Binondo: Food strollin'

MAY.

SUMMER.

OFFICE.

Temperature rising and wishing that summer is over and that the rainy season should come earlier as expected. Due to the hot humid weather, I happen to dodge all ideas about GA's, Team Building or Strategic Planning that is located anywhere else outside Eastwood during out of business hours and would require traveling, swim suits and booze.

Philippine Holidays are now time offs (Usually that is, but still insists to go to work for holiday pay) and our team needs to push through with the assembly. As I tried to avoid all ideas, a light bulb appeared. "Why don't we just eat? I mean not once but around Chinatown?" 

I was pushing to go with the "Binondo food walk". I heard so much how great Binondo is for delicious yet affordable Chinese food. Good thing everyone bought the idea and we settled with the time and place.

Friday came and I took the train (LRT) from Roosevelt to Doroteo Jose  Station where we will all meet. I suffered for 15-20 minutes inside with no aircon and  breathing other's air. But thankfully I was able to get a seat.

I was already late with our 12 noon meet up. Upon reaching D.Jose Station, I was beyond excited to step out the coach where it almost felt like an oven and just kneel and catch my breath. I met up with my colleagues and got ready for the walk.

FIRST STOP: WAI YING

Famished, we ordered Beef noodle soup which by the way comes in a huge bowl. For 100 php you can enjoy warm soup with chewy noodles with beef shanks and veggies. Warming the tummy is a good way to start the meal if you haven't eaten on time to avoid tummy aches.

Honey baked rib rice. Generous chunks of beef that is easy to chew in honey sauce.

Hakaw 70 php. I love how the  wrapper turned out to be soft, smooth and not dry. You can really taste the shrimp which looks like a fairly medium size shrimp inside that is moist and flavorful.

Roasted duck with fried rice 160php. Roasted duck as it is with like asado sauce again paired with fried rice.

Radish Cake 60 php for 3 fat pieces. To be honest this is what I enjoyed most, aside from the Hakaw.

I skipped on eating rice because I knew I'd get full fast and we are only in our first stop.

I can't believe that Wai Ying is just in Manila. I hope they get to open around QC.

SECOND STOP:  La Resureccion 

"That Tablea Shop" as I call it but we really didn't notice it while we were walking in Ongpin St. What made us stop is the aroma of sweet smell of chocolate and followed our nose where it led us to this small shop. 

More walks around Chinatown.

THIRD STOP: SINCERITY

Sincerity fried chicken which costs 300 php for a whole plate of deep fried crispy chicken is really really delicious! It's so tasty that I had to order a cup of rice. The chicken is well seasoned and tender. It's close enough to be called chinese style but in the boarder line of it.

Last food stop was at New Po Heng in Quentin Paredes St. We stopped by Eng Bee Tin first to buy some hopia and other sweets to take home. Good thing just across it is the Lumpia House.

For 50php,  you get a big fat vegetable roll with all the good things inside.  I was already full and we all shared 2 pcs of this awesome goodness.

Our last stop was at a huge grocery just outside the "Welcome to Chinatown" sign before the bridge. I bought my mum some dried plums and got myself some flavored strips of codfish like the ones being sold at Aji Ichiban.

I hate walking under the sun, but this one was worth the sweat and heat. :) Affordable delicious food around the town makes me crave at this hour specially the radish cake.

IKEA: Meat balls and happy place

 

When I found out that IKEA is so near our temporary home, I went crazy and asked BB if we can make our trip as soon as possible. We really didn't have an itinerary. All we know was that we gotta eat and get lost. 

So as soon as we got up we headed to IKEA. Excited like a little kid, I kept pointing and holding things and my eyes are so wide in every section we are at. We scanned each aisle carefully and promising that we are going to have that certain furniture in our home.You know you are getting old when you get amaze balls with furniture and kitchen stuff.

