Boneless Lechon

This was my third visit to Zubuchon-Escario in just two weeks.  This Zubuchon branch is near the hotel where I was staying in Escario Street, and instead of going to the mall for dinner, I returned to Zubuchon to check out other lechon dishes.  This time, I was joined by my niece, Tuesday, who is based in Cebu.  We shared a bowl of Mongo with Lechon and Boneless Lechon with 2 cups of rice.  Their serving of steamed rice is small and I was craving for more but I stopped myself.:p

I forgot to take photos of their Iba (Kamias) shake, which was wonderfully refreshing.

I tasted coconut milk in the creamy mongo dish and it was yummy.  The Boneless Lechon was scrumptious!  The skin was crisp and tasty, the meat succulent--no need for sauce.

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Food Friday

Carne Frita

"Food is for taste.  Happiness is taste of life."

Carne frita, or more popularly known as Bistek Tagalog.  Thin strips of sirloin beef marinated in garlic, soy sauce, salt & pepper, lemon juice, and sugar then pan-fried with caramelized onions. Served with steamed rice.

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Inutok @ Boosog

 

From my recent visit in Cebu, C took me to Boosog, a homegrown restaurant serving Filipino home-cooked dishes.  It's located at The Gallery in Mabolo.  We had a long day and wanted something easy and familiar.  We had a bowl of clam soup for starters---I always enjoy clam soup in Cebu because the clams are fresh and sweet.

 

C ordered Adobong Pusit and I got curious at their Bicol Express.  The waiter told us they're using string beans.   That's new to me but I wanted a vegetable dish. The Bicol Express has ground pork, diced string beans, coconut milk and chili peppers.  It was sinus-cleansing hot, and I liked it!

I've been going to Cebu for over a decade but I have never tried "mais rice".  In case you're confused, "mais rice" is made from white corn---it is more popular in Cebu and some parts of Mindanao. 

It's called "bigas na mais" as opposed to "bigas na palay" which we are more used to.  White corn is milled and served as rice.  Corn grits are finer than the regular rice grain, and it is heavier in the tummy.  It was served wrapped in banana leaf--love the aroma of banana leaf! I guess it's good for calorie-watchers---I've only eaten half a cup and felt full.

This last dish is interesting.  When I read "Inutok" in the menu, I thought it was the same as the sweet delicacy from Taguig--then wondered why it's in the seafood menu.   By the way, the delicious kakanin from Taguig is called "Inutak".

The waiter explained that "Inutok" is crab meat cooked in coconut milk, and it was  wrapped in banana leaf and served in a coconut shell.  This is a good idea, no crab shells to crack, no mess.

 

When I tried "Inutok", I tasted crab meat, creamy coconut milk and surprise, surprise---young coconut (buko)!  It's quite delicious!   I wondered why I haven't eaten this dish before...probably because I enjoy cracking crab shells and eat aligue with my fingers!  Now I'd like to cook some "Inutok" at home!

Sorry for the poor quality of these photos--Boosog has mood lighting and as usual, I forgot to set my camera correctly.:(

 

Linking to Food Friday and Food Trip Friday

Lumpiang Ubod

I found julienne ubod (heart of coconut palm) at the supermarket and decided to make an impromptu lumpiang ubod for dinner.  I don't like the ready-made lumpia wrapper in the supermarket, the lettuce has also wilted.  My 15-year old nephew snickered when I told him this is called lumpiang hubad  due to the absence of a wrap.

This is simple and easy to prepare. Here's how:

Saute ground pork in minced garlic and onions.  Add minced bell pepper and stir fry until ground pork is thoroughly cooked.  Add chopped shelled shrimps, soy sauce, salt and pepper and a pinch of brown sugar.  Mix in julienne ubod and carrots and add a little water just enough to cook the mixture.  Let this cook for 10-15 minutes until the liquid is reduced. Don't overcook to maintain the crunch of ubod and carrots.

On the side, prepare the sauce---a mixture of corn starch diluted in water, brown sugar, soy sauce, lots of minced garlic (yes, we like our lumpia garlicky).

