thịt kho tàu 3.0

Third iteration of this dish, which I first made about two decades ago. Still cooking as of this writing, but I think it's going well. An IG post will prove it. I used to call this thit heo kho, but apparently that is a more general term for braised pork stew. This is the more precise name, which refers to this dish cooked in caramel, fish sauce and coconut water. 

INGREDIENTS

1kg pork belly, cubed (adobo cut)

1 cup sugar (brown or muscovado preferred)

3/4 cup fish sauce

1/4 cup water

1 onion, minced

1 garlic, minced

500mL coconut water 

6 hard-boiled eggs

1. Heat the sugar in a large pot over low heat, stirring often to prevent burning. This will take a while and a bit of effort, but trust the process and the sugar will eventually turn into a syrupy caramel (try not to burn the thing). 

2. Mix the fish sauce and water and put it into the pot. This will cause your hard-worked syrup to solidify into a salty, fishy clump of candy, but trust the proccess. Continue cooking the "candy" into the fish sauce liquid until it is all dissolved. 

3. Put the onion and garlic into the pot and cook until it's aromatic. Some recipes call for cinnamon and star anise at this point, but I like to keep it simple. 

4. Now this is a tip from Tra's mom: turn off the heat, put the pork into the pot and let it marinate for 30 minutes. It will cool down, yes, but that's the point. 

5. Pour in the coconut water and simmer over low to medium heat for about 30-40 minutes,  

6. In the last 5-ish minutes of simmering, add the hard-boiled eggs. 

Serve with steamed rice and greens. 

World of Food in World of Tanks Blitz

So I've been hooked on World of Tanks Blitz (WoT) lately, playing on the Nintendo Switch. For those familiar with the game, one aspect of improving tank performance is to purchase provisions which can improve characteristics like defensive capability, repair speed, or shooting/aiming speed. One of these provisions is food to give to the tank crew, and what makes it interesting is that the food for each nation reflects its cuisine. I really won't go into WoT details here -- iykyk -- but here is the list of nations and their corresponding culinary provisions (note that WoT features tanks from around the 1920s to the 70s, so there are some nations that do not exist anymore):

Some thoughts: 

• I like the attention to cuisines. WoT could've just put anyonymous MREs for provisions, but they changed it by each nations' cuisines. 
• Especially interesting are the Eastern European ones where they featured very hearty stews and soups for premium provisions. It's not always I learn more about a cuisine through a shoot-em-up game.  
• Asian cuisine is well represented in China and Japan, although the practicality of having Peking duck -- delicious as it is -- on the battlefield is questionable. But the onigiri is spot on. 
• WoT was just lazy with Germany and the USA. I mean from cola to more cola, or from chocolate bar to better chocolate bar? Really? 
• WoT must hate the Italians. There was so much to choose from, and they went with cinnamon rolls -- a pastry one wouldn't necessarily associate with Italy -- and a whole wheel of what I think is Parmegiano Reggiano but called "Cheesehead."
• The USSR selection was also disappointing. Condensed milk is fine -- I could imagine them actually having it in their tanks -- but Extra Field Rations? Soviet cuisine offers quite a lot. I'd have gone with Uzbek plov or Georgian khachapuri for premium provisions. 
• The food for the Brits and French was fine, if a bit stereotypical. Although I understand the Brits do have a hot water dispenser in their tanks for teatime.
• Grilled salmon for the Swedes was a bit lazy too, but plus points for drawing the salmon very deliciously.  
• General "rations" for Hybrid Nation is practical. I mean, choosing any real dish would imply a source or cuisine and therefore a nation.  
• If the Philippines were a WoT nation, I'd go with kapeng barako (liberica beans coffee) for 3% and binalot (adobo, egg, tomatoes and rice wrapped in banana leaf) for 10%. They're morale boosters and practical on the field. Hey, if the Chinese could get Peking duck and the Czechs could get goulash, then adobo binalot is par for the course. 

