Pork6 Comments
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Boneless Crispy Pata

Iska

My teammate has resigned (oh my, oh why? should I be worried?) and yesterday lunch was some sort of a farewell gathering for him. After scanning the menu I finally ordered Singapore Fried Noodles. Wala lang. Not nice. Ba’t kaya ganon? I’ve been around frequenting Asian restaurants, canteen, even crazy noodle houses and stuff like that but I can only name 1 or 2 that are really good. Hmm… I’ve never really been around a lot anyway so I still have a lifetime to find that perfect place to quench my occasional craving. Should have been back to my regular cooking.

Crispy pata has become my craving of the week lately. How I miss crunching crispy mouth-watering pork rind with succulent meat inside. So for the meantime, I am stuck here staring tulo-laway at the photo of this crispy delight I cooked months ago back in Beijing.

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Appetizers18 Comments
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LP21: Bicol Express para sa A-Tapang A-Tao

Iska

I had been really busy and so lost and confused and excited (and whatever), all at the same time in another foreign land that I didn’t have time to blog. But it really is good to know that Lasang Pinoy once again is back and with a very interesting theme. When I had that precious time I even reminded my good friend Bursky about it and he told me that he’s already writing his entry that very moment. Impatiently I asked, “Sino ang sa ‘yo?” Then he answered, “si ano.” (Won’t tell you, just read his blog.) And so I said, pardon my humor or the lack of it but however hard I try to think and concentrate on a hero that I could associate myself with I just can’t help but think about…

Andres Bonifacio, a-tapang a-tao
A-putol a-kamay, hindi a-takot
A-putol a-paa, hindi atakot
A-putol a-ulo, hindi a-takot
A-putol a-***n, a-takbo atulin!

I even told him a dated joke about Andres’ monument and he eagerly waited for me to share it. Shoot!

Tanong: Ano ang sigaw ni Andres sa Monumento?
Sagot: (holding his tabak on one hand, he cursed with a significant emphasis on the 1st syllable) Pooot*****a mo Marcos! Hanggang d’yan lang ang LRT!

The poor twenty-something dude has never heard it before. Oh how he rolled all over the floor laughing out loud! (Obviously, we were on YM.) He then commented that at one point Andres almost turn around to face EDSA. This time to curse Gloria about MRT.

Oh well, I don’t mean disrespect but truthfully, The Great Plebian and Father of the Katipunan is known for being a-tapang na tao and if I were a binibini ng katipunan I would always be giving the supremo something that will even enhance his extra-ordinary valor (*evil grin* ano kaya yun?). Para hindi sya a-takbo a-tulin. A condiment full of siling labuyo will do the trick but he needs more protein to be stronger. Bicol Express maybe! Yeah yeah the dish wasn’t even invented during his time besides the fact that he’s not Bicolano (and so is Bicol Express). But who knows? Maybe I could have been the one who invented it. (I wish.) Anyhoo, having little time to cook given my present situation in New Zealand, Bicol Express is the only hot and spicy Filipino dish I’ve had here so far. Pretty explains why I chose it, huh? And here’s another bummer. I didn’t even cook the one shown in the photos! It’s lovingly and passionately concocted by my friend’s hubby E.

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Musings4 Comments
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Barbeque in NZ

Iska

I have always liked my barbeque Pinoy-style – skewered and marinated with a mixture of soy sauce, ketchup, salt and pepper. But there are many ways to do it and I am pretty sure they are equally delicious. My friend’s sis pre-cooks pork, that’s boiling the meat in salt and pepper until tender, before setting them on the grill. To your left is just as yummy, prepared by T herself one weekend. Marinated in salt and pepper and grilled until well-seared but juicy, with the kiddos brushing ketchup and soy sauce on their portions.

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Poultry4 Comments
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Kai Yang (Thai Aromatic Garlic Chicken)

Iska

Just wanna share this Kai Yang chicken dish I prepared few months ago back in Beijing. Oh this one is easy. I used a little help from a packet of Thai instant marinade mixture. The packet says it has soybean oil, sugar, garlic, soy sauce, salt, lemongrass, coriander, pepper, tumeric, so if we don’t have it maybe we can just buy these ingredients and come up with something pretty similar. Grilled or deep-fried.

