Food articles posted in May 2007

Stewed mung beans

The last time I bought a pack of mongo (mung beans), I debated whether to get the more common green mongo or the yellow ones. I had a feeling that in terms of flavor, there wouldn’t be much difference. Nevertheless, because I always bought green mongo in the past, I decided to try the yellow ones for change. Little did I know how much different the appearance of the cooked dish would be. Where mashed green mung beans yield a dark and murky broth, the yellow mongo gave out a light and sunny broth that brought out the colors of the okra and the talong (eggplants).

Chicken and misua soup

A reader sent an e-mail asking if I intended to focus on restaurant reviews henceforth considering how much I seem to have slowed down in posting recipes. The answer is no. It’s just the bloody summer heat that keeps me away from the kitchen. It might be difficult for non-Philippine residents to imagine what I [...]

Happy Mother’s Day!

To the mothers who cook my recipes; to the mothers who love to make their mouth water by ogling at photos in my food blogs; to the mothers who love to eat out; to the mothers who never experienced home-cooked meals in their childhood because their own mothers were lousy cooks (like mine hehehe); to the thin moms and the non-so-thin moms; to the young moms and to moms who will forever be young-at-heart, to the moms-to-be and to everyone else because we all have mothers, don’t we…

How to order Peking roasted duck in a Chinese restaurant

Not all Chinese restaurants serve Peking roasted duck. Among the ones that do, the quality of the roasted duck varies. The best Peking Duck I ever tasted was at a restaurant called Peacock in Makati. My father used to bring me there but I have no idea if the establishment still exists. The worst Peking Duck experience I have ever had was at Spring Deer restaurant along Timog Avenue in Quezon City. The skin was carved and served with the traditional Chinese pancakes. Then, the staff carried the duck away. My goodness, with all the meat remaining? That was many, many years ago. I hope the service has improved.

A few days ago, to celebrate my mother-in-law’s 82nd birthday, we had dinner at Causeway Seafood Restaurant, one of the Chinese restaurants where we don’t have any complaints about the quality of the food. My sister-in-law ordered Peking roasted duck and there was a discussion about how the duck would be served.

Egg (custard) pie

Warning: do not attempt to bake an egg pie using a loose-bottom pan. I did and, within minutes from placing the pan in the oven, I could smell something burning — the filling seeped through the pie crust and was dripping on the oven floor. I ran to retrieve a tray to place under it. [...]

Meat pie and soup at Bag of Beans

After enjoying the scrumptious desserts and marvelous breakfast at Bag of Beans, I promised myself that the next time we were in Tagaytay City, we would try their famous meat pies. And so, we did…

There was an initial debate as to what kind of pie we would order. Sam wanted the beef and gravy pie, Alex and Speedy voted for chicken and mushrooms pie, I would have preferred the beef and mushrooms pie. Well, democracy dictated that Sam and I had to agree to the chicken and mushrooms pie. Since it would take about 30 minutes to get the pie ready, we ordered soup while waiting for the pie to bake.

French toast with honey

How many ways are there to make French toast? A few, if you’re a bit on the conservative side; a lot, if you enjoy playing with different combinations of ingredients. I’ve tried mixing milk with sugar, I’ve tried stuffing the bread slices with ham and cheese, there’s the clubhouse variation of the stuffed French toast [...]

Surreal Gourmet’s smashed potatoes

When I posted the Swiss Rosti recipe, reader Marie commented that it reminded her of a Middle Eastern potato dish she once had. She described it as “basically cubed potatoes, par-broiled, then sauteed in garlic-infused extra virgin olive oil, until they’re a deep golden brown color, then sprinkled with A LOT of chopped coriander/cilantro. Fresh [...]

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