Tuesday, August 26, 2008

chopsuey my way



I am really one of those persons who love veggies. I am not a vegan but I really crave for the taste of veggies. My favorites are the greens... the greener the better. :) Last night I decided to cook chopsuey because calamansi was not available for the pork steak. There's so many veggies that I have to cook it in a wok and still have a hard time mixing the veggies. The end result was good though.. looks colorful and fresh ... the taste is good (daw) i love the crunchyness of the veggies.








Sunday, August 24, 2008

IndoChine


Saturday night dinner at Indo Chine is really something else... the ambiance is cool and the food is great! :) A nice table outside the resto overlooking a river makes you.... feel hungry! hahaha!


Being in a foreign country makes me worried at times, like will I like the food? is it too spicy? too much curry? oh well, luckily I did not encounter any of those during the dinner... because what we had were all delicious.


First we tried their House Salad which was really good. Tender pieces of shredded chicken, fresh watercress, lettuce, sliced tomato, cucumber, egg and fried shallots, served with their special house dressing and garnished with roasted peanuts.

After the appetizer, the main dishes were served:


Black Pepper Beef with Garlic and Butter

MMMM it was so good!!! I am not sure how they achieve such state of the beef it was really tender, juicy
and very delicious. The vinegar dip complements the sizzling beef. yummy!

Cambodian Tiger Prawns

The Fresh tiger prawns prepared in a red chili,
holy basil and garlic sauce. It looks nice and tastes nice too.



SOFT SHELL CRABS

This is my favorite! the soft shelled crabs were fried with herbs and spices... it tasted so good that I think i ate 3/4 of the whole serving. It has just the right touch of spice. mouth watering...
highly recommended!


And finally we had their Chocolate Fudge Torte - A dense chocolate sponge layered with Valrhona chocolate mousse.

I will definitely come back. And you should try it too.




Friday, August 22, 2008

meatballs at ikea


One food I've tried and loved here in SG is the so called "Swedish Meatballs" in Ikea. You can choose from 10 or 15 pieces of meatballs served with potatoes, special gravy and jam... mmmm yummy!!!

It was highly recommended by my friend and she described to me how the jam gave a certain twist to the taste of the meatballs. Since I haven't tried it yet I really don't have any idea what to expect... but I am really curious and excited to try this famous meatballs.

So one time when we were shopping for comforter in Ikea, I just knew that I have to try those meatballs... And I did.. hihihi. I ordered 10 pieces.. it was really yummy... and my friend was just watching me enjoy the food. haha! Sorry, but sometimes I really get carried away with what I'm eating that I forget to even offer a bite... =S

Next time you need something for your home, go to Ikea and after doing your shopping try the meatballs... it's worth it!



Tuesday, August 12, 2008

lechon kawali


This is definitely one of my all time favorites... I specially love it when it is cooked with the skin crispy like chicharon and the lining of fat a bit gooey... wow! yummy! I've been wanting to try and achieve that kind of lechon kawali but knowing that 'excitement' (tumitilamsik yung oil) of cooking it has kept me from doing it. Until one day when I felt brave and ready that's when I bought fresh pork belly and immediately cooked it when I got home. I boiled it with some salt, pepper and garlic until the meat was soft then I stored in the fridge for the day when I will be ready to face the boiling oil.


And I guess today is the day. haha! I woke up not well, hmmm not sick... but feeling down. So, I decided that this is the day to face the oil for my first attempt at lechon kawali. And here I am now blogging while waiting for the pork to cool down after the first deep fry, it's in the fridge by the way. I will be re-frying it in a while...


I reheat the pan and the half cooked belly is now sizzling in it, I put the cover and wait for the dreaded popping sound... til now I'm still a bit scared of it... good thing that it's not as scary at the first round. This time I just have to wait for the perfect shade of brown that I like then its done. Drain the oil, cut and serve with rice and vinaigrette. Ü



LECHON KAWALI

300-500 grams pork belly
4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp. salt
1/2 tsp. whole black peppercorns
oil for deep-frying

VINAIGRETTE SAUCE:
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
dash of salt and black pepper

Put the pork belly, garlic, spices and enough water to cover the meat, in a pan. Bring to a boil and cover. Simmer for 45 minutes or until tender. Drain well and let cool.

