TURNING JAPANESE-AH!

What’s so awesome with the Japanese besides Anime..it’s their sushi!

And I had the opportunity to try the real deal when we visited Kobe, Japan! With the help of a Japanese friend he taught me the intricacies of these delights!

   First on the table is the Gunkan-Ikura which is cucumber, salmon eggs and rice wrapped in seaweed! Gunkan meaning wrapped and Ikura meaning salmon eggs..I always taught that eating sushis should always be accompanied by the fiery wasabe but as my friend told me it depends on one’s preference. He prefers sweet ones like this to be with light Kikkoman soy sauce only, and he explained to me that the Filipino way of mixing the wasabe with soy sauce is not their way. They put some wasabe on the sushi and then dip it a little in soya! Well when in Rome do what the Romans do! In this case eat Japanese style! A little soya and there goes the gunkan-ikura! Sushis are small because they are meant to be eaten in one chomp! You don’t nibble sushis!

   One down the chute! The first thing you taste is the sweet flavor of the eggs popping in your mouth then the bit of saltiness of mang Kikko then the flavor of the Japanese rice! And then it’s gone! Just like that! It’s like it was there but wasn’t there..get what I mean? You have to get another one! That’s what my brain is telling me! How can you resist? Got 3 pieces in a jiffy….on to the next..

   This one is called  Nigiri-Unagi! Nigiri meaning on top and Unagi meaning Eel.So this one is rice topped with eel.  As advised by my friend, I added a little wasabe on top, then dip it in soya and poof! If you’re a first timer with wasabe for sure you’ll gag with the quick assault of this green fire to your senses! Eyes will water and nasal vessels will contract! As for me, this still applies even though I’m not a virgin wasabe eater! There’s just no way around it! After the initial hot wiring of your taste buds, then you get the smoky feel of the eel then the beautiful rice to complement everything! As with the Gunkan-Ikura one is not enough!!  2 please!!

 

   Nigiri-Hotate….Hotate is scallops! It’s in the family of clams and oysters..on a side note scallops are hermaphrodite..meaning they have the capability to self produce all by itself!.hmm….where’s the fun in that? J Back to the hotate…after the wasabe, the scallops gets you by it’s texture while you’re eating it..like marshmallows of the sea..just wonderfull! Speechless!! Just give me more!! Oh by the way the Gari which is flavored Japanese raddish ( this is the one on the left-most of the picture beside the nigiri-hotate ) should not be dismissed lightly . It will get you by it’s tangy-sweet taste that is just delightful to eat non stop!

 

  This one is Nigiri-Bin Toro which is Bottle Fatty Tuna! Say those first two words in the human world and you’ll be called and inconsiderate SOB! Guess you can’t hurt the feeling of the tunas since they don’t understand our language. J

I’m a big fan of this tasty fish! Fry it, grill it, make it a soup or just eat it raw as in this case, nothing beats this giants of the sea! Lay it on top of some tasty Japanese rice and bingo! You can it eat til you drop dead! Case closed! What more can I say?? Go go Japan!!

Lydia's Lechon @ SM Taytay

Every Filipino loves lechon!! That's why the majority of us has high cholesterol levels!...and when you think of lechon, Lydia's comes to mind because I think they're the only one who has an ad on tv before, and that helps on product recall.

We visited an outlet in SM Taytay yesterday in a hungry mood planning to eat our tummys out! We ordered a quarter of lechon and 3 set meals. The set meals were priced just right, you pay P105 for lechon and 1 vegie, P155 for lechon and 1 meat dish..We took 2 lumping sariwa and 1 diniguan..I had the latter and it was lacking in taste..I was so disappointed because I remember eating on the same store before and it was great.It's either they changed the recipe or the cook was not in the mood when he did it..and then my sis said there's something wrong with the lumpiang sariwa, so each one of us tried it, and yeah it was beginning to get bad..I know that this dish spoils quite fast, we were eating around 7pm, but shouldn't they have a time limit serving it just to be on the safe side? I returned to the store and complained about the condition of the food, I was very civil about it , they offered me a change of dish which eventhough I didn't like the pakbet they suggested, there's no other choice..as I was turning my back I saw the lady attendant taking the lumpiang sariwa out from the counter..they were lucky I didn't made a fuss.

We finished the meal feeling disappointed...

....and oh the pakbet was ok in fairness..and I almost forgot..the lechon skin was not that crispy, the sarsa was a bit off too...

taho to go

I love taho, hot or cold, in the early sun or late night moonshine..but since I lived inside a subdivision where street vendors are not allowed to sell their wares, I've missed them so much! So I was pleased when I saw this in the local supermarket!

