Thursday, 11 November 2010
A good and light Thai dessert made from tapioca/starch, banana & grated coconut. It tastes like the Filipino dessert "palitaw".
Mysterious delicious fish in turmeric, herbs and sauteed in oil.
The secret is in the sauce! Well, just lots of fennel, really.
Oh, baby it sizzles! Gobble it with rice vermicelli/noodles, peanuts and nuoc mam.
There was a guessing game that ensued between me and my friend as to what kind of fish was used in this deliciousness. My guess was some sort of cat fish while my friend's guess was an eel. I was really curious and Googled it and stumble upon the name sturgeon. Why are ugly fish so delicious?
Sturgeon, sturgeon? Why does it sound so familiar? Oh, right. I've seen it on TV, it's called dinosaur freshwater fish because of its bone structure. Sturgeon roe also makes the best caviar. An Australian friend explained to me that they are endangered. Yikes.
If it is indeed sturgeon fish, I don't think I will eat it again or I'll just cook Cha Ca Thang Long on my own using another kind of fatty fish.
The best Cha Ca Thang Long can be found at 21 Duong Than, Hoan Kiem
Useless Trivia:
The secret is in the sauce! Well, just lots of fennel, really.
Oh, baby it sizzles! Gobble it with rice vermicelli/noodles, peanuts and nuoc mam.
There was a guessing game that ensued between me and my friend as to what kind of fish was used in this deliciousness. My guess was some sort of cat fish while my friend's guess was an eel. I was really curious and Googled it and stumble upon the name sturgeon. Why are ugly fish so delicious?
Sturgeon, sturgeon? Why does it sound so familiar? Oh, right. I've seen it on TV, it's called dinosaur freshwater fish because of its bone structure. Sturgeon roe also makes the best caviar. An Australian friend explained to me that they are endangered. Yikes.
If it is indeed sturgeon fish, I don't think I will eat it again or I'll just cook Cha Ca Thang Long on my own using another kind of fatty fish.
The best Cha Ca Thang Long can be found at 21 Duong Than, Hoan Kiem
Useless Trivia:
- Cha Ca means "fish paste" in Vietnamese
- Chaka means "ugly" in Philippine gay lingo.
What could be more fusion than the bahn mi served outside of Goethe Institute?
It's a fusion of Vietnamese, French, Middle Eastern & German cuisine! Roasted pork in kebab/gyros style and served in ubiquitous baguettes. It's one of the best Bahn Mi I've had in 'Nam.
This bahn mi is served with sauerkraut (pickled cabbage) and caramelized onions together with the usual lettuce and tomato.
It's 15.000 VND or around $0.60 cents of awesome deliciousness.
It's a fusion of Vietnamese, French, Middle Eastern & German cuisine! Roasted pork in kebab/gyros style and served in ubiquitous baguettes. It's one of the best Bahn Mi I've had in 'Nam.
This bahn mi is served with sauerkraut (pickled cabbage) and caramelized onions together with the usual lettuce and tomato.
It's 15.000 VND or around $0.60 cents of awesome deliciousness.
Orame / Or Lam, a Lao dish I had in Luang Prabang. Know in many names in different restaurants but better known as the signature dish/stew of Luang Prabang. It has so many complex flavors like bitter, spicy and the piquant taste of different herbs.
This a thick soup with eggplant, chili, lemongrass, cilantro, watercress, dill, grilled sticky rice, mushrooms, basil, pork rinds (chicaron), pork, chicken and the special spicy wood chunk of sa khan. Sa khan is spicy wood that you chew on, it gives your tongue a mild numbing sensation.
You Know You're Getting Old When...
You know you're getting old when...you have started dreaming of a farm and have started gardening. Today, I planted some kaffir lime seeds in hopes that they would germinate seedlings. I asked mom to plant the galanggal a few months ago. We have plenty of chili and lemongrass plants and after a few months I could cook Thai food whenever I want to.
If you're wondering if these things are available in the Philippines, yes they are. But you must understand we rarely or never use kaffir leaf and galanggal in our cuisine like our fellow SE Asian neighbors do - Thailand, Indonesia, Burma and Cambodia. These plants/herbs are also called a different name, in Davao kaffir is called biasong. Getting seedlings is also difficult unless you are lucky to source them in Manila Seedling Bank or in Legazpi and Salcedo Weekend Market. You can score some kaffir lime leaf in Rustan's supermarket but they're bloody expensive for ten pesos per leaf.
These seedlings will never bear those ugly but fragrant citrus kaffir fruit. It needs some special cross pollination with another kind of citrus fruit but it doesn't matter since the kaffir leaf is the one used for cooking.
