My Noshing Buddies

Jeni and I aren't the only noshers in the family. My sisters (plus me = Three Little Pigs) are my partners in (food) crime!

My not-so-twin sisters with their carbon-copy frozen yogurt treats

Here's their favorite dessert: frozen yogurt with a double helping of new york cheesecake and a smattering of crushed grahams.

A calorie bomb perhaps, but it'd be a delicious way to go. I prefer it plain, though.

I miss you, Little Pigs!

Food as Stress Buster - looking back

I love food - that's a well-known fact.

Food loves me - that, I do not know for a fact. But what I do know is that I have a history of equating food with happiness.

One source of happiness that I have not had in a while is Marion's cookies. Marion is Doc Ceccz's younger sister. When Marion started with her biz, I was slow to catch on. But on the day I did, I would take orders from the whole department then batch-order them. Below is (was) my biggest stash that I munched through in less than seven days.

Her cookies are soft and buttery. Very satisfying! The double chocolate chip cookie makes a perfect ice cream sandwich: just slather on some ice cream (I prefer chocolate for the ultimate sin!) on one side of a cookie, top with another cookie, and pop in mouth.

Another source of happiness: pastries. This particular selection is from Bakers' Passion.

Just a little something to make me happy.

Have a nice day!

Memories of Bangkok - Brain Freeze!

Its not only on the street that good food is found in Bangkok. While I usually steer clear of food chains (I am guilty of succumbing to Burger King once, though), I can't help but wander into shops within the malls.

Gelate's display case

Especially when they sell ice cream! Or in this case... gelato!

Gelate is (was) in Central World, in one of the upper floors. On my first visit, I took my two sisters where we pigged out on Ferrero Rocher, passionfruit (my favorite), and kiwi.

a trio of gelate: Ferrero Rocher, kiwi, passionfruit

They were awesome - creamy and tasted of what their flavors called them! Think of it this way: if you smooshed up Ferrero, kiwi and passionfruit (separately, of course) and then froze them up... you'd get these three scoops of heaven. The Ferrero was chocolatey and hazelnut-ty in a VERY good way. The cleansing, sweet and acidic taste of the passionfruit vacuumed up your palate in preparation for the shy kiwi flavor. Both fruit flavors has their own little seeds (not-so-little in the case of the passionfruit) that I loved crunching down on. This was win-win-win!

Raspberry and vanilla gelate

Being the pigs that we were (my two sisters and I are not called The Three Little Pigs for nothing!), Sissy and I made a return trip a few days later to assault our taste buds some more. This time, we had raspberry and vanilla. The latter was pure perfection: creamy, smooth and flecked with vanilla dots. The raspberry was good too: fruity-sweet, lip-puckering tart and cleansing.

My only quibble: too many seeds. These were not the crunch-able type either. So Sissy and I would scoop up some of the gelato, work it around our mouth - smooshing it against the roof our mouths with the tongue - then unceremoniously spit the seeds out on some tissue. Tsk tsk...

You think that was the end of it? Heck no! The Two Little Pigs (the littlest one opted to stay home and miss out... harhar!) spotted Ete at Silom Central. Ete, the lady at the counter informed me, is French for summer. Makes sense! Hot weather = cold gelato. Bring it on!

We had wanted to try their cookie dough ice cream but they ran out. So we settled on some Rookie Rocky (kind of like Rocky Road meets Cookies n Cream) and Mint Chocolate. I remember the Rookie Rocky more - due mostly to its high chocolate content and the marshmallows. The mint chocolate tasted of Vicks vaporub on chocolate but it's a minor quibble. I know I'm being unfair comparing Ete to Gelate... but I liked Gelate more.

Mint chocolate chip and Rookie Rocky (road)

On my last day for that BKK trip, Sissy and I returned to Ete to have: Banofi (the banana component too artificial, the coffee flavor alive - like my morning cup of joe frozen up and scooped), Mocha Crunch (think a Stabucks Mocha Frappucino with sweet-salty caramel shards - delicious!), Nutella (mix a cup of cream with a jar of Nutella, stir and freeze - a masterpiece), and Green Tea (slightly astringent, cool, smooth - the way green tea ought to be). I never wanted to leave and I wanted to kick myself for not discovering it earlier! Plus, I kept missing the cookie dough.

