Previously in Manila...

Ayala is determined to thoroughly change its landscape and remove all the old landmarks that I used to know. After remodeling Quad/ Glorietta 1 , they have closed down Park Square 1. So say goodbye to Wendy's, Magoo's Pizza and all those little shops that sell cellphone accessories... I swear anyone who has been gone for even a year will get lost in Glorietta.
This was shot from the new location of National Bookstore, which returned to Glorietta 1.

In other news, I was looking for children's books for my Kuya Rocel's kids in the US and found this gem: Ako ay isang mabuting Pilipino by singer/songwiter Noel Cabangon. It's about what every Pinoy should do to help in nation building. It's also written in Filipino AND English. Plus, it features illustrations by Jomike Tejido and they are exqusite paintings on banig as canvas! This will definitely be my giveaway book for my nephews next Christmas!

And finally, here's my mom's version of Chili shrimps, a variation of the Singaporean Chili Crabs. We got this from a Del Monte recipe booklet and I convinced my mom to try it out.
You just saute some garlic, onion and ginger strips then add the shrimps, 200 grams tomato sauce, gata/ coconut milk and siling labuyo/chili.  Finally, stir in one egg. It was heavenly! Mama did not like the coconut milk though. Too savory, for her. Methinks it's funny coz she grew up in Quezon, which is coconut country. Nagsawa siguro! Anyway, you can opt to take out the coconut milk if you don't like it to be too creamy/coconutty. It's still good.

My hainanese chicken



P168 for the personal set. Looks small but is very filling.



Another post that got lost ...I had a hankering for Hainanese chicken on a rainy Tuesday and went to Wee Nam Kee for some roasted chicken. I have really been mesmerized by this dish. I never wanted to go to Singapore before but now I'm tempted to go only because they say the original store's version in the Lion city is even better!



Wee Nam Kee's steamed version

 Ever since I tried it out last year, I have loved hainanese chicken rice even though I didn't like how pale and uncooked it looked. I loved it so much I tried to duplicate it at home. I got some recipes online and while it looks deceptively simple, it is actually very time-consuming (almost 2 hours) and labor intensive.  First, you have to prepare the chicken by rubbing it with salt inside  and out. Then you stuff it with ginger, garlic and green onion before boiling it in water. Looking at the recipe, it actually reminds me of a deconstucted  tinola. The broth is separated from the meat and some of it is used to cook the rice. And some of it is used to make the chili sauce and ginger sauce!


My version

My father said it tasted even better than Wee Nam Kee's version (this may be biased) but for all that trouble, I would rather just order it instead.

3 ways to cook lapu-lapu

Papa has a suki (favored vendor) who sells him lapu-lapu at a very affordable price. That's why we sometimes have dinners like this. The easiest, of course, is deep fried lapu-lapu which tastes absolutely delicious just plainly seasoned with salt and pepper. Another favorite is pesang lapu-lapu, which is simply making a soup out of the fish head with cabbage, pechay, ginger and onion. Perfect for rainy nights and even better when paired with sauteed garlic, onions and tomatoes and patis. And to keep my Papa's cholesterol in check, I also learned to cook steamed lapu-lapu.

Here's how:
Make 2 small slits at both  sides of the fish and season with salt and pepper and about 3 tablespoons of soy sauce. Stuff the slits with chopped ginger and green onion or leeks.(Use ordinary onions as substitute if you run out, like we did. Boo! ) Steam for 30 minutes. Longer for bigger fish. You may also pour some hot oil on it but that would defeat the purpose of a healthy meal. Serve at once! You can also pair it with my Coron sauce.

Filipinos love dipping sauces so here's the perfect sauce for this, inspired by our trip to Coron:

Saute garlic, onion and ginger in a pan. Add half a cup of soy sauce, 1/3 cup of water, 2 teaspoons of sugar   and 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce. Bring to boil and then add some chili flakes or fresh  sliced sili  for an added kick.

turbo boost chicken

nah, it's really turbo -brolied chicken, made by my lola.

first, marinate the chicken with salt, pepper and garlic overnight.

then, mix 1 can of mushroom soup with 1 can of sliced mushrooms. stuff chicken with the mixture and sew the chicken butt shut so the mixture won't spill out.

place the chicken in the turbo broiler or oven. grease sides with butter.zap for 25 minutes at 400(?) degrees celsius. turn over and cook till it is evenly brown.

serve. i tried this last new year but i thought i needed special cooking thread to close the chicken butt, so i used tootpicks instead. not recommended. the mixture oozed out.

How I cook caldereta

Pa casually mentioned that he set aside some beef if I wanted to make caldereta, which I took to mean "cook some caldereta"

So I drizzled the beef with some salt, pepper, garlic and about half a cup of vinegar before reaching for our dog-eared and stained copy of "Filipino cooking here and abroad". Hmmmm, this recipe is probably from the original Spanish version which called for stuffed olives and boiled eggs so I overruled that .

The book said the beef had to marinate for at least an hour or 2 so I went window-shopping at the appliance center, video shop and bookstore before I headed for SM supermarket to buy:

2 carrots

2 small bags of baby potatoes

1 big green bell pepper

500g pack of tomato sauce

1 can of liver spread

a bag of popcorn (for snacking, not for the recipe)

When I got home, the beef had turned pale from the vinegar. I then browned the beef in olive oil before I added some sauted onions and tomato sauce, water, potatos, bay leaf and carrots. I then plopped in front of the TV to watch Project Runway Phils., where my friend Apples is a judge. I would stir the pot occasionally during commercial breaks.

After the hour-long show was over, the beef was still tough so I put on a DVD of Family Guy and snacked on my popcorn.

2 hilarious episode later, I stirred in the liver spread, bell pepper and some leftover packets of pizza hot sauce. After the 3rd episode, the beef had become deliciously tender so I turned off the heat and closed the lid to let the flavors blend into each other.

The carrots and potatoes are part of the Pinoy version, which not only add color to the dish, it makes it healthier, too. Caldereta is really easy to make just as long as you have the ingredients and a little patience.