Since I spend longer time in Hebei now (read: less cooking, more hotel food), I will start publishing those dishes I cooked few months ago and just got stacked up inside my hard drive. Here’s one, a very simple recipe for lightly fried yet succulent and tender squid rings.
I just got back from Beijing from a week-long on-site job and feel oh so tired. Work was more exhausting and more late nights spent. I was also not in the mood of photographing food like last time but of course, I just have to share some. It was a much-needed break though… not to cook that long. Hopefully tomorrow I’d be back to my normal food blogging.
It’s Chinese culture to drink wine and liquor while dining. And it’s improper to say no to a toast. Lunch time and our Client gave a toast A couldn’t say no to. He gave me his third shot. Ahahaha! 58% alcohol and my head spun around!
Chinese fried noodles, chicken lollipops, baked scallop, spicy pork ribs, celery and shrimp salad.
Spicy chicken curry, steamed shrimps and mussels, steak in pepper sauce, fresh sliced cucumber and cherry tomatoes, steamed green leafy vegetables.
I enjoyed Japanese food very much especially Sashimi.
My recent trip to Hebei’s capital was like taking part in a week-long celebration of a Barrio Fiesta. As we all know, the pinoy fiesta table is overflowing with food served buffet-style. Do check them out before reading this post. … Continue reading Lasang Pinoy 19 – Pork Barbecue
Note: Photo to your left is A‘s ice cream; background shows a view of the capital’s train station.
Day 7 – Thursday
I guess I had too much salad greens and my tummy is so used to my cooking I didn’t feel good on the 7th day. I didn’t have dinner the night before except for a few bites and had a glass of Chinese tea for breakfast. For lunch I decided to skip the fibers and go more meaty and carb. Slices of deep-fried crispy pork, deep-fried duck, Urimqi-flavored lamb, barbequed eel and fried Chinese noodles. I just can’t help but get Waldorf salad and a piece of that delightful cream puff topped with peaches.
Day 5 – Tuesday
Day 5, which was exactly a week ago, was still a busy day. For lunch on our fifth day, mixing appetizer and main course is as natural as breathing. I had my seafood platter – oyster, mussels, clams and crab with fresh veggie salad on the side.
My usual steak, steamed seafood and potato salad are now mixed with bacon-wrapped sausages, deep-fried chicken lollipops, and spicy steamed fish head and mussels.
Slices of fresh fruits, yoghurt cotta and… tada! Snow egg with sake for 5 consecutive days!
I thought I should post these delicious cakes separately. As planned, light breakfast, heavy lunch and light dinner. Dinner time while watching TV in our suite… I had strawberry mousse while the boys feasted on chocolate mousse and brownies. Sinfully delightful!
Day 3 – Sunday
Rest day. We had breakfast at KFC as requested by the kiddo. We went around checking what Shi Jia Zhuang has to offer. For years, we’ve been so swamped up with work in this town we seldom go out. This time we spent the morning window shopping. Drooled over brand new laptops, checked out the prices of 2nd hand ones and found lots of places to buy cheap clothes. Even high-end shopping centers offer large discount for summer outfits. Oh well… summer will soon be over anyway.
Back to Cafe Panorama for lunch. For appetizer, I still had steamed mussels and oyster, plus succulent shrimps, deep-fried hard-boiled eggs, fresh vegetable salad and a bowl of hearty minestrone soup.
I’m back! And with tons of food photos so I better start posting ‘em now or else I will forget. Of course, gonna skip most of the work-related thingy.
I’m off to Hebei’s capital until mid this week for a close monitoring on a project. Staying and dining at the same hotel facilities we designed, I am documenting the food we are enjoying for the whole week. Above was … Continue reading I’m Outstation
The last time I tried cooking kare-kare was decades ago but let’s not start counting please. That was back in HS with the help of my dad and sis. It wasn’t even successful as the beef tripe was tough and chewy my teeth still hurts just thinking about it. Fate never led me to cook it again ever since. This stew in peanut sauce isn’t really one of my favorites and anyhoo, I had my regular dose occasionally. But not anymore. Bagoong alamang (fermented shrimp paste) isn’t something that a pinoy in Beijing can easily get and I have no idea where to find atsuete (annatto seeds). So our cravings for kare-kare get intense each day until I asked A if he’d go as far as touch it even without the condiment. He said yes and I almost dance with joy! I googled recipes online; settled with those from Connie and the Marketman. I was particularly inspired by Connie’s as she doesn’t use bagoong at all. Not that I don’t like the stuff but because I don’t have it and I just can’t wait for the next bottle to reach me from Manila or Hongkong.