Top: Banofi and Mocha Crunch
Bottom: matcha (green tea) and Nutella

But on my next visit to BKK, I finally tried the cookie dough! What can I say... spectacular! I daresay it was much better than Sebastian's! Heehee...

I also had countless DQ blizzards. I couldn't help it. It's WAY cheaper there than here in Manila. 1 pint in BKK = a 12 ouncer here in Manila. Can you blame me for indulging?

The last ice cream find is Swensen's. From my POV, methinks it's a local brand. Thais are big patrons of their local brands and every Swensen's branch I've been to (five of them) have been packed! I don't doubt the reason: the ice cream is fantanstic! We bought 1 quart each of Midnight Brownies and Rum Raisin. I know I gushed about these in my other blog... but good God! They were amazing!

Swensen's: rum raisin and midnight brownies

So on my next visit, I made sure to grab a two-scoop cone: berry yoghurt and midnight brownies. Win-win!

Memories of Bangkok - Street Food

Whenever I am at extreme emotions, my first thought is "I need a vacation". The first place on my mind? Bangkok.

My first plate of authentic pad thai/phat thai

No mystery there. I love the food. I love the city. I love the trains (but I love Seoul's more), I love the A/C buses, I love the street food, I love the shopping, I love seeing my Dad, I love the malls... did I say I love the food?

These days, I find myself looking back at all the great chow I came across and stuffed in my gaping maw while I was in that beautiful city. Most of the time, I could not resist cracking open my picture files and salivating at all the food pics. Yes, I am masochistic that way.

A feast of kai yang (roasted chicken), som tam (papaya salad) and kao niew (sticky rice)

So... a stroll down food memory lane. This is going to get quite lengthy so I'll stop myself when I see you, dear reader, struggling to keep your eyes open. Yes?

I have professed my love for somtam in other posts on this blog (and elsewhere in cyberspace)... and no surprises. It was part of my first meal in BKK on my first visit. Who can resist the symphony of sweet, sour, salty, and spicy? Certainly not me, as I ate every bit of papaya on the plate. I even used up all the dressing, soaked into the plate of greens (raw cabbage, basil, and raw young string beans or yard-long beans - a revelation!) then into my belly. Yaawwrrrrr!

Left: som tam; right: plate of Thai basil, raw cabbage, raw water spinach/kangkong/morning glory

I love all things chewy, so it's no surprise that I stuff myself with kao niew every chance I get. It's stickier than the stickiest sticky rice I have ever tried here in the Philippines. Stuffed in a woven basket, this resilient bunch of grains are warm and fluffy - practically begging to be picked between fingers, rolled into a (big, in my case) ball, dipped in somtam dressing, and stuffed in my mouth. I was always happy to oblige.

kai yang and kao niew

Another dish that captured by heart is kwai chap (not so sure of the romanization but it sounded that way) - thick ribbons of rice flour noodles (methinks) blanched in a rich broth. Tossed in a bowl with slices of pork liver, fried firm tofu, a boiled egg, slivers of what I think is porcine kidney, chunks of pork blood, and God knows what else - it's then doused liberally in very meaty broth (pork and MSG, my pedestrian palate, says) and served with a metal spoon. No chopsticks here but I don't mind. Slurping (not too much of the broth, though. Too much MSG = migraine) is the only way to go... and then chased by a bottle of black sesame soymilk (13 baht at any friendly neighborhood 7-11 or Family Mart). Boo yeah!

Left: kway chap vendor on Convent; right: a bowl of special kway chap

On the street, one will find a plethora of eats. I never got a picture of the gai thot (fried chicken) guy but I did capture Khun Chao, our resident roti man, in action. He opens shop at around 6PM in front of my dad's old Condo on Phi Phat 2. At around 9pm, he moves on to Silom corner Convent.