I think we spent hours walking inside and finally our tummy sends the signal. It was TIME. Time to finally eat! Yet, before our trip I was telling BB that the meatballs are being talked about. I felt he wasn't that excited (for some reason because he told me how IKEA is in his birth place) and I WAS.

So we found ourselves at the food court. We hung our shopping bag and went inside. Good thing it was around 4 pm on a weekday so there wasn't any queue at all.

 We got our little push cart and browsed through. 

The middle section has different sorts of bread, muffins and cupcakes

Pastries

Sandwich

Here's what we got.

We actually went to IKEA Food court twice in our whole trip. 

For our first trip I ordered this 5RM Meatballs with Mashed Potato

BB got us some dessert (like Pudding/Flan)

He ordered Penne Pasta and Meat Balls

Had to sneak in this deliciously looking cinnamon roll.

For our second visit, we had to stuff ourselves with this!

20pcs meatballs, 5 pc chicken wings, croissant, blueberry muffin, and tart.

Overall, I can finally understand the rave about IKEA Food. I mean the meat balls are great and the gravy is think and creamy. I wished we have this in Manila. Even the wings are really good! I'm starting to miss this again.

Sorry for the lack of description. I totally forgot I had a pending post. Work has really occupied most of my time recently. 

More posts soon!

xx

I Cook: Ta'amia (Falafel)

What makes Ta'amia or Falafel? Chick beans or Fava Beans or both. Falafel is a middle eastern food which is shaped like meat balls or small patties.Wrapped around with flat or pita bread. We like our Falafel with flat bread or tortillas and just fill in the sandwich with veggies such as tomato, lettuce, cucumber, and french fries (YES french fries!) and voila! A quick fix for lunch or dinner!

 I usually whip something up during the weekends.I seldom buy food from the office because pantry food (to which I call it) sucks. Yes, I did use the word "sucks". They often put cornstarch to any of their viands just to thicken the sauce and the quality just went down. Plus, it's quite unappealing too.

So one work day, I was looking at our groceries and wondering what I can bring to work. I saw Garbanzos (chick peas) and a few spices and I'm like "Let's do this! I'm gonna make Falafel!"  If you want to try it here's how I did it.

I used canned chick peas. I drained it and left it for a while just a bit to dry because the moisture will help the mixture later on.

Since I don't have a food processor, I use my trusty, cheap, over used blender and placed the chick peas in batches.

Press "grind".

It should turn out like this.

Now, I'm going to make my green paste. I made mine with 3-4 cloves of garlic (It really depends how much you want. But I like mine with that garlic kick) , a quarter of chopped onion and parsley. Place the garlic first and chop them using the blender. Add the onion and parsley and blend it. It will give you a green aromatic paste.

 In a mixing bowl, place in the chick peas and the green paste. Make sure that the mixture won't turn out too wet (but if so, don't worry, the bread crumbs will do the trick). The mixture should still have coarse like texture.

Add a tablespoon of flour,  quarter teaspoon of salt, 1/8 teaspoon of cumin and cayenne pepper (adjust if you want it spicy) and 1/3 cup of bread crumbs (I used Marby).Add 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder when I'm about to fry it.

Using a polvoron shaper, I fill it with the mixture making sure that it is tightly packed to avoid it from breaking when frying.

              Heat your pan with oil and set it on medium heat.

When the pan is hot and ready, I fry them until golden brown on both sides. 

Place them on paper towels to drain the excess oil.

 

And that's it! Home made Ta'amia / Falafel!.

Hope you enjoy making this one as much as I did.

Happy Eating!

xx

Travel Food Series: Random Food We Eat : De Maju

 Street stalls and street food. That has always been in our list. With Malaysia's booming economy and  24/7 business centers, food seems to be the same. You have never been to Malaysia if you haven't tried Mamak food. These Mamak stalls are everywhere! 

Luckily, from where we are staying, right in front of it is called De Maju. They serve Malay-Indian and Western dishes. Sipping Teh Tarik (milk tea) and eating our usual breakfast, lunch and dinner, De Maju has been our kitchen for the week long vacation we had.

