Sushi with a twist at "Ta Ke Ho Me Sushi Stand"

Creating a different take on sushi/ Japanese rolls is this small glass shop in SM North Edsa called Ta Ke Ho Me Sushi Stand (tah-keh-ho-meh) or TakeHome Sushi (as I call it).

They have quite and interesting selection of rolls and rice balls that make you think "Oh, I didn't think this combination was possible". And along with your interesting mix of rolls that cater to the Filipino palette, they also offer some canned Asahi.

The jewel of their menu, in my opinion, is the Bacon Bomb. A fusion of Japanese and Western decadence as you get a rice ball of spicy salmon, with shreds of nori, wrapped in juicy bacon, and smothered in Japanese Kewpie mayo. A selection that rightfully explodes in your mouth. this alone makes me want to come back for more. This concoction is best enjoyed directly after it has been handed to you. I wouldn't recommend this as a take home since the nori would end up moist after being mixed with cooked rice, and the bacon would loose its crisp. 

Of Food and Ethnocentricity

Recently I've been eating out with the family and friends and I notice a common occurrence in the Philippine fastfood industry.

We are all infected with our Western "masters'" ethnocentric ideals.

A lot of fastfood chains or food court establishments promise the best authentic Japanese cuisine, even naming their place "Mr. Fuji Ninja Samurai-san-something something"... and you find out they are serving Chinese or Korean staples.

I mean...what the heck?

And in one place, they serve the Tonkatsu uncut...using the wrong cut of pork...without the tonkatsu sauce. I believe the right name for your "authentic Japanese" dish is "Breaded Porkchop". Now, removing the right features for the dish, making something that somewhat looks like it, and shoving it down our gullets as if it is the real thing just shows the industry's laziness.

I mean, i'd understand if its from the West, where there is  a total shift in the cultural ideals...but these are our Asian neighbors...

Recommends: Eggs in Bacon Cups

Found this one while celebrating my mom's birthday at "Buffet 101" at Eastwood

There's an old saying, "You can never go wrong with bacon". Its sunny side up fried egg encased in a cup made of fried bacon.

Niku Jaga: Home grown style

Its been a loong time since one of my cooking experiments, partly due to the past typhoons tearing up our makeshift kitchen. Well, we got a few implements up and running so I was able to do a little experiment with a Japanese dish called Niku Jaga.

Niku Jaga is essentially the Japanese version of the meat and potatoes stew. Mostly made of potatoes, carrots, minced onions and a few pieces of meat for flavoring, stewed up in sweet soy sauce. Its a Japanese staple, mostly in the winter, and usually served with white rice and miso.

But for my experiment, I was doing an expressed Niku Jaga...Pinoy style. Since me and my boy love potatoes in meat stew, I thought of making the dish with Filipino cuisine based meat stew or sauce.


Remembering the tips and steps I remembered from various anime on preparing this dish, I first tossed the crazy cut potatoes in rock salt and pepper. then saute them in oil and garlic.

With a thin coat of textured potatoes appearing, I then added the "essence of pork" cube in the mix.

after a while, I put the 'Menudo" sauce mix in water, stirred till dissolved, before adding it to the saute. I then immediately added the diced carrots and onions in the pan.

Boil until the potatoes and carrots are done.

Enjoy!!!!

BBQ All You Can at "Charaptor BBQ"

Last night, me and my officemates went to this place at Kamagong St. where they said we can do a barbecue-buffet-eat-all-you-can thingy for less than Php400.

The place is called "Charaptor" (play on words between 'Char' and 'Raptor'), a charcoal barbecue bar along Kamagong St., cor Aranga St. in Makati city.

The bar, with it's "Jurassic Park buffet table scene"-ish style like ambiance, offers its patrons the BBQ bar experience either in their interior dining space, or the outside dining area, which is more casual.

Each tables are fitted with its own charcoal grill and its own direct exhaust system so the smoke and steam doesn't go around fill up the place.

 Now, the buffet...

