Not that I like the taste of most weird food but I like to take my chances. You never know if you come across a discovery of a lifetime. According to Allison Spiegel, food writer and editor for Huffington Post, chocoalte chip cookies, crepes and potato chips were all discovered by accident.
The hubby was out dining at Alab he texted me if I wanted him to bring home Laing and Kamote Ice Cream, I immediately said "Yes!"
Why are these flavors weird?
Kamote-Q or for the less street savvy- Camote Cue, is a street food made of sliced sweet potato fried with brown sugar and skewered on a stick often sold as merienda (snack).
As an ice cream, the inherent sweetness of this street food puts it to an advantage. What you miss in the ice cream is the starchiness you get in every bite of the fried version. I wonder if this would work better if they had swirls of honey or brittle brown sugar crystals.
On the other hand, Laing is a bicolano dish made of gabileaves, coconut cream, chili and pork.You heard me right... pork!
I was expecting to gag and spew on the first spoonful but lo and behold... it tasted like Matcha (Green tea) ice cream. There was no trace of pork or chili. It works as an ice cream but it does not taste like laing.
Here's to weird food, the people who make them and suckers like me who will try anything in the name of food.
ALAB
67 Scout Rallos Street, Sacred Heart, Tomas Morato, Quezon City, Philippines
Earlier this year, I heard from a friend that they were closing down Tokyo's famous Tsukiji Market, one of the world's largest fish markets, to transfer it to a more suitable location in tome for the 2020 Summer Olympics which the city is hosting.
According to its website, the market, which started as an Uogashi or a riverside fish market in the 16th century Edo period, is open for 24 hours because of the early morning fish auction. I wanted to catch that but coming from a long day of walking and riding rollercoasters, the hubby and I resolved to just get a taste of the fisher later in the day. That was not a good decision.
At 10:00 AM, the best sashimi places (according to most online reviews), Sushi Dai and Daiwa Sushi, had lines snaking out to the corner of the street. The attendants were already politely turning away clientele explaining that they only had a limited amount of fresh seafood for the sashimi.
I had just come from a month-long bout of seafood allergy. I am now a walking seafood freshness detector. When fish is not fresh, I break into hives all over (even my hair and nails would itch) and would need shots to counter the swelling. This did not deter me from queueing in one of the sushi restaurants that still had open waiting lines.
We had to wait for about an hour, taking turns to secure our place in the line and going around the market. Looking at souvenirs and pasalubong. I cheated a little and had a few sticks of Edomaki, rolled omelette mixed with fish paste. Tasted like fishy thin pancakes which was weird for me because I like my pancakes sweet, not salty.
When we got in, the place was cramped, with only a long counter good for about 12 people. The choices were limited but I think it works that way so the get to serve the fresh inventory by the end of the lunch service.
The hubby, who is not a fan of raw fish, ordered the safest selection- sushi platter. The slices of raw fish, rolled at the center of rice wrapped nori (seaweed) were fresh. The platter also came with tamago (egg) and tobiko (flying fish egg roe).
I had Chirashidon, vinegared sushi rice topped with an assortment of
pickled garnishes and sashimi that included tuna, salmon, uni (sea urchin) and tobiko. My chirashidon came with snow crabs, shrimp, squid and scallops. It had strips of nori as toppings and the wasabi was freshly grated. Yes, I was pushing the limits. Luckily for me, everything was fresh and I had only very minor itching after finishing the bowl in record time.
After the meal, one has to traverse the narrow walkway to the exit on the other end of the restaurant.
It was a truly Japanese dining experience that I would not be able to do again because the 23-hectare Tsukiji raket will be transferred to a 40-hectare site in Toyosu in the reclaimed area of Koto starting November 2016. The new market will be a more modern version. I'm sure it will have its own attractions but will probably lack the old-world charm of Tsukiji. I'm glad to have experienced this centuries-old market before it becomes an entry in the pages of Japanese food history.
I'm quite picky with processed food preparations I have at home. It's the taste and the content of preservatives that bother me. Doesn't mean that I can entirely avoid it. My work schedule doesn't allow me to cook fresh meals all day everyday and I can't afford to eat out all the time. So mixes like this ready-to-cook Hainanese Chicken sauce from Prima Taste sometimes saves the day, almost.
I say almost because there are too many cooking steps, it's hard to multi-task. This is not the kind of food prep you just whip out of the box and put in the stove. Despite having to re-read the instructions over and over again, I ended up with an acceptable meal of rice, soup, chicken and condiment.
The soup turned out to be a bit bland, you can add a little more salt if you want to. Make sure your chicken's at room temperature before cooking otherwise you will end up with uncooked chicken on the inside. The soy condiments were great but the grated ginger had lost the zing you get out of fresh ginger. The rice was the tastiest part of the ensemble. To get best results, use Thai Jasmine rice and mix it in the rice cooker after the "cooked" alarm goes off.
