one on the pic was made by somebody else and I couldn't wait to have a taste while it was cooking in the kitchen....and it's really, really good!!!!

Picadillo Dreaming

ground meat and veggies

Picadillo is a traditional Latin American meat dish which also has a Philippine version made out of ground meat and vegetables.  In the Philippines, this dish is better known as giniling (ground/minced) not only for the ground meat used but also for the finely chopped vegetables.

The picadillo you see on this post is a product of my own recipe.  I bought ground beef and a pack of frozen vegetables (carrots, peas, corn) from the grocery and cooked them up and came up with this!  What I did was sauteed onions and garlic and added the meat and stock and cooked it until it became tender.  I added the frozen vegetables and potatoes that I have diced, and seasoned the dish with salt and pepper.  When the picadillo was done,  I scooped some on top of steaming rice!  The rest is history... How I wish I could have some right now... 

Until then, I'll just be picadillo dreaming...

EXOTIC FOOD CHRONICLES: DINUGUAN AT PUTO

Bloody yummy!

Dinuguan is a dish made out of pork meat and innards, chili, spices, and pig's blood.  For people who get faint upon knowing that blood is part of the recipe, they might faint once again when they taste this concoction.  It's so BLOODY yummy!  Anti-meat and anti-blood eating people might cringe at the thought of eating food made up of a poor slaughtered animal with its blood included an unholy and inhumane act but for those who know that it's all part of survival and foodie-hood it's something that should not be missed!

Dinuguan is best served hot with puto, a kind of rice cake/muffin that is best dipped into the saucy dish.  The dinuguan in this photo was cooked by somebody I know so I am aware that all the ingredients were cleaned well before they were cooked.  For those who instantly want dinuguan and puto here in the Philippines but don't know if they could trust the quality of the ingredients, Goldilocks is one of those places where good food and D&P can be found.  

Halloween could be bloody and yummy at the same time...grab some dinuguan and puto NOW!

Modern Toilet: Go Ahead, Bowl Over!

Toilet seat covers, urinals, bathroom tiles, toilet bowls...the essence of Modern Toilet!

I dunno if this post might affect the other posts since this is unlike the usual stuff I post here.  Anyway, the photos are filtered so I do hope you wouldn't bowl over and get grossed out!

Modern Toilet is a bizarre chain of themed restaurants which can be found in Taiwan and Hong Kong.  The one I have been to is in Mongkok, HK and since I have already read up and searched about the appearance of the resto, I wasn't too surprised when we were welcomed with toilet seat covers and urinals for wall decor and toilet bowls for seats!  There's always some hype when you have heard of something quite popular and would want to go there out of sheer curiosity.  Modern Toilet is really unusual but for those who get squeamish and have no knack for toilet humor, then this kind of resto is not for you!

We have just arrived in the city and just dropped our things at the hotel, then ran the sidewalks and rode the MTR just to get to Modern Toilet on time. They cancel reservations if you are beyond five minutes late!  When we were seated and given copies of the menu, the language barrier kicked in since we didn't understand a thing.  There were names of the the food in English but we had to ask the local friend Mr W who served as the official travel guide about the food.  It was his first time there too so he had no idea which ones tasted good.  So, like poo, we didn't really know what we were going to get!   

It was a fun place but the food was not totally great!

To get the palates rolling, tomato soup was served; it was quite good and the toasted bread went well with it.  Next on the table (which was a glass top that had a ceramic sink as base) was the entrée (if you can call it that) and it was composed of dry stuff served in soap dishes.  I can remember the the deep-fried breaded lemon chicken and that meaty stuff shaped in balls tasted good and the dip was sort of sweet and spicy.  We had a few sips of our drinks in small urinals!  I never expected that servings were huge and I had a hard time eating too because I haven't practiced my chopstick skills prior to the trip!  I have also tried the salad but didn't dwell on it.  I felt I was already starting to get full and we haven't had the main course yet!

