This week I made sticky buns! I really like baking recipes that use practical shortcuts. This recipe substitutes the trouble of preparing the dough with ready-made puff pastry dough. I was able to buy a 500g pack of puff pastry dough from Santis Delicatessen for P129. It comes in a block, which you have to thaw for around 30mins before you can flatten it into sheets. If you want faster prep time you can opt to buy ready-made puff pastry sheets, which is also available but are a little more expensive.


The recipe is really easy to follow. I don't think this even qualifies as baking. It's more like, assembling. You basically just have to roll it with lots of butter and sugar, some cinnamon, some nuts and chuck it in the oven. And be attentive enough not to let it burn.


I'm so glad this batch came out okay. The sticky buns I made are a little small, around 2in in diameter. I would recommend to immediately take the buns out of the pan after pulling it out of the oven. It's really hard to scrape everything off once the sugar has hardened.

The stick buns came out really well! Butter oozed out of almost every crevice (Yum!) and the sugar-butter mixture on top of the bun was like toffee. BTW the texture's more like a croissant, rather than soft bread.

I still have some leftover dough (around 250g), which I'm thinking of using to make chocolate croissant. I officially love puff pastry dough.

4PM is around the time when the office gets to you: the fluorescent lights, the humming of the copier in the corner, the harmony of typing and telephones ringing. It's 4PM and you need a snack, but the 711 (or Ministop) can only do so much. That's when you need a quick pick-me-up of SMORES!


Get a pack of mini marshmallows (P4.00), chocolate (a small bar from Jack and Jill set me back P4.00), and graham crackers (P6.50). (This yields three 1in x 2in servings.)

Assemble and put in the microwave (I assume every office pantry has a microwave) for 10 seconds.


But this is definitely, definitely better than getting a pack of cookies.

Korean-style Fried Chicken is now available in Manila! After reading all about the succulent wonders of crispy Korean-style Fried Chicken, (Read it here) I desperately wanted to hop on a plane to NY to see what the buzz was all about. (Korea didn't come to mind, probably because I didn't want to struggle with the language barrier, hehe.) It was a good thing that a few local food blogs started featuring BBQ, a korean restaurant in Makati that's fast becoming popular among fried chicken fanatics.


Fried Chicken Set (P170 +tax)
Korean-style fried chicken is ridiculously crunchy. It has a clean taste (not game-y or gross at all) and tend to come in small pieces. It tastes good without the usual gravy or ketchup on the side.


Spicy Chicken Set (P195 +tax)
The spicy chicken is fried chicken coated in a mildly hot, sweet and sour glaze. Sort of like a lighter version of buffalo wings. I really liked this one because the chicken was really crunchy and the sauce wasn't that spicy (surprisingly). This will definitely cure any buffalo wings craving.

This definitely gives me a reason to drive all the way to Makati. The chicken is really good!



BBQ Chicken is located on Jupiter street, near the Makati Ave. intersection. It's behind the Petron Gas Station on the corner of Buendia and Makati Ave. It's between KFC and McDonalds. It's more accessible if you're driving on Jupiter southbound, when it's on your right.

Since we're on the topic of sandwiches, let me show you what I had for dinner yesterday:



Given a few minutes of prep time after work, I managed to whip up a decent sandwich. The bottom layer is chicken salad, the next layer is egg salad (made with leftover hardboiled eggs. I didn't bother to ask the helpers why we had boiled eggs), and the topmost layer is a BLT. I had more than enough strips of bacon so I put a strip on the side, along with a strange slaw I put together using leftover lettuce leaves, some mayo, lemon juice, salt and pepper. I'd like to believe that the acidity cuts down on the fat content of the bacon.

I am now the proud owner of a Wonderbread sandwich holder!


It's a tupperware made especially for a sandwich --since it's shaped like a slice of bread!


I can't wait to try it out tomorrow. I'll upload pictures of it "in action".

I'm a little bit apprehensive (or hesitant) towards Korean food. I guess I haven't been exposed to a lot of Korean dishes. And everything seems so spicy! After checking out Song Do, I've started to reconsider my notion. It was such an experience; guessing how to eat which one with what makes eating more fun.


I rang the gong half-expecting that someone would go down to seat us. After waiting for a while we soon realized that it was merely decorative. Haha! Song Do's dining area is on the second floor, which can be accessed by trekking a long flight of stairs. Minus points because it's not handicap friendly. (After spending almost three months with a cast, I've grown very sympathetic towards those who are differently-abled.)


I haven't been to a lot of Korean restaurants, but so far they all look the same. The restaurant was practically empty on a Friday night. Only four tables were occupied.


We were promptly seated. I think the servers were mildly amused to find non-Koreans in the restaurant. Look, metal utensils! I have a set at home. I think it's pretty nifty, aside from the fact that it's more environment-friendly than its wooden counterpart.


They serve the house tea cold.

