Chomping Our Way Through HK and Macau

Chocolate and Egg Mille -feuille at CaffeChocola in Macau
The rissol camarao (shrimp rissoles) beckoned...
A closer look at the deep-fried wonders with shrimp and potato. My friend loved it!
I always have this for breakfast in Macau -pao con chourico (chorizo bread). 90 % bread, 10% chorizo. Yummy, nonetheless.
From top clockwise: galao de maquina (coffee with milk, and, like the chorizo bread, it's probably 10% coffee, 90% milk), pan con chourico, rissol camarao and, peeking from top right, Black Forest cake. The cake was one of the densest versions I've tried. They could have added more liquor and cherries, but the cake's dense crumb was moist , the chocolate shavings on top generous, and I appreciated the fact that there was infinitely more cake than buttercream. We also ordered ham and cheese quiche but it was too dry. Overcooked, most likely.
The last small piece of chorizo bread sharing space with the Black Forest crumbs on my plate. I lugged home a heavy can of chorizos and have served them for chorizo rice; pan-grilled with some garlic; to enliven a chicken and okra stew. I have 3 pieces left. Pasta maybe, and if anyone has ideas, feel free to comment. :)
In Macau, the bread will always be bigger than your fist (unless you have big fists), freshly-baked, with a thin,crisp crust and soft, chewy, fragrant, absorbent core. Mopping up sauces has never been this delicious!
At Fernando's near Hac Sa Beach, Coloane: their FAMOUS, and I mean FAMOUS garlic prawns. Succulent meat, easy- to -peel shell, the sauce a heady mixture of garlic, olive oil and chili. Suck the juice out of the head, use the bread if you can't get enough of the sauce. This dish is simple yet outstanding. You could forget yourslef while eating this. Need I say more?
Sliced and grilled chorizo. Lots of off-white fatty bits on each reddish-brown slice of ecstasy. Woohoo!
Dimsum lunch at Metropol. Top row: Steamed BBQ pork bun (no way can any siopao in Manila compare to this), siomai (only in HK, and maybe Vancouver, do they come as generously-sized as this, with 1 whole crunchy shrimp on top), beancurd sheet roll stuffed with mushrooms. 2nd row: the ubiquitous ha kaw or steamed shrimp dumpling, deep-fried spring rolls, condiments for congee, assorted meat congee. Bottom: Sticky rice dumpling with chicken. Although I miss my Aunt's Fookien-style ma-chang (the pork fat of which I ingest without shame or guilt), this parcel of savory brown glutinous rice is a delightful replacement.
Close -up of the BBQ Pork Bun (or cha siu pao), siu mai and ha kaw.
From a different angle. We were 3 diners. Did we order too much or what?!
Roast crispy pork with a salty sauce that tastes a bit like a quirky blend of hoisin and shrimp paste. I need to research on what this sauce is made of. I think black beans, maybe. The strips are resting on a bed of peanuts in all their pure, fattening, "who-cares they-taste-so-good" glory.

Food Shots II

This is why I love grocery-shopping in HK. Food so fresh, the colors literally leap out! Each detail is a visual caress, igniting tastebuds. The internet grocery site, no matter how convenient, can never ever let food come to life like this. I have to walk the aisles, touch, taste, see, feel, hear, savor. I even love the "beeps" emitted by computerized scanners.
When my friend was here, we ate lunch out but had dinner home most nights. There was a pasta and pizza night, burger and calamari night, and a pseudo-Japanese night. The soup bowl looks out of place, I know. I lack dinnerware. Time for another Shenzhen trip. The miso soup in the bowl came from my sis-in-law in Japan. It's an instant thing: squeeze out the paste and mix with hot water. Not bad for soemthing that takes 30 seconds to prepare.
Japanese fried rice with seafood
Not very Japanese. On 2nd thought, not Japanese at all. Beef and Mushroom with Garlic.
My take on squid teriyaki. The sauce is quite popular with guests.
Heehee.The tempura pieces are packed like sardines. I'll get a basket next time. Shrimp, squash, eggplant, okra tempura.
egg tarts: according to Lord Stowe (who isn't really a Lord), his egg tarts aren't even the orginal ones. He tweaked the recipe, came up with a winner, and everyone has called them Portugese egg tarts since. In any case, the crusts are flaky, lovely vessels of sugary sin.
At the Macau Museum: Cooking implements of long, long ago
A Portugese feast! Very realistic-looking renditions of Macau's festive food. And this is just for afternoon tea! They all resembled Filipino dishes in some way. It's the Spanish influence.

Food Shots I

Tried my hand at capturing images of food as my friend and I traipsed all over HK and Macau seeking to fill our stomachs, expand our waistlines and tip the scales. Hehe. Used both my trusty 3.2 Cybershot and her Nikon D70 SLR. What peanut candy is made of
Chopping peanut candy into bite-sized pieces
Any self-respecting bakery in Macau makes this
and piles of this: beef jerky, anyone?
so much jerky, so little time!
A pavlova-like offering from CaffeChocola in Macau
I love it when cherries are in season: oh so sweet, oh so juicy and oh so affordable!

Wish the same could be said for Manila. Papa loves cherries.

M at the Fringe- The Fig Festival

That wasn't a typo. It was literally a festival of figs for me. But come to think of it, it was a festival of pigs too for hubby and his friend. :)

We arrived at Lower Albert Road and got off in front of the Fringe Club. It being a Sunday, the club was closed and darkness hovered as we tried in vain to look for the restaurant. We almost cried "failure" when viola, the almost hidden sign of M at the Fringe suddenly jumped out and cornered me! I suppose the growls my tummy made led me to the sign and vice versa.

When we entered the dimly lit, unfinished (that's how the floors looked) hallway and climbed up the staircase hubby kept on asking if we were in the right place. Upon entering the richly-decorated French-style dining room there was no room for doubt. We were seated by a Chinese server who was thoroughly knowledgeable, pleasant and discreet; so well-trained it was a treat to be served by such a rarity.

I perused the menu. It was short but sweet. Long lists of food confuse me. To cook only a number of dishes, but to cook them right makes a fantastic restaurant. The prices seemed downright inexpensive for the remarkably huge servings.

I had a salad with gorgonzola crostini and figs. Imagine the flavor of strongly-scented cheese on a crisp base warring with sweet, fleshy figs; with nutty, sometimes bitter greens acting as arbiters. What a sensual battle! I was almost full after this starter. Hubby had foie gras 2 ways: seared and as a terrine, served with thinly-sliced baguette and stewed apples. He forgot to share some with me so I'm not commenting on this dish.

For my main course I ordered their famous slow-cooked lamb leg with fig jam, root vegetables and lamb jus. Hubby and his friend had the equally famous crackling pig on a bed of savoy cabbage and potatoes. The pork was mighty fine, the skin so crisp I could hear the "crack, crack" as my companions savored each mouthful. The meat was tender, a bit on the salty side, but eaten with the cabbage and potatoes it tasted just right. The serving was good enough for two! Or, for someone with my appetite, just 1 1/2. The lamb leg was so soft it disintegrated upon contact with my fork and knife, and while the flavor was intense and paired well with the too-sweet fig jam, I found it too "gamey" for my taste. The first few bites I happily devoured, but by the time I had finished half the serving I was put off by the dish. Maybe because lamb leg reminds me too much of dark meat from chicken, which I can only enjoy if there's more white meat on the plate. Hmmm, next time I'll try the beef or the stuffed quail, if they still have it on the menu.

For dessert we went overboard and ordered the sampler. Cappucino creme brulee (hubby finished this off), napoleon with something, lemon pudding (divine), raspberry and chocolate sorbet, souffle with something, mixed fruit pavlova (their specialty) all took center stage on a long white plate. Artfully presented and all tasting so wonderful, it was a fitting end to our sinful meal. I was too stuffed to take notes and this entry is so delayed I don't remember half of what was on the dessert plate. :( I really should take pictures next time.

