It was kinda late for dinner at that time and we were famished… As a result, we ordered almost every item on their menu… masiba talaga…

The verdict? I was really surprised because their inasal chicken did not taste special… It’s just like a normal chicken with salt, some soy sauce, and pepper… Don’t get me wrong here, I’m not saying it’s not delicious because it is, but nothing extraordinary, like some people claim. On the other hand, their liempo was excellent! The barbecue and the other “normal” chicken order was also good.

The price of their food is very very cheap… While most chicken inasal costs around 90 to 100 per part, theirs costs 60+.

The resto is worth trying, after all, this is one of the restos Bacolod is proud of. More Bacolod photos here.

I have been planning to cook spareribs for a long time now but haven’t had the courage to do so. I was scared of a “matigas” (hard) na end product. Anyway, since I no longer have veggies in my fridge, I decided to give it a go.

First step is to boil the following ingredients for 40 mins to an hour:

• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 2 cups water
• ¼ kg spareribs
• 2 tablespoons salt
• Pepper
• 4 cloves of garlic

Using a fork, check if the pork is already tender; if so, separate solids from liquid (can be discarded already or turned into an entirely new soup dish). Add the following ingredients to the spareribs and marinate for 10 to 15 mins:

• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• ¼ cup tomato catsup
• Pepper
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 pcs. Chili (siling labuyo)
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons white soda (7-up or sprite)

Heat a pan, add 4 tablespoons of cooking oil. Add a few drops of sesame oil. Add the spareribs along with the marinade. Cook using low heat until brown.

When you have very limited ingredients available in your fridge, you just have to be a bit creative and try to combine what you have in your kitchen. This happened to me last week – when grocery shopping was long overdue.

Ingredients:

• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1/4 kilo scallops
• 10 pieces button mushrooms, chopped
• 2 tablespoons salted butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• salt and pepper

Procedure:

1. Heat pan and pour the olive oil.
2. Add the butter and melt it.
3. Add the garlic and cook until brown.
4. Add the mushroom, scallops, and basil.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes.

This dish is not only easy to cook, it is also unique and yummy.

I must admit, I’m one of those who thinks that making fried rice is difficult and time consuming until last Monday, when I decided to wake up early and give fried rice another chance. I’m surprised because it only took me roughly 20 minutes to cook this complicated-looking dish. So, for those of you who are always in a hurry, feel free to try this recipe out.

Ingredients:

• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 egg, beaten
• 4 cups of cold cooked rice, hand-mashed
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons of sesame oil
• 1 cup of mixed vegetables
• 2 pieces of chinese chorizo, chopped

Procedure:

1. Beat the eggs and season with salt and pepper.
2. Heat a non-stick pan with cooking oil.
3. Saute the garlic until brown and then add the chorizo and mixed veggies.
4. Add the beaten egg and mix until the egg is cooked.
5. Add the rice, season with additional salt and pepper depending on your taste and stir often until cooked.

Timing:

• Preps: 3 minutes
• Step 2 to 4: 5 minutes
• Step 5: 12 minutes

Anyway, here’s what I think of the resto:

First of all, the location is convenient because you can park right outside their restaurant. Secondly, their Monggo na Mayaman is to die for! The place is also awesome because the interiors stayed true to the Filipiana theme and I’m impressed with the implementation.

After that, the good stuff ends because their food serving is very small but expensive and paying an additional 10% service charge isn’t really thrilling.

This is how expensive their dishes are, and I am so hoping that they reassess their rates:

• Their monggo soup costs 240++ for 1 small bowl just enough for 2 people
• Their rib eye bistek costs 340++ for 1 small slice of beef

Aside from Monggo na Mayaman, we also ordered Bistek Filipino but it didn’t taste special and was kind of hard. Lastly, we had to ask for a receipt before they issued us an OR. I mean, every restaurant I know gives a receipt automatically right? Here’s how it happened:

1. Bill came
2. We paid
3. We received our change but the official receipt or even the bill-looking receipt was not there
4. We asked for the receipt but they gave us the bill-looking thing again
5. We were about to leave with that piece of paper but they stopped us
6. The girl at the counter told us that they’ll issue an OR instead

Weird huh?!

For information about 1521, read this article.

