REPOST: Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know Taste Delicious With Chocolate

From the title alone, you already know that this article from Endless Simmer of  Huffington Post is an interesting read. What does taste good with chocolate? You'd be surprised when you find out!

Just click on the pic to get linked!

RECIPE: PRAWNS IN RED EGG YOLK SAUCE

Recently had old friends over for dinner. And when I say “old” I don’t mean geriatric. I mean friends from way back like since the first grade. Almost everyone in our barkada live outside of the country but thanks to social networking technology we still keep in touch. So when when we do see each other in person, it’s a very special occasion. One that needs to be celebrated with good food to go along with the great conversation.  So, for that particular day I made an effort to cook something Pinoy, Prawns in Red Egg Yolk Sauce.

It’s easy to make. Here’s the recipe so you can try it yourself.

INGREDIENTS

·  500 gms.  Prawns, shelled and deveined

·  4 pcs.       Red Egg Yolks, mashed

·  2 tbsp.      Butter, salted

·  2 tbsp.      Cooking Oil

·  5 cloves    Garlic, minced

·  1 stalk       Leeks, sliced

·  Salt & Pepper to taste

TO MAKE

Prepare the prawns by removing the shell  and keeping the head on. Devein. Wash, drain and set aside.

Halve the red eggs and scoop out the yolk. Set the whites aside and use it later on somethine else like fresh tomato salad. I recommend to use the whites on the same day otherwise, keep it in the ref overnight.  Make sure to remove the flimsy white membrane that encloses the yolk a.k.a. vitelline. 

Make your own double boiler by heating water in a pan. Place the red egg yolks in a metal bowl and place on your DIY double boiler. Mash the red egg yolks with a fork. You can skip this part but I find that mashing the yolks over heat allows the yolk adhere to the butter better, making the sauce creamier.

Heat up the oil in the pan. Once it’s hot enough, fry the prawns. Once the color of the bottom part changes, turn the prawn over. Once the prawns are half-cooked, remove from the pan and set aside.

In the same pan, add the butter and stir fry the garlic. Once the garlic turns light golden brown, add the mashed salted egg yolks. Wait for the mixture to turn frothy before tossing in the half-cooked prawns. Season with salt and pepper. Saute for about 3 minutes for small sized prawns, 5 minutes for big prawns.

Once cooked, place in a serving dish and top with chopped leeks. Serve hot.

TRIED & TASTED: LULA'S HOUSE OF KARE-KARE

 

I like neighborhood restos. Most are unpretentious and cozy. It's like having lunch at your house but not. Had the chance to eat at Lula’s House of Kare-kare, along Major Dizon Street in Marikina. It’s usually a quiet street unless the Katipunan traffic goes into overdrive and motorists find themselves taking a short cut to Marcos highway via this residential area.

Since the resto owner tagged itself as a  "House of Kare-kare," I expected a selection of Kare-kare but there was only one- oxtail. My expectations were raised. After all, if you named your resto after one dish, then it must be truly outstanding.

So when it came, warm and neatly presented in a white ceramic bowl, I quickly spooned a portion into my plate, along with the bagoong.

The dish was a classic concoction of oxtail, tripe and vegetables in a peanut-based stew with a side of bagoong alamang. The orange-brown broth was bright and appetizing but watery and not as 'malapot' as what I'm used to. The peanut-y taste was not evident so I'm guessing they either used freshly ground peanuts or imported peanut butter which  tends to be blander. 

I would probably eat there again but I can think of other restaurants that serve Kare-kare I would truly crave.

LULA'S HOUSE OF KARE-KARE

8 Pres. Roxas St. cor. Major Dizon St.

Industrial Valley Subdivision,  Marikina City

 

#FOOD4THOUGHT

TRIED AND TASTED: RE-DISCOVERING POCKY AND ITS NEW FLAVORS

Back in my 20's, I took my first trip abroad to Hongkong.  In those days, airline promo fares were non-existent and travel was a luxury even for my middle class family. It was for work and my boss had generously booked me a business class seat ( jackpot!). I made sure to prepare everything ahead of time. 

Image courtesy of www.discoverhongkong.com

On the day of the flight, everything that could go wrong went wrong. I couldn't get a cab for about an hour. On the way, a truck had fallen over and traffic stood still for three hours.  And it was before the advent of the mobile phone so I had no way of calling my boss who, I was very sure, would fire me the next time she sees me. StillI plodded on and after 5 hours, I got to the airport. The plane had left and I was left on my own to re-book my flight, contact my boss and get my ass to Hongkong. I did all that while think up ways of how to beg and grovel at my boss' feet when I finally see her.