M at the Fringe-highly recommended!

Nadaman, finally

While still recovering from that diet-busting dinner at Magnolia, we were forced by circumstances beyond our control (gluttony) to heave our lazy bottoms from their cushy corner on the sofa and trek all the way to Island Shangri-La. Nadaman, with its teppanyaki table overlooking HK park, was waiting.

I had my usual house salad and cold green tea noodle. Anywhere I eat I have to partake of the salad. It makes me feel less guilty about the calorific delights I am bound to order and finish off like a starving prisoner of war. I used to shudder at the thought of cold noodles with raw quail egg, wasabi and soya sauce, but after a brave evening ages ago I gave my heart and have been in love ever since with cold soba, cold udon and any manner of cold noodle served Japanese-style. They taste so refreshing, not least because of their temperature - definitely not ice-cold but cool to the lips and tongue, balanced by the salty-sweet sauce and given a zing by the wasabi. It acts like a sorbet for me, and cleanses the palate after rich, fried offerings like tempura or Angus beef teppanyaki. Sometimes I eat it as an appetizer, more often than not it stays with me throughout the meal. Just like pickled ginger, those crunchy pinkish slivers that are sweet, sour, and go perfectly well with some sushi or sashimi balanced delicately on a chopstick and slightly dipped in soy sauce. I eat pickled ginger with everything, from my raw fish to my fried rice.

Although I enjoyed the salad and soba, the highlight of the start of the evening (yes, the middle and end had highlights too) were the toro handrolls we ordered, the tuna so fresh and fatty and flavorful, each mouthful redolent of perfectly-made sushi rice mixed with a generous amount of cubed toro that left a pleasant lingering sea-taste on our tastebuds. Afterwards we watched while an expert chef moved around the teppanyaki table, his movements graceful, his eyes alert, his hands swift. We had large, firm scallops, wagyu beef tenderloin and the highlights, two of them, if you please -- a whole, live, quivering mass of abalone; and codfish cooked in the most interesting manner. The abalone, which looked like a barnacle-crusted sea monster, was quickly relieved of its tough outer fringe by a sharp knife and the flesh was seared and sliced, seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper, and served to the most grateful of guests who ooohed and aaahed the entire time it was being prepared. It was wonderful, a sweet-tasting, resilient piece of seafood. After this a fistful of sliced white onions were sauteed and partly caramelized in butter. Two fillets of buttery, soft-fleshed cod were seared, then placed on a small copper pot on the bed of onions. Sake and brandy were added and left to reduce. A knob of butter and a squeeze of lemon juice finished off this highly aromatic dish whose preparation was a show in itself. The combination made for a heady, exciting broth that cradled the fish and teased the senses with its superior flavor. I will definitely eat this again, and again, and again. I could eat several orders of this and get drunk with happiness. It was heavy on the senses but light on the tummy. We enjoyed all these with a bowl of Japanese sardine (looked like tiny silver dilis) fried rice.

An auspicious beginning demands a superlative ending, and the apricot mousse with melon ice cream was just that- superlative. It was like eating the fruits with all their perfume and sweetness encased in ice and cream which made biting unnecessary, as every wonderful spoonful melted in one's mouth and flowed with ease and grace further down, hitting just the spot that sends replete, happy signals to the brain. Ahhhh, success in our chosen restaurant. Life is good.

I'm a bad, bad, blogger

No time to blog, but with all these ideas in my head I have to blog about blogging so I'll remember... did that make sense?

More blogs....

5. Pam's food shots of the numerous recipes created by smart and talented Pinay students
6. Fat Angelos - A late dinner for the glutton in me. Salmon fettucine, Chicken parmesan, Seafood rissoto, Flourless chocolate cake, Chocolate tiramisu anyone?
7. A wish - to work with a premiere Chinese chef and learn the secrets of Chinese regional cooking which, to my mind, is the most varied, interesting cuisine in the world
8. More wishes - to live in Italy and France and unearth the secrets of their home cooking; to taste all the freshly-caught delicacies at Tokyo's fish markets; to retire in the Mediterranean, or at least have an expert Mediterranean (and yes, Chinese!) chef work for me:)
9. A dream - to live, breathe and eat dark, bittersweet chocolate, to absorb all knowledge of the food-of-the-gods, to open up a dark chocolate dessert bar in Manila.

Blogs Coming Up...

1. M at the Fringe - that esteemed HK institution
2. Food Shots - pictures of food, food, food
3. A Week of Gluttony with my best friend featuring: Caffe Chocola and Fernandos in Macau, dimsum lunch at Metropol, Japanese dinner at home, fruit frenzy and the 16 dollar lunch in Stanley
4. An Indian buffet

The "Stuff Ourselves Silly" Weekend

Last Friday hubby and I found ourselves standing outside the very first food enterprise in HK where I applied for a job. Go-gourmet is a gourmet catering pioneer. Owned and operated by exuberant, boisterous, talented New Orleans native Chef Lori Granito, it boasts of a well-equipped cooking studio in Sheung Wan where innovative team-building cooking sessions are hosted for large companies.
It is located on the ground floor of little boy's kindergarten, so while walking along Po Yan Street one afternoon I decided to drop by and see if they needed a kitchen assistant. I never pushed through with the job offered but great things have happened since then (but I'll leave this to another blog entry, some other day). Lori will always be remembered in our household though as the first person to ever offer me a job in HK, and for her support I am grateful.

Aside from catering and holding cooking parties, Lori has also published a cookbook (a very useful guide to entertaining, with marvellous recipes on every page), and is looking into packaging her Cajun and Creole mixes and spices for distribution in households and upmarket groceries. She also runs Magnolia, a private kitchen on the 2nd floor of her cooking studio specializing in homestyle Creole and Cajun cuisine, the only one of its kind in HK.

Which brings me back to last Friday with hubby. We booked a table for four that night at Magnolia. I brought by camera but the dim lighting made the pictures look dark and sinister, while the flash made them look garish. So I'll have to resort to words (when have I ever not?) to capture that memorable dinner.

Hubby and I were the first to arrive, and while waiting for our friends, a few other people started arriving as well. The concept of Magnolia is for small groups to be seated at a long, grand table and get to know each other while enjoying the food. Nothing too formal or private, unless you're a large group. That night there were two large groups so we had a room of our own, which was fine with my antisocial hubby. I sauntered to the kitchen and had a chat with Lori while observing the goings-on. It was like being invited to a friend's house for dinner. Lori hides nothingand shares everything. Her kitchen is open for scrutiny and she chats away while preparing her mouth-watering specialties. While we waited for the groups to be complete, we were served a welcome drink and some savory appetizers. The crackers with dip, crab claws and goat cheese cake were all delicious, although the dip, composed of a bottom layer of pesto, a middle layer of cream cheese and the top a deep red sundried tomato mixture, was something relatively simple and easy to replicate at home. The crab claws were made of shredded crab meat and spices, and eaten with a dollop of tangy and spicy cocktail sauce. A far cry from the starchy "fake" frozen crab claws you can buy at any supermarket. :) Almost like crab cake on a claw stick, it was flavorful but not overpoweringly so. The outside was a golden brown coating that hid juicy depths of crabmeat. The goat cheese cake was a tiny dice - literally as large as a dice-- of baked goat cheese with a savory crust. I thought it bland but the texture was interesting, the crust slowly disintegrating in your tongue followed by the slightly tofu-like cheese.

After these teasers we were asked to go up and settle ourselves in our respective rooms. At Magnolia they don't serve alcohol, but you are free to bring in whatever beverage you prefer and they chill and serve these. The other rooms brought beer and wine and as the night wore on you could hear them getting decidedly tipsy and garrulous. We, the sober ones, had to settle for water and Magnolia's version of Iced tea, which, to be completely honest, tasted like cherry-flavored water. A totally unsweet flavored water. We tanked up on plain old H2O instead.

