"Seared Ahi Tuna" at Outback Steakhouse

I was able to try some "Seared Ahi Tuna" at Outback, Makati last night, and wow,... it packs a full smoky pepper flavor, rich in spices...but doesn't over power the lightly seared Tuna meat that dreamily melts in your mouth, just like one of those choice cut raw Tuna meat in Japanese sushi's.

The sharp tang that goes along it comes from the 2 select choices of dips, the lemony, sour yelloe vinaigrette, and the salsa type one.

It might come a bit expensive for my usual fare (Php200++ per half order) for an appetizer, but is sure is something that could make you comeback to this place establishment for.

Kuwano Shinsuke Style Steak Set: Remix version

Going out for some groceries this Saturday, I happened to go across their select steaks cuts. Remembering how Kuwano Shinsuke prepares his steak from the J-drama series "Kekkon Dekinai Otoko", I decided to do a steak experiment. And what an expensive experiment...I have splurged a bit for the steaks.

A Kuwano Shinsuke-style steak simply involves adding pepper and rock salt to the meat and lightly frying it on a medium heat.

For this experiment, I planned to fry and cook it thoroughly, since I don't like steaks cooked medium rare (as I found out when I dined out at Lala Port).

Heat up the oil, mixing it with 5-pepper spice and Magic Salt seasoning. As the oil comes to a boil, add the seasoned meat into the pan. Cook in medium heat, placing the lid to let the steam and juice cook it, sealing in the flavor as the cooking dogma goes.

After turning the meat over, add a pouch of garlic-mushroom steak sauce. I know that the steak sauce is added after the steak is cooked, but I rather have the flavor cooked into the meat rather than having the sauce dripping off it, having first dibs on my taste buds.

This style of steak goes well with other sour sauce based food, like Italian style spaghetti, and a side dish of fresh cucumber slices.

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.

Death Sticks Ver.2.01

While walking around the market, seeing a crap load of green chili's made me reminisce about my 'Death Stick' experiment a few years back. Now, I think its time to level it up.

Using large green chili's, core them out, removing the seeds and the stem. Remember kids, the seeds contains most of the oil that makes chili's hot and spicy.

After removing the core and seeds , cut generous strips of cheese. Lactose in cheese helps counter the spicy oil in chili's.

Serve with either a meat strip or, in my case, oyster topping.

Yum

Experiment: Remove the Chemical Taste in Canned Corned Beef

I don't know why but recent incarnations of the humble canned corned beef's taste has changed since my childhood days. You can really taste the chemicals used as preservatives (especially in some famous brands).

My favorite brand is Libby's due to the absence of the chemical-like taste, the over all flavor, and its juiciness despite being a bit dry.

But, alas, my fave brand is a bit expensive. So I have to make do with the usual popular brands.

To 'clean and rinse' the chamical taste, I first sauted some garlic and onions, put in the canned corned beef and put in a quarter cup of water. Wait until the water boils then lower the flame. Cook until the water has evaporated from the mix.

Add a dash of black pepper and a pinch of salt. Feeling a bit adventurous, I added a dash of McCormick's Italian Seasoning.

Continue mixing in the pan until almost all the moisture has evaporated.

Midnight Snack Alert

Getting hungry in the middle of the night,I decided to fix up a little something something using the leftovers my wife used for her okonomiyaki.

First off, shredding some carrots and leeks.

For the cabbage, I shredded them in two different styles for texture. I sliced the half in strips and the other half julienne style.

Mix them together. Add some iodized salt and a generous portion of mayonnaise.

Mix thoroughly and put it through a bit of a cold treatment by setting it aside in the freezer.

While I do love eating veggies, I gotta have meat when hunger becons in the middle of the night. So with I have to deal with the sweet ham left over.

I don't particularly like sweet ham, so I treated it with a dash of black pepper and a pinch of iodized salt, hand mix, and slow cooked over a medium flame.

In cooking the ham, I used a vegetable oil brushed teflon pan.

With a minimal amount of oil, the glazing or sweet coating will be seared off.

I now therefore call this combo : CHUNKY CRUNCHY CABBAGE SALAD with PAN SEARED PEPPERED HAM

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.

Cheesy Tuna Mushroom Omelette

Been a while since I posted about food. Its also because I had no kitchen to cook in. But while visiting my sister, I jumped at the chance to use her kitchen and try out this evil mixture I've been hatching for a long time.

Well, this may be not much of an adventure, but going to the market one day, I decided to try combining tuna flakes and mushroom in one of my omelette experiments.

I was actually thinking about trying to make a mushroom burger steak set for the kids, but with the cost of pork these days... and after walking around the market in the heat of the sun made me...lazy.