You can barbecue from a wide variety of morsels, buffet style. Take your pick, from your usual street vendor fares like tenga, isaw,.. vegetables, potatoes,... pork, beef and chicken in different kinds of barbecue mix... seafood... and various side dishes abound. As if that's not enough, they also serve rice and orange juice until you can't take in no more.


Also available are different sauces to dip your morsel after sizzling on the grill. I tried experimenting with their line of sauces, ranging from the standard to the "huh?". So far I liked the result of mixing 1/3 toyomansi (with chili) to 2/3 yakiniku sauce. But still, I am looking for that taste I experienced when I was in Kyoto.



So take that trip. doors open from Sunday to Thursday, 6pm to 11pm.

Adventure Time Inspired Mega Sandwich

After helping around the house, cooking for the local town "fiesta" for 6 hours straight, I am left at the kitchen with a lot of left over ingredients.

Still the "mega sandwich" made by Jake in the cartoon series "Adventure Time" in my mind. I decided to combine a mad mix of stuff around the kitchen to make my own version.

What I ended up using were:

2 white bread (fill only as halves, so I'll be making 2 sandwiches)
garlic mayo (crushed garlic mixed with mayo and sugar)
deep fried chinese style meatloaf (embotido)
half a cup of minced red onion
half a cup of minced green chilis
pre-grated parmesan cheese
lettuce
chunk bits of leftover fried chicken

First off, I make a base coating of garlic mayo. Then mix up the meatloaf with the chicken bits and lay them out on the bread. Put another coat of garlic mayo then spreading some of the onions and chilis. Give a generous dusting of pre-grated parmesan cheese. Close with the leafy parts of the lettuce topped with another coat of garlic mayo. Fold the bread then go at it Taco-style.

This is gonna be awesome!!!!

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My mom taught me a way of cleaning a shrimp that I never heard of before. My brother calls it "Gutting the Shrimp".

First, use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut off the sharp end of the shrimp's snout, the one usually stabbing the hands of those sauted shrimp movices, taking along the long thread like feelers. It makes it easier to handle the shrimp and also makes a lesser mess in the cooking (and ultimately the eating) process.

Next step is using a thin, small bread knife and punch along the second scale from the tail just below the central nerve. Using the blunt edge, slowly pull the knife out, pulling with it the white, tranluscent tube with a black innards. My mom calls it the intestine because it has the waste from the previous meal by the shrimp. My brother calls it the spinal nerve. By taking it to the surface, gently pull it and you have a smelly blackj string of...something.

My mom told me it helps to make the shrimp safer to consume because eating crustasceans is really like a russian roullette. To be honest, it made handlling the shrimp better and less smelly. I don't know if all cooks prepare shrimps this way because I have had some with their hairy feelers, harpoons and black entrails still in the stew.

Food Stuff to Look Out For (Japan)

A few snacks for summer in Japan.

Lotte Ice Bar: Suika and Meron Bar (Watermelon and Cantaloupe Bar). A cantaloupe and watermelon flavored ice pops, shaped like the way these fruits are cut and served. The cantaloupe flavored pops has these small white sugar beads that stand in for the seeds. And in the watermelon flavored pops are black chocolate beads that looks like the seeds. Cute and interesting presentation along with a refreshing taste, goes well with those intensely hot Japanese Summer.

Hazono Manjyu: Kuzu Manjyu. A manjuu is a traditional Japanese snack made of red bean paste. But what I don't like about manjuu is that its too sweet (that's why its served with green tea) and the sticky texture it leaves in the throat. But this Kuzu Manjyu is the solution. Its like its made from manjuu, jelly mix and fruit slices. It has a light sweet taste and refreshing flavors from various fruits that works with the flavor of the manjuu. The flavor that puzzled us all, Filipinos and Japanese alike, is the one pictured above. We don't know what an 'Aoi Ringo' (Blue Apple) is, but it was the most refreshing from the bunch.