Lori came in after a few minutes and told us about the menu for the night, how we should pace ourselves so we'd have room for dessert, and graciously swiped a can of Sprite from one of her staff so hubby could have a break from the water and "iced tea". First on the menu was gumbo soup with crawfish and okra, a spicy, hearty, slightly sticky blend of seafood-based broth and Cajun spices. Everyone loved it. I could never replicate it, I can't even name half the ingredients I tasted. The salad was a lovely plated mound of mesclun greens with a ring of succulent, fresh prawn and crawfish, drizzled with a remoulade sauce. Just the thought of that dressing is making my mouth water right now. I squeezed some lemon juice on the seafood and became silent while I enjoyed this seafood wonder. While the soup and salad were served individually, the main dishes came "family-style", in huge platters placed in the middle of the table. First came Lori's famous Cajun ribs, then shrimp etouffe and plain rice , smothered okra and tomatoes, a shredded chicken stew, cornbread with heaps of butter, jambalaya and fried soft-shell crab amandine. Ooooh, the sight of all those dishes elicited gasps of delight from us. I've never been to New Orleans and never tasted its cuisine, so this was a treat for me. The ribs were, as expected, fork tender and juicy, although, as hubby commented later on, the ones from Dem Bones in Canada were crazy better! I had to agree. The shrimps, sauteed with lots and lots and lots of onions and garlic, were wonderfully fresh and cooked perfectly, while the sweetness (from the soft cooked onions) of the etouffe mixture lingered on the taste buds. Hubby loved the soft-shell crab, which was crispy with a tangy and spicy chili dressing. I finished off the okra because it reminded me of a Creole atsara. For soemone who avoids carbs like the plague, I sure ate a lot of jambalaya and three pieces of corn muffin slathered with a killer amount of butter. Everything was different from what I usually cook or eat so I had fun trying to guess the ingredients of each dish. Before long it was time for dessert and although I did try to pace myself, I was a quivering mass of blubber by this time. I had a slight headache and my tummy felt like I had inflated it to impossible proportions. I had visions of gastric bypass surgery and told hubby I couldn't possibly have room for dessert but then the pecan pie arrived... and boy I never knew my tummy had the willpower to make space, but create space it did! The dessert was the pinnacle of the evening, the crowning glory to a night of good food and flowing conversation. It was HEAVENLY. Hubby and I didn't think we'd like pecan pie but this pie was sweet but not cloyingly so. The pecans were crunchy and honey-coated, the pie crust was buttery but light, and melted in our mouths. It came with a square of fried something - tasted like bread and milk to me but I forgot to ask Lori- with butterscotch sauce. On both sides of the pie were huge mounds of cream, one white, one dark (this the chocolate bourbon one with a strawberry pertly sitting atop). The chocolate cream was so light and airy and fluffly and reminded me of a low-fat mousse. I dipped the strawberry in what chocolate clouds must taste like and sat back, happy and sated.

After a night like that I thought I wouldn't have room for anything but crackers and yogurt the next day, but Saturday night was once again a night of feasting, this time at a teppanyaki table in Nadaman, Shangri-La's premier Japanese restaurant. Post to follow...

Random takes

I always forget to immortalize memorable meals here at home using my trusty, rusty camera.

Yesterday my lunch consisted of leftover meatloaf and gravy (not so memorable) and two kinds of salad: mixed greens with white wine vinaigrette, artichokes and pomegranate seeds, and a warm mixed mushroom salad.

Dinner was special. After clearing a bowl of cream of pumpkin soup from the table I presented a creamy mushroom and asparagus risotto to hubby with a flourish! A sprinkling of cracked black pepper and a tiny mound of shaved parmesan on top and it was good to go. Hubby likes risotto. He doesn't eat paella, arrozcaldo, valenciana kakanin or anything with sticky, mushy rice except for sushi and risotto. The thin stalks of Thai asparagus still retained a bit of crunch, and the smooth, buttery flavor and texture of fresh shitake and oyster mushrooms blended well with the seasoned rice. Parmesan strings stretched from plate to mouth with every forkful. The rice was creamy yet semi-firm in the middle. Next time I'll use porcini mushrooms and portobello.

Tonight I'm serving a baked cheese dip to be spread on melba toast or eaten with good ol' nacho chips. In a saucepan I sauteed chopped garlic in olive oil and when it was fragrant and slightly brown I added well-drained, cooked, chopped spinach, chopped artichokes, gorgonzola cheese, shredded mozzarella, ricotta and some cream. Salt and pepper nicely rounded it off. I'll bake it for a bit before bringing it to be table. I like it to be an oozing, bubbling mass of melting goodness. Gorgonzola has such a strong odour and flavour I like to temper it with the milder ricotta and the perennial favorite mozzarella.

After this appetizer a nicely-plated dish of chicken breast with sherried tomato cream will follow. Grilled zucchini, capsicum and asparagus will serve as the smoky base of the grilled nutmeg-scented chicken, and a sauce tinged with mustard and boasting of sliced mushrooms will coat the whole thing.

Hm, getting hungry here.

my dream kitchen

- will have gleaming copper pots and pans
- a blackboard instead of a wall on one side where i can jot down reminders, grocery lists, the menu for the day, recipes and what-not; a blood-red Kitchen-Aid, lime green coffee maker and hot pink toaster (this for my modern/edgy/retro informal kitchen)
- subzero, miele appliances (for my show kitchen)
- 2 built-in ovens (i've been deprived for so long i will bake all day once i get my hands on a gleaming oven)
- a wood-fired oven for my home-baked pizzas (yes, this kitchen will be HUGE)
- a built-in fryer and grill
- refrigerators and freezers that blend in with the cupboards (haven't decided whether i prefer a dark blue and white ultra modern finish or a maple/cherry wood finish.
- a sink large enough to bathe 2 babies
- wine storage
- a pantry at least 1/3 the size of the kitchen
- a center island with a wooden bench on one side for long chats with friends while sipping wine and preparing food
- a china cabinet for all the beautiful stone and ash dinnerware and holloware I plan to buy
- a drawer for my silverware
- a cabinet for displayng my crystal glassware
- a small nook where my computer, recipe files and tons of cookbooks and food magazines will rest
- lots and lots of countertops!!!!!!
- a salamander if possible, and if not, a handheld torch will do (for browning and top-grilling)
- a split-type aircon
- a marble countertop for chocolate making
- all the knickknacks and bric-a-bracks that make a kitchen so wonderfully pleasant like spice and herb racks, salt and pepper grinders, cool sponge and dishwashing liquid containers, an ultra-modern bacteria fighting rubbish bin
- proper lighting and flooring

Currently my pantry looks like this:

It's semi-organized, I know. The bottles on one side, cans in the middle, breakfast items together etc.. but IT"S TOO DAMN SMALL! Which is why some non-food items share space with food. :(

My essentials: extra virgin olive oil for salads, and sauteeing, peanut oil for frying, an herb/spice rack with paprika, cayenne pepper, chili powder, oregano, basil and rosemary. All my other herbs (cinammon, whole peppercorns, thyme, tarragon, garlic powder, ground coriander, cumin and many more) are in the cabinet.

A sneak peek into my tiny kitchen reveals how obssesive-compulsive I am, eh?