He works his magic like so: 1) He grabs a ball of pre-measured dough, 2) flattens it on the table, 3) raises it and whacks it on his greased metal work surface until it is paper thin and wider than a serving platter, 4) sets it afloat in hot oil, 5) cracks an egg in the middle (by request, which I always do) 6) allows the dough to get all crispy and brown on the bottom, 7) folds the dough into a neat square, 8) cuts it into 8, and 9) liberally douses the whole creation with granulated white sugar (nit noy, kha - only a little, please) and condensed milk. Yowzah!

Left: takoh cakes and other sweets; right: all this, for twenty baht

Other stuff on the street are: 1) takoh cakes (20 baht for 8 pieces! Manila restos are ripping us off!), 2) deep fried dough things (I dunno their name), and 3) kamote flour balls fried in very hot oil. My non-love affair with kamote is well-known but this is one form of kamote I will eat!

Left: my sisters buying deep-fried dough-y snacks; right: deep fried kamote-flour balls

Oh, woe is me! I need a vacation... who wants to come with me?!?

From The Garden(ia) - Cinnamon Toast

I did say I have an affair with MOST food stuff. One of the things I do not and cannot appreciate fully is another "C"... cinnamon.

I know, I know! Why the heck not, you'd ask me. It's fragrant, it's delicious, it screams "comfort food"! Well, not for me. My mom loves cinnamon and she'd always have these sticky cinnamon buns around. She'd hoard so much that she would send me to kindergarten with a lunchbox packed with a carton of juice, a piece of fruit... and that darned cinnamon bun. I went hungry for a few days until I found a few classmates willing to trade their sandwiches for my bun.

Fast forward a couple of decades, I have learned to appreciate the smell of cinnamon. Take note: the smell. It's ok if I smell it and taste a bit of it in my food. But if the spice predominates, I'm not eating it. McDonald's apple pies are definitely out of the question.

Until I came upon this awesome discovery: Gardenia Cinnamon Toast.

Packed five to a bag, these simulate Mom's cinny toasts: a slice of white bread slathered in butter, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and toasted till crisp on the crust but still chewy in the middle. This mass-produced version smells of that butter-sugar-cinnamon combo and was strangely irresistible for me. A bite confirmed my suspicion: this is a darn good snack!

The piece of toast yielded to my teeth with a sharp crunch, sending shards everywhere (including my office desk and laptop). The butter met my tongue where it was joined by the kiss of sugar and the soft murmur of cinnamon. Barely there but THERE.

Perfect with a hot cup of coffee, which I had.

All this goodness for Php20 (about $0.50)... worth all the crumbs on my dress.

So what are you waiting for? Grab a pack now!

(No) End of the Affair - part 1

I am not ashamed to admit it: I am having an affair and it has been going on for the better part of two decades. A number of ex-boyfriends, ex-girlfriends, and one almost-fiance - they have all come and gone but this relationship has endured. It's still going strong.

I have a love affair... with food: I love food and I like to think it loves me back.

I eat anything and everything. I am an equal-opportunity eater (to borrow from Joey of 80Breakfasts) - everything has an equal opportunity to be eaten by me. Anything except kamote (sweet potato), chico (sapodilla), and raw banana.

Let me explain.

First, the kamote. I love potatoes. I love tubers. I eat cassava (kamoteng kahoy in Tagalog). Heck, I'd eat any root-crop you put in front of me. But I. Will. Not. Eat. KAMOTE! Not in its natural state, anyway.

I have eaten hwat ke (not sure of the romanization but this is a sweet kamote flour based bun served during Chinese New Year) and I crave it whenever the mooncakes make their appearance. I have snarfed jap chae (Korean kamote flour glass noodles) and loved it. I have brought myself to eat sweet potato and pumpkin buns - thank goodness for the pumpkin.

But the kamote in all its glory just won't do: in benignit/ginataan (cooked in coconut milk with sugar and other sliced fruits/root-crops), as kamote fries (hand-cut and fried in oil then dipped in sugar OR fried in hot oil with sugar until the syrup forms a crackly crust on each slice), or simply boiled then peeled before rolling in muscovado sugar), or as minatamis (cooked in syrup).