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Musings25 Comments

I’ll Show You Mine, You Show Me Yours

Iska

I’m taking a break from the usual food blogging and surfing to get this tag done – one I got from somebody who has left me a threat on my YM that started with “Oi you’re TAGGED!” then blah-blah-blah (ha-ha!). Truth is OK lang talaga. I have plenty of spare time right now, so busy with not being busy and it just feels so great at the moment. Savoring it while it lasts.

So this is how my desktop looks like. I thought about changing my wallpaper but the guideline says I shouldn’t alter anything the moment I read the tag. Nagmumura ang pagmumukha ng anak ko dito e pero sige na nga I decided to show off his perfect buck-tooth smile. When I get tired working I just look at it and I feel better right away. Bago yan kase may ngipin na sya. Those of you who have seen my old blog theme might remember his toothless laugh. And there goes my sidebar with the gadgets that are helpful and important to me especially the currency one. Also, note that I have two clocks, each with a different time zone; so that I know what time it is back in Beijing. Another gadget is a slideshow of our family photos.

Update! This is my Mac desktop. Nice and clean (almost!).

Who to tag? Ces, Thess, JMom, Zita and Mike!

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Noodles & Pasta8 Comments
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Pinoy Spaghetti

Iska

I just had another one of my very few cooking adventures in NZ. My friend’s sis K celebrated her birthday and I whipped up spaghetti Bolognese with a hint of pinoy of course. What with the sausages and a little sugar and whatnots… the kids just love it! Uhmm… yeah the “big kids” love it, too.

Before I go on with the how-to, I apologize for not having a photo of it taken. I was kinda busy that day photographing people instead of food (so un-me). Above was taken back in Beijing, cooked in a similar way though but with Italian herbs and Parmesan cheese.

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Appetizers5 Comments
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Steamed Mussels with Thai Sweet Chili Sauce

Iska

To tell you the truth, since I arrived in New Zealand I have cooked only once – tinolang manok one dinner – with the exception of occasional bacon and eggs. My friend T and her loving husband E have the same passion for home-cooking (and dining out, too) and have made delicious meals ever since. I’ve thought of writing about dishes I’ve prepared back in Beijing – oh I have lots of food pictures in my HD – but for now, T & E‘s cooking has to make its debut in ISKAndals.com. Yeah for now I am reduced to being just the wannabe food photographer. Lemme start with her very simple but oh so delectable steamed mussels with Thai Sweet Chili Sauce.

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Dining Out15 Comments
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I Wished for Peking Duck and Got it for my Birthday!

Iska

Where else to enjoy the best Peking duck but in Peking! It’s been a while since we enjoy this most famous Beijing dish and ‘ve been telling A how much I crave for it… especially when I saw Connie’s post. We just received some fabulous news and to celebrate it together with my birthday, A treated us (the 3 of us plus friends) to a wonderful lunch at this government-owned Chinese restaurant frequented by local Beijingers as well as local Chinese tourists.

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Dining Out10 Comments

In Search of a Magazine for Expats

Iska

A couple of months ago, we went to the newest theme park in Beijing. The kiddo’s actually been bugging us about it even months before its opening day last year but has been quite busy and waiting for the right time… like spring. So when a friend gave us complimentary tickets sponsored by a magazine for expats – free entrance and rides, the kid was really ecstatic! At one point during our day at the park, I saw the magazine’s photographer taking our son’s photo. The stage mom in me got excited it might get published. After a week, we saw not only 1 but around 5 photos in their website! My, we didn’t even notice that guy around us while we were having so much fun! Another week passed by and my friend who gave us the tickets informed me to get the latest issue. And so our hunt for the magazine began.

Got our copies (yeah, we took the last 2 copies) from our favorite hawker-style Singaporean Restaurant. Of course, it’s just proper that we should also enjoy the food. We had Chicken Rice, one of the best we’ve had in the country’s capital.


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Appetizers16 Comments
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Lasang Pinoy 20: Lumpiang Shanghai

Iska

I thought I couldn’t participate in the 20th event of Lasang Pinoy, being out of town, no cooking and all. But with my food photos in a handy external hard drive with me, I managed to find some decent photos I’ve taken months ago using my old digital camera. Voila! Lumpiang shanghai!

So lemme just list down few things about these little rolls of delight…

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