———

1521 Restaurant
547 Shaw Blvd., Brgy. Wack- Wack
Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila
Telephone: (+632) 794-0433; (+632) 794-0433
Mobile: (+63917) 8606687 ; (+63917) 8606687
Email: fifteentwentyonerestaurant@yahoo.com

After 27 years of existence, at last, nakarating din sa Bora!!! Thanks to Nes and Ian for inviting us to their wedding kasi kung hindi pa dun, di pa din siguro kame pupunta ng Bora =) During our first day there, hubby and I had our 3pm lunch at Smoke Resto (with Inggo’s recommendation), and no regrets for that

The chicken curry rice topping that husband ordered was superb! I mean, the chicken no longer tasted like chicken (you know how boiled chicken tastes right, that’s what I mean), but tasted totally in sync with the curry. The sauce was perfectly creamy, the chicken, potatoes, and carrots tender and cooked just right.

On the other hand, the sizzling bicol express was behind in quality… too bad. The pork was not tender enough, the dish lacked coconut sauce and it was kind of dry.

Since I really loved their chicken curry, we went back during our last day with friends and ordered Bulalo soup, lechon kawali, spicy kangkong, chicken curry, and buttered shrimp. Here’s what we thought:

• Bulalo soup – others found this great tasting but for me, it was just okay… there were lots of meat though, so I guess it’s worth the price 
• Lechon kawali – yummers!
• Spicy kangkong – tasted sweet instead of spicy due to lack of chili, we forgive Smoke because they warned us beforehand
• Chicken curry – as expected, everyone loved it
• Buttered shrimp – all of us found it ironic that Bora restos failed to serve quality seafood dishes but thank God because we found one resto who did serve fresh shrimps hooraaay!

On another note, don’t expect lavish interiors because Smoke Resto is bordering turo turo slash carinderia kind of resto. But hey, who cares? I don’t, as long as they serve yummy curry, I’ll keep coming back.

As for price range, the rate of their dishes range from Php 80 to Php 200. I think the curry rice topping is approx 120 while the bulalo that fed all 5 of us was around 180 pesos. Totally not bad right?!

————————————

Smoke Resto caters and delivers too. You may contact them at (036) 2886014 and (036) 2884565.

Went back to Antonio’s for the second time and the place looked more beautiful in broad daylight. The food was better than I remembered and the service was above average.

My order: Seafood Sampler @ PHP 1,600

From left to right:

Prawn Thermidor – I think this dish was the best among the three because it gave me the right amount of flavour without becoming too salty, and creaminess without overpowering the natural flavor of the prawn. This dish actually made me regret that I ordered the Seafood Sampler instead of the Mixed Seafood Thermidor

Crispy Cod Fish Glazed with Kombu Sauce on Peppered Egg Noodles – The glazed fish came off a bit too sweet for me and it kinda reminded me of turon (banna fritters). On the other hand, I loved the noodles so much, I think it tasted better than chinese misua being served in popular chinese restaurants.

Pan Seared Scallops on Celleriac Mashed, Truffle Cream Sauce – This tasted delicious but it didn’t offer something new and unique the way the thermidor has; it tasted like a normal scallop ;p

Herb Roasted Rack of Lamb with Cardamon Beurre Blac @ PHP 1,650

Schwein Haxen (Roast Pork Knuckle), Sauerkraut, Chateau Potato, Cabbage @ PHP 1,000

(not sure with this one yet, I’ll have to check)

Organic Free-Range Roast Chicken Leg with Bourbon Tomato and Boiled Potato @ PHP 1,200

My friends were raving for this… its aroma  reminded me of my all-time favorite Fazolis’ chicken.

Mixed Seafood Thermidor (scallops, prawn, mussles, and cod fish) @1,450

*drools* I wish I ordered this instead =(

My order: Sorbet (guava, green mango, lamolime, green apple, watermelon, calamansi) - This tasted like an ice shaved off from an ice candy. After tasting this one, I immediately swapped with Nats because I couldn’t bear eating one more spoon of it.

I swapped Sorbet with Profiteroles with Vanilla Ice Cream, Chocolate Sauce or Caramel Sauce

This one tasted a liitle better because of the bread and ice cream but I did not like the very generic taste of its chocolate. This is so far the best among the dessert offerings of Antonio’s.

Overall, Antonio’s is so worth another visit. Their main course dishes are awesome but don’t expect much on their dessert because you’ll be dissapointed.

I have to admit, I grew tired of cooking, tired of doing house chores, and tired of office work; especially during the times when I know that I am no longer following streamlined processes due to absence of advanced tools and efficient instructions, and existence of pseudo life and death deadlines hmp.