Next in the Galley: Yema

Yema is one of those Filipino conventual sweets, to use a term I recently picked up from Portugal. The name means egg yolk in Spanish and is the main ingredient in this dessert. Other Filipino conventual sweets are brazo de Mercedes, pianono, and leche flan: eggy and sugary desserts that were created to use leftover egg yolks after the whites have been used to make a cathedral or two. This recipe is how my Dad used to do it. 

Ingredients
4 egg yolks
1 can condensed milk
1/2 bar of butter
orange or lemon zest

Constantly stir egg yolks, condensed milk, and butter over low heat. Add zest towards the end.

Some recipes online call for 10 egg yolks for the same amount of condensed milk, but I'll try this tested recipe first.

It's suggested to let the resulting paste cool down, form them into balls (or other shapes) and roll them on sugar so they don't stick. But whenever my Dad made these we'd just take spoons and eat them straight from the pot.

Update (21/05/2020): It's been three months since I said I was gonna make yema but I haven't done it yet. Since then the world has gone upside down and we're just 2 weeks away from the end of a 2-month circuit breaker (SG's term for lockdown). But despite my lack of progress on yema, I am now setting my sights on the rather more challenging pão de ló de Alfeizerão. I see a fairly feasible recipe here: https://www.notquitenigella.com/2019/06/03/pao-de-lo-authentic-portuguese-sponge-cake/ and https://claradesousa.pt/receita/pao-de-lo-de-alfeizerao/ and http://portuguesediner.com/tiamaria/pao-de-lo-de-alfeizerao/

Let's see what the next update will bring.

El Auténtico Pato Manila, a misnomer

So I came a cross this restaurant from the post of a Mexican colleague. Of course, as a native of Metro Manila I got curious.

El Auténtico Pato Manila (see their IG and FB) is a restaurant in Mexico City that specialises in duck tacos in a casual setting. From this post it seems the duck is done Peking-style and "tasted like China." The restaurant also seems to have a lot of Chinese imagery, including portraits and busts of Mao.

Apart from the name, there seems to be nothing in the restaurant's concept or cuisine that is anywhere close to Manila or the Philippines. While I would love to have Peking duck tacos in Manila, I don't think this dish can be found even in the Chinese-Filipino districts of Binondo or Greenhills (although it should be because Peking duck tacos sound amazing). Moreover, Manila has been associated with many images, some better than others, but Mao has never been one of them.

A few questions ran across my mind with this restaurant. Can't they really distinguish between Manila and Beijing? Are Filipinos and Chinese (and Japanese and Malaysians and Lao and...) one and the same for them? Is this a gross misrepresentation of Filipino cuisine, which itself has Chinese and Mexican influences (Filipino tamales and champorado are already Chinese-Mexican fusion dishes)? As someone who is from Manila, how should I feel about this?

Well, I wasn't offended. If anything I was amused. I found it funny to have so many misnomers on so many levels in a restaurant's name. I thought it was good for Manila to get credit for what looks like an awesome duck taco. But I was also concerned it would give Mexicans an inaccurate picture of what Filipino cuisine is and their contributions to it. I could also imagine some members of the Politburo taking offence at using Mao's name and image in vain.

But, overall, if this restaurant helps increase Mexicans' curiosity about Filipino (and Chinese) cuisine, then more power to them. Hopefully it gets one or a few customers to search how Manileños do their duck tacos, and be bemused with the results. If the restaurant is interested, I'll be happy to give them tips on how to make things more Manila-authentic.

Food Trips 2

Featuring food from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Singapore, and Turkey. In chronological order; i.e., as I ate them. See the pictures here.

Bishkek, Day 1

Erkindik (Freedom) monument on Ala-Too Square, Bishkek

Currency: Kyrgyz Som (KGS)

USD 1 = KGS 43.40; KGS 1 = PHP 1.11

It is Sunday today so I have one rest day in Bishkek before the work starts tomorrow. I arrived at FRU around 2:30am today but got out of the airport around one hour after because of the long lines for visa on arrival and immigration. Tourist season + inefficient immigration procedures = nightmare.

