Awesome Red Tinola

San Rafael, Bulacan for me equals authentic provincial cooking. Arriving at Tiyong Amante and Tiyang Ine's house, I went straight to the kitchen to check out what they are preparing and sorted out the sauce bottles and spices. Most of the ingredients came from other Bulacan towns that all the more excited my waiting palate and appetite. I saw an Ate Conching brand Sukang Paombong and cooking oil on the table with fresh produce picked straight from their garden. For breakfast, it’s the overflowing carabao’s milk partnered with salt and rice that brought the house down but it’s the Tinola preparation for lunch that really fascinated me.

The Tinola was prepared meticulously with the chicken rubbed with rock salt before diving into the big metal wok with ginger, onion, and garlic already sizzling and flavoring the provincial fresh air. After the chicken dive, they put in atsuete, a red food coloring used for, well, food, I guess. Then it was not sautéed but “isinangkutsa”, a term that still haunts me in my dreams. I think it is when one put everything in the wok all at the same time to mix all the possible flavors. Then a calculated amount of water, an almost ripe papaya, some dahon ng sili, and chili pepper were added and slowly simmered until reaching that Red Tinola peak worthy of an encore.

Korean Flow

We stayed at A.Venue Residences along Makati Avenue last weekend and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere it offered our weary petty bourgeois souls. The children enjoyed the 24 hour airconditioned room and swam in the cold infinity pool overlooking the Makati skyline. I enjoyed everything Korean that I ate on that 24 hour vacation cycle.

For our afternoon snack we went to a Korean Mart located in the former Makati Mart in front of the former International School in Kalayaan Avenue. We checked out the grocery alleys full of korean goodies and we opted for a homemade kimchi, instant Korean noodles, and those green chili peppers that are not so spicy and can be eaten raw. The Kimchi is just so good to the palate and mixed well with the Korean instant noodles and green chili peppers.

For dinner, we walked along Makati Avenue and enjoyed the night breeze in a surprisingly not so traffic snarled saturday night. We found a couple of Korean restaurants and settled in a Korean hotel and restaurant joint called Ingwasan. The restaurant looks seedy and dated with menu in Korean characters plastered on the walls. It felt like working class Korea and that gave the place that needed flavor. We ordered bbq pork and beef stew and believe me, it was the most simple preparation I've seen in the history of my Korean food escapade but it actually made my palate quiver. The pork bbq cut in bacon like strips was served in a sizzling plate with sesame seed oil mixed with salt and pepper on the side as dip. The usual Korean side dishes are arranged in a row while the piping hot beef stew filled with beef strips and glass noodles played its role as soul food provider. Satisfied with that night's food adventure, we walked happily to our hotel.

Lunch the following day brought us to Korean Village in Nakpil St., Malate,Manila. This place is the basis of all our Korean food experience, the gauge if the other Korean restaurants do offer good food. It used to be near the Remedios Circle but its transfer never altered the recipes, the taste, the food, and the people. We've been going to this restaurant for almost 15 freaking years and it never changed. The assorted bbq is still Korean heaven. The beef stew is to die for, and everything else still just falls into its proper place in that Korean Village Restaurant we so dearly love.

Before going home, we bought some pork sliced thinly and some korean sauce for marinate. Its going to be another Korean dinner tonight.

U-belt Food Trek

Yesterday I walked my way to the University Belt area thinking of food and cuisines and what life really has to offer me. My food walk started in the morning after Andres requested Fried Chicken for breakfast so I prepared a simple mix of fish sauce, soy sauce, a pinch of salt, and calamansi for marinade. Then I dipped the chicken parts in egg and seasoned flour for that crunchy southern style fried chicken. Andres enjoyed it and I enjoyed it too.

Then in the office, I ate early lunch in preparation for my planned long walk to everywhere. I ordered Menudo and lechon kawali with rice combo and the taste was very homely. It was quite expensive however for seventy pesos. But in a bourgeois school setting, the price is peanuts.