Food Expo

Last Saturday I forced hubby to accompany me to the HK Convention Center for the annual Food Expo. Back in Manila I used to attend food expos and fairs every year, partly to check out suppliers, importers, franchisors and winners of the cooking and baking competitions, but mostly for the free food tasting that abound during events like these. :)

It was my first time to attend the HK Expo, and it was crowded, noisy, and very much like Ocean Park on a Sunday, minus the stifling heat and sun bearing down on bare heads. The second floor hall featured international and mainland vendors. There were some "lazy cook" products that I felt could be easily marketed in the Philippines (such as frozen crispy coated cheese balls and cheese sticks made by a Korean company, and some Thai meals in a pack). I know of a cooking supplies store in Manila that sells a lot of Thai ingredients for the serious cook. These almost instant meals will fare better for the mass market and lazy cooks. The distributor said no self-respecting Thai would ever use these pre-packaged products, but for the rest of the world, it beats stocking up on various Thai herbs and spices and looking for the perfect recipe for pad thai. I'm the perfect combination of a serious/lazy cook so I bought 2 packs of the "taboo-for-Thais" stuff. Let's see how they turn out.

We saw a Philippine Department of Agriculture booth and made a beeline for it. Hubby thought there would be Arce Dairy Ice Cream we could stock up on. Imagine his disappointment at seeing bottled pickled papayas, pickled nata de coco, coconut juice with nata, coco jam, fresh mangoes and fish sausages. Imagine my delight as I bought sweet-smelling, golden mangoes, coconut juice and atsara. The coconut juice tasted like dishwashing water, though, and was quickly discarded. The atsara, which I tried last night with fried fish, was too sweet and mushy. I'll have to wait for my friend Pam's talented cook to teach my Beth how to make fresh atsara and kare-kare from scratch. Once Beth gets it right, I'll have her make atsarang kangkong and ampalaya, 2 favorites of mine. On my end, I'll try to recreate my mom's crunchy radish and carrot pickle. I love eating all manner of fried things with pickles, but the best pritong dip I've ever tasted is something my mom-in-law makes and everyone in the Constantino family calls Velocity. It's diced kamias, chili and bagoong alamang cooked together. To- die- for! I also bought a pack of Italian spaghetti No. 5 (at 5 dollars it was a bargain), a pack of Italian olive oil and salt potato chips, 3 packs of China-made baked apple chips, and a teeny bottle of chipotle salsa from the Mexican vendor. A large Korean booth had beautiful displays of vegetables, the bright and glistening greens, reds, and yellows competing to catch everyone's eye. Another one had a freezer full of sausages and preserved meats, but hubby was wary about the taste so we didn't buy any. Among the international community, the Koreans and Italians had the most number of booths. Sadly the Philippines only had one (and to think we have a lot of export-quality products back home like preserved meats, dried fruits, jams and jellies, kakanins, milkfish in all its reincarnations, crab fat paste, all sorts of pastries and regional delicacies). Some interesting booths we passed by were the Middle Eastern one selling dates, nuts and sweets, the German one with flavored gingerbread (the chocolate one was yummy, way better than cloyingly sweet Krispy Kreme), and the Mainland ones with their mounds and mounds of tea leaves.

On the ground floor was a cavernous hall, garishly lit and extremely palengke-like. Here local vendors held fort, their red and gold booths displaying mountains of canned goods, boxes of bottled sauces; with promo girls handing out flyers indiscriminately and irritating hubby with their nasal twang and incessant chatter. Most of the items on display are available at your nearest Wellcome or Park n Shop, except they were discounted. The funny thing was, most of those who milled around brought wire baskets/trolleys and shopping bags with them. They treated the Expo like one huge bargain store. Costco or Wal-Mart, anyone? There were very few "serious" buyers, importers, exporters, food distributors, chefs or restaurateurs around. Or maybe I didn't stay long enough to see anyone acting in a businesslike manner. Everyone seemed to be either haggling, pawing the goods, or lining up for free tastes. It got tiring after a while, and as the aisles started to become more and more narrow, hubby and I decided to call it quits and head home.

P.S. I blended the mangoes and sipped my cold, summery drink while daydreaming of white sands and aquamarine seas.

GREAT finds

Last Monday I brought Lorenzo (what his soccer coach calls him) to HK Park. The sun was blazing and after a spell in the playground, we opted to stay in the shade and watch the turtles sunning themselves. On the way we met a yellow butterfly and red dragonfly. I love it when my little boy gets exposed to nature. It got too hot after a while, though, so I had a wonderful idea! We could cool down in Pacific Place's air-conditioned confines, and I could stroll around Great and window shop.

Great, however, had a different idea. It decided to act all weird and seduce me with its sights, sounds and smells. Lorenzo curled up in my grocery basket like a big stuffed teddy bear, voraciously eating his whole wheat croissant, while I pretended to ignore the tempting (and expensive) goods that were beckoning.

I am a weak, weak, person though, and as much as I tried in vain to leave with only the croissant on my bill... sigh...I bought a number of items that are strictly NOT on my weekly grocery list.

The charmers that got to me are as follows:

Brianna's Lemon Tarragon Salad Dressing
Raspberry Chipotle Sauce (for barbequeing)-- ooooh, since I couldn't find chipotle in adobo sauce, I had to settle for something, anything with chipotle in it
White Wine Vinegar
Roast Turkey Breast
Beef Pastrami
Danish Feta Cheese
Cambozola Cheese - Shy's suggestion
Emmental slices
Plus a few more items I can't remember

Yesterday I dressed my mixed baby salad greens with the lemon tarragon dressing and it was divine. I so love lemons and this dressing is slightly sweet and tart, scented with tarragons. I made myslef a sandwich using five-grain bread with some melted cambozola, turkey breast and dijon mustard. A tall glass of ice cold Snapple made my 3pm lunch a sensory delight.

Being in such a good mood put me in mind of treating hubby to something nice for dinner. Nice meaning his faves -- nothing too healthy, fried if possible, nothing green, all meat. My healthy, logical self reared its ugly head right before prep time so it was a compromise of sorts. For appetizers I crumbled the feta cheese and mixed it with some chopped spinach and made Pinaputok na Kesong Puti. I googled the recipe of CPK's Kung Pao Shrimp Pasta and tried o recreate it at home - with smashing results! Hubby loved it, although I definitely will add more peanuts next time and use spaghetti instead of capellini. The sauce was way too rich and thick for a delicate pasta strand and weighed it down. I had to substitute some of the ingredients (sherry with white wine, so I just added more sugar to the recipe; white wine vinegar for the red wine vinegar) but al in all it was hardly noticeable.

Today I prepared some herbed pan-fried salmon for lunch, which served as a topping on my usual mixed salad greens. I drizzled the lemon dressing all over, and crumbled the remaining cambozola. Tomorrow I shall have my favorite beef pastrami sandwich with emmental cheese.

Next week it's back to teaching for me, and that means I forego lunch and grab something bland, cheap and quick from a nearby snack shop at 4pm. So excuse me while I enjoy my Great finds this week.

Bali High

A mid-year vacation in Bali proved to be a hit with the family. We loved the weather -- sunny, bright mornings and breezy star-filled sky evenings, so different from the muggy, wet, opressively sticky and heavy HK one we left behind and came home to again. Hubby didn't embrace Indonesian cuisine, mostly because he couldn't appreciate the complex flavors brought on by using as many as 20- plus spices in one dish! He prefers Indian dishes, which, to him, is all about fiery hot curry! Indonesian food isn't as spicy (at least the ones we tried; I read that Indonesia was the center of the spice trade centuries ago) and the flavors are subtle, but the depth is astounding. To my surprise, little boy hungrily finished off his chicken satay and crispy fried duck, Bebek Bengil style. So after our first dinner at Bumbu Bali, which is both a cooking school and stylish restaurant feauring authentic Indonesian cuisine, we decided to compromise. Hubby could have his McDo and familiar food fix, while I could try whatever I wanted. Good deal!