The weather here is very pleasant, around 30C right now but at night it's about 20C. As I wrote during my last time here, Bishkek is a very walkable city. We just spent the last few hours walking around the city centre and the main city landmarks, which are near the Silk Road Lodge in which where we are staying. Not a bad small hotel, although I think it's quite overpriced given its amenities (EUR 105/night). I would've liked to post more of the pics I took today, but the hotel internet is EUR 4.00 for every 100MB of traffic.

Had lunch at the Arzu Cafe, around five minutes walk from the hotel. It serves good Central Asian food-- we had plov (below), mutton shashlik, and shorpo, all washed down with Stella Artois beer made in Kyrgyzstan (much better than the original, in my opinion).

I also bought qute a few grocey items at the Beta Stores, which is a 15-minute walk from the hotel. Beta Stores is a relatively upscale supermarket/department store in Bishkek, but a lot of products are very cheap compared to the costs in Manila. Here are a few price indicators:

1.5 litres mineral water = KGS 17.00

95 grammes fruit yoghurt = KGS 11.00

50 grammes green tea (in 25 tea bags) = KGS 28.00

1 kilo shelled walnuts, unsalted = KGS 351.00

1 kilo dried sultanas = 208.00

Mass-Produced Goodness

Mass-production and good food are two concepts you don't often see in the same sentence, but here are a few products that made them compatible. See the pictures here.

Hung Wan Cafe & Bakery Shop

My Dear and I ate at a lot of places when we went to Hong Kong but the one place we miss the most is this bakeshop, located just across the Metropark Hotel Mongkok where we stayed. We were hooked on the place after I bought a few buns and an egg tart on a whim, and it quickly became our daily breakfast place.

The venue itself isn't really much: think old-school small Chinese restaurant complete with dingy never-been-scrubbed walls and tiles and, if they had a restroom, you'd probably not want to use it. Really a hole-in-the-wall kind of place, the kind that probably existed since the 1920s, possibly even earlier, and has never been touched by any kind of interior design. It's the kind of place that won't be on any tourist map-- the Hong Kong Tourism Board won't exactly consider its grimy interiors as the island's best representative-- but it is very popular with the locals, who we see every morning when we have breakfast. It's the kind of place that has been around forever making the same things over and over until perfection; unfortunately, cleanliness and ambience aren't among their priorities.

The staff are friendly and they try to accommodate, but they don't speak any English. The menus aren't in English either. If, like us, you don't speak a word of Chinese, ordering will be done via pointing, gestures, and, mercifully, a few common English words. In our case, that one English word was "coffee". Regular tea is served on the house. Oh, bring a jacket-- the aircon is always on full Arctic blast even if it's 20C outside.

Its menu is not so varied-- noodles, baked buns (sweet and savoury), pastries-- but the few things they make they make very well. Our favourite is what we call in Manila as Spanish bread: golden brown top with sesame seeds; perfectly chewy texture; right amount of butter, sugar, and dessicated coconut for filling. They also make great egg tart (nice crumbly crust, subtly flavoured custard) and ham and egg bun (they don't scrimp on the ham or egg)-- in fact, everything we ordered was just superb. By some mysterious method, Hung Wan got the texture of their bread just right. Hong Kong, by the way, makes great breadstuffs, and Hung Wan was the best of them all. Each order of bun or pastry costs between HKD 4 to HKD 7; the Spanish bread costs HKD 5.

The coffee, which is the only drink we knew how to order, wasn't too bad either. Each order is freshly brewed using what looks like an old cheesecloth which has seen better days and some pre-War-looking metal pitchers and steamers. Only old-school coffee making here; no espresso machines in sight. Ordering "coffee" means you're served coffee with heavy cream and sugar already mixed in. I actually prefer black coffee, but I didn't know how to order it in Chinese. In any case, the standard coffee, which costs HKD 10 a cup, is quite thick and heavy-- the closest analogue I can think of is that thick Spanish-style hot chocolate. No coffee in Starbucks has this depth of texture. It was pretty good, actually, and really picked us up for a long day of walking.