There are, in my completely biased opinion, many things wrong with the kamote but I will focus on two: the texture and the taste. 1) I do not like "sandy" things. Apples, chico, kamote... sweetened beans... anything that reminds me of the stuff you step on at a seashore or a construction site does not make it down my gullet. 2) It's unnaturally sweet... not the way pumpkin is sweet, or a fresh asparagus is... it's just plain strangely sweet. Like potatoes with sugar.

Next, the chico. I don't like how sandy it is either... how each bite feels like taking in a mouthful of Boracay. Eeeew. I have nothing against its taste, I actually like its sweetness. Unlike the kamote, the chico has a natural sweetness that seems right for a fruit. Find me a chico that is crunchy like a jicama... or one that is mushy and custardy like a durian... I might just gobble it up.

Lastly, raw bananas - the only time I had this raw was in a smoothie with a ton of chocolate (I was on a diet, believe it or not). I don't like how sticky and gooey it is when its raw. I eat okra (lady fingers); I eat saluyot (jute, I think), heck I eat some of the stickiest stuff on Earth - mochi (yummy), bibingkang galapong (charbroiled cakes made from pounded immature sticky rice - they make their appearance right around the holidays)... their sliminess does not bother me. But for some reason... bananas bother the heck out of me. I'd eat it cooked in syrup (minatamis), baked up in bread or muffin, sliced and flambe-ed for crepes. I'd eat it frozen IF it's coated in chocolate and hard as ice.

So yes, even if I do love food in an unbelievably healthy way, I do have my limits. I have conquered celery after ten years (blue cheese dip is a miracle!) - but these three don't seem to have a good chance at all. Not yet anyway.

Do you have any "no-no-never" foods on your list?

Blast From The Past: The Kimchi-fication of Kasseopeia (part 2)

So I went through my blog archives and happened upon a treasure trove of pictures from my Seoul trip that I never posted about. It also came as no surprise that more than 70% of the pictures were of food/drinks.

I like Korean food, though not as much as I like other Asian cuisine such as Japanese, Thai, Filipino, Chinese, or Vietnamese. Suffice to say that it is always in my top ten list of things to eat when I am hungry. Korean will be one of the choices, always.

I like how Korean food is characterized by their ban chan/pan chan - a small assortment of dishes that go with your rice and main viand (my absolute favorite was the zucchini dipped in egg then fried, second is the marinated whole mushroom). This was how we had our food served in our Seoul office: personal ban chan on a silver tray. Most of my favorite meals, I had in our office cafeteria. If our Philippine office did this, I'd be ten times happier come mealtime.

It was the tail end of autumn when we arrived in Seoul and the temperature swung from a "balmy" 4C to a chilling -11C with wind. As such, we did not expect a lot of fresh produce to be available, as NOTHING grows in winter (except my waistline from all the ice cream, but I'll get to that later). So imagine my surprise when I found that out office cafeteria served - along with soup, rice and the various trappings of a traditional Korean meal - fresh greens mixed in with... whatever it was that made kimchi hot and spicy and nasal-passage-clearing good!

The vegetables there were spectacular, as one would expect from a colder climate. The broccoli was bright green, the asparagus was tender and sweet, and the cabbage was bigger than my hand. It is SO easy to go vegetarian/vegan with such a plethora of options. This is winter picking, imagine how much wider the variety would be come spring/summer! (Kikeun did tell me that most of their produce is imported. Apparently, there's not much flat land in South Korea for agricultural endeavors).

The fruits are a-ma-zing too! Where in the Philippines can you get ten huge pieces of sweet, luscious kiwi for only KRW5,000 (about $5 = Php 250)?!? You can bet your pwet I gorged on these things. Usually 8 to a KRW5,000 pack - I horded four packs at the grocery section of Shinsegae mall and ate it all in less than a week. Those strawberries are said to be imported from Japan. They cost a pretty penny too... about KRW8,000 (about $8 = Php 400) for 250 grams. But considering how sweet, juicy and downright sinful they were - it was worth it!

