Food articles posted in Nov 2007

Assorted beans and peppercorn melange

It’s basic to soak dried beans overnight to rehydrate them and to cook them in plenty of simmering water for at least an hour and a half. But there were peas and lentils mixed in with the beans so I wondered if they wouldn’t cook to a mash before the beans were done.

The instructions on the package read: “…separate the beans…” Huwaaaaatt?? That’s 400 grams of beans and peas… separate them? It’s not like I’m 20 years old with 20/20 vision…

Jay-J’s chicken inasal

Along Mother Ignacia Avenue is a restaurant popular among the office crowd. The air-conditioned section is a common venue for casual lunch meetings while the open-air section fills up after office hours when tired and stressed out employees unwind over beer and pulutan. The place is called Jay-J’s. The menu is Filipino and the specialty is chicken inasal.

Minted pork ribs

The first time I grilled pork ribs seasoned with mint jelly and coriander paste, I wasn’t able to take photos. The second time, they got a bit burned because I was too busy blogging and forgot to check the time. Last night, they were perfect. But it’s more than just about the right temperature and cooking time. I read a tip recently about salting meat a day prior to grilling and the result is pretty amazing.

Pork and vegetables stir fry with pili nuts

Cashew nut is a popular ingredient for Chinese-style stir fries and I have often wondered if the popularity was due to its accessibility rather than some unique flavor or texture that it possessed. What if I used some other nut… like pili nuts? You know what? If you toast the pili nuts until they release their natural oil before sprinkling them over your cooked stir-fry, it’s some kind of magic.

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Asian cooking

• Another beef and tofu stirfry
• Soy gin pork
• Miso soup
• Lo mein, not chow mein
• Aromatic (and tastier!) spring roll wrappers
• Grilled chicken teriyaki
• Tuna and fresh mango stir fry
• Ma Po tofu
• Japanese-style beef and cabbage stir fry
• Shrimps, broccoli and cauliflower with Pad Thai sauce

Asian Pantry

• Fermented black beans (tausi)
• Kamias (Averrhoa bilimbi)
• Food color
• Sampalok (tamarind)
• Kangkong (water or swamp spinach)
• Sichuan peppercorns
• Dry yeast
• Bread: everyone has his favorite
• Chili sauce
• Siling haba and siling labuyo (hot chili peppers)

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