I suggest that you use mix this if you have no energy or time to cook BUT don't make this if you need to do other things (i.e. work) while making your meal.
Straight from the box, here's the Hainanese Chicken Recipe.
1. To cook chicken stock, fill stock pot with 2.5 litres water, add
Hainanese Chicken Rice Premix and bring to boil on high heat. Submerge
chicken into the stock with its back facing up. Lower heat and simmer
for approx 30 mins.
2. Remove chicken from stock and chill in ice water for 15 mins. Drain well, set aside chicken and chicken stock.
To Cook Rice
3. Mix rice, 610 ml chicken stock(from Step 2) and Hainanese Chicken Rice Fragrance Oil in rice cooker.
4. Stir rice gently after 5 mins and continue cooking. When cooked,
fluff rice gently with chopsticks (while loosening rice, avoid the
bottom of the rice cooker). Leave at 'Keep Warm' setting for 10 - 15
mins.
5. Put whole packet of Sesame
Soya Sauce Oil packet in a pot of boiling water and boil for 2 mins.
Remove from heat, cut open packet and pour into a bowl. Set aside at
room temperature.
6. Chop chicken into parts. Arrange on platter, over a bed of sliced
cucumber. Pour Sesame Soya Sauce Oil over the chicken and garnish with
coriander leaves. Serve with warm rice. In separate condiment bowls,
serve Chilli Sauce, Chicken Rice Ginger Sauce and Chicken Rice Dark Soya
Sauce as dips.
To get updates on recipes, reviews and food trivia, follow me on Twitter: @cooknsmallspace
Casual dining is a description most restaurants use to convey a relaxed dining experience with food worthy of fine dining but reasonably priced. Watami, with its structured furnishing and linear interiors, hits the right note. The people behind this global food chain call it ishokuya or scene + meal + restaurant.
I lost the facade photos so we'll have to make do with this artsy pile of dipping plates.
The menu is a different thing, though. It's obvious that they specialize in Yakiniku or grilled meat, there's one too many dishes on the list and you feel a bit overwhelmed, your first reaction is to order what you're familiar with. Which is why the first thing we ordered was our go-to Japanese appetizer, Gyoza served on a hot plate. This turned out to be a bit oily. I guess we should have stuck to the the boiled edamame.
We also had the Watami salad for starters. Though it's different from the Singapore version, the salad had the same concept of putting together a winning combination of fresh greens, steamed broccoli, corn, nori, corn, tomatoes, fried dumpling wrapper strips and bits of chicken teriyaki drizzled with roasted sesame dressing.
The hubby had cold soba- wheat noodles dipped in Mentsuya, a mixture of soy sauce, sake (Japanese rice wine), mirin (cooking wine), kombu (seaweed) and katsuomobushi (dried bonito flakes).
I also ordered the Katuboyaki or grilled fish head. It was a bit overdone with a lot of the skin burnt black. The bitterness from the charred bits get in the way of enjoying the fish. Which was a pity because they had great ponzu sauce (citrus-based soy sauce).
I used the ponzu sauce on the Yakiniku Pork Belly instead. Each slice had a right amount of fat which kept the meat from drying up which made it a perfect partner for the slightly sticky Japanese rice. I ended up eating like a Pinoy in a Japanese restaurant. As my cousins would say #RicePaMore!
Watami Address: 6th Level Shangri-La Plaza Mall - East Wing Shangri-la Plaza Mall Shaw Blvd. cor. EDSA, Mandaluyong Telephone: (+63 2) 570-1719
Organic menus are a rarity in the era of processed food. The Clean Plate by Twist is one of the few restaurants to offer GO-free, all-natural organic ingredients whilst supporting local farmers.
The shabby chic interiors reflect the healthy alternative that the Clean plate menu offers- comfort food made with ingredients consciously sourced and prepared. That last sentence might send you running away but it shouldn't. Organic food doesn't have to be bland and boring, as The Clean Plate tries to prove.
I tried the River Prawn Sinigang. The tamarind -based broth had the right Pinoy level of sourness and you could taste that they used fresh tamarind (not bouillons or powdered mix). Instead of kangkong, the dish had arugula for greens. I like the bitterness that the arugula brought to the dish.
To see if it was any different, I tried the Bacon Lechon Kawali. It was a too bland for my taste. I like my fatty food saltier. It tasted like unsalted Bagnet lite. And as you can see, the serving was spare and small. I failed to ask if
these were weighed for caloric counts. But surely, a heftier eater
would probably be disappointed.
I guess organic food is a matter of getting used to. Though I can't imagine how one can enjoy unseasoned meat. Maybe next time I'll try the breakfast bowls and grass-fed beef plates, they seem to promise more excitement for my palate.
The Clean Plate
Address: 2/F UP Town Center, Katipunan Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City