Then I rode the LRT from Katipunan and upon existing the train, entered a new world. I walked inside a mall full of clearance sale and checked out the second hand bookstores along the streets while people watching, thinking what goes on in their minds as they walk. Then I got hungry again and ate at Mang Inasal Recto branch digging their 49 pesos one piece chicken inasal and rice. It was meditative eating of sort as I enjoyed thinking of life giving me the chance to experience most of what it can offer a person. From the fume ravaged Recto kiosks to the Bourgeois Hotel restaurants, I can walk and eat and breathe in these places. There must really be luck.

Then I walked and again rummaged through the books for sale and arrived in Sampaloc area and saw a school with a big wanted poster of people they find as trouble makers and they actually look like former stockholders of the school. Then I checked another school and was impressed with the marked improvement and upgrading of facilities. Feeling hungry again, I chanced upon a Kambingan store but goat meat was expensive so I settled for a Pork ribs adobo for 35 pesos. It was succulently soft to the palate in an adobo sort of way. Then I walked again towards Dapitan area and picked up Thelma in her work. Feeling tired and sapped with energy, she suggested that we go to Banawe and eat comfort food. I happily agreed and went to Mandarin Sky for a sumptuous serving of Shabu-shabu.

It was a whole day of feasting for the mind, body, and soul.

Malunggay Chicken Balls

Thelma and Andres, representing III Variara (Andres' section), won the Don Bosco Grade School Healthy Food challenge last year with their healthy Malunggay Rice and chicken Balls in Carrot sauce and Buttered Vegetables.

MALUNGGAY CHICKEN BALLS

Ingredients

Ground Chicken
Malunggay Leaves
Carrots
Bellpepper
Potatoes
Onion
Garlic
Egg
Salt
Pepper
Flour

Procedure:

1. Mince the vegetables
2. Combine all ingredients. Add Salt & pepper
3. Form small balls
4. Heat oil & fry
5. Once cooked, put in a plate with paper tissue to absorb excess oil
6. Serve with carrot sauce

CARROT SAUCE

Ingredients

Carrots, Bellpepper, Chili, Vinegar, Sugar, Flour, Salt, Water

Procedure:

1. Combine all ingredients except flour
2. Dilute flour in water then combine with mixed ingredients

MALUNGGAY RICE

1. Pakuluan lang ang malunggay leaves at gamitin ang pinagpakuluang tubig sa pagluto sa kanin.

BUTTERED VEGETABLES

Just get vegetables and put butter. Thats it.

Mandarin Sky

Mandarin Sky is one restaurant that we so fondly visit for its sumptuous Shabu-shabu meal that borders on becoming an all-time favorite with the satay soup taking centerstage in the whole mix-match of watercress, thin slices of beef and pork, and other stuff that I forget when I start sipping and eating the magic soup. One can choose from the thousands of ingredients offered to perk up the already magical satay soup.

Their house fried chicken is just great with the crisp skin that melts in your mouth. The Oyster in XO sauce is to die for. But it is the Shabu-shabu that matters most in the Mandarin Sky scheme of things.

Mandarin Sky

Banawe St., Quezon City

(in front of St. Theresa's College)

Roaring Tomato Kicked Pizza and Pasta

http://gallery.clickthecity.com/albums/userpics/10002/Tomato_Kick_UP_Village_QC.jpg

Another Friday hunger led us to Tomato Kick, a restaurant overlooking the noisy speeding tricycles along Maginhawa Street in a spot housing a hodgepodge of interesting stores from a wasak bookstore to a Tattoo shop.

Tomato Kick is interesting to look at passing through Maginhawa St with its bastion like location that can serve as an observation deck for those specializing in tricycles doing their shit on the road. The early evening crowd in the joint was dynamic and full of joie de vivre in spite of the heat and the guess what, the roaring tricycle sound.  We took our place and prayed that Paco won’t wake up while we partake of our evening repast with Ponso who enjoyed running up and down the slanted walkway while waiting for our food.

We ordered Pizza with garlic and cheese, Pasta with grilled vegetables, a bottle of beer, and Tropicana orange juice.  The bottle of beer was perfect. It is San Miguel Beer pale pilsen and it went well with the pizza that is really not so spectacular. It is just a pizza but still better than the ones sold by those box type outlets with ready made pizzas they heat in an oven placed on top of a gas burner, or something to that effect. The taste is on the safe side though. Its garlic and cheese on top of an 8” thin crust has that nothing can go wrong type of preparation.