Unagi Pie. Its not made from 'unagi' (eel) and its not a pie. Its a thin, crispy biscuit, which looks like a plate of barbecued unagi, is comparable to the Filipino 'Otap' which is glazed with something which is sweet, with an after taste of brandy (maybe thats why there's a V.S.O.P. tag in the front).

Have Yourself a "Spicy Kinoshita"

No, its not one of those sex positions with an urban name. Its a sandwich that I learned from an officemate in Funabashi, Chiba. It mainly consists of ingredients which you can get at your friendly neighborhood 100 yen 'combini' (convenience store). And let's face it, when you're living in the most expensive metropolitan area, those 100 yen stores are gonna be your new best friend.

The "Spicy Kinoshita" basically contains bread, veggies (in this case, lettuce), mayo, mixed pepper spices and meat (preferably cold cuts)

For this instance, we grab some generic Japanese Mayonnaise, bread, mixed spices, a head of lettuce and 'Bits Weiner' from Lawson 100 Yen store. Total cash out: 525 yen. Almost the same price as a meal at Hotto Motto, but, with the quantity you have, it would tide you over for at least 3 meals... that's at least 1000 yen saved from most common take-out joints in Tokyo metropolitan... or Chiba in this case.

First, layout clumps of mayo (with the generic bottle, it won't be a problem) then sprinkle the mixed spices. Put in the cold cut then top with lettuce. Its that simple. The taste, is like having a light salad in a sandwich. Its not that heavy on the tummy but enough to satisfy your hunger.

Japanese Style Spicy Spaghetti at Cafe Kitchen Aroma

Out to meet the host company's boss in Japan, He invited us to a cozy but modern restaurant near the office called ' Cafe Kitchen Aroma'. On the top of the menu are a list of specialty pastas they offer. I was intrigued with the Japanese Spicy Spaghetti.

Now, I eat a lot of 'Filipino Style Sweet Spaghetti', and one of my faves in a local restaurant in the Philippines is called 'Vietnamese Spicy Spaghetti'. Seeing that there is a Japanese style got me curious.

An interesting mix of Japanese dashi (broth) cooked chicken meat and spicy Italian pasta. Adding color and texture to the dish are Edamame beans. These beans are usually served as finger food along with beer. Surprisingly, the beans don't feel out of place with the sauce/broth and calms in between the spicy flavor in the spaghetti.

You can sample this fine fusion dish at Cafe Kitchen Aroma located along the main road from Funabashi Station at Honchou City, Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture.

Vegetable Cheese Risotto

Risotto is an Italian method of cooking rice using different soup base (meat, fish etc.) and adding either wine or cheese into the mix.

My recent venture to make Chahan ended up into a type of Risotto by using the juices from the vegetables I added, although the rice was already cooked using water as a base. The Philippine fried rice is essentially refrying rice that was cooked either the night before or a few hours earlier, turning into what we call 'Bahaw' (cold, leftover rice).

For this experiment, the portions depends on the volume of rice you have to fry. For every bowl you would need 2 whole tomatoes, 1 large bulb of onion, 1/4 bar of cheese and 3 to 5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped.

First, fry the garlic till golden brown, then add the sliced onion. As the onion caramelizes, add the rice then toss vigurouly,letting the juices of the garlic and the onion into the rice. Then add the diced tomatoes, including the juices that accumulated during the slicing process. Add a dash of pepper and a few pinches of salt to taste. Also add a few dashes of McCormick Italian Seasoning. Then add the grated cheese from the 1/4 bar that you had. Mix until the cheese is melted and seems to coat every grain of rice, making them clumpy and almost gooey. I also added shredded scrambled eggs for extra texture.

You should end up with a salty,cheesy but refreshing mix of rice and vegetables. You can add in other Chahan essentials (like pieces of pork, etc.) in the tradition of the mixed fried rice.

Adobo Flake Sisig

With a bunch of leftover Pork Adobo and Chicken Curry, I had an idea of having various meat flakes crushed and deep fried. I remembered having some fried Pork Adobo flakes from a few years back and I thought it would be a good idea to try and make it.

