Halaan na Naman!

Been really, really busy. Oh well… above was dinner few nights ago. Clam soup with long beans and mushrooms.

Been really, really busy. Oh well… above was dinner few nights ago. Clam soup with long beans and mushrooms.
We were out the whole day. So tired I just opened a tin of our favorite Russian brand corned beef. Here’s a photo before it was lightly heated with onion rings and ringlets of onion spring. Ain’t the picture great? … Continue reading A Tale of Tinned Corned Beef
It’s a lazy day, totally different yet refreshing and even using my laptop feels great. I got my windows reinstalled late this morning and it sure works superb. I just finished installing all the software I need and for a … Continue reading Chinese-Style Steamed Fish in Soy Sauce
I am having self-imposed vacation for 4 days starting today. It’s the Lenten Season and though we really don’t observe Lent as we should by tradition, we do have no-meat Fridays. Oh we started early. Last Monday we had delicious, succulent shrimps… would you call it a sacrifice?

Work overload. That is what’s keeping me occupied these days though I am really looking forward to next Lasang Pinoy event. So if you’re Filipino or married to one, I invite you to join. Do come back for more details on the guidelines. Here’s a teaser.
Brrrr… spring stills feels like winter and immediately a vision of chicken sopas pops into my mind for warm soupy comfort.

Is it too dark to look scrumptious? That is how I remember Mom’s adobo as a young child – mean and dark. Surprisingly, A loves it this way, too. So join me and delve into the dark side of adobo. … Continue reading Chicken Adobo
Winter is gone and so will be the roasted chestnuts – one of the evanescent pleasures of the coldest season of the year. So let me share a glimpse of this packet of tasty, nutritious treat that I bought from … Continue reading Roasted Chestnuts

One dinner we had leftover dinuguan and A fry it dry the next morning. I love it! So I got into the habit of cooking bigger portions than usual of this hearty blood stew of fatty pork meat, liver and intestine so I can fry ‘em dry the next day. Eventually I cook it dry right away.

The city has been enveloped by fog for several days, and then fog turned into rain showers and today its snowy here in Beijing. No wonder I’m down with a nasty cold. I thank the Chinese gods for the blessed stir-fry vegetable recipes that have already proven to be dependable during busy days… and most especially today.
I cooked mussels with lemon few weeks ago – reminiscent of quilo babi, enjoyed it very much, but still didn’t get over my sinful cravings for baked tahong. Then I accidentally googled this recipe on baked tahong without an oven and it reminded me of how my cousin did it 2 Christmases ago back in Manila. And so I came up with this tasty buttered tahong mixed with Parmesan Cheese and Italian herbs very much similar to Edwin‘s cooking suggestions.
We had been served simple yet tasty yellow rice in a private Chinese restaurant few weeks ago and since then I couldn’t stop experimenting how it was done. It has onion spring chops and small bits of egg shreds that looked like it has been stirred with it. It’s not salty at all. Not oily which is typical of northern Chinese fried-rice that made me think it was steamed and once cooked, mixed right away with egg and spring onion. And twice I did it exactly like that. Good but sticky unlike the one we had – firm, loose grains of perfectly cooked non-sticky rice… until I finally got it right!
I served the rice with fried tuna fish and fried aubergine slices. The latter, of course, is so easy and simple. Great as a side dish to anything fried. And oh I remember Brunei’s Pizza Hut has it at the salad bar! Haha icky? Maybe but I love ‘em!
Living at the top of a 6-storey apartment in Beijing (inside the 2nd ring road northeast of the Forbidden City) without a lift do has its advantages. Yes, no elevator for 2 to 6 stories and having a penthouse that is literally on the 7th level doesn’t count at all. Aside from the daily and sometimes unwanted exercise, we love the view from our penthouse and watching the marvelous fireworks over Beijing skyline for the 2nd time since Beijing lifted its 12-year ban on it was simply awesome! Xinnian Kuai Le! Gong xi fa cai! Above is a photo of … Continue reading Mandarin Oranges
We had a wonderful weekend getaway staying at this resort hotel we designed years ago – a much-needed rest from the pressures of work I didn’t even plug my internet cable to check my emails. (Advance Happy Valentines Day to you, too!) Just a teeny bit of work… design consultation yeah yeah yeah but that’s it. The rest is simply wonderful especially when everything is free. Haha! The hotel suite, the spa, the pool and oh the food! I just got shy I couldn’t bring myself to take photos but I can still remember the escargots!
So much for that. Here’s my sinigang na manok (chicken in sour soup) using lemon (again!) as souring agent. I admit I never thought chicken could be used for sinigang until I’ve read about it in the net. Karen and Connie, many thanks. Never did I see sinampalukang manok as sinigang, poor me. Anyhoo, it’s actually my first time to cook it this way – chicken, aubergine, taro sans the tamarind. Oh well, sinigang simply rocks!
Yeah baby! I’m back (hope for good). My net issues seem to be gone for good and also managed to bloghop for a while and bookmarked few recipes that I would love to try. Here’s one from Stef (check out the original recipe) but instead of the good ole baking oven, I used the microwave.