Menu prices range from 290 to 1,000++; there's the usual bibimbap, korean pancakes, and a variety of meat for grilling. We ordered the U.S. Angus beef marinated in sauce (P380) and a medium korean pancake with vegetables and seafood (P330, the large one costs P380).


The damage

In detail:


Tender chunks of beef, which you wrap in leaves.






The korean pizza. A little bit on the heavy side; I wanted a crispier, flatter pancake.

There were a lot of side dishes that came with the meat! They practically had to wheel in a small cart to put everything on the table. It included tofu (lightly breaded), kimchi, a dried shrimp salad, pickled vegetables, a soup with a miso base, more salad and more pickled vegetables.

There were also three types of sauce. Something that resembled a pepper paste (not hot), oil that tasted a little bit sweet and smoky, and one that was paired with the tofu (it was dark brown, probably a soy sauce base, with fermented chili, I think). (I should really have asked, but I was too shy.)


The boyfriend and I had a lot of fun grilling the meat, and guessing which went with what. The grill was on low heat, so it took a relatively long time for the meat too cook. Probably just long enough for you to finish the wrap, and get a few bites of the side dishes.


We were about to leave when the servers told us to wait for the fruit. Apparently they give each table a small plate of fruit after each meal. Cool!



We visited the Song Do branch in El Pueblo Ortigas. It's on the corner of Julia Vargas and ADB avenue.

Photos were taken by the Boyfriend. He was also the one who thought of checking out Song Do. Haha :)

There is not such thing as a free lunch. Kinda true, yes. But when you've got the Italianni's Small Price for a Big Lunch coupon it sure feels like it.



Visit this site: Click here.

You then have to fill up a form with your name, age, email address and cellphone number. Within seconds you'll receive an SMS coupon on your cellphone (it's from +639175820352). I have yet to try redeeming this coupon, so leave a comment if you have tried it!


Steak for around P175 a person sounds like the best deal to me.

People my age run on Starbucks. They keel over if they don't get their fix; it's their fuel, it's a craving, it's a treat after a long day. Pretty understandable in a place where whipped cream is considered a luxury, and not something you can find in a can. I usually only go to Starbucks if I'm meeting up with friends, or if I'm redeeming a coupon (wee free stuff!). Usually the latter is a result of the former, so much love to all my caffeine-addled friends.

Case 1:
We were waiting in the blistering cold streets of Edinburgh, waiting for the Ghost Tour we signed up for to commence. The establishments were already closing at 730PM (so strange, I know) and Starbucks was the only shop which had a light on. A small group was starting to assemble, and as we were being herded by the tour guide, the barista comes out with cups and a thermos filled with coffee. They brewed too much, it was the last pot, and he didn't want it to go to waste. So all 15 of us got free coffee!

Case 2:
My friend bought a venti iced caramel macchiatto. I bought a strawberry esprit soda. She said, "You went to Starbucks to get that??" So I showed her the free coupon I got; randomly generated, you accomplish a survey online and they give you a free tall drink of your choice. Win!

Case 3:
We were walking down the streets of Kowloon when we spied two baristas handing out free samples and coupons. After dodging a few cars and falling in line, I found myself in a Starbucks in Hong Kong, trying to convince the barista to give me my free tall Caramel Macchiato without the milk. Infinitely impossible, I know, but it was worth a try. While waiting for the drinks to arrive, I spied this in the counter:



Since I couldn't figure out what it was, I ordered one. At HKD6, what could go wrong?


The chocolate and coconut covered cube was almost as big as my palm. It was soft, sort of spongey.


It was cake! Or more specifically, a cube of vanilla sponge cake, covered with melted chocolate and rolled around in dessicated coconut. Genius! Such a simple, elegant looking dessert. After googling it, I learned that lamingtons hailed from Australia, and it also had a strawberry cousin.

If the local Starbucks sold this, you'd definitely see me inside a store more often. On the other hand, this is certainly something that can be recreated easily with a ready-made loaf of sponge cake (or chiffon), melted chocolate and coconut!

For Holy Week, most people head out of town, seeking respite from the city, only to find the same people and heavy traffic in the province. Some of the more fortunate ones head to the beach, hoping to reflect by the waves, under a blanket of stars, with a drink in hand. Those left in the city are rewarded with empty highways and malls. It's a win-win situation, wherever you find yourself this Holy Week. But the real question is, will you be HOLY or will you be WEAK? (Hahahaha I just had to squeeze that in.)


I say be weak for a pint of really sinful Selecta Gold Series ice cream! Whether or not you put up with all the customs and traditions, like not taking a bath after 3PM on Good Friday or resisting the urge to gorge on that bag of chicharon, you deserve the lush embrace of Extra Creamy Premium ice cream. It comes in three flavors: Chocolate Truffles, a forgettable Berry flavor, and Hazelnut Brownie, which is featured in this post. Each flavor was created by a top Filipino Chef.


If you absolutely adore Nutella, you will love the Hazelnut Brownie flavor. Personally I chose it because it was created by the chef from Chelsea. It's Chelsea!! The home of the best Carbonara, salad, pizza, sandwiches... you get my drift.