With the Pork Adobo and Chicken Curry, seperate the skin, bones and fat,leaving the meat behind.


Crush the meat, pressing down parallel to the muscle and tendons, dividing them into strips and flakes.

Then put the mixed meat flakes in the frying pan with preheated oil. Fry until the white parts of the flakes turn golden brown.

Halfway through, I then thought about adding some onions and eggs. From the inital idea of having some Pork Adobo flakes, it quickly turned into a 'Pork Sisig'-esque kind of viand.

After the mixed meat flakes turn golden brown, add a bulb of medium sized purple onion, chopped. Allow the juices from the onion to bleed through and mix into the meat and the oil.

Then proceed to add the eggs to bind the mixed meat together, and also to add some texture. Season with a few piches of iodized salt.

Cook until the eggs are fluffy.

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THE FINISHED PRODUCT:

Serve with a side of soy sauce, lemons optional.

Satabachi!!!

Answer the following questions;

1.) Do you like Japanese Food?

2.) Are you always on a tight budget when you eat out?

3.) Are you in Market!Market! Fort Bonifacio?

If you answered yes to all of these questions, then you are in luck. Situated in the food court of Market!Market! is a Japanese fastfood joint called Satabachi. With their affordable prices they do serve some pretty decent Japanese fast food. For P300, I was able to get a lunch set for 3 persons, along with two extra orders of Gyoza.

Personally, I never eat there without a healthy dose of Gyoza.

Sadly, some of the favorites like the Kani Salad is not here. And I never seem to get there in time to get some Onigiri.

Check em out :-)

Mangetsu Closing on Sept.17

Went to Mangetsu restaurant the other night to eat our 'last supper' there...because Mangetsu is closing on Sept.17.

So hurry up. This may be your last chance to try out the various mouth watering fusion and signature dishes they are very proud of.

As of a few months ago, Mangetsu garnered the attention in the blogosphere with both locals and Japanese alike.

Mish and Mash: Spicy Beef Maki with Kani Salad

Two of the most recent addition to Tokyo-Tokyo's menu; the Spicy Beef Maki and the Kani Salad, are the subject of today's Mish and Mash Project.

The Spicy Beef Maki is a thin beef slice wrapped in vinegered rice topped with spicy sauce. It comes with its own BBQ style-like dip, but I think it tastes better with the usual soy sauce with wasabi paste.

Their Kani Salad is a mix of crab sticks, lettuce and mangoes topped with mayonnaise. One can notice immediately the absence of the usual cucumber strips, leading my wife to think this is a real 'salad approach' (bare ingredients mixed with lettuce and mayo).

This mash-up is simple... just use a portion of the Kani Salad to top off the Spicy Beef Maki. You'll get a mix of the beef flavor with the smoothness of the mangoes and mayonnaise.

The good news is, this mix and mash will only set you back about P140.

Just remembering about this dish makes my mouth water....

Revitalize Overextended Foodcourt Entrees with Kimchi

In today's economy, food establishments in malls and around the metro try everything to maximize profits given their operational costs. To this end, they resort to using extenders in their signature viands.

Having lived with a family of caterers before, I have witnessed the use of various extenders to increase the quantity of food products they can put out. Since these methods are common place in commercial food establishments, it is used in a level that the extenders doesn' affect the overall taste of the product.

But recently, eating at food courts or establishments in malls, it seems that they tend to overdo these methods. With their viands ending up tasting bland and flour-like. And with the ever rising price of food commodities, consumers are left to endure these tasteless entrees.

But I have found a solution, that is if you like tang and spice in your meat viands, mostly for the fried or grilled kind.

I add a helping of Kimchi along with the viand to boost the meat's flavor. This humble Korean staple, costing a mere P25 per serving (at the Kimchi food booths), will fill out the bland areas filled up by these extenders and add a curious flavor to the meal you are used to. Giving you your money's worth.