The pasta with grilled vegetable is enjoyable especially for the hungry lot. Vegetables include, but I guess is not limited to, zucchini, eggplant, tomato, and garlic grilled to release its savory flavors.  It was good, actually. It’s got that nothing can go wrong type of preparation, too.  Except that they did not use olive oil which could have turned up the food tastemometer two to three notches higher.

The food trip generally became a compare and contrast thing as we compared the Tomato Kick taste with our staple food preparations at home as we even use almost the very same ingredients. 

It was good learning that our typical food fare at home that we cook during our weekday breakfasts at 4:45 am in the morning can actually draw-in a motley crowd of people who enjoys their tricycle roaring sounds and knows their pizza and pasta without blowing their pockets.

Tomato Kick

55 Maginhawa St.

UP Teachers Village, Q.C.

Sauces from Mars

 
The truth is, I am forever in awe over the millions of sauces and flavorings and food pastes and everything bottled that can blend in the main food courses adding flavors that can bring out your smiles or smirks depending on your taste and mood.

I walk along the grocery aisles and I slow down as I pass by the bottled mysteries that I have not unlocked due to my limited knowledge on using them, bringing to light my conservativeness in my cooking style and taste. Most bottle labels are written in different languages that further heightens my interest but at the same time hinders me to purchase and use it precisely because of the same reasons. I think grocery owners should label and maybe put some information on the uses of these sauces and condiments and shit to educate us and expand our taste knowledge for a better world, and taste, and palate, and uh, peace and unity for mankind, and to end war and climate change?.  

that perfect pan-grill

There is one thing that I bought this Christmas and it is making a big difference in my grilling world. I had wrecked a couple of pans during the past couple of years as I try to perfect the art of grilling using a pan for steaks, be it beef or pork. Steaks, I was taught through tedious discussion with steak lovers and through devout reading of food magazines, is supposed to be cooked under high heat to ensure that the succulent juices be trapped in the middle retaining that wicked liquid that makes all the difference in having a perfect bite or a shitty steak experience.

I’ve destroyed a supposedly Pan-grill French Tefal brand with a high-tech red spot in the middle to check the pan’s temperature. I have also tried the American brand Mayer but these two brands were all disappointments to me. They were built for medium to low heat and not for the heavy duty high powered heat needed for that perfect steak.

Then I realized after doing my once every god knows when breathing meditation to get into the meaning of joy eating meat that steak houses uses thick sizzling plates. Yes, eejit, they do. They heat the plate under high heat then put the meat on top until done to its required doneness then they pour that freaking brownish gravy that makes the plate sizzle then serve it to the salivating customers in line (this observation I based from mall food courts).

So I consciously searched for that thick cast iron skillet meant for heavy duty cooking and destiny brought me to Landmark in Trinoma. My active detachment approach in finding that right grill served me well. I am not greatly affected when I ask for a pan grill and are shown with sloppy thin shitty non-stick pans. I was calm.

Then as destiny would define it, I detachedly asked the salesperson for their available pan-grill describing my required specification that is, thick, heavy, and would look heavy duty enough. The salesperson confidently said, “we have just what you need.” Guiding me towards the display rack, I was just numb, thinking nothing, expecting nothing. Then fucking freaky December, there it was beside those shitty thin non-stick pans and small sizzling plates for sisig orders, the heavy-duty grill for steaks that has limitless potentials for great grilling.

It is manhole cover-like heavy and has a good diameter size to cover enough meat for grilling. And it was on sale at 50% off. Now that I got the tools, its time to apply the theory.

Garlic and Onion

- Renoir, 1881

Garlic and Onion rocks! I like onions called shallots because of its pungent aftertaste. I like garlic because I have to because there is garlic in this painting by Renoir. And garlic is very versatile. It can be used in pizza for garlic and cheese pizza, or in kebabs, or in bistek Filipino for sauteeing.

Garlic and Onion are the best. I heard that they are relatives. That is so cool! And also, ah, they, ah, rock, again.

Authentically Arabic

If there is one sure way to know the authenticity of the restaurant, just check out the customers.

