By this time, I’ve already moved 3x! Anyways, just scroll down to read more about the recipe!
Welcome to my new site! I got the idea from Mike (thanks to u) who few days ago moved his blog. Just bear w/ me ’cause I’m not yet done w/ customization & everything. Right now you may find links to the Lasang Pinoy Food Events, a page dedicated to pinoy food bloggers and another one that shows random feeds from their RSS/Atom enabled sites. i know that my list isn’t complete, I am still new in this blog world, so anybody out there I missed out pls let me know, email me. I would also like to invite you pinoy bloggers out there to join the 3rd Lasang Pinoy event about pinoy street food. You may also find in the sidebar a poll related to it. Everybody is welcome to participate!

Back to my food blogging…

I guess the way to start this site is to blog about the Filipino curry that I’ve always loved. I never liked the Indian curry in some southeast asian countries but I’ve learned to love the nyonya version. I even like it spicy. Moreover, the Beijing counterpart is very much similar to ours. But what’s embarrassing for me is that I’ve experimented on this recipe only recently. This isn’t a dish common in our dining table and recipes online vary so I just decide which ingredient to add or omit and my version ended up w/ tomatoes & ginger & green bell pepper. Anyways, it turned out quite good that my sister, who just visited me here in Beijing for 3 weeks, said she’s gonna tell mom & dad how good my cooking is nowadays.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp chopped garlic
a small piece of ginger, crushed
1 onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1/4 kilo pork
1/2 kilo chicken wings (the upper part)
1 cup coconut milk (what’s available here is canned & thai)
1 large size potatoes (cubed, about 1in x 1in)
1 small green bell pepper
1 tbsp curry powder (it may be a lot to others but the McCormick brand is quite nice)
salt & pepper

Fry the garlic & ginger over high heat until golden brown. Add the pork & stir-fry until a little brown. Then add the chicken & curry powder & continue frying over medium heat followed by the tomatoes & onions. Pour about 2 cups of water & bring to boil. Add the potatoes, salt & pepper and continue boiling over medium heat until the potatoes are halfway cooked. Add the coconut milk and simmer until the potatoes are done. Add the green pepper & bring to boil. Serve hot.

Where life is colorful and varied, religion can be austere or unimportant. Where life is appallingly monotonous, religion must be emotional, dramatic and intense. Without the curry, boiled rice can be very dull. – C. Northcote Parkinson (English Writer, 1909-1993)

Iska

I am not a professional cook. My only claim to having a culinary background is a short stint as my dad’s teen ‘sous chef’ in his carinderia ages ago. Dad ran small eateries since I was a young kid - serving standard ‘turo-turo’ food ranging from the likes of menudo, adobo, pritong isda, dinuguan, binagoongan, bopis, munggo, pinakbet and giniling to merienda fares like goto, ginataan, pancit bihon, halu-halo and saging con yelo.

My father, a farmer in his hometown before working his way to becoming an accountant, definitely influenced my cooking in a lot of ways than I thought. My siblings and I were raised in a backyard full of fruit trees and vegetable garden. We spent weekends and the summer breaks running around with ducks, chickens, goats and pigs. I had wonderful memories of gathering eggs, butchering chickens, selling vegetables and the sweet aroma of preserved fruits. But my love for art led me to a degree in Architecture. Just few months after getting my license, I went abroad and lived independently at age 23. Definitely no maid, no cook, and a totally different food culture. Along the way I met lots of friends and spent what seemed a lifetime learning new tricks and recipes.

Now living in Auckland, I am a work-from-home mum who juggles time between work, fun and family - in pursuit of work-life balance. No matter how busy I am, I love the idea of cooking for my family. My blog chronicles home cooking greatly influenced by life outside my home country from Southeast Asia to Beijing and Auckland. And most of the time, being busy also means easy (sometimes quick), affordable meals.