Bottomline, best bakeshop ever. If you can get over the looks of the place. Here are the scores:

Quality = 9.0
Size = 7.5
Taste = 9.5
Ambience = 2.0
Service = 6.0
Value = P406.90
Price = HKD 20 = P133.60
Sulit Rating = 2.91 > 1

Here's their address and contact info, lifted from their takeaway plastic bag:

Hung Wan Cafe & Bakery Shop
726 Shanghai St., Mongkok, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Tel. 2392-6038, 2393-7852

See the pictures (and this review) here.

Hong Kong and Macau: Food Pics

See the pictures on my Multiply site here.

Hong Kong, Day 2: Stinky Tofu

It's our second day in Hong Kong (see previous posts here and here) and our feet are killing us.  Started the day with some breakfast at a Honk Kong-style pastry shop then went up to The Peak, followed by some brief shopping at Causeway Bay, a long walk along Nathan Road, and a lot of shopping at Ladies' Market (see my Dear's post here).

We've had a lot of good meals here at the Fragrant Harbour and hopefully I'll get to writing about them soon, but as the title suggests this post is about my experience with stinky tofu.  I've heard a lot about this delicacy from travel show hosts, particularly Andrew Zimmern, Anthony Bourdain, and Janet Hsieh.  It's reputed to be one of the world's more adventurous foods, often placed in the same level of funkiness with balut and century egg. Now, I like balut and century egg, so I thought stinky tofu shouldn't be that bad.

So there I saw stinky tofu on one of the street stalls around the Ladies' Market, deep fried and sitting on a strainer-- two large, greasy pieces skewered on bamboo satay sticks cost HKD 15.00.  It was crisp and golden brown, not unlike the other deep-fried tofus we get at Chinese restaurants or at home.  It did start reeking its fermented smell at that point, but it's still ok.  Nothing horrid. Yet.

The real assault starts on the first bite-- it has the same texture as other fried tofu, but with the taste of what I think would be the taste of thick cotton socks used for one week straight on a trek through a humid jungle then left in a cupboard with raw fish for a month.  No, I have to correct myself-- the stinky tofu was worse than that.  

Being true to Zimmern's philosophy I finished one piece, which was all I could take.  I just had to throw away the other one, and if you know me you'll know that's something I do not do with a light heart.  The worst part was the aftertaste-- it stays with you in your stomach for a long time and, several hours and more than a few drinks and dishes after, I can still taste it especially when I have a burp.

So, yes, my adventurous tastebuds have met their match.  I wouldn't want to have to eat (or smell) stinky tofu again, but I have to say I'm glad I tried it.  At least I can relate with Zimmern, Bourdain, or Hsieh when they say how disgusting it is.  Being a foodie isn't all about gourmet dishes and haute cuisines.  Sometimes, well, stinky tofu happens.

Ethiopian Pork We't

My version of we't (also written as wot or wat), the classic Ethiopian stew.  My Dear and I first tried this dish at Ziggurat, which was more authentic and made of chicken (doro we't).  According to this article, Ethiopians don't eat pork, so there's my first departure from tradition.  Second, this dish should be made with spiced clarified butter (niter kibbeh) and garnished with hard-boiled eggs.  What makes this pork dish we't-style, however, is the cooking method for the onions and the use of berbere spices.

Ingredients:

1/2 kilo pork, cubed (menudo cut is best, but I used adobo cut)

2 medium onions, finely chopped

1/3 cup vegetable oil (avoid olive oil as it has a strong flavour)

approx. 1/8 cup berbere spices*, depending on taste

3 medium potatoes, cubed

3 eggplants, cubed

1 lemon

2 cups water

1.  Prior to cooking, marinate the pork in lemon juice.

2.  Cook the onions in an ungreased stew pot until their are dark brown and mostly dry, stirring often to avoid burning.  Remove the pot from the fire from time to time if the heat gets out of hand.  This process, which caramelises the onions that will form the base of the sauce, is an essential step in making we't.

3.  Pour in the cooking oil and berbere spices and mix well.  Chuck in the pork and potatoes and fry until pork changes colour.  

4.  Pour in the water, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and leave to simmer.  Braise the pork for about an hour until most of the liquid has reduced.