After all those long hours in the office, endless copy and pasting, check-in and check-out, and space deletions, I managed to come up with a new recipe. I’m glad that hb and his boss liked it – a priceless consuelo.

Ingredients:

• 5 to 8 pcs. of asuhos fillet (available in grocery stores)
• Half pack of Nestle cream (approx. 125 ml)
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 4 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
• 4 tbsp. salted butter
• a pinch of nutmeg
• 1 tbsp. basil (fresh or dried)
• All purpose flour
• Cooking oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 egg beaten
• 3 thin slices of cheddar cheese
• 1 tbsp. parmesan cheese
• 1 cup water

Procedure A: Fry the fish.

1. Mix egg, salt, and pepper.
2. Dip the asuhos fillet in the egg mixture.
3. Dip the asuhos fillet in all purpose flour.
4. Deep-fry the asuhos fillet until light brown.

Procedure B: Prepare the sauce.

1. Heat pan and then add olive oil first before adding the butter.
   Tip: Maintain low heat throughout the process.
2. Saute the garlic.
3. Add  the water, cream, cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, pepper, basil, and nutmeg. Mix using a whisk.
4. Add cheddar/parmesan/basil according to taste.
5. Add the asuhos fillet and wait for 5 minutes before turning off the fire.

A yummy surprise greeted me in the office this afternoon =) I was requested by my boss to go to Oceana (our Christmas party venue) and attend food-tasting offered Oceana for the the Christmas party committee of our organization.

As of now, I’m only sharing the pictures of the food we’ve ordered and will give the verdict after our Christmas party because I know there are still room for improvements; after all, the reason for the food-tasting is to get our feedback on how they can improve the taste of the dishes.

Special thanks goes to Carlo for his Nikon D40 camera; and Barbie + Rhenz for the beautiful photos.

  Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Cinnamon, Cream, and Bacon

Pepper Crusted Seared Tuna Nocoise

Pan Roasted Mahi-Mahi Fillets with Pesto Cream Sauce

Penne Pasta with Pancetta Cream, Wild Mushrooms, and Fresh Peas

Beef Pot Roast with Mushroom Bordelaise

 Fresh Mango Tarlets and Creme Brulee

Fresh Mango Tarlets

———————–

Oceana is located at San Miguel by the Bay, SM Mall of Asia Complex. You can contact them at +632 7032515 or visit their site at www.cca-manila.com.

This recipe is similar to those being served in chinese restaurants like Mann Hann, Super Bowl, and many others. I’m not saying that this recipe tastes like the ones served in those restos, I’m just saying ”similar” so you get the picture of the finished product. The taste of dish is not only garlicky, it is a fusion of chinese flavors.

In cooking this dish, you’ll need a steamer like the one in the picture or if your rice cooker has a steamer, that can be used as well. 

Ingredients:

• 1/4 kg fish fillet
• 2 tablespoons Knorr seasoning
• Salt and Pepper
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
  Tip: Use a garlic press for for a tastier output.
• 1 stem of leek, chopped
• 2 teaspoons of grated ginger

 Procedure:

1. In an aluminum foil inside the steamer, place the fish along with the other ingredients.
   
2. Put water at the buttom of the steamer.
3. Cook for around 30 minutes using low heat.

This dish is taught to me by my mom and although it is simple to make, it tastes awesome =D

Ingredients:

• 4 pcs Bisugo
• 1 tomato
• 1 medium sized onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 egg
• salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 cup cooking oil
• 1/2 cup water

Procedure:

1. Season the fish with salt and pepper.
2. In a deep frying pan, fry the fish over high heat until cooked. Set aside.
3. In another pan, add 1 tsp of cooking oil just so you can saute the galic, onion, and tomato.
4. Add the fish, water, soy sauce.
5. Season with salt and pepper according to your taste.
6. Add the beaten egg and bring to boil.

This is another one of my favorite recipes because it is very easy to prepare. You just have to thaw a few slices of salmon, rub it with salt and freshly ground pepper, drizzle a little seasoning and then its off to the oven!

Ingredients:

• Salt
• Pepper
• Knorr seasoning
• Salmon

Procedure:

1. Pre-heat oven for 10 minutes at 190 degrees celcius.
2. Rub salt and pepper to salmon.
3. Drizzle some Knorr seasoning.
4. Put salmon over tray with baking paper and insert the tray to the oven.
5. Wait for 20 minutes more and your pepper crusted salmon is ready.