You will need:

- 1 can of tuna flakes (crush the flakes into a pulp)

- 1 small can of mushroom (chopped, slice longitudinal sections for garnishing)

- 2 eggs

- a buttload of grated cheese (I use Eden cheese, not quickmelt...

it adds more texture and taste)

First, beat the eggs in a bowl adding a dash of pepper and a pinch of salt. Cook the eggs in a low flame to maintain a good cooked surface underneath while keeping a fresh, moist area above. add the tuna and mushroom mix in the center. Add cheese as needed. Then fold the sides over the filling then flip that suckah ovah... :-)

Garnish with cheese and mushroom section.

The kids at home loved this. Try it out.

Peanut Kisses straight from Bohol

Peanut Kisses...

I heard about this a long time ago, and my friend recommended that I find it when I go to Bohol.

This local delicacy is made of egg whites and crushed peanuts, and let me tell you, its the shiznizzle. Its sweet, crunchy and nutty, all for a very good price. I also love the way its packaged, proudly stamped by the agencies that help develop and boost the appeal of this crunchy treat.

I got my peanut kisses from this 24-hour souvenir shop a few minutes from the airport. "Angel-whatsis-something". I can't remember the name of the store clearly.

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.

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.

======================

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.

Cheese Omellete with Lady's Choice Mayo

A booth promoting a mayo brand at the mall gave me and wife an idea i'd like to share. We are used to adding milk, butter or plain veggie juice to make our omelettes fluffy and tasty. It never occurred to me that adding mayonnaise to the omelette mix could make it taste and feel interesting.

I studied various components for baking on a chemical level as a report in my humanities class (despite my group being a bunch of metal heads, artists and musicians...my professor assigned cooking as our report). In my research, mayo in omelette is essentially like adding oil and more eggs to the mix. With eggs which primarily serve as a binder in baking, I fail to see the effects of a binder will make to another binder and make it fluffy.

To my surprise, adding Lady's Choice original blend made some difference in the texture and taste in what we were cooking. Its not that fluffy, but it was soft, with a bit of tang...a flavor not necessarily associated with omelettes.

I recommend using 2 singles pack (or two tablespoons) of Lady's Choice Mayonnaise to 3 eggs. Add a pinch of iodized salt. Keep in mind that adding too much iodized salt will flatten out the color of the whisked eggs and in turn, will make your omelettes or scrambled eggs leaner, thinner and less fluffy. As the bottom part forms and cooks, add 2 diced tomatoes and half a white onion. As the veggies cook into the liquid side of the whisked eggs, add the diced quick melt cheese then turn the half of the egg batter to close your omelette.

I assure you, this one will make for a hearty breakfast for anyone.

Tilapcharap: The Chicharon from the Sea

Filipinos are always finding ways to reinvent the chicharon, which is deep fried pig's skin that is fluffy in appearance, crunchy and salty. Last weekend I was able to sample one of its varieties in the form of 'Tilapcharap', a signature dish from Pixie's Sinugba.

It is made from the skin of the Tilapia deep fried with Pixie's own mix of seasoning and breading. It tastes interestingly enough like the pig variety but more lean and healthy. The appearance just gets a bit of getting used to. As my niece said, it looks like snake hide, and just like the latter, it goes well with a bit of vinegar and chili.

Lasagna Express

In some occassions, helping my mom around the kitchen is a good learning experience. I love food. I sometimes love to study about food, and its preparation, and other trivial tidbits about it. The different things food plays with your senses only serves to perk my intrest in them even more.

In my recent trip back to my parent's home in Rizal last New Year's eve, I see my mom preparing Baked Macaroni and Lasagna. No one prepares meat sauce like my mom. The combined texture of the gounded pork with the right hint of tomato, saltiness and sweetness keeps me coming back to learn how she prepares her sauces.

I already learned how she 'double-cooks' the grounded pork or beef to create the texture and flavor I grew up with. Its where you boil the grounded meat in its own juices, its natural flavor, until the added water is evaporated, then cook it from the oil it produced...sealing in the natural saltiness and flavor of the meat. But the recipe of the sauce itself changes over time. Maybe its to better suit the changing taste as we grew up.

While preparing for the New Year celebration, we were running out of time with the Lasagna. My mom forgot to make the bechamel sauce (which I hate). I told her its okay, no need to make the bechamel. My mom told me that its what makes the Lasagna soft moist and creamy after baking. Since we were out of time, she decided to mix the ingredients of the bechamel to the meat sauce. That means adding the flour, milk and half a bar of butter in the tomato meat sauce I was cooking. It thought its going to ruin the flavor of the meat. To my surprise, what resulted is a creamy textured tomato meat sauce with the same flavor, a bit less salty, but delicious non the less.

While laying the pasta with the sauce, I said "I dub thee, Lasagna Express, a fast and easy way to prepare Lasagna without the fuss of making two sauces at the same time." To which my mom laughed at.