5.  When the water has mostly evaporated put in the eggplants and continue cooking until they are done. 

For a more traditional we't: (1) use chicken or lamb instead of pork, (2) replace the oil with butter, and (3) put some whole hardboiled eggs during the last 5 to 10 minutes of cooking.  This should be served with some injera bread, but pita bread will do.  Since we already broke more than a few traditions, we ate our we't with steamed rice.

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* You can make your own berbere spice mix with cayenne pepper (or any chilli powder), paprika, black pepper, ginger powder, and ground coriander.  The cayenne pepper and paprika should make up most of the spice mix, then add the other spices according to taste.

Doenjang Jjigae (된장찌개)

Made this dish for my Dear a few weeks ago to help cure her colds.  Basically a spicy vegetable stew (jjigae) made with fermented bean paste, or doenjang.  Like most stews, proportions depend mostly on taste, so I'm not bothering with measurements.  Just throw everything into a pot, boil, taste, and adjust as you go along.

Ingredients:

doenjang*

kimchi**

firm tofu, cubed

cauliflower, chopped

water

1.  Put everything into a pot and bring to a boil; cook until cauliflow achieves desired texture.  Taste from time to time and adjust flavours.  

2.  That's it.

Serve piping hot, ideally in a heated ceramic bowl like here.  Cook with some pork belly chunks or bone for a richer soup. 

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* I got 1/2 kilo of good doenjang from Gourdo's for P80.

** Although kimchi jjigae also exists, my Korean colleague tells me they don't make a jjigae with both doenjang and kimchi as flavour bases.  To be more authentic, replace the kimchi with chilli flakes.

Jamaican Jerk Porkchops

"Jerk" does not refer to the one cooking but to the jerk spice mix from Jamaica.  "Jerk" in this case comes from the Quechua charqui, which means dried meat and is the origin of the word "jerky", that staple of, er, people who can probably relate to Larry the Cable Guy.  Jerk spices, whose main ingredients are ground allspice and chilli powder, are used to cure dried meat and as a dry rub for barbecues.

Ingredients:

pork chops, butterfly cut

Jamaican jerk spice mix*

red bell peppers

soy sauce (optional)

Worcestershire sauce (optional)

vegetable oil (optional)

1.  Rub the spice mix on both sides of the pork chops.  For more flavour, marinate the meat in some soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce before rubbing in the spice mix.

2.  Slice the bell peppers and lay them on the pork chop so they cover half of the area; fold over the pork chop (hence, the use of the butterfly cut).  You will have some pork chop "sandwiches" with bell pepper and spices in the middle.

3.  Grill until well done; better to use a contact grill so that you will blacken the pork chop.  For more flavour and added moisture, drizzle some oil on the pork prior to grilling.  Take care not to overcook them, lest they dry out.

Serve with steamed rice and a side of salad.

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* Most important elements are equal parts allspice and chilli powder (e.g., cayenne pepper).  You may also add other dried herbs and spices such as black pepper, paprika, thyme, garlic, onion, ginger, or cinnamon.

Estofado de San Miguel

Spanish-style pork stew with chorizos, potatoes, and three kinds of chiles (bell peppers, dried arbol chiles, and paprika), cooked in San Miguel beer.  I just made this up, but I'm sure there's a traditional recipe just like this somewhere in Spain.  Gave me a chance to use one of the Tefal stew pots we got for our wedding (thanks, Law friends).

Ingredients:

1/2 kilo pork, cubed (adobo cut)

2 long links Spanish chorizos (raw, not dried), sliced into chunks

1/3 kilo potatoes, cubed

3-5 bell peppers (depending on size), chopped

1 bottle San Miguel beer

1 garlic, chopped

1 onion, chopped

3-5 dried chile pods (dried chile flakes could also be used)

1/2 cup vinegar

1/4 cup canola or olive oil

coarsely ground black peppercorns

paprika

fennel seeds

laurel leaves

1.  Heat up the cooking oil in a stew pot and fry the dried chiles, ground peppercorns, laurel leaves, and fennel seeds until you start to smell them.  Add garlic and onion until they start to brown.