Deep-fry in hot oil until light brown in color, or for approximately five minutes. Drain and let cool.

Re-fry 2 more times or until golden and crisp.

Chop into serving pieces and serve with vinagrette sauce.

TO MAKE VINAIGRETTE SAUCE:
Put all ingredients in a bottle or leak-proof container and shake well until sugar is dissolved.

Servings: 4




PS: Sorry, due to some emotional chorvah I was not able to take pictures... but they said that it was good. Ü

Monday, August 11, 2008

pork dumplings



During the weekend we tried Din Tai Fung in Bishan.


Xiao Long Bao. 18 folds are hand made.


Its nice that they have an instruction on how to eat their specialty...


This is a special dumpling that you have to eat with care because inside the beautiful folds is a very hot soup and meat... best served with vinegar, ginger and chili... yummy! I can eat up to 5 pieces. :)


For those who love dumplings, try it guys! I know you'll love it. :)

Sunday, August 3, 2008

my version of bistek

Sunday night was my first attempt at bistek or beef steak pinoy style. :) We bought beef last Friday and had it cut bistek style which our friend Ana did herself.

I decided to cook my version of bistek Sunday night, since i love pork steak I thought that I will just follow the same procedure and see the result.


Here's what you'll need:

300 g beef (cut bistek style)
1/3 cup calamansi juice
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 medium onion (cut into rings)
4 cloves garlic (minced)
salt and pepper (to taste)
1 small red bell pepper (cut into strips)
oil for pan frying

Here's how:

1. Pre-marinate the beef in calamansi juice and soy sauce mixture set aside inside the fridge for 30 minutes or so.
2. Heat the oil in a pan. Sautee the garlic then panfry the beef pieces. Reserve the sauce.
3. Set aside the cooked beef.
4. Pour the sauce in the pan then add the onions and bell pepper. Cook for 2 minutes then return beef, season with pepper and adjust the taste with salt. Let it simmer for another 2 minutes then its done.

Serve hot with rice.


I considered this as my own version because I did it the same way I do my pork steak... hahaha! I just added a little twist to it by including bell peppers. I loved the way it gave a bit of sweetness and color to the food.

Try it and let me know the outcome. :)

Happy Eating! Ü

beef sopas

I've been craving for sopas for weeks already and since it's not available in the pinoy food store's here I have no choice but to prepare it myself. So after office last Friday, I went to Paragon to buy beef (50% off according to our DM friend). I was able to buy 3 different cuts of beef; 1 for beef steak, 1 for stroganoff and last is the ground beef which I used for my sopas.



I was not able to cook it last friday though because I was not able to buy pasta and milk. What I prepared that night was my version beef stroganoff (kunwari) haha. I was not able to take its picture though.. I'll blog it next time.



Last Saturday, Sis and I went jogging in the nearby park in preparation for our KK climb in September (that's another story). After our jog, we drop by Shop n Save to buy pasta and milk for my sopas.




What you'll need:


250 g. pasta (i used the spiral kind since macaroni is not available)
150 g. ground beef

1 pc beef cube

1 tbsp butter

1 medium onion (chopped)
4 cloves garlic (minced)

1 small carrot (cubed)

1/2 cup chopped cabbage

3 pcs hard boiled egg (cut into wedges)

3/4 cup evaporated milk

salt and pepper (to taste)

Here's how:

Saute ground beef with salt and pepper until color changed to brown then set aside. Add butter on the same pan and saute the garlic and onion until soft then add the precooked beef then the pasta, coat with butter then add 1.5 liters of water, bring to boil stirring ocassionally then add the beef cube and cook to the desired tenderness of the pasta, then set the fire to low, add the veggies, egg and milk, stir then turn off the stove. let stand for 3 minutes.

Serve hot.



Try it! The feedback was good.... :) my housemates liked it naman, according to Sis; sosyalen na sopas daw. haha!

Happy eating! Ü