Korean-style tonkatsu, spiral-cut potato chips, a HUGE Zinger from KFC, fish-shaped griddle cakes filled with red bean paste

The savories are NOTHING to scoff at either. While the paeans to commercialism and globalization are here in the most wired city - Starbucks, KFC, McDonald's, Dunkin' Donuts - there still are some traditional savories to be had. KFC was a very strange experience for me. I loved how HUGE and spicy their Zinger was, but my one-piece hot and crispy thigh (the size of my open hand) felt dry and lonely without gravy. They'd offer ketchup and hot sauce but still... =( However, these spiral potato chips were a revelation. I had them from a street vendor in the night market over at Myeong Dong. This was way before all of the similar carts popped up here in Manila. Sliced, skewered, dunked in hot oil and liberally doused with fine salt - this was a finger-licking salty hot snack on a cold day (-4C with wind! Brrrr....)

To wash everything down, here are my top three favorite things to drink in Seoul:

Despite being lactose intolerant (or a degree thereof), I thoroughly enjoyed each sip, glug and chug I had of strawberry milk. I think this one is made by Seoul Milk, whose plain full fat milk was a dream to sip on - ice cold and LBM-inducing.

Next up is Chilsung Cider. For those familiar with Sprite and Mountain Dew, it's like a combination of both. The clear lime-ness of the the Sprite with the kick of Mountain Dew... except this one is caffeine free (Mountain Dew has a LOT of caffeine). For me, it's just a refreshing bubbly drink to sip on straight from the fridge, despite the chilly weather. Oh, our office cafeteria offers it for free as an alternative to water. (In fact, in most places here, soda is refillable)

The third is rice tea. I like tea - in all forms and from all sources. I like the Japanese mugicha made of toasted barley. This one from toasted rice is similar - there is an unmistakeably nutty flavor that screams "toasted grain" while the mellow tea-ness of it all is pleasant to the tongue. Some venues offer this warm (think of a fridge that keeps things warm rather than cold) probably due to the season, but I prefer it ice-cold.

In general, I like eating cold food despite the cold weather. That meant ice cream!!!

This is but a small fraction of my ice cream horde, since 90% of my consumption went unphotographed. Ice cream was up to 40% off since it was winter, but hot damn if that was going to stop me (the weather, not the price slash). Mr Jong, the friendly owner of the grocery/cafeteria in our apartment complex, had a HUGE stash of them in his freezer. He must have thought me crazy to be dashing out in -8C weather in pajamas and a sweater... in socks and slippers! That may have been reinforced by the fact that I bought at least 8 bars in one go. No surprises... I stayed in Seoul for 49 days. I must have eaten 49 servings of ice cream.

Last but not least: sweets. I blame Momsie for passing on her passion for sugar to me, but I am NOT complaining since there is a lot to stuff my mouth with when it comes to these coma-inducing confections. My favorite has got to be the Ghana mild cacao... 60% (I think) chocolate, mildly sweetened. Another favorite are these Sugus-like things that come in plain yoghurt (my favorite), strawberry (next favorite), grape, apple and orange. They cost KRW1,000 (about $2 = Php 100) for a pack of three. Tooth decay in a tube!

I guess that pretty much sums up my Korea food posts. There's a lot I didn't put up and that's because I'm hoping to take another trip to South Korea next year. Hopefully this time, I will be able to document everything with a proper camera... not a 1.2MP camera phone!

Happy Eating!

Bangkok Eats: The BKK Food Trip

Popsie works in my favorite Asian city (so far): Bangkok, Thailand. He lives smack dab in the middle of the CBD (central business district - think Makati or Libis or Ortigas).

I love it here! What's not to love about living in a condo on the top floor with breathtaking views of the city, food all around and around the clock, fresh fruit and vegetables for a few baht (THB 1 to Php1.3 threabouts), wonderful shopping, a few minutes walk from the nearest BTS (similar to our LRT/MRT. In BKK, the MRT is the subway), and did I say the food is great?

My favorite Thai food is not pad thai, kai thot, or tom kha gai. It's that salad of grated unripe papaya, carrots, long beans (sitaw) dressed with nam pla (fish sauce aka patis), lime juice, sugar, a bit of water, grated lemongrass, sliced kaffir lime leaves and dried shrimps. The one food that haunts my dreams and one I ate everyday during my recent visit to the city.

Enter the som tam. Oh, and did I mention this usually costs just 30 baht? I told you food is GOOD here!