- Calixto L. Fangki
Etag Cooking Expert

Thelma and I went to Ermita, Manila for some errands and got hungry because humans do get hungry, and we are but human. We scanned the area and decided to go Persian for supper. So we walked towards the place we know that serve Persian food and saw another Persian restaurant in front of the familiar one in Soler St, Ermita, Manila. The new Persian restaurant was teeming with middle easterners of all shapes, colors and sizes smoking their sweet scented shee-shas. So this might be the feeling in Oman or Qatar or Saudi Arabia, so we thought, minus the mutawah.

The restaurant’s name is so exotic evoking visions of the romantic but dangerous desert from Paolo Coelho’s The Alchemist as the lead character journeys across it to discover his treasure across dunes and oasis. The name is Shawarma Snack Center. Very Arabic.

We ordered a two hundred fifty peso (P250) plate consisting of 3 piece beef kebab with tomato, onion, and pita bread. I think it is expensive compared to the kebabs we get from West Avenue. After the long wait, the three tight Kebab made a grand entrance and it is by far, I should say, the best kebab I have tasted. Even their yoghurt and red sauce combined deliciously brings out the steady beefy taste of the kebab stick. I think they use a tiny wee amount of extenders on their kebabs giving it that full beef flavor.

The place is so middle east that they do not have free water. It’ll cost you P25 hard earned bucks for a 250ml mineral water coming from the springs of Maynilad.

The mood inside the restaurant is very Arabic you can almost see desert sand particles beside the cans of olive oils from Jordan sold at P8,500 per can. They sell dates and canned corned beef made in Brazil. Very Arabic.

Suffice to say, Shawarma Snack Center was a great cultural and palate experience. We felt sorry for the original restaurant in front because of its steep new competition. So as we went out, looked at the original Persian restaurant in front, and what do you know, it is also Shawarma Snack Center! A doppelganger.

Feng Wei Wee

FENG WEI WEE (Authentic Taiwanese Cuisine), my friends, is fucking grade A, authentic Taiwan cooking at its classic best.

Why you may ask why I arrived at this sweeping and very authoritative sounding claim on this hole in the wall restaurant as fucking grade A, authentic Taiwan cooking at its classic best?

Well let me count the ways….

1) I am a very gullible person and if the place says that it is authentic, then fuck it, it is authentic. Amen.

2) My claim on its authenticity is hinged on my wife’s statement (who’s claim of being an authority on Taiwan stuffs and shit is based on her overnight stay in Taipei eating hot 7-11 dimsum for a real Taiwan dinner) that the ambiance, food, and the people looks Taiwan all right for her.

3) The fucking joint is full of Chinese speaking, Chinese looking people. I look Chinese myself but I know nothing of the language. I go there and it is only my family, the waitress, and I who look different and does not understand the characters pasted on the walls. All customers, except us, communicate with the owners in Chinese. And here’s what I observed in a Hitchcock-ly manner using side glances as a tool: they hold the chopsticks very differently! I know how to use chopsticks but the way they manipulate the freaking sticks is just very much different. Like Jet Li or Jackie Chan in an old china noodle house setting. I bet they can use chopsticks to finish off their soup! Such grace and skill.

4) Chinese are known for their entrepreneurial creativity and what is more creative by squeezing in a food stand offering, guess what, Taiwanese canned goods, food mixtures, and goodies in the already cramped small space.

5) Viands displayed in the counter are arranged in rows giving customers that visual feast that translate into watering mouths and space jostling to save on tables in the cramped place. As you sit after ordering, they serve good refreshing tea. Is it jasmine tea? I am not sure. But it is good tea. And just like in any Chinese restaurant, it is free.

6) I was told upon inquiry that their rice comes from Taiwan. The way they cook rice is very traditional and steep with rituals. I saw a giant rice cooker beside the counter and they just scoop the steaming heap of rice upon order and place it in a plastic Chinese inspired bowl. The braised ox tongue retained that tender toughness that requires chewing to really bring out the innate flavor of the meat. The pork ribs are enough to satisfy the palate with its savory sauce. I am sure there is a tinge of star anise in the mixes which I abhor but I just let them get away with it because of the sum total of the taste which is just very enjoyable.