Add the sauce mixture, mix well until you get the desired consistency.

Garnish with ground peanuts and spring onions.

 

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Laing with Labahita

Our neighbor brought over some fresh gabi (taro) from the province, and they're perfect for laing.  Laing is a popular Filipino dish made of gabi leaves, stems and corm stewed in coconut milk, ginger, garlic, onion, chili peppers; pork, shrimps or dried fish can be added.  A palate shocker, its spiciness is determined by how much chili you can stand without breaking into a cold sweat.  Remember that it's better to sun-dry gabi leaves and stems for a day or two before cooking.  Raw taro leaves contain some poisonous compounds or irritants and should not be eaten raw.

My mother added dried labahita (surgeonfish) and some pork fat.  I don't eat gabi leaves and stems so my mom includes lots of corm when she makes laing.  The starchy corm makes the sauce thicker.  This was smokin' hot---perfect with steamed rice and Pork Adobo.:p

 

 Linking to Food Friday and Food Trip Friday

Pancit Palabok

A group of friends surprised me at home one Sunday afternoon, and I only had a pint of ice cream and potato chips.  Good thing there are restaurants nearby who deliver.  Called Red Ribbon Bakeshop and got this party tray (serves 12) of Palabok delivered in less than 30 minutes.  And this is yummy, too.  I am not fond of cakes but I often go to Red Ribbon mainly for their Pancit Palabok.

Thin rice noodles (bihon) is used for Pancit Palabok mixed with shrimps, pork, tinapa (smoked fish) flakes fried tofu, scallions and garlic, and topped with chicharon (pork cracklings) bits and boiled eggs.  Flavoring comes from fish sauce and shrimp broth; the yellow-orange sauce is from annatoo, locally known as achuete.

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Cooking & Ripples/Photo-Hunt

Not the usual cooking method we normally see nowadays.  I was in Midnight Mercato and spotted these vendors cooking bibingka and puto bumbong---types of rice cakes, the traditional way.  Bibingka is a mixture of rice flour, sugar and coconut milk---other ingredients vary from each region.  The bibingka I grew up with has strips of young coconut meat and top is brushed with margarine.  

Puto bumbong is steamed rice cake made from a variety of glutinous rice which has a distinctly purple color, soaked in salted water and dried overnight and poured into bamboo tubes and then steamed until done.  Now, fabricated tin steamer with tubes is used.  Muslin cloth is used to cover the tube opening. 

Puto Bumbong

Traditional cooking of bibingka is time-consuming.  The mixture of rice batter is poured into terra cotta container lined with banana leaf.  The terra cotta container is placed on a charcoal stove, then a tin container with pre-heated coals is placed on top of the terra cotta container.  In short, bibingka is cooked with coal embers from the top and bottom.

Cooking bibingka is a common Filipino metaphor to describe life's difficult situations.

I love the distinctive smoky smell of charcoal and banana leaf.

Wanna share these bibingka with me?  They're perfect with coffee.

Bibingka

Sand ripples at low tide.

Linking with Gattina's Saturday Photo-Hunt

and Sandi's Photo Hunt

Pancit Luglug

I really don't know what distinguishes Pancit Luglug from Pancit Palabok.  They taste the same, right?  Although somebody told me Pancit Luglug has shrimp sauce and bisque, another told me the sauce has crab fat (aligue)---can anybody confirm this?

It's probably the size of the noodles---palabok has thinner rice noodles (bihon) while luglug has thicker, spaghetti-like noodles.  What do you think?

A classic Pinoy merienda, this is Max's Pancit Luglug snack serving---it has an irresistible lechon kawali toppings and chitcharon bits.  Delicious!

Linking to Food Friday and Food Trip Friday

Adobo ni Jake Espesyal

Don't ask...I don't know who Jake is, either.  He's probably the chef who concocted this dish.  This is pork adobo topped with adobo flakes and fried saba on the side.  I don't remember anything special about this adobo aside from its attractive plating, the meat was also a bit tough.  Adobo ni Jake is made famous at KKK Food Revolution.