Here's how it works. You get a table, settle down and a staff will be with you shortly. Once he approaches you, you gotta have something in mind because everything seems to be a rush (most specially by night because people are off from work and are having dinner). The staff will hand you a piece of paper with your order with the price and that's your tab which you will show him when you pay up.

They even have like a "buffet" type of ordering. They have laid out food and all you have to do is just get the food that you want then they'll charge you after.

Our resident De Maju guy is Ramesh. He knows what we are getting everyday and been very swift that we always give him a tip after. At the end of our trip, BB gave him a Rado cap because he has been very nice to us.

 

 Teh Tarik with Ice RM1

 Roti Canai and Dal (curry dip)

 If you are a bit afraid of trying local food. They do have a western menu. I forgot how much this costs but i think its around RM12 or a little more. 

For one dinner, I had Chicken Chop Maryland, which is boneless chicken with hotdog, coleslaw, fries and soaking with gravy. This by the way is huge! It covers the whole platter and I have never finished this (considering I have a huge appetite). I'm already wishing for this now. I can still remember how juicy the chicken meat was and the well seasoned crust was superb!

 

Nasi Goreng

This is their fried rice. Stir fried rice with carrots, chili, choice of meat (beef or chicken), garlic, Kecap Manis (Sweet Soy sauce), strips of egg, onions, sambal or tomato sauce. Imagine your whole plate towering with rice. This is around RM7 and don't forget to have fried egg with it. Just don't think about the calories, because you can sweat it out after.

 Hainanese Chicken fried rice served with Fish Sauce.

Now this one is not from De Maju but by the poolside of where we were staying.

I'm pretty sure this was not the Hainanese chicken I was imagining. But HECK IT'S DELICIOUS! Bits of chicken cubes with carrots and corn. Another simple yet uber tasty dish.

Now, this one is their pasta. YES, it's PASTA. it has chicken strips, bean sprouts, crushed nuts in which tasted like our version of Palabok sauce.

Do you know what this dish is called? I totally forgot what it is.Let me know if you do! :)

Gosh I miss this place.

xx

I Cook: Japchae

Oh Hai Guys! I spent one of my Saturdays making my very own Japchae. I was really in the mood of cooking. Japchae is a Korean dish made from sweet potato noodles, stir fried in sesame oil with various vegetables, sometimes served with beef or chicken (whoever cooks it no judging!) and flavored with soy sauce and sugar.

If you want to make this just scroll down. A fairly easy delicious dish!

What you need: 

-Korean Vermicelli Noodles (can be brought at your local Korean Store (Wang Mart).) It is quite different with our version of vermicelli noodles.

The noodles are like light brown in color. As I mentioned above, it can be bought at Korean stores (less than a hundred pesos) or grocery (I saw Robinsons selling it around the same price. Not sure with other huge groceries but to be sure Korean store! :] )

-Garlic

-Onions

-Carrots

-Spinach

-Beef (I bought mine at Wang Mart which are thinly sliced)

-Sesame seeds

-Sesame oil

-Shitake mushroom ( I used canned, but if you are going to use dried shitake, place it on water and   

                                  when it's ready squeeze the water out from it)

-Sugar

-Soy sauce

-Olive oil

-Salt

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Procedure:

-Chop garlic and onions

-julienne carrots and set aside

-in a pan, drizzle olive oil and saute garlic with a pinch of salt then set aside.

-saute onion with a pinch of salt. When translucent, set aside.

-saute carrots with a pinch of salt and set aside

-saute shitake mushroom with a pinch of salt and set aside

-brown beef and season with a little bit of salt and set aside

-blanch spinach and squeeze excess water and set aside

-in a small bowl, place a tablespoon of soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil. When sugar is dissolved, place the spinach and mix and set aside.

-cook noodles in boiling water. When cooked, drain and cut it (because the noodles are really long)

-heat pan and add soy sauce with sugar mixture and sesame oil.