K and I order the same thing for our "main dish" and we expected it to taste good.  I can't remember what it was exactly (let me check the menu snapshot). I guess it must be Japanese Barbecued Pork in Milky Broth.  Mr W and F ordered Spare Ribs and then we ate.  Actually there was a slight delay because the waitresses didn't seem to get the orders right even if Mr W spoke to them in their language.

I will never have this again! Hahahaha!

After eating the meat and trying to slurp some of the noodles and chew some of the corn kernels, I realized what I was eating wasn't really good.  It may taste good to some but it didn't suit my tastebuds.  Hahaha!  It has milk broth! What was I thinking??? I am lactose intolerant!!!  Anyway, I ate about half of it and decided to stop or I might gag...

Mousse for the sweet tooth!

Dessert was okay.  Some mousse slices that tasted great.  The yellow one at the bottom of the pic had a lemony taste!  We were already full (and slightly irked) so we didn't get to order the famous poo-shaped ice cream. Hahaha! Mr W paid for dinner and gave the waitresses a piece of his mind.  Then we went off into the night and strolled the streets of Kowloon, thinking that Modern Toilet was a fun albeit shitty experience!

The Modern Toilet logo: Female and Male Toilet Symbols...and the so-called Shit Lamp hanging from the ceiling

Breaded Fish Fillet With Sweet And Spicy Sauce

Breaded Fish Fillet with Sweet and Spicy Sauce

Ingredients:

Breaded fish:

• white fish
• flour
• eggs
• Japanese bread crumbs
• salt 
• ground black pepper
• juice of squeezed lemons/calamansi 
• oil for deep frying

Sauce

• red chili peppers 
• salt 
• sugar
• ground black pepper
• water
• corn starch dissolved in water

 
Directions:

• Cut fish into fillets and marinate overnight with salt and pepper.  Add lemon juice 30 minutes prior to cooking.
• In three separate plates put flour, scrambled eggs, and breadcrumbs.  Coat each fillet in the following order: flour, eggs, breadcrumbs.
• Heat the oil in a pot and fry each fillet until golden. 
• In a separate pan, sauté the chili peppers then add sugar, salt, water and dissolved corn starch.  Boil sauce until it thickens.  Pour over fish fillet and serve.
• Quick trick:  If you want a foolproof sauce, go to the supermarket and buy a bottle of sweet chili sauce instead! hahahahaha! 

Veggie Pasta

I remember having this plateful of pasta with "vegetarian" sauce not too long ago at Vienna Kaffeehaus.  Pure vegans would not think it is really vegetarian since it has a cream base and it is drizzled with a lot of Parmesan cheese.  However, for those who would prefer to have meatless pasta for a change, this dish could just save you from an untimely heart attack!

If memory serves me right, this "vegetarian" sauce is composed of onions, button mushrooms, red bell peppers, carrots, broccoli, and asparagus drenched in heavy cream sauce and served on steaming hot spaghetti noodles.  Buttered bread slices are also part of the ensemble.

Buon appetito!

I Love Gummi Bears!

Gummi bears or gummy bears (whichever way you spell the first word), are among my favorite sweets.  Sweet, cute, and colorful, these bears are fun to eat and play with... hahaha! 

I just love gummi bears! :p

Fried Fish With A Twist!

Here's a simple way to put a different kind of twist to your ordinary fried fish: lemon butter sauce!  It may sound kind of gourmet but it really is a no-brainer add-on to your meal.  

Simply melt some butter in a pan and add lemon juice.  Season it with salt and pepper but you can add some herbs or garlic if you want to.  Just pour the sauce over any kind of fried fish you got and you can be assured that your palate will be greeted with a zing you have never imagined!

You can also use lemon butter sauce with pork and chicken dishes.  I have yet to try it with beef!  Enjoy!

Halo-halo Galore!

It's still "Summer" here in the tropical islands of The Philippines and daily brownouts and El Niño have contributed to most of the citizens' hot heads.  

Halo-halo is the perfect concoction to help cool down and get a sugar high!  