At Bumbu Bali we tried the mixed satay appetizer consisting of chicken, beef, lamb and seafood satay. The seafood was presented on sugarcane sticks, the rest on wooden bbq sticks or wide popsicle sticks. I was impressed with the peanut sauce, which had the right balance of sweet, salty and spicy. It came with a bowl of bland sticky rice cubes with a sprinkling of browned shallots. Hubby ordered the nasi goreng, the most popular Indonesian dish to have left its shores. It is basically Indoneisan fried rice with egg on top and chicken, beef and fish satay on the side. I had the lamb in coconut sauce and it was fantastic! Generous cubes of soft lamb lay swimming in a fragrant coconut-based sauce redolent with Indonesian spices. The servers will approach you every so often with a choice of three, count that, THREE kinds of steamed rice. Plain white rice, red rice and brown rice. I had the red rice with my lamb and pretty soon little boy was eating a mixture of nasi goreng, beef satay and red rice and he loved it! My only complaint? I had to eat everything! Since hubby didn't take to the food, it was up to me to make sure we weren't wasting our money and time. I had a tummyache after, not because there was anything wrong with the food-- I just overate! The vegetables, which accompanied every order, were composed of something similar to sauteed morning glory, spicy pickled sprouts (kimchi-like in texture and tang but definitly not as spicy), and a crunchy cucumber salad. They were all yummy and went perfectly with the lamb.

Breakfast, which was included in our stay, made the whole trip worthwhile for hubby. It was the usual hotel buffet breakfast, with copious amounts of tea, coffee, juice, iced coffee, milk being offered by the servers left and right. The buffet tables were groaning with the weight of their offerings. One side of a table was laden with fresh fruits: pineapple, watermelon, yellow watermelon, honeydew melon, rockmelon, papaya, oranges and the curious-looking snakeskin fruit or snakefruit (called Salak by the natives).

An unopened salak with its reddish-brown, slightly prickly skin; two roundish occupants inside; it is crunchy and sour and mapakla (leaves an unpleasant coating in the tongue, usually attributed to unripe fruit) all at the same time

The other side was chock-full of small cereal boxes with choices like nut bran, muesli, plain old cornflakes, and rice pops. Beside it were three pitchers of dairy: soy, skim and full cream milk. Adorning the rest of the table were bowls of oatmeal, whipped cream, cottage cheese and cream cheese, prunes, canned peaches and paoched pear.

Other choices included: bacon; pork and chicken sausage; an omelet, egg, waffle and pancake station; dimsum; fried rice and steamed rice; stir-fried noodles; noodle soup; a carvery serving either roast chicken, roast beef, ham or rosemary porkloin, depending on the day; a bread corner with foccacia, at least five kinds of rolls, pizza, banana bread, danish, croissant, toast; a cheese board; salad station; Miso soup, Korean soup and traditional Balinese breakfast corner; smoked salmon, prosciutto (which I couldn't get enough of), ham and smoked fish. Whew!

Needless to say, breakfast was overwhelming! And with bacon and rice to start his day and fuel him up, hubby started to wax poetic about Bali.

I didn't care much for all the trappings of a Western breakfast so I amused myself by making my own sandwich (toast, ham, 3 kinds of mustard, salad greens, cheese) one time, plating some prosciutto and melon another time and pretending I was in Italy, trying out miso soup and a fiery hot noodle soup along with strawberry pancakes and oatmeal with pear.

One time for lunch we went to the famous Bebek Bengil restaurant in Ubud, but sadly I thought their crispy duck marinated in secret spices and flavorings tasted and looked like a malnourished, bony Max's fried spring chicken (and I don't like Max's that much, so you can get how disappointed I was). The barbequed pork ribs were tough, the portion tiny and the sauce tasted of ketchup, way too much ketchup and way too little of everything else that's suposed to make it smoky and sweet!The place was nice though, with a ricefield out back, a lot of ponds and fountains and Indonesian dieties watching while you ate.

At Uno Italian restaurant in the sprawling commercial complex called Bali Collection in Nusa Dua, we enjoyed bolognese, carbonara and piccata milanese. I didn't care too much for the veal batter, but the tomato-garlic sauce accompanying the buttered noodles I immediately took a liking to. Not too garlicky nor sour, the hint of sweetness and herbs teased the palate. Portions were plentiful, the price was right, and I got a kick out of taking this picture of my refreshing mango shake against the bright blue tablecloths.

Obvioulsy little boy was more than satisfied with his carbonara and I had to finish this large serving of piccata milanese.

Our last dinner on the island was a romantic one. Some friends suggested we go to Ku de ta, a swanky, beachfront restaurant run by Australians that turns into a cool bar after dinner. Our son decided to cooperate by sleeping on the way there and not waking up until we were done! Miracle of miracles! He slept soundly despite the "club" atmosphere, screams of children running around the garden, and the funky music. We started off with a crackling pork belly appetizer. The pork belly was simply lechon kawali sitting prettily atop a bed of inspiringly delicious julienned mango, cucumber and shredded king crab salad. Hubby had winter rissotto with liberal quantities of lobster and roasted chesnuts. I tried the roast baby chicken stuffed with spiced pumpkin and pine nuts, lording it over a deep plate filled with richly-flavored French lentils with a dash of cream, with some baby bokchoy coyly peeking from underneath the chicken. Both mains got a nod of approval from us, because they were inventive but didn't stray too far from mainstream cuisine, thereby satisfying hubby's craving for familiar tastes and my love of flavor interplay.

Dessert was taken back at the resort with the breeze ruffling our hair. With every bite of the iced tiramisu (mascarpone and espresso ice cream on a liqueur-soaked sponge bed), we said our goodbyes to Bali, with its palm and coconut trees, clear night skies studded with stars, small towns with friendly people, artisans, well-preserved temples and heritage sites, and their famous coffee (we are not drinkers ourselves, but a friend swears by Toraja Kalosi). The beaches are nothing compared to Boracay, but the resorts are something else.

Peking Garden

One fine Saturday evening hubby and I took some clients of his, who also happen to be friends of ours, to Peking Garden Restaurant at the basement of Alexandra House in Central.

We ordered the Peking Duck , a whole bird with glistening crisp brown skin blanketing a thin layer of fat and juicy, tender meat. Peking Duck is usually served with paper-thin round pancakes, sliced cucumbers and scallions, and plum or hoisin sauce. Most people are familiar with the way this is eaten -- place a pancake on your plate, choose some skin, or meat, or both from the expertly sliced pieces on a serving plate and place them in the middle or near the edge of the wrapper. Add a sliver or two of of scallion and cucumber, spread a teaspoonful of hoisin or plum sauce on the wrapper or drizzle it over the duck, wrap the whole thing like you would a tiny burrito and bite into the fattening, heavenly goodness of roast duck made slightly sweet by the sauce and tempered by the freshness of the vegetables.

The waiter, after presenting the duck to your table but before wielding his sharp knife to create perfect slivers, will give you a choice between separating the skin from the meat, or slicing them together. I knew hubby would ignore the healthier meat and go for the skin if he had a choice so we opted for the latter. Some restaurants in Manila prepare the duck three ways (the skin and topmost layer of meat with pancake, the meat separated from the bones minced with vegetables and served in lettuce cups, and the bones as a rich, clear soup). Here in Hong Kong most will do it two ways, invariably with pancake, and a choice of minced with lettuce cups or stir-fried with a special sauce. Whenever hubby and I eat this together, we don't order it a second or third way. We ask for the remainder to be chopped and we take it home. I shred the meat and saute it with minced onions, carrots, fresh Chinese black mushrooms and water chestnut. Lettuce leaves are washed and dried and serve as pretty vessels for the crunchy mixture. More hoisin sauce is drizzled on top. The bones I boil and the resulting broth I freeze, after skimming all the fat out. I haven't used my duck stock yet, but will write about whatever I invent when it happens. In Peking Garden the minced duck meat is stir-fried with pine nuts, which gave it an interesting texture and flavor.

Another Chinese specialty which needs to be ordered a day before is the Beggar' Chicken. Since childhood I have heard about this dish, so named because a beggar in China invented it.