I'm looking forward to inviting you for some tom yum goong someday.
If you're wondering if these things are available in the Philippines, yes they are. But you must understand we rarely or never use kaffir leaf and galanggal in our cuisine like our fellow SE Asian neighbors do - Thailand, Indonesia, Burma and Cambodia. These plants/herbs are also called a different name, in Davao kaffir is called biasong. Getting seedlings is also difficult unless you are lucky to source them in Manila Seedling Bank or in Legazpi and Salcedo Weekend Market. You can score some kaffir lime leaf in Rustan's supermarket but they're bloody expensive for ten pesos per leaf.
These seedlings will never bear those ugly but fragrant citrus kaffir fruit. It needs some special cross pollination with another kind of citrus fruit but it doesn't matter since the kaffir leaf is the one used for cooking.
I'm looking forward to inviting you for some tom yum goong someday.
Monday, 8 November 2010
Oh, Hello Manila.
Being away for almost four months I really missed Filipino food. The first thing I said to mom at the airport was "Mommy, I'm hungry. Take me to Jollibee drive-through, I want daing bangus (milkfish)!". It was around six in the morning when I arrived in Manila so my beloved daing na bangus is not yet served and I had to settle for longganisa (Filipino sausage).
Less than 48 hours after I arrived I already ate the following:
1.) LongSiLog (Sausage, Eggs & Garlic Fried Rice)
2.) Inihaw na Bangus (Grilled Milkfish)
3.) Kare-Kare with Bagoong (Kare-Kare with Shrimp Paste)
4.) Leche Flan (Filipino Creme Brulee) - an extra creamy version since it was made from duck eggs.
5.) Ube Halaya - Purple Yam dessert
6.) Suman sa Lihiya - Rice Cake with Coconut Sugar Sauce
7.) Sinampalukang Manok - Chicken in Tamarind Soup
8.) All sorts of pasalubong from Aklan - Bukayo, Ube Piayaya , Sampalok and Barquillos
9.) Chicken in Lemon Sauce, Dumplings, Stir Fried Tofu w/ Veggies and Dried Fish (Tuyo) Fried Rice
I indulged myself the first two days but I'm back to my pescatarian diet. It wasn't that hard to switch despite the fact that my family are carnivores. My mom and pop have special diet restrictions so we still have a variety of food served during lunch or dinner. Maybe it's just me, I'm finding it more difficult to eat meat whenever I try to since I feel bloated after. I would still occasionally eat meat since barbecue and grilled meat are amongst my brothers' favorite meal.
We're gonna have some mighty meaty pork ribs barbecue next week, good luck resisting that.
Less than 48 hours after I arrived I already ate the following:
1.) LongSiLog (Sausage, Eggs & Garlic Fried Rice)
2.) Inihaw na Bangus (Grilled Milkfish)
3.) Kare-Kare with Bagoong (Kare-Kare with Shrimp Paste)
4.) Leche Flan (Filipino Creme Brulee) - an extra creamy version since it was made from duck eggs.
5.) Ube Halaya - Purple Yam dessert
6.) Suman sa Lihiya - Rice Cake with Coconut Sugar Sauce
7.) Sinampalukang Manok - Chicken in Tamarind Soup
8.) All sorts of pasalubong from Aklan - Bukayo, Ube Piayaya , Sampalok and Barquillos
9.) Chicken in Lemon Sauce, Dumplings, Stir Fried Tofu w/ Veggies and Dried Fish (Tuyo) Fried Rice
I indulged myself the first two days but I'm back to my pescatarian diet. It wasn't that hard to switch despite the fact that my family are carnivores. My mom and pop have special diet restrictions so we still have a variety of food served during lunch or dinner. Maybe it's just me, I'm finding it more difficult to eat meat whenever I try to since I feel bloated after. I would still occasionally eat meat since barbecue and grilled meat are amongst my brothers' favorite meal.
We're gonna have some mighty meaty pork ribs barbecue next week, good luck resisting that.
Wednesday, 3 November 2010
Yakult Copy Cat in Litro!
I seriously almost peed in my pants when I saw this in Tesco Lotus Supermarket in Bangkok. It's prebiotic milk or commonly known to us a Yakult (Lactobacilli Shirota Casei Strain). It's another brand - but that's not the point! It's huge, I think it's a liter. I've never seen prebiotic milk in this size! There's a Facebook fan page of people wishing there was Yakult Litro.
This takes me down to memory lane. We used to pass by the Yakult factory in Laguna whenever we went to my lola's place. They had a hugggge and massive bottle of Yakult in front of the building and it was tall as the building. I never missed this landmark. I don't recall seeing it these past few years. Is the giant Yakult bottle still there?
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