2.  Add chorizos; this will cool down the pot so wait for the temperature to go back up.  Fry chorizos until lightly cooked and oil turns red; add bell peppers.  If you have time, it would be good to roast then peel the bell peppers prior to cooking.

3.  Add pork and cook until lightly brown or at least until the pork loses its raw colour.

4.  Add potatoes and paprika.  Bring the pot temperature back up and make sure potatoes are well coated with oil.

5.  Pour in vinegar and beer, making sure there is enough liquid to cover the pork, etc.  Quickly bring pot to a boil then bring it down to a simmer.  Cover pot.

6.  Let the stew simmer for about an hour or until most of the liquid has reduced and you are left with a reddish sauce.

Serve with steamed rice and some greens.

This dish is very amenable to reheating as the flavours become stronger after time in the ref; best to reheat in a broiler so you get some crusty bits. I learned to make these kinds of dishes during my severely budget-constrained MA days, but back then I'd put a lot more potatoes than pork to extend the number of servings.  After the pork has gone the tasty potatoes and sauce can be turned into an instant Spanish omelette.

Sunday Lunch

Sundays are a great day to stay in and cook, free from the busy hours of weekdays and the errands of Saturdays.  I usually set aside Sundays to make slow-cooking stews that we'll eat the rest of the week, sometimes in different reincarnations.  This Sunday, however, my Dear prepared for us a Filipino-Korean lunch, which, unholy as it sounds, actually worked.  I helped, of course, though it felt new to me to be relegated to prepping in what used to be my own kitchen.

For the Korean part, we had a side dish of sukjunamul (숙주나물), which is basically blanched mung bean sprouts seasoned with minced garlic, sesame oil, ground black pepper, vinegar, and soy sauce.  We put in a tad too much garlic on this one, resulting in a pretty pungent sukjunamul which I liked but my Dear found quite overpowering.

The main course was boiled-then-fried Tuguegarao longganisa, named after the capital city of Cagayan Province.  Compared to the more famous Vigan longganisa, the Tuguegarao longganisa has bigger links, a more yellow colour (thanks to atsuete), and a milder garlic taste.  To serve, they are first boiled in water to fully cook the sausage and render the fat; the links are pricked so they won't burst.  After the water has evaporated you are left with sausage links frying in their own fat, which then browns the longganisas.  

After cooking, we ate the sukjunamul and longganisa with steamed brown rice.  Although both dishes were strongly garlicky, they presented the ingredient differently-- raw and pungent on the sukjunamul while sweet and mild in the longganisa.  The fresh taste of the bean sprouts also complemented the fatty richness of the pork sausage.  For dessert we had some fresh lakatan bananas, all washed down with senna leaf tea.

E&M: Our Reception

So the big day was yesterday.  We had dinner with around 40 guests at Alba Restaurante Español on Tomas Morato in Quezon City.  Here's our buffet spread (photos to follow, courtesy of my friend johnnydu):

Tapas (Appetisers):

Tabla de Embutidos-- various Spanish cold cuts

Pescado Vinaigretta-- raw fish marinated in a vinaigrette (basically a kinilaw)

Coca Mallorca-- Mallorcan pie, quite similar to a pizza

Champignon al Ajillo-- mushrooms in garlic sauce

Croquetas de Pollo-- fried chicken croquettes

Calamares y Rabas Fritas-- battered and deep-fried squid (with tentacles)

Albondigas-- Spanish-style meatballs

Sopa: Caldo de Mallorca-- soup of chorizos, morcillas, beans, and cabbage

Ensalada: Ensalada Catalunia--salad of lettuce, carrots, jamon serrano, and parmesan cheese

Pasta: Espaguetis dela Casa-- Alba's house spaguetti; sauce of tomatoes and fried chorizos, topped with parmesan cheese

Verdura (Vegetable Course): Berenjenas al Horno-- roasted eggplant baked with anchovies and three kinds of cheese

Paellas:

Paella Valenciana-- Valencian paella with pork, seafood, and vegetables

Paella de Pollo Finas Hierbas-- chicken paella with fine herbs

Platos (Main Courses):