7) They have vegetable meals that shout, “Hey, I am Chinese cuisine.” I seldom eat vegetable but they have one that looks like bamboo shoot but it is not that I eat. The noodles are grand and very tasty and their dimsum is just right for any Taiwanese, I guess.

Chinese food literature history tell stories of emperors going out of their way in search for the best food and they always end up in the hut of a peasant, unknowing of their guest’ stature, offering simple foods that rock the emperor’s palate and the kingdom.

It is the simple caressing taste, very reasonable prices, environment friendly take-out containers, and it’s just fucking less than 2 kilometers from my place, that makes Feng Wei Wee really a treat.

Feng Wei Wee
Banawe Avenue
Quezon City

Grilled Pork Belly Daze

I am still reeling from last Sunday’s grilled pork belly fiesta fanfare that I personally grilled to the best of my ability to make it look and taste perfectly juicy with that crunchy thin strip of pork skin just hanging on to the “gate pass to the afterlife” pork fat that separates the skin from the more healthier meat part.

I am still dazed (like a hang-over without the splitting headache) with the back of my neck experiencing numb pain due to the suicidal “all you can eat” attitude attacking that perfectly looking juicy and crunchy grilled pork belly dipped in a mixture of vinegar (the simple Datu Puti/Sinilver Swan type variety), sprinkle of salt, lots of crushed fresh garlic, and a finger of hot chili pepper (optional). I thought the vinegar mix will break down the pork fat and turn it into fiber making it healthier. It was just my imagination.

It was around 11:00 am, a Sunday, when I started the charcoal burning and carefully, delicately studied the surface of the pork belly if it has that balanced yin and yang spread of salt and a dash of Professor Kikunae Ikeda’s infamous controversial fifth taste discovery that continues to raise the discussion around the world, the umami, also known as Monosodium Glutamate (MSG). And I do not want to delve into the fucking debates on the dreaded MSG. It’s just a dash of MSG anyway. You can jog, briskwalk, walk, wallclimb, prolong the foreplay before copulation to bring out maximum sweat, though I am not even sure if sweat will bring out the dreaded MSG from your body. But at least, suggested activities will have an effect to the psyche psychologically.

I prefer the basics in terms of marinating the pork to bring out its fullest potential and not be covered with sauces that hides the real essence of the pork’s taste.

Anyway, once you feel that “free wheel burning” heat that might remind you of that Judas Priest song, carefully use a thong to pick up the pork belly and line them up, carefully, one by one, on the grill. The secret, motherfuckers, to get that crunchy well donenessque full of flavor pork belly is to continually turn the meat every two minutes or less, depending on the heat. DO NOT leave the grill! Keep your eyes on the pork or the charcoal might work on some flame throwing exercise that will burn the precious pork, raising another debate on cancerous burnt meat and its effect on the ozone layer.

Once it turns golden brown, then it is done.

Table Chaos

Comfortable Cold Cuts

At the height of a typhoon, anything can taste authentic, especially if it feels like the last supper. Not really knowing the extent of devastation typhoon "Ondoy" caused Metro Manila at supper time, we walked towards the Mabuhay Rotonda area to check out a chinese restaurant known for we do not know because it just opened. But good words spread like wildfire, or rain, for good food and this is one place where foodies would give a good word for its good food.


It looked traditional chinese as we sensed its old chinese feel reminiscent of Old Ongpin-based chinese restaurants minus the over used furnitures and dirty interiors that would make you wait for Jacky Chan to come out and beat the shit out of those drunk tiger palm buddha kung fu fighters.

The service tea was good and the assorted cold cuts was just wonderful. Easy on the palate and tasted very refreshing without that aftertaste associated with the dreaded monosodium glutamate (MSG) assumed to be ever present in chinese foods. And the price was very reasonable.

Chinese food is comfort food in times of calamity and Luck Garden Tea House and Seafood Restaurant sure comforted my cold and hungry stomach.

Luck Garden Tea House & Seafood Restaurant 3 Kanlaon St cor. Quezon Avenue, Quezon City, 415-5825, 4156-5825