There are two versions of the story I know. The first is during the war, a beggar stole a chicken from someone's backyard. Hearing soldiers approaching and fearing for his life lest he get caught, he covered the chicken in mud. The next day the mud had hardened but he still cooked it over a hot flame. The result? Fork-tender, juicy, fragrant, steaming chicken with all the flavors encapsulated in that hard shell. The second story is the official one. A beggar, for lack of cooking utensils, a stove and ingredients, decided to wrap his chicken in lotus leaves, cover the bird with mud, and cook it over a hot flame. A passing emperor and his entourage caught a whiff of the wonderful aroma of cooking chicken and when they tasted it, they declared it worthy of the Imperial Court. Appearance notwithstanding, Beggar's chicken is now a prized delicacy served in the best Chinese restaurants the world over. It doesn't come cheap, despite the name, and in fact some quarters prefer to call it the exact opposite -- something like Divine or Imperial Chicken (I read about this but can't find the corresponding article again).

At Peking Garden they let the special guest at the table wield the golden hammer and have his picture taken for posterity (and as a souvenir, which is a neat marketing gimmick for tourists). They paste the picture onto a cardboard stand with the Beggar's Chicken legend printed at the back.

They also give you a small red box with a miniature replica of the golden hammer. The guest lowers the hammer with all his might in order to crack the hard clay shell. The waiter then takes over and removes the cracked pieces and reveals the lotus-wrapped gem inside:

As each layer of fragrant leaf unfolds the scent of mysterious ingredients waft through the air, tantalizing the patrons seated beside us, who look on with barely concealed curiosity. After the last layer is opened up; very much like huge petals blossoming in the spring, except these petals are leaf green instead of a lovely shade of red or sunny yellow or periwinkle blue; the light brown chicken is exposed to the glaring lights, stares of wonder and whispered comments of nearly everyone surounding our table. The chicken is quite small, considering how bulky the mud encasing it was. The waiter gently prods it with a fork and knife to reveal the stuffing, the soft flesh yielding without resistance and the aroma still lingering.


The stuffing is made up of thickly sliced black mushrooms, mustard greens, sometimes pork or other native Chinese ingredients. Five-spice powder and star anise lend this dish its Oriental, somewhat herb-y and medicinal scent. It has an acquired taste, and despite the pomp and pageantry accompanying an order, some people just plain don't like the way it tastes. I've tried this twice, in the same restaurant but with different people, and I can honestly say only a handful of us adventurous eaters chewed, bit, chomped and sucked our way through to the bones.

This is my chopstick with bits of Beggar's chicken hanging on for dear life before they are devoured by hungry me.

Another dish that sparked interest at our table was the deep-fried conpoy (dried scallops extensively used in Chinese cooking) with bamboo shoots and glazed walnuts. It was listed under vegetables. I spied several tables with this dish and didn't want to be left out. It came and it conquered. It was delicious. The flavors intermingled and complemented each other perfectly, from the sweetness and crunch of the walnuts to the firm bite and hint of sourness from the bamboo shoots.

Of course dining at any Chinese restaurant means ordering the requisite seafood. That night we had scallops with broccoli and steamed fish. The scallops were very fresh and cooked just right, the flesh still retaining a bit of firmness to it. The broccoli, as evidenced by the picture, was excellent, a crown of deep, dark green florets enclircling the pristine whiteness of the scallops, which twinkled a bit in the light. Chinese restaurants almost always cook broccoli the right way, it always beckons with the lushness of its hue and is never ever mushy.

The steamed fish wasn't the usual whole live lapu-lapu steamed with ginger and scallions with a light soya sauce taht goes great with a fluffy bowl of rice. At Peking Garden they serve thin slivers of codfish in a sauce similar to that of whole fish, but made interesting with curls of chili and chopped black olives as garnish.

Other items we tried were the shrimp paste on deep-fried toast, double-boiled pork soup, and three kinds of dessert: coconut milk custard, purple rice with warm coconut milk (similar to guinatan), and apple and banana fritters (they coat the fruits in batter and fry it with sugar, similar to making the ubiquitous roadside bestsellers: banana-q and maruya, then they plunk these fritters down in a bowl of ice-cold soda water to "harden" the coating and give the fritters a caramelized feel).

It was a wonderful night of stories, laughter and authentic Chinese cuisine. There ar a few good reasons why Peking Garden has been around for so long and is patronized by locals and tourists alike. They are consistent, innovative, and for the elegant surroundings and food, the prices are acceptable. There are many small hole-in-the-walls and family-run restaurants in HK serving up the best dimsum, congee, fishball, wonton noodles and I'll write about them next time. In the meantime, if you find yourself in the heart of Central, try the lavishly decorated Peking Garden at Alexandra House.

GREAT shopping

Two hours ago I bought:

Thai bottled mango sauce - I will probably grill some chicken or porkloin and brush this on top
Old El Paso bottled salsa, jalapeno and packs of taco and chili seasoning - hubby wants Al's Diner style nachos and Mexican stuff
Garden of Eatin' Yellow Corn Tortillas (the brand name, I like)
Korma Sauce
Makhani Sauce
Thai Premium Fish Sauce- this one needs to be refrigerated upon opening, I wonder why

I really need some chipotle peppers in adobo sauce but I can't find them. In Canada they were everywhere. Chipotle mayo with burgers or as a dip with calamari, yum!

Addictions

Thanks to my friend Pam's comment on one of my blogs, a flood of memories came rushing back: of giggy and pimply high school girls trying to cross a busy Greenhills intersection, of sleepovers and project deadlines, of late afternoon snacks by the UP Lagoon or Sunken Garden, of intellectual skydiving sessions with friends while marvelling at the spectacle of nature before us, of drunken nights and illicit affairs, of "illegal" trips to Tagaytay on a school night, of whispered conversations atop slides on playgrounds while marvelling at the gateway to heaven above us, of sleeping on the dewy grass in ICA sharing dreams and forging bonds, of broken hearts and lame excuses, of my first cigarette puff, of staying late in tambayans (places to hang out at university, usually organization-based) just to gossip and tease, of childhood and adolescence, innocence and initiation and everything in between.

Food is central to all these remembrances. For every season and time in my life, for every friend I made and lost, for every guy I loved and left, for all the happiness, giddiness and ecstasy I felt, for all the heartbreak and soulache I had to endure; there was a certain recipe to nourish and sustain me, a favorite junk food to share, an alcoholic beverage to wallow in, a restaurant to contain the emotions straining to explode, a street food to pig out on, a foodtrip to waste a month's allowance on.

When I was in Grade 2, I was addicted to KnickKnacks, those crunchy fish-shaped biscuits with a chocolate coating. I didn't have a big allowance then, so my best friend Anita always bought a small pack for me. I ate it every single day until I had to move to ICA in Grade 3. No more Anita, no more KnickKnacks.

From Grades 3-7 I alternated my morning and afternoon recess snacks from a slice of 3M Pizza with a tiny bologna strip on top (only 2 pesos at that time!) to a stick of pork bbq, to a cup of Icee Coke flavor (similar to Slurpee), to a small styro square of pancit canton with half a calamansi.

In high school, I was addicted to three types of food: fastfood for the price and convenience, Le Ching beef biskret rice for hungry days and squidballs from the hawker who made Mary The Queen Church his own tambayan. Every day after school my gang and I would walk to Greenhills and eat merienda (a snack) while gossiping about teachers, Xavierians and fellow students alike. Sometimes we would go to MacDonald's, most times it was Le Ching. My friend Stella loved the pork spareribs rice while I never failed to order the beef brisket. I loved the stainless container it was served in, the flavor of the beef, with the fibers sticking out from one's teeth after a meal, and the rice with sauce was to die for. Sometimes I actually finished 2 orders! This was before I became aware of boys and waistlines and waged bloody war on my bulges.