So here is my version of kare-kare sans annatto seeds, banana heart and bagoong alamang – our lunch one weekend more than a month ago. I like kare-kare with pork rind that literally melts in your mouth so I used pork hocks instead of beef tripe to go with oxtail. I used mortar and pestle to pound rice and peanuts and yeah I am not good at it. Oh well, I struggled for weeks with the idea of whether to blog it or not. Thought about making it an entry for Lasang Pinoy – Barrio Fiesta but no, I’d think of another one for that event. As you can see in the photos, the color doesn’t seem right but by the way A ate plate after plate with gusto, I take it as really good! Or just another case of “absence makes the heart grows fonder”.
I know some of my readers are non-pinoys especially those of you frequenting my site for that killer recipe to impress (or kill) your pinoy partners. My apologies. This post is in Tagalog.
Ika nga ni Toni, break muna! Break muna ako ng dalawang araw. Grabeng trabaho ang ginawa namin nitong mga nakaraang araw. Puyatan kaya pahinga muna kami. Nanood ng Philippine Bayanihan Dance Troupe kahapon. Korek! Dito sa Beijing yan… alay ng embahada ng Pilipinas sa mga Pinoy dito para sa pagdiriwang ng Philippine Independence Day. Pagkatapos nun ay kumain sa isang restaurant para lang makakuha ng libre ng isang partikular na magasin dito para sa mga expats; isyu ng buwan na ito na naglalaman ng mga pagmumukha ng anak ko (O di ba nga naman… bukas o sa makalawa ay i-post ko naman din yun kasama ng pagkain namin). Kasama na din sa aming “pahinga” ay ang paglilinis ng bahay at internet na walang humpay kaya napagtuunan ko ng husto ang makulit na pagsisiyasat ni Toni. (Pagsisiyasat: tagalog ng survey – mula sa impormasyong galing kay Lisa.) Heto ang aking mga kasagutan…
Ano ang iyong almusal kanina?
Kape at donuts na nabili namin kahapon sa Carrefour, ininit sa microwave. Kakaibang donuts ang Chinese donuts kase hindi ito nababalutan ng asukal. Kaya si A may katabing asukal kung saan nya sinasawsaw ito.
Ikaw ay may itlog – nilagang itlog. Paano mo ito kakainin?
Isasawsaw ko lang sa asin at kakainin ng mga tatlo hanggang apat na subuan.
Ano ang paborito mong local na junkfood?
Chippy!
So you think one can’t cook a decent meal when barely coping with deadline overload? Do it my way then. For once let’s forget the quickies a.k.a. stir-fry recipes and go for leisurely cooking while working… like pork hamonado. The … Continue reading Pork Hamonado – The Real Deal
Though I still maintain a balanced diet for me and my family, I think being-slender-is-in-my-genes-I-can-eat-what-I-want is no longer the right attitude. Carbs and fats are slowly yet surely getting into my system (and metabolism) nowadays. Ahaha yeah… I had my wake-up call. The website of a magazine for expats in Beijing has our photo in their gallery and… my goodness! They should have told me they’ll take my picture so I was able to hold my breath for a while and say ‘cheese’. I definitely put on some weight… or is it just the angle? On a lighter note, that particular photo captured A and I in one of our moments in our sweetest smiles.
Oh well… and so I decided to cut on my rice intake and eat more veggies instead. Without the usual 4-hour brisk walking for the next 2 months, I hope this works. Haha enough sulking.
I still have a cup of coconut milk left from the Thai Green Curry I cooked the other day and instantly I thought about setting it aside for a veggie dish. I bought the usual shrimps and decided to use a bowlful for guinataang gulay (vegetable in coconut milk). Yummy! Our lunch last Saturday!
Continue reading “Shrimps, Pumpkin and Long Beans in Coconut Milk”
I am in the middle of another rush project but I just can’t help but complain about the heat. It’s another summer of swelter in Beijing and I’m dreaming of strawberry with ice cream! Ice cream, yeah that’s easy to find any day and at any time, but the strawberries… ahhh! The luscious strawberry season is gone… I think that was springtime or early days of summer. Oh wishing… wishing…
By the way, those are not my fingers but A‘s.
Continue reading “Strawberry with Chocolate and Vanilla Ice Cream”
I love Thai food (and anything Southeast-Asian) and that is a fact. It all started when I fell in love with authentic Tom Yam soup and Mango Fish served home-style in a restaurant managed and operated by our company’s Thai staff back in Brunei. Its distinct taste is just something we crave that we regularly frequent a small but cozy Thai restaurant in Yong An Li. Though there are few recipes I bookmarked for quite sometime now but have yet to recreate, particularly from Eet Smakelijk!, this is the first time I had the time (and the heart) to try. I happened to find a packet of Thai Green Curry Paste a week ago with a recipe attached that is surprisingly easy. Of course, I didn’t follow it exactly as written; made a few alterations on the how-to and voila! My first time to cook Thai! I’d say the result’s a success what with the added Thai spice in our lives for lunch.