 The product is simply named TAHO, no other fuss or hype, just the name..It is made by MASOYA Enterprises Philippines but doesn't say where in the country it is made. It has an expiry date which I guess is a compulsory requirement for it to be sold in the supermarket. It is well package, and looks clean, when I opened it it has an separate pouch containing the liquefied sugar and a small blue spoon which you can barely use. The sugar seems so pale compared to the ones being sold in the streets so I had my doubts about the taste of it. I opened the seal of the taho and added the sugary fluid to it. hmm....started tasting it and my fears were correct! It doesn't taste right! It's a pale comparison to the ones being sold by the street vendors! What a waste of twenty five pesos! So many is said about the doubtful cleanliness of the process of making street taho but it's been here before the quarantine guys were born! So I say the heck with it, give me my proper taho and not some taho wannabe!

Last Day

     It's our last day in Maya Kitchen and it's a special day with the presence of Chef Crista, and she's going to do euro breads! This are specialty breads that really deserved one's attention because it's not easy to do, especially in our country, with our tropical weather handling the ingredients for this types of breads really is a hassle. It uses special butter that needs to be in a constant chilled temperature to prevent it from melting..

She's eager to start the class that on the dot of 9am everybody was told to settle down.:) Recipe leaflets was handed down and it's a bunch! Guess she's going to cover a lot of breads! I scanned it and this are weird sounding ones, like Brioche, Bechamel, Yogurt Bread, Danish Pastry, Danish Bear Claw?? hmmm.rest assured that no bears were harmed during this baking session..:))

The most important thing to remember for this day is to work fast so that the butter/shortening won't melt! There's a lot of rolling pin use for this kind of bread, a lot of folding and chilling and resting..Chef Crista is right that if you are going to do this breads you have to have a lot of patience because there no short cut way..and it's also a good source of arm toning..:)

Hours passed, chatter and banter coming especially from Surigao Boy "wala sa amin nyan"  made everybody laugh and made Fatz blush like a tomato ( peace mama bear ) ! hahaha!

   This is the first time that we passed 2 pm, guess 

Chef Crista thought she's still in the cooking class and didn't realize that we are supposed to be up to 2 only..oh well! One by one some of the guys started missing, I guess they still have some appointments to make..and in the end only three of us waited for the last batch of goodies..PG's!! hehehe!

Dan Surigao Boy

Fatz blushes

through the looking glass

bear's paw

Chef Crista Mendiola

me & chef Crista

Part-three!!

:)

bel doing her stuff

ms cutie pie camille :)

brenda's always ready for a photo shoot (",)

kneading it up!

miss professional

fatz doing the doughie..I mean the dough!

pang profile pic na pose ni brenda

instructor elvie laughing while kneading

super serious

enseymada to the max!

chefs in the block!

Day 3 in Maya and I'm super late!!!@#$%^! Damn traffic everywhere! plus they already finished taking the exam! :( gotta take a special one later...

We're doing commercial bread today like the ones you buy from your local panaderia or french baker..why I said that? Chef Subida told us that bread making is an exact science that everybody uses the same recipe, the only difference is the quality of ingredients one is going to use! So it means if you're willing to spend a lot with your bread ingredients, like getting the best stuff out there, it will taste better..:))

So to the kitchen we go!...There are only two recipe that we're going to make..one is the regular dough and the sweet one...in one kind of dough mix one can make different kinds of breads, like on the sweet dough we are going to prepare some cinnamon rolls, enseymada, and spanish breads! On the regular dough we're going to prepare our favorite breakfast bread which is pandesal..oh yeah!

Bhel started mixing the dry ingredients together and it was my job to knead the dough manually since they did not allow us to use the mixer, it's a way to make us feel the proper texture of the dough..I have some experience kneading onboard that it's not a big deal for me, Ms Charina even commented that "praktisado"..hehehe..I turned it over to Bhel and I saw that she knows it too..then Fatz had her shot and...hmmm..a little bit more..?? :)))

Disaster struck on the other dough mixture...Ms Elvie noticed that it's too white and immediately commented that all purpose flour was used instead of bread flour! hahahah! One of my group mate did not notice that the recipe needs bread flour and put in the" mise en place" ( pronounced miz on plas, a french term literally meaning putting in place...soo frenchy! ) all purpose one...to late to change since they already started the kneading process...

Notable technique I saw was the preparation of the bread pan for the cinnamon rolls...putting water, butter, and sugar all together to make the bread super moist!! Got one there!

Time passed and time to taste our creations...the best is the cinnamon rolls..it has dreamy sugary delight taste !! The enseymada was a close second with it's puffy soft texture, then the Spanish bread can be improved upon..and lastly was the pandesal..maybe because of the flour fiasco..:))

Sum it all up it was an entertaining day!! plus a little bit of side note for miss Fatz and Dan "wala sa amin nyan" Surigao boy..hehehe..