Whenever someone had a birthday, we would sing and blow a cake for our friend. The cakes were only 2 kinds: chocolate mousse, with a sprinkling of chocolate chips on top of a thick layer of whipped cream, followed by a thin layer of mousse, and ending with an even thinner layer of the best part of all, the moist choclate base; or coffee crunch cake, with the honey-gold toffee crunch garnish that everyone makes a beeline for, both from Red Ribbon. There must have been several popular home bakers then, but to a high school student Sugarhouse was the epitome of class and Red Ribbon was the place to go to for affordable cakes.

In 1st and 2nd year college, my 4pm ritual involved stepping into the UP Greenhouse to check out the shawarma stand and beef taco counter. After considerable debate, I would step out with my choice for the day, either a soft beef taco (minced beef in tomato sauce and grated cheese wrapped in a soft tortilla) or a shawarma (after all these years, I can honestly say those were the best ever, with the soft, warm bread, flavorful beef or chicken strips and the creamiest garlic sauce ever invented by an enterprising Pinoy). Straight to the parking lot (or sometimes to the Sunken Garden, lagoon, or a friend's dorm) I would go, and I'd messily eat while driving home.

During my last two years in UP, these were my addictions: isaw, squidball, KFC hot and spicy chicken with coleslaw, lemon vodka, and Sbarro. Sbarro in SM North Edsa was always an option for those with long lunch breaks, and I adored the large slices of pizza, the crumbly garlic bread, the baked ziti and spinach lasagna. Isaw and squidball dipped in spicy vinegar are best eaten with really good buddies who are down-to-earth and not maarte (choosy). They are messy, smelly and contain remnants of car fumes and summer dust. I voraciously ate stick after stick with my best orgmates in college, fellow Tsinoys who liked to hang around until 7pm to listen to the crickets, to sing out-of-tune songs and get yelled at by Mr. Anton Juan himself, to share life stories and avoid doing homework. When I began to spend more time with my college block because of all the group projects we had to submit, KFC and lemon vodka became my constant companions. At Adrian's house where we slept over and tried to beat deadlines, KFC was delivered for nearly all our meals. Lemon vodka, on the other hand, accompanied us on spontaneous and oftentimes illegal out-of-town trips to Batangas and Tagaytay. We helped out with some of Gaita Fores' catering functions then, and on one of those we were served limoncello. I must have downed more than twelve shots because even before the party ended I was slumped over a steering wheel wishing I could summon the strength to drive the car through a cement wall ahead. At that point, crashing my head and breaking it felt better than the incessant pounding and heaviness in my brain. That incident taught me to drink until tipsy, not stupidly suicidal.

After college, I became enamored with various types of alcoholic drinks because of Lokal, and at one point I was guzzling Sam's Hard Lemonade like bottled water, and experimenting with flavored and ignited lambanog shots. Lokal's adobo rice was my daily dinner, while Sushi-ya's chicken teriyaki or pork tonkatsu was lunch.

Nowadays my food addiction has gotten better, which simply means I don't stick to one kind of comfort food anymore, but I am still very much addicted... to food in general! All kinds, all types, oh food, glorious food!

My Messy Merienda

I just made myself a huge, messy sandwich. No pictures, 'coz it really ain't pretty.

2 thick slabs of lightly toasted 5-grain loaf (alas, no butter! and croissant or ciabatta tastes heaps better than healthy, brown 5-grain)
a mixture of diced shrimps sauteed with Knorr seasoning, shredded crabstick, light mayonnaise, salt and pepper, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice
some baby spinach and crunchy cucumber

Cooked baby shrimps, crabmeat (in the black can, available at Great but expensive) and dill was the real shrimp louie sandwich I was hoping for, a thick mound of which would have sat regally on half a ciabatta toasted with butter, salt and chopped fresh herbs, while globs of basil mayo would fight for supremacy on every square inch of bread. Yum!

Anyway, I just gobbled up the last irregularly shaped mass of bread and filling on my plate. Burp.

A Fine, Fattening, Filling Dinner

Last Saturday our sideboard was converted into heart attack central, with my tiny yellow kichen cheerily churning out dish after dish of cholesterol-laden, crisp fried goodies. We had guests over for dinner, and one of them, hubby's officemate from way back and a current client, requested the best of Lokal dishes. Since he hosted a muy delicioso dinner for us a few weeks ago at his place, how could I refuse?

Normally I would serve the top three Lokal bestsellers on different occasions, simply because the ingredients involved and the manner of cooking can put anybody's healthy heart and low blood pressure to the test. Needless to say, we were all dizzy that night from the fat overload and sensory overkill, but we were replete, and happy.

Appetizer (the only concession to health on that night of gluttony and tastebud debauchery):

Mixed Salad Greens, Roasted Marinated Bell Peppers, Eggplant and Butternut Squash, Herb and Oil Drizzled Honey Tomatoes and Feta Cheese with Green Olives, Roasted Bell Pepper and Balsamic Vinaigrette

Mains:

Crispy Tadyang ng Baka with soy-vinegar dip (Melt-in-your-mouth tender beef ribs, simmered for hours, drained well, chilled overnight, fried till tostado)
Chicken Fingers with honey-mustard dip (Strips of chicken breast marinated overnight, dredged in flour, egg and coated in crushed cornflakes)
Aligue Pasta (Garlic and butter sauteed crab fat paste garnished with chopped green onions and served with calamansi)

Rice:
Green Garlic Parsley Rice

Dessert:
Marble Cheesecake from La Rose Noire

All these washed down with a light white wine and a fizzy orange-wine cocktail drink.

I can still feel the effects of that night in my jiggling belly and rapid heartbeat.

Ihaw-Ihaw

Why does food cooked inihaw (grilling food over hot charcoal) style, always taste better when done by a large group, in an outdoor setting such as the beach, a mountaintop camp, or by a poolside? It must be the activities involved with being so close to nature -- swimming, frolicking and hiking always makes one hungry; the thought that with a big group comes competition: more mouths to feed, less food, who will grab that last piece of inihaw na baboy or chicken bbq?; and the fun in eating with other people who obviously enjoy their food, in a merry, relaxed setting.

We had a feast of marinated pork neck, grilled pampano, chicken and pork adobo, roasted tomatoes, grilled cocktail hotdogs, corn on the cob, semi-ripe mangoes with bagoong and homemade atsara when The Thursday Group hied off to Chung Hum Kok Beach last Tuesday. I have pictures of happy, sun worshipping kids and adults, but none of the grilled wonders. They disppeared fast. Maybe if cameras could take x-ray pictures of our stomachs, I could recapture that wonderful lunchtime smorgasbord. Food served in paper plates -- eaten while standing or sitting on concrete slabs, with the sun shining brightly overhead, the sea and its gentle waves a few meters away, and the wind in our faces -- never tasted so darn good.

A Night in Arabia

Dinner at La Kasbah was, in one word, otherworldy. I've never been to Morocco, or Tunisia, or set foot anywhere within a few miles of Africa, so I can't trumpet to the world how authentic it is in terms of cuisine and ambiance. Suffice it to say that for an Asian like me who is so used to the mysticism of the orient, I was bowled over by the sensuality of the music, the warmth emanating from the copper, mahogany, wine and rust-colored walls, and the "Arabian Nights" setting of this little basement restaurant in a busy part of Soho.
I was too entranced by the decors that I forgot my main purpose in bringing the camera - to capture our unforgettable mezze platter appetizer and dinner of lamb tagine and lamb couscous. Good thing I got some pictures of the colorful hanging lamps, brassware, pottery and wall hangings. I even took a picture of the charming braided red lamp in the ladies' room. It looked like an inverted flower pot with red dreadlocked strings attached.