Lengua Sevillana-- ox tongue with mushrooms and olives in a sherry brown sauce

Cochinillo Asado-- oven-roasted suckling pig

Tuhod y Batoc-- stewed ox kneecap and chuck in brown sauce

Caldereta de Cabrito-- goat stew in a tomato-based spicy sauce

Pollo al Ajillo-- chicken in garlic sauce

Pescado a la Vizcaina-- fish in a tomato-based sauce

Rosbif Español-- sliced roast beef with gravy

Postres (Desserts):

Canonigo-- soft meringue (like the whote part of a brazo de mercedes) with a custard sauce

Torta de Sta. Teresa-- torte with almonds and yema (candies egg yolk balls)

Lemon Squares-- tangy lemon pudding on a thin crust

Frutas-- watermelon and pineapple

Spice Trade

There was a time when spices were so expensive in Europe that they were more expensive than gold.  After centuries of subsisting on salt, herbs, and cheeses to flavour their food, Europeans couldn't get enough of exotic Eastern spices when these were introduced by Arab merchants.  This hunger eventually forced Europeans to find alternatives to the Arab spice monopoly, bringing in the Age of Exploration, the "discovery" of the New World and the Philippines, and eventually colonisation and all the problems it generated.

Fast-forward to today where mass production means spices are affordable by everyone and globalisation means they're potentially available everywhere.  Thanks to these economic forces of our day, here's what I got from my last Bay Area trip, and how I plan to use them:

7 Spices-- Arab spice mix, also known as bokharat; stews, rub for roasts

Berbere-- Ethiopian spice mix; stews, rub for roasts

Cayenne Pepper-- ground Mexican cayenne pepper (really a chilli powder); seasoning

Chile Arbol-- Mexican dried chile, hot; stews, sauces

Chile Chipotle-- Mexican dried chile, hot; stews, sauces

Chile Pasilla-- Mexican dried chile, mild; stews, sauces, for stuffing

Furikake-- Japanese condiment mix; rice topping

Jerk Spices-- Jamaican spice mix; rub for roasts

Kabsah Spices-- Arab spice mix; stews, stock base for rice

Ras El Hanout-- Arab spice mix, literally meaning "head of the shop"; stews, rub for roasts

Shichimi Togarashi-- Japanese seven-spice mix; seasoning, rice topping

Sumac-- ground Iranian sumac fruit; seasoning, stews, rice topping

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By the way, for the English nuts out there, here's a guide on the proper usage of chile, chili, and chilli:

Chile refers to the pod of the Capsicum genus of plants; e.g., habanero chile.

Chili refers to the Latin American or Southwestern dish made with meat and beans; e.g., chili con carne.

Chilli refers to the ground spice sold as a seasoning or in a mix; e.g., chilli powder.

Terry Selection (2)

I first blogged about Terry Selection it more than a year ago when I first tried the restaurant (read it here), but after several visits I think it's worth another review.  

After several weeks of craving for Spanish food, particularly for some paella and any rustic potaje, my Dear and I had dinner at Terry Selection (see their partial menu here).  Being tucked deep in the basement of Podium actually works for Terry as it feels more like a private and quiet nook instead of your usual noisy and frenetic mall restaurant.  The interior has a more modern feel, which is unusual for Spanish restaurants which tend to go for traditional (or even medieval) decor.  Service is efficient and professional with a bit of stoic.  However, this branch does not have its own restroom and the nearest one is a bit of a walk away.

Here's what we ordered during our last visit:

Lentejas Castellanas (P250)-- a pottage (i.e., potaje) of lentils, chorizos, jamon Serrano, and hardboiled egg served with garlic rice in an oven-hot cazuela.  It's a very classic and rustic Spanish dish, something you'd expect to be served in a farmhouse restaurant.  The lentils take on the strong taste of the sausages, which goes well with the bland rice.  I actually did not expect it to come with rice as it wasn't indicated in its picture on the menu, but it was ok.

