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!
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!
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!
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?!?
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!