KKK has a friendly staff who gamely posed for me.:p

Linking to Food Trip Friday and Food Friday

Guilt-free Lechon Kawali

An innovative way of serving Lechon Kawali---as a topping, underneath is Adobong Kangkong.  But don't indulge too much in this seemingly "balanced" serving...despite the veggie, it's still a heart-attack waiting to happen.:p

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Tinuktok at Cafe Juanita

@ mirandablue

In Ilonggo, "tinuktok" translates to diced, chopped, ground---tinuktok na baboy means ground pork.  So I got curious what's diced or chopped in Tinuktok, and was delighted at the aesthetic appeal of the dish when it was served.  It looks like stacked suman.  It's actually crab meat wrapped in taro (gabi) leaves and cooked in coconut milk, and topped with coconut cream with crab fat.  The crab meat was mildly spiced, and the flavor of crab fat was not overwhelming.  Imagine the richness of the sauce!  It's a lot like Laing with a twist. But I wish there were more crab meat.:p

This was one of the dishes we had for dinner last Friday at Cafe Juanita-at the Fort located in Burgos Circle, the newest dining hotspot.

@ mirandablue

Posted for Food Friday and Food Trip Friday

Thick [Malapot]

 @ mirandablue

A heart-stopping dish 'ika nga.  Sugpo na may aligue sauce---malapot, masarap at nakamamatay sa mga taong may problema sa cholesterol.  Ingat lang!

Posted for Litratong Pinoy

Prawns with crab fat sauce---a heart-stopping dish.  The thick sauce is delicious but this dish is potentially deadly to those with cholesterol problem.  Take care!

For Thursday Two Questions - you are invited to join and answer:


1.  What are the foods that you love but aren't good for you?
2.  What is the most disgusting food/dish you have ever tried?

Biko with latik

@ mirandablue

My family doesn't celebrate All Souls' Day but like most Filipino families, we cook some native delicacies on or before November 1st.  When we were kids, my aunts and I had fun experimenting on kalamay (rice cake), espasol (we call it bayi-bayi), but-ong (glutinous rice wrapped in cone-shaped banana leaf and cooked in coconut milk), ibos (glutinous rice wrapped in woven coconut leaves and cooked in coconut milk), muasi (or palitaw--steamed ground glutinous rice topped with roasted sesame seeds and muscuvado).  Those were the days when glutinous rice was inexpensive and we had free supply from my grandfather.

My all-time All Souls' Day comfort food is Biko with latik (a residue of coconut milk).  About a week before All Souls' Day, I start having Biko cravings.  The aroma of boiling coconut cream gives me warm, fuzzy feelings---it brings me back to childhood with my grandfather slaving away in the kitchen cooking his favorite rice cake.  We seldom find my grandfather in the kitchen, it was my grandmother's domain. The only day Lolo was in the kitchen was during kalag-kalag, or All Souls' Day.  His ratio was 1:1 and his biko could stay fresh for a week without refrigeration. It is easy to cook but one needs powerful biceps to mix it.

@ mirandablue

I wanted to do my grandfather's biko and I needed sung-sung rice, an aromatic, glutinous rice.  And the price was shocking!  A few months ago, sung-sung was P72 a kilo---now it's P110 a kilo!  A tip from my mother:  malagkit rice should be new, laon is not good. But how should I know if it's new or not?  Leave it to the experts. So far, with sung-sung, I was never disappointed with quality and texture.  I also got muscovado sugar and mature coconut.  

Cook glutinous rice and set aside.  Cook undiluted coconut cream in low heat to extract oil and latik.  Latik should be golden brown.

@ mirandablue

@ mirandablue

Mix in the cooked glutinous rice, mix well.  Blend the muscovado sugar into the mixture.  Calamansi leaves were added to balance the sweetness and add a bit of zest.  Cooking biko on All Souls' Day somehow connects me to members of my family who already passed on. And it's my way of remembering Lolo, a foodie and a kind gentleman with a big heart.

@ mirandablue

Posted for Food Friday and Food Trip Friday