Super Paella Parellada (P540, for two)-- the classic Spanish saffron rice dish garnished with pork, seafood, chorizos, pimenton, mushrooms, and peas.  Technically, though, this isn't paella because it isn't cooked in a paellera; rather, this version is cooked in a sizeable cazuela.  But despite that technicality, this version of paella is quite sumptuous and is indeed good enough for two fairly sized appetites.  The rice was amply infused with the flavours of the saffron and chorizo, neither bland nor overpoweringly salty.  Overall a good paella and more than adequate to hit my craving.  However, I have to say that my all-time favourite paella is still Mingoy's Paella Española, which I've loved since grade school so there might be a little nostalgia in this statement.  

In our last visit we managed to keep the bill below P1,000, so it is possible to have a satisfying meal below P500 per person.  However, for a complete meal with soup and drinks I'll have to put the price at P650 per person at the minimum.  Here are the scores:

Quality = 9.0
Size = 6.0
Taste = 8.5
Ambience = 7.5
Service = 7.5
Value = P873.55
Price = P650.00
Sulit Rating = 1.34 > 1

As a final note, I repeat what I wrote about Terry Selection more than one year ago:

Bottomline, Terry Selection offers great food, but it ain't cheap. Surely, there are lots of very good and less expensive places out there, but if you love Spanish food and Spanish cured meats this place is worth a visit.

La Cuisine Française in a can

More than elaborate sauces, expensive wines, and Michelin stars, the heart of French cuisine is really the common man's fare: the staple baguette, the hearty cassoulet, the cheap and easy ratatouille.  And of course there's choucroute, which I just tried from a can.

Choucroute is basically sauerkraut from France's Alsace region, which borders Germany.  The name itself is a francicised version of the German dish, from German Sauerkraut to Alsacian Sürkrüt to French choucroute.  Choucroute garnie is choucroute garnished with sausages and ham, and choucroute royale is choucroute made with premium charcuterie and wine.

I first heard of choucroute from Anthony Bourdain, so when I saw a can of it at Rustan's Fresh I just had to buy it.  The big can of choucroute, good for at least two servings, costs around P250.  Made by Belle France CIBON, it is marketed as authentic Alsacian choucroute royale made with Riesling wine.  The charcuterie is composed of two pieces each of smoked pork belly chunks and three kinds of sausages (Montbeliard, Frankfurter, and something that tastes like a mild chorizo).

I did not have particularly high hopes for choucroute coming from a can, so I was pleasantly

 surprised that this one actually tasted good.  The choucroute itself was mildly sour and matched well with the meats; however, it had a greasy aftertaste, surely because of the lard.  I ate it with slices of soft baguette from Annabel Lee (P75 for a big loaf).

At around P125 a serving it is quite expensive for a meal from a can, but it's quite reasonable for the closest thing to authentic French cuisine you can buy from a supermarket.

guisado de chorizos, patatas y berenjenas

A stew of chorizos, potatoes, and eggplants.  I think it sounds better in Spanish.

Ingredients:

2 large links smoked Spanish chorizos (about 250 g)

150 g potatoes

4 medium eggplants

1 garlic, crushed

1 lemon

olive oil

dried chili peppers, crushed

coarsely ground black pepper

paprika

1.  Slice the chorizos about 1 cm thick, cube the potatoes, and cut the eggplants into thick strips.  I recommend using fresh chorizos instead of dried chorizos.  Sprinkle some black pepper and paprika on the potatoes and eggplants.  Heat up some olive oil in a wok.

2.  When the oil is hot enough, fry the chili peppers and black pepper until you start to smell them.  Throw in the garlic and saute until they start to soften.

3.  Cook the chorizos until they're light brown and the oil turns red.  

4.  Throw in the potatoes and stir-fry until they've started to brown but are not yet cooked.  Pour in a cup of water and bring to a simmer.  Add more pepper or paprika as desired.

5.  When around a third or half of the water has evaporated throw in the eggplants and continue cooking until most of the water has reduced and the potatoes and eggplants are cooked, leaving you with a thick oil-based sauce.

6.  Squeeze in the juice of the lemon and continue cooking for about three minutes.  Garnish with fresh parsley or cilantro.

Serve with steamed rice.