A lot of extenders can be applied to viands with grilled pork as the main focus. This also applies to meatballs, fried dimsums, or grilled (or fried) meat served with a large fat or tendon content. Your tastebuds shall behold the playful flavor this method shall provide.

But this method is not applicable to all. Soup based viands with weak glutumate content are out of the question. Since there is no flavor base to boost, doing this will defeat the purpose in the first place. Viands with dairy based cream, soup or sauce also doesn't go well with this method. And finally, people who doesn't like tang with their spicy food, or dislike kimchi in general, should refrain to entertaining this suggestion.

The Whale Meat Dilemma

Recently I was watching a lot of the series 'Whale Wars'. Its about the people of the eco-conservation group Sea Shepherd who interfere with whaling operations on the Southern oceans as a means to save the dwindling whale population.

Although a moratorium on commercial whaling operation took effect in 1985, it does allow whaling for scientific and research purposes. When the reasearch turns lethal for the whale, parts and meat is allowed to be sold in markets, shops and restaurants. Now there's a lot of controversy riding on this since it is said that this research stuff is just a loophole commerical whalers use to get around the moratorium.

Now I don't want to get into a rut about who is morally right or wrong in the commercial whaling ban. I want to get into the source why they are being hunted in the first place.

There are a lot research materials in the web about the history of whaling in Japan and other countries, but I want to get the reason on a casual, bottomline level; the need for people to consume whale meat.

Although my correspondence with some Japanese about their whale meat consumption habits are incomplete and couldn't be used as a statistical basis. It does, however, raise a bit of awareness about the situation.

Before the ban on commericial whaling, whale meat is normally available anywhere anytime, recalls one of my correspondence. The taste and texture of whale meat, to my surprise, is likened to that of beef. Since beef and pork are really expensive in those days, whale meat meets the standards as a replacement out of the daily grind of fishes and vegetables. She recalls whale meat to be really delicious and tender. But she also tells me that the ban doesn't bother her since there is still a lot of other things one can use for sustainance.

But she also notes that there is a change in the eating habits of today's young Japanese. Although she belong to the generation that normally consumes whale meat, the one born after the whaling ban are the people that now grow up not knowing what it tastes like, therefore refuses consumption of that particular meat product..

The way I see it, its an issue that is varied as the nations that participate in whaling. Although a lot of pressure was made on the Japanese, which ultimately led to a revamp of their lifestyle and eating habits, there are still a lot of countries out there where whaling is not banned while nothing happens to them, leaving some Japanese fishers and whalers to believe that they are being singled out.

This issue is not something you can solve with sustainable means like farming or livestock raising...whales are big. They need large spaces to move around, feed on, and reproduce. All they can do is give the species time to regenerate and recover. With around 17,000+ left around the world, catching a quota of 1,000 or 2,000+ per season ain't gonna help either.

Its a sensitive matter between a nation's culinary identity and the global conservation mindset.

A bit of a conundrum indeed.

Peppered Cold Cuts

It was midnight, and I was having hunger pangs. I was looking for some heavy meat to cook but all I found are some cold cuts. I remembered that black pepper thickens the taste of light meat. With this I proceeded to spring something which I called Peppered Cold Cuts.

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Ingredients:

cold cuts (for this I used 4 whole slices of Bologna ham cut into strips, marinated with 1/4 teaspoon of iodized salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.)

white onion (a small bulb, half to be cut into rings, the other half are diced)

cheese (grated)

mayonnaise (1 tablespoon)

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You then proceed to fry the cold cuts first for a few minutes, browning the meat, before adding the white onion rings. After two minutes add the diced onions. These time difference in cooking the onions gives the variety of texture for this simple dish.

Drain the oil from the mix before transferring to a dish.

Grate in a generous portion of cheese (depending to your preference to cheese) and add the mayo. Give it a good tossing before transferring to the serving dish.

Although its texture is not those of the other thick red meat, the flavor is enough to get you through...serve as a rice topping or along some mashed potatoes.