It was already dinner time when I finally reached Kai Tak Airport. I was going to have to find the hotel on my own, have my dollars changed to the local currency and check in with the Manila office to see if my boss had fired me and I should just go straight back to Manila. Hungry, I saw a Watson's stall and picked a box of the only thing that looked good to me- a box of pretzels dipped in chocolate. Pocky.

The name sounded funny, like the Filipino word for vagina. But I didn't want to spend any of my money as there was still a chance that  I was already jobless. I bought the box and just like in a TV commercial, the first bite just made me smile.  Things went right after that. I found a kind cab driver who could speak in English, and when I got to the hotel, my boss was in a good mood and didn't fire me.  Pocky had become like my lucky-charm and feel-good food.

Just today, I got boxes of Pocky's new flavors: Matcha, Cookies & Cream and, Banana.

The Matcha flavored pretzel sticks approximates the non-commercial taste of the green tea chocolates you find in Japanese wet markets like Tsukiji. I'm not a big fan of matcha chocolate but this one has that right after taste, a mix of slight bitterness from the tea which balances the sweetness of the chocolate.

The Cookies and Cream variant is just your regular chocolate dip, the cookies are too small (since the sticks are too thin to hold anything bigger than a grain of salt). Not very exciting for me. But if you're a fan of this combination, you'd probably like it. 

The Banana-flavored variant is my favorite among the three. It tastes and smells like Tokyo Banana, a sponge cake that is popular as a souvenir sweet in Japan. This is a treat for sweet-toothed snack lovers. 

HAWAII (AND SEAFOOD) ON MY MIND

The full moon hanging in the dark night sky, its light reflecting in the calm waters of the sea. A basket in my hands, waiting for small crabs to emerge from their sandy holes. My cousins and I squeal in delight as we trap the crustaceans rushing to the foams of seawater rolling in the shore.

This is the first memory I have of close encounters with crabs. I grew up enjoying the hard-shelled crustaceans boiled, broiled or battered.  And whenever I come across crab that I enjoy thoroughly, I always remember that night when I was seven at the beach in my father's hometown.

Back in 2009, I had the chance to visit Hawaii and taste one of the best crabs I had ever come across.

Hawaii looked and felt very much like the Philippines but with wider streets and outdoor airconditioning. Think Subic structures, with the view of Ilocos and  Baguio weather. I did the touristy things like visit the Polynesian Cultural Center where I got a taste of native Hawaiian delicacies like poi, made of mashed kalo (or taro). Unlike the ube, poi is not eaten sweet but usually with meat.

I'm an amateur when it comes to posing for the camera!

Also visited the Pearl Harbor and rode a submarine to see porpoise swimming amidst World War II wreckage.

Where does the crab come in?

At the Blue Water Shrimp and Seafood shack along Kuiho Avenue. Found this place when my travel buddy and I were trying to find our way back to the hotel after a morning of swimming at the Waikiki beach. People were lined up in front of a bus-turned-food truck, eagerly waiting for their food. That was a sign that this place served good food. So we lined up, too.

We had a look at what other people were having and ordered the Ahi and Garlic shrimp platter which was served with a trio of carbs- rice, corn and garlic bread.  The shrimps and fish were grilled and the Ahi was coated in black sesame.

We also shared a plateful of Garlic Clams. Buttery, garlicky and with a bit of tang coming from the fresh tomatoes which it was sauteed with.

Then I saw them serve up snow crabs to the lady beside me. Couldn't help myself and ordered one for myself. It was the best decision I ever made in Hawaii. Snow crabs tend to be thinner and less fleshy than the alimasag (blue crabs) that are commonly found in Philippine we markets. They are named such since these long-legged crustaceans are often found in cold northern oceans. They were simply boiled and that brought out the freshness. I could taste the subtle sweetness of the flesh underneath the saltiness, a sign of freshness in seafood.

When food is this good, it makes you want to come back. So was thinking of Hawaii a few hours back and went searching for this food truck and sadly found out that they have closed.  It's a pity but I'm just glad that I got an honest taste of Hawaii when I had the chance.

#FOOD4THOUGHT