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!!!!

------------------------------

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.

Recipe: Spicy Pork Special

Its been a loong time, but its hard to come up with stuff if you don't have a kitchen.

Setting up a table outdoors, I am reminded of my sister's spicy gambas with bamboo shoots (If I remember correctly). So inspired with that thought, I gave it a go.

The ingredients are:

- 20 oz. of water (approx)
- 1 large Red Bell Pepper
- 4 large Green Chilis
- 4 medium sized Red Chilis
- 400 grams of ground pork
- 3 bulbs of Red Onion
- 'Patis'
- Knorr 'Magic Sarap'
- 3 large Potatoes (as a replacement for the bamboo shoots)


Put all the water in the frying pan. Slice the peppers, removing the seeds, except for the red chili. After putting the potatoes in a water bath, peel them and cut to strips.

When the water in the pan is boiling, add the ground pork. Wait for the foam of impurities to rise and remove them. And then add the potatoes. As the pork and potatoes cook, add the 'patis' in the pan. As half the water is gone, start adding the veggies and spices.

Taste the broth occasionally. Add more 'patis' and/or Knorr 'Magic Sarap' as needed. Do not wait for all the water to disappear...by then the potatoes would have been overcooked.

Garnish with some more red and green chilis for texture.

Serve with a pitcher-full of iced water. Get ready for some fireworks in the mouth...enjooooy.

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.

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.

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.

Kalbi: Mexican-Korean Fusion Fastfood

Having quite a hunger pang one day, I dropped by Glorietta in Makati City to get some grub. Seeing a Mexican Fastfood joint, I started to make a bee-line for that establishment.

To my surprise, while they are serving Quesadillas and other Mexican dishes are Korean favorites.
Huh? Is this some kind of warped combo platter?  I love Mexican food, and I am also quite fond of Korean cuisine. While both are quite spicy (depending on the dish) Korean food, to me, seems to offer more tang and zest.

Chowing down on my Tacos and Quesadillas, I was surprised to find out that its not ground beef with a familiar mix of tomatoes and salsa, but Korean style beef and Kimchi, cooked in Mexican style along with the Tortillas.

Being fond of Kimchi, I welcomed the surprise. But the texture of Korean style braised beef took a while to get used to. Actually, I'm not quite fond of it, but I do admire the style and methods made to develop this fusion. The flavors do complement each other, but the texture of the beef seems quite amiss (maybe I should have selected the pork instead).

And eat it while its hot, the texture of the Korean style beef juice in the tortillas are not as enticing if laid out for too long.

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.

---------------------------------------
THE FINISHED PRODUCT:

Serve with a side of soy sauce, lemons optional.

Death by Caffeine

almost three weeks with 2 to 3 hour sleep...I'm starting to feel the effects.

To combat sleepiness and nausea, I planned to splurge on an 'expensive coffee' with the highest number of espresso shots 'as allowed by law' (is there a legal limit somewhere?).

In my research for the 'legal limit', I came across this cool site that calculates how many shots of espresso it would take to kill you...depending on your sex and weight.

I found that it would take 168 shots of espresso to kill me.

"...Yeah!!!!! Bring on the caffeine, baby....."

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.

The Serious Cheese

This is one serious cheese...

(found at the grocery in the basement of Market!Market!, Fort Bonifacio)

Eat all you can for P150 at Chef d' Angelo

Going home one day from work, haven't eaten anything since that morning, I was to meet my family at Glorietta 5 in Makati City.

There I was led to an eat-all-you-can buffet at Chef d' Angelo for only P150. Its a combined buffet of pasta (2 types of pasta with your choice of cream or tomato sauce), Pizza (love the 2-cheese pizza), salad (oh my, all that lettuce, cucumber and olives) and soup (didn't go for it...its because of some trauma...don't ask..). Its a perfect end to a long day at work.

It has a limited time slot, though. There's the 11am-2pm schedule and a 5pm to 8pm slot. Good thing we got there, just barely.

All you have to do is get to the counter, pay your P150, they will then give you the 'Eat All You Can' wrist band (very fashionably and trendy...just not my type :-)), your plate then you can ;et the eating begin.

Piece of advice though, eat slowly, and you will enjoy the meal better. And there's a reason why a separate 'platito' is provided for the pizza; mixing it with the other stuff will just leave you with a soggy pizza, with the lettuce juice and pasta sauce and all.

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)

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

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.