Woke up a little earlier than usual today to prepare an awesome breakfast for hb =) He has been requesting for fried rice for quite some time now for breakfast instead of bread so I did so today.

Since I have smoked fish in the fridge, I decided to use it in my fried rice instead of the usual chorizo and he seemed quite pleased with the outcome.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of cold cooked rice (kaning lamig), mashed by hands to separate rice grains
• 1 to 2 smoked fish, cut into small pieces
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup mixed vegetables (carrot, peas, corn)
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• Salt and pepper

Procedure:

1. Beat the eggs and season with salt and pepper.
2. Heat pan and add half of the cooking oil and cook the egg.
3. Set aside cooked egg and chop into thin strips.
4. Heat pan again and add the cooking oil.
5. Saute garlic, smoked fish, mixed vegetables, and egg for 2-3 minutes before adding the rice.
6. Season with additional salt and pepper depending on your taste and stir often for 8 more minutes.

In this dish, we want the garlic and butter taste so we will only be using taste enhancers.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup salted butter
• Iodized salt
• Pepper
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 250 grams fish fillet

Procedure:

1. Season fish fillet with salt and pepper.
2. Coat fish fillet with flour.
3. Heat pan and then add the butter. Turn off the fire once the butter has already melted.
   Tip: You can opt to add a little cooking oil to ensure that the butter does not burn.
4. Add the garlic and saute.
5. Once the garlic is already brown, turn on the fire again and then add the rest of the ingredients.
6. Cook over low heat for around 8 to 10 minutes or until the the fish fillet is cooked.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup salted butter
• 1/4 cup leeks (chopped)
• 1 tablespoon spring onion (chopped)
• 1 tablespoon garlic (chopped)
• 1 teaspoon ginger (grated)

Procedure:

1. Heat pan and then add the butter. Turn off the fire once the butter has already melted.Tip: You can opt to add a little cooking oil to ensure that the butter does not burn.
2. Add the garlic and saute.
3. Once the garlic is already brown, turn on the fire again and then add the rest of the ingredients.
4. Cook over low heat for around 5 minutes or until the shrimps turn bright red.Tip: Mix constantly to ensure that all sides of the shrimps are cooked evenly. Do not overcook because the shell of the shrimp will stick to its meat.

Ingredients for the dumplings:

Ingredients for the Soup:

Note: If you are using pork or chicken stock, adding pork bullion cube is optional. Also, if you are adding actual shrimps to the soup, you can omit adding shrimp bullion cube.

If you’re running out of ideas for your luncheon meat, why don’t you try this =) Beautiful grill lines courtesy of my Dowell sandwich maker.

Broccoli is one of those veggies that I have come to like through the years. Not only does it taste good, it is also very nutricious:

• No cholesterol
• High in calcium
• Very high in dietary fiber
• High in iron
• Very high in vitamin A
• Very high in vitamin B6
• Very high in vitamin C

Although it is one of those veggies that can be eaten raw, I prefer it either steamed or stir fried =D  This dish is similar to those often served in chinese restos so you may want to try it.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• Shrimp
• 1 stalk broccoli
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water

Procedure:

1. In a skillet, heat oil.
2. Add garlic and stir fry for 2 mins or until garlic is brown.
3. Add mixture of soy sauce, water, soy sauce, and cornstarch. Mix well.
4. Add shrimps and broccoli and bring to boil.
5. Reduce heat and cook for a few minutes more, until the vegetable is cooked and until the shrimp turns pink.

Sardinella tawilis (sometimes obscurely referred to as the freshwater sardinella) is a freshwater sardine found exclusively in the Philippines. It is unique in that it is the only member of the family Clupeidae that is known to exist entirely in freshwater. Locally, they are known in Filipino as tawilis.

She once told me that tawilis can only be found in Lake Taal and I did not believe her till now… It’s sad to know that tawilis is facing extinction in the near future; sad to see that even tiny tawilis are being sold in the market, I know because I was a patron myself! errr sorry naman…

To all our fishermen, please please please, stop fishing for tiny tawilis and to all our vendors, please do not buy/sell tiny tawilis so that our fishermen would stop getting them.