We started off with the mezze platter, a way of ordering that ensures you get to taste at least 4 or 5 varieties of the hot and cold appetizers. The servings are perfect, small enough to tease the taste buds and leave you craving for more, but after finishing it off, you feel relieved you didn't order the bigger plates, or there would be no room for the main course. The platter consisted of Zaalouk (a compote of aubergines, tomatoes, shallots, coriander, chives and cumin). It had the texture of pureed beans, and the cumin and coriander gave it that whiff of middle eastern/mediterranean. The Hummous (puree of chickpeas, sesame seeds, fresh lemon and olive oil) went perfectly with the warm, round bread (similar to pita) we couldn't eat enough of. It wasn't too garlicky, unlike supermarket brands, and tasted fresh and smooth, much like a spread should be. Little pieces of phyllo-wrapped minced lamb with diced apricot and roasted almonds (Boureck) were the bestseller of the bunch. The nutty almond flavor, sweetish apricot and tender lamb meat exploded in a cacophony of flavors after one small bite of the pastry. The serving was literally bite-sized, 2 small pieces of lamb goodness. In the middle of tha platter was a leaf of lettuce with marinated feta cheese, grape tomatoes and olives, which I popped into my mouth liberally.

There were many main courses to choose from, but first-timers should try the tagine (stewed meat served on a clay pot with a funicular cover that keeps the heat in). I tried the lamb tagine, chunks of tender meat coked with apricots, prunes, almonds, glazed olives and potatoes. Delicious! Imagine the crunch of slivered almonds, the chewiness of prunes and apricots, the bursting saltiness of olives and the neutrality of potatoes in one spoonful. I ordered couscous on the side, and the tiny grains thirstily absorbed the sauce of my tagine, making it virtually impossible to resist that last scoop. It was a hefty serving of couscous and should really be shared by two. As much as I enjoyed it, I would prefer savoring the sauce with the Morrocan bread next time, much as I always opt to eat Indian curry and lentil dahl with warm garlic naan instead of pullao rice. On my next visit, I will be sure to try the chicken tagine, which is cooked with lemon confit. Ooooooh, I love lemons. Hong kong always does wonders for my craving for exotic cuisine. Next stop: FINDS (cuisine from Finland, Iceland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden) and Ivan the Kozak (Russian and Ukrainian cuisine).

Little Boy's 3rd

Happy Birthday to my mischievous, rambunctious, at times clingy, other times worldly and wise and independent son.

I don't believe in big, costly celebrations, especially for one so young, but we're not going home to Manila, he won't be running around and having fun with his young (3-10 years old) titos and titas, and he knows what balloons and candles on a cake mean, so hubby and I decided to compromise. A party for his 3rd. A small, simple one.

I combed the streets of HK looking for inexpensive loot bags, balloons and snacks. In the end I decided to cook most of the party fare, and source my loot bags from one of the most inexpensive cities around... yes, Manila, Manila!

Balloons that fly cost from HKD 14 -20 each (Can you imagine a P100 balloon?). I had almost given up on decorating the venue, until I stumbled upon a tiny toy store along Caine Road. The owner gave me sound advice: blow up the balloons yourself and place them on sticks. That way, you won't feel like bawling your eyes out when you say goodbye to the HKD 14 balloon some kid let go of. Plain air makes balloons last longer, the sticks are a dollar each, a pump costs HKD 10 from Japan Home Center, and along with the loot bags from Toy Kingdom my mother-in-law kindly sent 20 balloons costing HKD .75 per. Wow, 1.75 for ballons compared to 14? And I get to keep the pump for little boy's bike and balls. Who could resist such a bargain?

I didn't. So now I have sore arms from pumping the balloons one by one. Oh well, what mothers will do for their sons.

Getting back to party fare --If I could only FEDEX my favorite party food from my hometown, the guests would be eating:

1. Pork bbq from this carinderia in front of Capitol Medical Center in Quezon City. tamang-tama ang timpla! (the marinade is just right)
2. Pancit palabok, or any kind of pancit for that matter, made by the best Pinoy home cook I know, my mother-in-law.
3. Pizzaburst (pockets of fried dough with pizza fillings and a marinara dip), doughburst (a starburst-shaped large doughnut), mini burgers and thick, rich milkshakes from my parent's food outlet, The Belly Burst.
4. Corndogs (a childhood fave of mine)
5. Caloy's Lechon from my cousin Steve's MEY HAN Catering. He concocted the rubbing paste and the manner of roasting the pig, and it is delicious. His catering service also makes yummy Singaporean chicken (slightly sweet with sesame seeds).
6. Bibingcrepe (a dessert outlet in Tomas Morato serving unique bibingka-like cake, or cake-like bibingka with various fillings just like crepe. The cheese and chocolate one is perfect for sweet- toothed partygoers).
7. Avocado sansrival, orange rhum loaf, calamansi tea cake, character cakes from hubby's Tita Lia's Cakes In Season.

Too bad I can't fly my guests to Manila, or the food to HK, so I've settled for the following:

1. Spaghetti Bolognese (recipe courtesy of my mother-in-law)
2. Tuyo (salted dried fish) and sundried tomato pasta sauce with olives and chili
3. Shepherd's Pie (recipe courtesy of a nice chef I befriended while training at the Makati Shangri-La ages ago)
4. Roasted garlic chicken wings
5. Cheese and Pepperoni Pizza (from Pepperonis)
6. Child-size chocolate muffins with chocolate chips and rice crispies (especially made for Joaquin by the Pinay baker at La Rose Noire who is amused by him)
7. NY chesecake

Times like these I wish I had an oven. I would have loved to make some chocolate fudge squares, peanut butter swirls, snickerdoodle cookies, chocolate crinkles and mini chicken-a-la-king on toast cups for my boy's party. Oh well. Like hubby said, keep it small, keep it simple. I believe I have, but that doesn't mean I can't daydream about other dishes and goodies, right? After all, I am the pernickety food addict. :)

What's in my kitchen?

- thin slices of gouda cheese from Great given by houseguests before they left (thank you!)
- a wedge of brie with herbs given by the same guests
- a bottle of Crescendo unfiltered extra virgin olive oil from Tuscany and a bottle of basil olive oil (they sell these at Great, near the wine section), also given by said houseguests
- 150 grams of beef pastrami from Oliver's
- 100 grams of smoked turkey breast from Oliver's
- 2 pcs. Italian sausage from Viva Italia
- chicken breasts (skinless, boneless)
- sundried tomatoes
- flaked tuyo (leftover from a breakfast of tuyo, garlic rice and egg)
- roast chicken bones
- 3 pcs. veal sausage from Oliver's
- white wine
- Philippine tuna from Oliver's
- couscous
- capsicum (red, yellow, green)
- talbos ng kamote (sweet potato tops; the tender leaves)
- 5-grain loaf
- baby spinach salad mix
- iceberg lettuce
- chocolate liqueur (thank's Tehlin!)

Possibilities:

- deli sandwiches using the loaf, gouda, pastrami and turkey, iceberg, cucumber and tomatoes. let's not forget to spread some butter and mustard (i have wholegrain and dijon)
- my friend chef erwin's recipe (gotta buy the tomatoes, papardelle and mushrooms)
- talbos ng kamote salad with tomatos, onions, vinegar (maybe topped with tuna and olives for a more filling fusion meal)
- pan-fried veal sausage with caramelized onions and copious amounts of Knorr seasoning
- seared tuna (marinated in lemon, butter, oregano, salt and pepper) with a simple spinach-herb cheese salad
- couscous stuffed capsicum
- Italian sausage pasta (with drops of basil oil)
- Tuyo and sundried tomato pasta
- the loaf , cut into cubes, dipped in a tiny amount of Tuscan olive oil (it's so expensive i plan to save some for the next generation) and maybe some good-quality balsamic vinegar
- a dessert choc-full of chocolate and everything rich and decadent that will make good use of the liqueur