-add noodles and fry.Add more soy and sugar or sesame oil mixture if needed to achieve desired taste.

-Add garlic, onion, carrots, spinach, shitake mushroom, and beef.

-Sprinkle with sesame seeds when plated.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That's about it! It only involves setting aside but it's not that hard.

If you wish to try this out let me know what you think. By the way you can also place thinly sliced scrambled eggs on top for garnish. Instead of beef, you can put chicken (thinly sliced thigh fillet I guess would be the best )

Enjoy and Happy Eating!

xx

I Rant: The empty can

We have this saying that "Ang latang walang laman ay maingay" (An empty can makes the most noise). And it is almost impossible to talk to those "know it all". Take note, it's TALK and not ARGUE. Since they "know everything" and always having something to say, they end up looking and sounding like an idiot.

He who has nothing to say says too much.

I am not impressed with all talk.

Travel Food Series: AL BAiT (yes, there's no typo!)

Maybe you're from Saudi Arabia. Maybe you stayed in the Middle East for a very long time. Maybe you watched Anthony Bourdain "No Reservations".When the show asked the fans (FANa-tic) to send in their entry for a chance to be with Tony and explore food and culture in your chosen country or city, the winner Danya Alhamrani, a film maker/producer born in North Dakota caught Bourdain's attention. Danya's entry was all about her hometown Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

On that episode, Al Baik was one of the places they dined. It is a famous fast food chain that sells broasted chicken with much raved garlic sauce. It is Saudi's very own version of "KFC".  I was told that Al Baik  never had franchises and branches were only in Jeddah, Mecca, Medina, Ta'if and Yanbu (wiki said so) and only 2 other branches outside the western region.

 As it was always explained and described to me, chicken is served with overloading fries and bread on foil trays, and garlic sauce that was the famous dip that comes with it. The serving was somewhat for sharing (if you have a small appetite). Considering how big the chicken parts were as it usually comes in 2 or 4 pieces.

There was a buzz coming around those "I-lived-in-Jeddah-and-Al-Baik-was-my-staple-food" kids who made a stop over in KL, saw this sign and almost swore it was the real Al Baik in Malaysia. I thought they made no franchise? I totally pointed out that the chicken mascot was wearing a different hat. The original was wearing a very Abraham Lincoln-ish hat while this one wears a Kopiah. Suddenly they noticed that it was a "T" and not a "K". Same concept but slightly different taste.

On our second day and the top priority of our trip, we met up with our friend who showed us where to find this broasted chicken in Bukit Bintang.

Their menu was pretty much simple. They have shrimp sandwich which is 8 RM ala carte, Shrimp Meal (25 RM), 4 pc chicken (spicy or original) 22 RM and 2 pc chicken 13.50 RM.

Shrimp Meal

Shrimps and batter used were just OK.  I love shrimps anyway :)

 

 Al Bait's  garlic sauce and Cocktail sauce

We ate at Al Bait twice and it's a bit disappointing how they were not consistent with the taste of the sauce. The cocktail sauce was a question mark for me. The garlic sauce was somewhat mayonnaise in texture and was just again, Ok.

You get these two when ordering any of their meal.

 2 pc Chicken Meal. I can say it was yummy!  Chicken is huge and overloaded with fries.

Our bill. Pretty expensive as we spent 67.40 tax not included (943 PHP) for the entire meal. 

I was very fortunate to taste Al Baik chicken after our trip and I was able to compare it. Only that the chicken in Al Baik seems to be smaller (going for real "asian" size now??) and tastier. I'm still trying to look where I saved the pictures I took that night when we brought home Al Baik (straight from Jeddah, Uhuh Uhuh!)

I think what's amazing well for me at least, is that whenever I get to taste and eat something really spectacular, I make my own version or at least try it at home which is appealing to my taste. I was able to make my own version of the broasted chicken and it was yummmerz!

Well, off to a meeting now. 

Happy Eating!

xx