Anyway, this recipe is called Tawilis Tempura and you’ll be needing the following ingredients:

• Flour
• Egg (seasoned with salt and pepper)
• Bread crumbs
• Tawilis (you can also season the fish with salt and pepper)

Procedure:

1. Coat tawilis with flour.
2. Dip the tawilis into a mixture of salt, pepper, and beaten egg.
   
3. Coat tawilis with bread crumbs.
   
4. Fry in oil until cooked.
   

I personally like it golden brown =)

First post in this category naturally belongs to shrimp (you can also use prawn) because they thaw easily and because it is easy to spot when they’re finally cooked (changes color).

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup salted butter
• 1/4 cup leeks (chopped)
• 1 tablespoon spring onion (chopped)
• 1 tablespoon garlic (chopped)
• 1 teaspoon ginger (grated)

Procedure:

1. Heat pan and then add the butter. Turn off the fire once the butter has already melted.Tip: You can opt to add a little cooking oil to ensure that the butter does not burn.
2. Add the garlic and saute.
3. Once the garlic is already brown, turn on the fire again and then add the rest of the ingredients.
4. Cook over low heat for around 5 minutes or until the shrimps turn bright red.Tip: Mix constantly to ensure that all sides of the shrimps are cooked evenly. Do not overcook because the shell of the shrimp will stick to its meat.

Foods such as curries and barbecues are some of the most enjoyable cuisines that have made Pakistani food popular in the twenty-first century.

Because I cannot seem to think of a name for this dish and because of the quoted statement above, I decided to call this another experiment, the Pakistani Chicken =D Ingredients are as follows:

• 1/4 Kg chicken breast
• 6 to 8 pcs of calamansi
• Around 1/2 cup barbecue sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon of curry powder
• Garlic powder
• Pepper
• Optional: for extra spicy flavor, add green thai chili

1. Prepare the marinade and marinate the chicken to calamansi, barbecue sauce, curry powder, pepper, and garlic flavor for 10 mins.

2. Heat a pan and add the marinade with the chicken.

3. Add your green chili and simmer for 15 minutes. Tip: Slice your green chili for the extra spicy taste.

1. Optional: Fry your espada fish. This step is optional because you can just go ahead and add your uncooked fish later, which will really save you from cooking oil fats.
2. Saute the garlic, onion, and ginger; use only a small amount of ginger because its taste has a tendency to dominate all the other ingredients).
3. Add around 2 teaspoons. of taosi; you do not want to add so much of this because taosi is really salty.
4. Add the fish and leeks then simmer for around 15 minutes.

• Lee Kum Kee Chili Garlic Sauce
• Bell Pepper – sliced into thin strips
• Chicken breast – sliced into thin strips

1. Just stir fry the chicken breast with a teaspoon or two, depending on your tolerance to chili, of the Lee Kum Kee Chili Garlic Sauce.
2. Add bell pepper and cook for around 5 to 10 more minutes before turning off the fire.

Here are the ingredients: • Soy Sauce • Calamansi • Optional: Salt • Pepper

1. Marinate the pork in the mixture of soy sauce, calamansi, garlic, and pepper for around 30 mins. 2. Heat the pan to a very high temperature. Note that cast iron pans are known to be a very good conductor of heat so it is really nice for grilling. 3. Brush small amount of butter to the pan before placing the pork.

4. Cook for around 10mins before turning the pork to the other side and wait for another ten mins before turning off the fire.

• Soy Sauce
• Calamansi
• Pepper
• Garlic powder

1. Marinate thinly sliced beef with this mixture for a few minutes – trust me, no need for lengthy "babad" =D
2. Sear the beef in a skillet then set aside.

Other ingredients:

• Garlic
• Onion
• Sprite or 7-up (this is the secret ingredient)

1. Saute the garlic and then add the beef.
2. Add the marinade mixture.
3. Add around 1 oz of sprite or 7-up, to the skillet, depending on how much marinade sauce you have.
4. Cook until tender.
5. Add the onion and after 2 mins, turn off the fire.

• Chicken (any part, but I used breast here)
• Lemon – half lemon for 1/4 Kg will do
• Pepper
• Salt
• Worcestershire sauce – there should be more of this sauce than lemon
• Garlic
• Rosemary

Steps:

1. Marinade the chicken using the ingredients enumerated above. This should only take 10 to 20 mins.
2. Get the pan from the oven and cover it with Cook n Bake paper. Place the chicken on top.

3. Pre-heat oven for 10 mins with 200 degree celcius temperature.

4. Place the chicken inside the oven and set the timer to 20 mins.

Here’s the finish product =D hope you like it.