(Later that evening, my mom still made a seperate batch with bechamel sauce)

Lessons Learned from the Maki Experiment

After watching (for the nth time) my favorite series 'Kekkon Dekinai Otoko', I suddenly had the urge to eat some assorted maki. Having watched a lot of Japanese anime and drama as a basis on how to make a simple veggie Maki, I went to the grocery to get some cucumber, iceberg lettuce, nori strips, and mayo (the ordinary grocery kind...the Japanese mayo was a bit expensive).



On the way back, realizing I have no rice with me, I just bought the 'carinderia' rice, thinking it won't make a difference. I prepared the veggies, spread the rice...prepared everything ala 'Urban Peasant'. Long story short, the experiment was a failure. It should have been evident to me that some chef study these things from a cook book...and not from the comfort of your living room watching your fave Maki Horikita or Abe Hiroshi series.

Here are a few things I learned from this failed maki experiment;

1.) Short grained sticky rice is more preferred that the usual long grained asian variety. The short grained rice are more likely to retain its shape and stay together when the juices of the veggies seep into the mix. Long grained rice also tends to break down or crumble while rolling your maki.

2.) Ordinary boiled rice (or the common Filipino 'kanin') does not have the taste and texture that compliments the veggies. Ordinary 'kanin' is too rough. Moreso, it is made of long grained rice (to see why, refer to lesson 1). I also read from About.com that vinegar is also added to the rice meant in making sushi or maki.

3.) Don't wrap the maki too thick. I'm not sure if its beause of the the type of nori that I used, but wrapping the maki more than 3 times will make it harder for you to bite down on your maki or even chew it. Also, the more nori you use, the more it overpowers the taste of the veggies.

4.) NEVER PUT PEPPERONI IN YOUR MAKI. It tastes awful... trust me.

Mish and Mash Project: Pacific Iceberg

There is no such place which offers all of your heart's desire. May it be a type of service, goods or flavor of food. This is when I do my 'Mish and Mash'. I combine the dishes with the flavor I like, then add the dishes from another shop, which I think, can augment or accent the flavor of the main dish.

My latest 'Mish-and-Mash' adventure combines the rustic flavors of 'Chuck's' and the sweet, light flavors of 'FLV Cusine'. Both shops are a but a 'shop in between' apart, located in the basement foodcourt of Landmark in Makati City.

We first get an order of Porter steak from Chuck's. As much as possible, you should ask to seperate the gravy because they're going to drown the poor morsel in that brown delight (remember kids, too much of a good thing may turn out to be bad). Then, from their condiments counter, fill their sauce container with 3 parts ketchup and 1 part soy sauce leaving 1 part as mix space. Then on a seperate container put a few dabs of hot sauce.

Then from FLV we get an order (two orders if you're really hungry) of their 'Potato Bacon Chicken salad'.

First off, we stir the ketchup-soy sauce mix, adding the hot sauce as needed. Combine this mix with the gravy. Now use a portion to add to the steak, and the other portion of the mix with the Java rice that came with the Porter steak (thus making the 'Pacific'). Then mix the other part with the P.B.C. salad (which makes up the 'Iceberg'). Arrange the 'Iceberg' beside the 'Pacific' like you would a serving of steak with mashed potato.

With this, you will get the same enjoyment of eating steak with mashed potatoes with coleslaw, but with an added light flavor by the cheese and fruits from the salad.

Bon Apetit

Dynamite Maki and Death Sticks

Dynamite Maki

A day of chili's and cheese filled my Sunday afternoon as my wife and I experimented with the before mentioned ingredients. We were planning to make Dynamites back then, but the shortage of those dimsum wrappers thwarted our plans. My wife suddenly remembered the Dynamite Maki which she and my mother experimented with a few months ago.

Its the same stuffing as the regular Dynamite; green chili, cheese and sliced ham, but this time, it is wrapped in flattened white bread. To add a little twist, my wife added some spaghetti sauce and dipped the Dynamite Maki in whisked eggs and 'breaded' with crushed toasted mamon (Philippine Muffin?) and deep fry in a low heat.

But the small portions of cheese, ham and chili resulted in the 'French Toast'-esque mix to subdue the flavor of the filling. To this I increased the portions of the cheese and ham...with near okay results.

Death Sticks

While paying around with the chili and the cheese, I molded some cheese to fill the halved chili's and eat it raw. It was good. Then I started to leave a little chili seed oil, now it tasted even better. I started to call them 'Death Sticks' (combination of artery blocking cheese with a jolt of capsaicin in the chili oil may cause some severe heart burn for some).

I still can't think of a wine or beverage to pair it with. The chili in the Death Stick makes it incompatible with white wine...although red wine shows promise. And no, my beer guzzling cohorts, its not spicy enough to be considered a beer mate.

(editor's note: I don't recommend consuming these things in mass quantities before going to bed...it may result in restlessness or worst...chili fueled nightmares)