Blue Marlin Steak

Blue Marlin Steak at BrewBerry

One night not too long ago, I went out to have a FREE dinner with a couple of friends at BrewBerry in CDO and ordered this from the menu.  The Blue Marlin Steak was sort of smoky and it tasted really great!  

EXOTIC FOOD CHRONICLES: SALTED EGGS (ITLOG NA MAALAT)

Itlog na maalat or salted eggs is a great delicacy from the the Phillipines and people love to eat it as a side dish during breakfast or with just about any meal.  Salted eggs are also known as red eggs because the eggshells are colored red (I don't know though for what purpose).

How are salted eggs made?  When I was in either 4th or 5th grade, my classmates and I made itlog na maalat for our home economics class.  (Yes, we had HE back then I dunno if kids nowadays still do the stuff we used to do back in grade school.)  Here's what we did:

• Placed clean raw eggs in a wide-mouthed container.
• Made a solution of water and a lot of salt and poured it into the container with the eggs.
• Made sure that the eggs remained submerged in the solution.
• Left the eggs in the solution at room temperature for 2 weeks (or 3 I guess...I can't remember anymore)
• When the time has elapsed, the eggs were then boiled in the solution and of course we ate the eggs after cooking them!

It log na maalat is best served sliced into cubes and combined with raw ripe tomatoes!  It is best to eat it with steamed rice straight from the pot!   Better give it a try if you haven't tasted it yet!

Arroz Caldo

ARROZ CALDO

I love cooking (and of course, EATING) Arroz Caldo!  Arroz caldo (hot rice) is a Spanish-named Filipino dish based on the Chinese congee or rice porridge.  It's one of my favorite stuff to eat during cold nights (or days) or whenever I am sick...

Arroz Caldo Ingredients:

• rice
• chicken cut into serving pieces or chicken breast cut into bite-size pieces
• oil
• garlic, minced
• onion, chopped
• ginger, sliced thinly or minced
• water
• chicken bullion
• spring onions, chopped
• boiled eggs, halved or whole

Directions:

1. Toast minced garlic in a large saucepan and set it aside.
2. Sauté onions, ginger, and chicken in the oil.
3. Add the rice and stir for a while.
4. Add water and chicken bullion and stir to make sure that the ingredients do not stick to the sides of the saucepan.
5. Simmer in low heat for at least 20 minutes or until the rice is cooked and soft.
6. Serve in bowls with boiled eggs and topped with spring onions and toasted garlic.

You can add a dash of pepper and some patis (fish sauce) if you want!

EXOTIC FOOD CHRONICLES: LECHON KAWALI

I’ve been sinfully craving for cholesterol-rich pork recipes and when I opened my archive of food images, I saw the tempting bowl of Lechon Kawali from Mom’s Corner…

Lechon Kawali is a Filipino delicacy (and I think it counts as exotic food…oh no not again…). It is called such because it tastes like lechon (roasted pig) but it is cooked in a frying pan (kawali).

Here’s how to make your own Lechon Kawali:

Ingredients:

• 1 kg whole pork belly (liempo)
• Salt
• Garlic cloves
• Peppercorns
• Water for boiling
• Cornstarch
• Oil for deep frying

Directions:

1. Clean pork belly and slice it into bite-size pieces.
2. Put pork in a pan with water, salt, garlic cloves, peppercorns.
3. Let the meat boil and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes or until the skin is tender. Once the meat is tender, drain it and let it dry.
4. Cover the meat with a thin layer of cornstarch.
5. Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the pork until the meat turns golden brown and the skin becomes crispy.
6. In a bowl mix soy sauce, vinegar, minced garlic and chopped onions. Add chili peppers if desired. Use this as a dipping sauce.
7. Serve lechon kawali with the sauce and rice!

Yum yum!

WARNING: If you are a health conscious individual, don’t eat too much of this dish. Pork contains a lot of cholesterol which may cause several cardio-vascular diseases. If you already have cardiovascular diseases, maybe grab a bite or two of lechon kawali but not more… Eat more at your own risk!