Clockwise from top: (1)plain som tam from Som Tam Convent (Day 1), (2)som tam from the kai yang place on Phi Phat 2, (3) on my last day, a plain one also from Som Tam Convent, (4) Another one from Som Tam Convent ,this one with salted duck eggs for Day 3,

I love the harmony of flavors as they crash into each other on my tongue. All at once it's salty, sweet, sour, spicy - even when I request "mai sai prik, kha!" (Please do not put chili). It's inevitable that some of the chili from the last batch will make its way into my serving.

I kid you not when I say I ate for four days straight, sometimes more than once a day.

Of course it's not the only thing I ate. I had the freshest and juiciest rambutan I have ever had in my life. Their "hairs" still green, their skin a vibrant red... all to the tune of 30 baht (about 40 Php) per kilo. I also stuffed my face with the sweetest, most luscious mangosteens this side of Asia, an absolute steal at 35 baht per kilo (around 50 Php). Try getting THAT here in Manila. Popsie has several suki in the talat (market) so he can pretty much count on a discount when he goes to the market Saturday or Sunday mornings.

There is also a sweet-salty-sour-spicy pork rib soup that we enjoy at Som Tam Convent (Convent road runs perpendicular to Silom). I like this with the sliced pork liver with mint. The liver barely cooked, the mint complimenting the creaminess of the "meat"... all paired with kao niew - sticky rice stuffed in a woven basket. This is best eaten with bare hands - roll into a ball a and dip into the sauce of either the pork liver or the som tam. Pop in mouth and enjoy!

som tam, pork belly with mint, pork liver with mint, sour spare rib soup

I got my sweet tooth from Momsie so it comes as no surprise that we sugar coma-ed with each other - with my scoop of berry yoghurt and midnight chocolate from Swensen's and my mom's favorite: McDonald's vanilla twist dipped in chocolate.

More sweets: there are vendors that sell very thin crepes to be filled with fairy floss. Et voila! Tuck in!

Buy two bags of crepes and a pack of fairy floss, place on plate, fill crepes with floss, roll up and eat!

I will need to go back again before the year is over. My July stay was only four days (so hard to go on leave), whereas I was there for three weeks over Christmas/New Year 2009. I want to take Jeni there... maybe in time for Song Kran.

Happy Eating!

B is for Baon (part deux)

I had written about baon in my short-lived blog. In truth, I had PLENTY more baon posts to come... had I not forgotten my password. ANYhoo, here's what may have made it to the posts but in a more condensed form. After all, I'm sure nobody would want to hear (read?) me wax poetic about the wonders of Spam and warm Japanese short-grained rice, yes?

The photo up top is salted eggs, slices tomatoes, and steamed okra (lady fingers). In a separate container I had the steamed Japanese short-grain rice (which is LOVE on a bowl, methinks).

Below are two versions of the same breakfast/snack fare: Japanese short-grain rice molded into shapes and cut-out Spam.

Jeni and I love Spam, sodium and nitrates be damned! The left version is mine, as I love nori (seasoned dried seaweed sheets) and miso (fermented soy bean paste) soup. On the right is Jeni's "naked" breakfast - she is not a fan of seaweed in any form. Her loss, my gain, yes?

I sometimes get VERY lazy and opt for instant baon, like below.

There is a shop called Amber and it sells primarily Pansit Malabon (a type of noodle dish), pork barbeque, and pichi-pichi (sort of like mochi but sweeter, and is cassava flour-based). That's on the left. On the right are some Japanese rice wafer snacks, half of a gigantic siopao, and some home-made chicken nuggets with Bulldog tonkatsu sauce.

I do full meals too! Just like my pork adobo (a cooking method based on the Spanish adobado) with garlic-butter mushrooms (out of a can, sadly) on the left. On the right is some beef steak with onion rings.

Baon need not be an elaborate affair. It's sometimes just a way to extend the pleasure of one delish dish from home to work (or wherever you're taking your baon). Most of the time, though, it's to make sure I like what I will be having for lunch on my office desk. We do have a cafeteria but the food gets repeated and recycled ad nausem so... that would be an epic culinary fail, yes?

More baon to come! Happy eating!