Enjoy :-)

Tuna Chahan: A Lenten Season Special

On a Good Friday morning, I was brainstorming what breakfast to make at my sister's house. While picking out the ingredients at the nearby store, planning to make Chahan (fried rice with mixed meat and veggies), when I cam across Century Tuna flakes in oil. I though of mixing up a Tuna Chahan.

After chopping up some garlic, onions and tomatoes, I poured the oil from the tuna on the frying pan to use as a base for the saute. I was surprised to find that the solution is not all made of oil, which evaporated almost instantly as it hit the heated frying pan. I then added a bit of coconut oil and proceeded to saute the garlic and onion. I then added the tomatoes with the juices to expand the base. The smell that came off it is not your typical garlic-onion saute...it has a bit of a fishy odor to it. Lastly I added the rice from last night's meal and added some iodized salt. Be sure to mash the pre-cooked rice by hand before adding it to the mix. For fried rice, rock salt would have been better but they only had iodized salt so I needed to add more. Iodized salt can only add flavor to a small area unlike rock salt, which can spread around with a more recognizable taste even with a small amount.

Adding the tuna's oil added a greasy texture to the mix (a texture I dislike in some fried rice) so I had to cook a bit longer to get the desired taste and texture. It's done if you get rid of the greasy texture and each pinch of rice has the flavor derived from the garlic and onion saute. After cooking, I topped it off with some scrambled eggs and some whole tuna flakes.

The final taste doesn't deviate that much from your ordinary Chahan, but it does have a hint of tuna. Maybe I could have enhanced the 'seafood'-iness by adding some sweet peas, diced carrots and some small sauted shrimp.

Just a little something to include to your Lenten season repertoire.

Tuna Chahan: A Lenten Season Special

On a Good Friday morning, I was brainstorming what breakfast to make at my sister's house. While picking out the ingredients at the nearby store, planning to make Chahan (fried rice with mixed meat and veggies), when I cam across Century Tuna flakes in oil. I though of mixing up a Tuna Chahan.

After chopping up some garlic, onions and tomatoes, I poured the oil from the tuna on the frying pan to use as a base for the saute. I was surprised to find that the solution is not all made of oil, which evaporated almost instantly as it hit the heated frying pan. I then added a bit of coconut oil and proceeded to saute the garlic and onion. I then added the tomatoes with the juices to expand the base. The smell that came off it is not your typical garlic-onion saute...it has a bit of a fishy odor to it. Lastly I added the rice from last night's meal and added some iodized salt. Be sure to mash the pre-cooked rice by hand before adding it to the mix. For fried rice, rock salt would have been better but they only had iodized salt so I needed to add more. Iodized salt can only add flavor to a small area unlike rock salt, which can spread around with a more recognizable taste even with a small amount.

Adding the tuna's oil added a greasy texture to the mix (a texture I dislike in some fried rice) so I had to cook a bit longer to get the desired taste and texture. It's done if you get rid of the greasy texture and each pinch of rice has the flavor derived from the garlic and onion saute. After cooking, I topped it off with some scrambled eggs and some whole tuna flakes.

The final taste doesn't deviate that much from your ordinary Chahan, but it does have a hint of tuna. Maybe I could have enhanced the 'seafood'-iness by adding some sweet peas, diced carrots and some small sauted shrimp.

Just a little something to include to your Lenten season repertoire.

Mish-Mash: Sisig with Kimchi

If you ever find yourself in Robinson's Pioneer, here's another mish-mash you can do in the food court.

You first get an order of pork sisig from Sisig Hooray and follow up with 2 orders of kimchi from 'Kim n' Chi'.

Now this mix and mash is not for everyone. I just happen to love kimchi. But if you ever try this, you will marvel at the flavors playing around in your mouth. The salty, meaty crunch of the sisig will be augmented with the sour-spicy, veggie crunch of kimchi.

The same combination is used in local cuisine when you find a lechon or any grilled or fried meat combined with a concoction of sour mix of green mangoes, onion and tomatoes called ensalada.