Stir-fried Chicken with celery

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Concocted this last week after my mother reminded me of the chicken fillet in the freezer  that I bought a few days before.  Originally, I intended to deep-fry the chicken fillet and prepare a cilantro sauce.  But instead of cilantro, I got parsley (duh!).  Rummaged the fridge and found fresh stalks of celery and some fresh tarragon--so this was the result of my experiment.:p

Marinated the chicken fillet (cut into bite-size) in salt and pepper, diced tarragon leaves and some oyster sauce.  Sauteed garlic and onions, added the marinated chicken, stir-fried until seared.  Added a small amount of water, simmered for a few minutes to ensure chicken is fully cooked, salt & pepper to taste.  Mixed in the celery and cashew nuts, and cornstarch diluted in water to thicken the sauce.  Turned off the heat as soon as steam started to come out from under the lid to keep the celery crunchy.

Verdict:  My mom didn't like it because the chicken was too white, it looked raw to her.  She loves to use soy sauce on everything.:p  My next-door neighbor liked it, and also my nephew. As for me, it was OK, not great but definitely better than from some over-priced Chinese fast-food.:p  I also like the white chicken and the greens---it even matches my blog's color palette! LOL


After a second helping, I had a eureka moment---I should have sauteed it in ginger!  Ginger and tarragon go well together.  Well, until next time.:p


Do you think the chicken should be brown? :p

My contribution to Food Trip Friday hosted by Willa

Reaching out [Watery Wednesday]

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Coconut trees reaching out to the cloudy skies along the shores of Punta Bulata.

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Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.
-- Mary Kay Ash

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 Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see the beauty, believe in them and try to follow where they lead.

-- Louisa May Alcott

Join us at Watery Wednesday

Silay City: Ancestral homes [MWT]

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When I was in Negros in April, I took an afternoon trip to Silay City to visit my great-grandfather's ancestral home.  But that would be in another post.:p  For now, let me share these snapshots I took while walking the streets of Silay City that rainy afternoon.

Dubbed as the "Paris of Negros", this is where the island's sugar industry started in the 18th century.  The first sugar mill (Horno Economico) was built here in 1846 by a Frenchman who was married to a Filipina.  Haciendas were later established in Silay, and families from the nearby island of Panay also settled here because of the promising sugar industry.

The hacienderos (land owners/sugar planters) grew rich in the sugar boom---the ancestral houses built during the golden age of the sugar industry speak eloquently of the lavish lifestyles.  When the 1980's sugar crisis hit the sugar industry, planters were faced with economic hardships forcing many of the sugar barons to abandon their farms and curtail their spending.  People who worked in the haciendas went through a more difficult life--the province became so impoverished that many people went hungry.   

This is the Maria Ledesma Golez House---bought and restored by a bank (RCBC) in the 1990's.  The house at the background (with red roof) is my great-grandfather's ancestral home.

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There are about 31 well-preserved ancestral homes in Silay today--some of them have been turned into museums, most of them are still privately-owned.  

Below is the main street in front of the plaza and cathedral.  My aunt used to live behind the light blue building--and if my memory is correct, it's also where El Ideal Bakery was located.  El Ideal is an institution in Silay, baking traditional cakes and pastries in a huge wood-fired oven.  We used to buy snacks in the bakery almost every afternoon when I was about 6 or 7.

If not for the rain, I could have visited more ancestral houses.  Well, maybe next time.

These days, Negros is slowly regaining the vitality it had during the sugar boom in the last century.  But with the 2015 ASEAN Free Trade Agreement hanging over its head, the sugar industry is again facing new challenges on how to compete with cheap imported sugar in the market.

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Silay City is where the new domestic airport is located.  It is an hour flight from Manila, and about 15 kilometers north of Bacolod City, the provincial capital.

Posted for My World Tuesday

Manapla bridge

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It's been a while since I participated in Sunday Bridges.  Now I'm back!  I was with my cousins in Manapla a few weeks ago.  My cousin had some business here, and the meeting place was at the banks of this river.:p  I have no idea what this river is called---people were swimming and doing their laundry.  The bridge looks frail but in a couple of hours that we were by the banks of the river, there were trucks, motorbikes, tricycles and even a horse that passed through it.  I hope the next storm wouldn't destroy this bridge.

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This is the river down-stream...

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Posted for Sunday Bridges

Cluttered [Photo Hunt]

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Wandered in the sugarcane fields of Negros a couple of weeks ago, and found this heap of burned sugarcane cluttered in the middle of a dirt road.  Sugar is the backbone of Negros' economy---60% of the Philippines' sugar production is on this island.  Aside from smuggled sugar, by 2015, the local sugar industry will compete with imported sugar that will enter the domestic market at zero tariff.  I wonder if the government would be able to effectively address the challenges at protecting the local sugar industry.  Many jobs are dependent on this industry.

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sugarcane fields in Locotan, Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental

Posted for Photo Hunt