I was disappointed that there weren't any brownie chunks in the ice cream. More like brownie bits (like chocolate chips), and maybe three "chunks" of brownies.

What I love most is the texture. Even when it's been chilled in the freezer, it still feels like light and airy, like whipped cream. Like clouds. In a dream. Which is how you'll feel while eating spoonful after spoonful of this wonderful Hazelnut Brownie ice cream.

P.S. Chocolate Truffles is also DIVINE. It perfectly captures the bitter, magical melt-in-your-mouth chocolatey goodness of truffles.

Grab a pint or a tub at your nearest grocery store. A pint is P160 each, which is a steal compared to what you've been shelling out for FIC. Go go go!

Photo credit: The Boyfriend, who patiently took pictures until he got the perfect shot (and until the ice cream melted, whatever came first).

Baking using a microwave oven seems like an urban legend. Well it's not because you can actually bake a cake in 3 minutes using a microwave. Get a mug, fill it flour, hot cocoa mix, water, oil and an egg, nuke it for 3 minutes and voila! Instant cake. Now go post this monstrosity (or ingenuity -depending on how you look at it) over at ThisIsWhyYoureFat.com.

Get the exact recipe here.

I wonder if you can actually pass this off as Molten Chocolate Cake ala Mode. With the right table setting and candle light, I think you can.

I never knew frosting was so easy to make. Here's a Buttercream Frosting recipe I used for my Chocolate Surprise Cupcakes.



Ingredients:
1 cup milk
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla

Directions:
Mix together the milk and flour in a bowl before putting it in a saucepan to cook over medium heat. Do not bring the mixture to a boil. The mixture will thicken so just keep stirring for about two minutes. Turn off the heat when it starts to look like very creamy mashed potatoes. Cool completely.

Beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl using an electric mixer. When it starts to become creamy, start adding the milk and flour mixture two tablespoons at a time. Continue beating until fluffy.

You will end up with absolutely creamy, heavenly frosting.

I think I can officially say that my friends and I have been bitten by the travel bug. A few months ago we found ourselves all bundled up, braving the single-digit temperatures of Beijing. A few weeks ago, on the other hand, we found ourselves melting under the scorching heat of the Bangkok sun. We live in the Philippines and are tropical denizens, but we were no match for Bangkok. It was really something else.

Bangkok also packs so much heat in its cuisine. It also brings a multi-faceted dilemma to any traveler: the abundance of ridiculously spicy food, the lack of public restrooms, and the fact that sidewalk vendors offer the best of Thai cuisine. To a food blogger, Bangkok is too daunting. There are so many things to be eaten, too little time, and it requires the strongest of stomachs and palates. You have to brace yourself for the spices that will assault you with every bite.

One thing that I miss the most about Bangkok is the abundance of top quality, fresh fruits.


Fresh fruits being sold in the Floating Market

The fruits in Bangkok are sensational. Everything is perfect: every morsel sweet, succulent and simply refreshing. This makes our fruit produce in the Philippines pale in comparison. Or in simpler words, suck. This is extremely disheartening. :(


Tamarinds (?) and mangoes aboard a boat in the Floating Market



The one thing I craved for while in Bangkok was the Mango with Sticky rice. I first ordered one in the MBK food cart for 70 Baht. I was given slices of mango (from probably 1 and a half pieces of fruit) and a mound of sweet, coconut milk-flavored sticky rice. At first I wanted to complain about the mangoes. Some pieces were pale yellow, meaning they were from a mango that wasn't that ripe yet.

I ate my words after one bite. Each piece of mango was so sweet, so juicy, as if it were cut from the most perfect piece of mango. It was amazing. The mangoes in the Philippines weren't these perfect. Ever.

Even the pack I bought in the Floating Market (as pictured) tasted marvelous as well. Plus, it was only 30 Baht!

I was also looking for lanzones, but unfortunately they were out of season, apparently. Lanzones in Bangkok are apparently not bitter at all, and very, very sweet.

Photo credit: My friend, Angge. Thanks!

I'm currently obsessed with baking recipes with ridiculous shortcuts. Take for example the Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese centers I made last night. (Pictures to follow; when you're baking at night you feel so pressed for time that food photography is out of the question. Plus the lighting's bad, anyway.)

The original recipe called for the usual suspects of chocolate cake: flour, cocoa powder and precise amounts of baking powder and soda. This didn't look especially friendly to a baking beginner like me. I tend to botch up cake recipes, often crying at the thought of a) throwing out a batch which contained premium quality chocolate or any other ingredient, or b) eating the crummy output. My ninang told me to always do a) and forget that it ever happend, but I'm too frugal so I often do b). (It also helps that the boyfriend will eat anything burnt and/or laden with ridiculous amounts of sugar.)

It was a good thing that a few clicks led me to this ingenious idea: get a box of Devil's Food Cake Mix and substitute the required water with brewed coffee! I trust cake mixes (especially imported ones) completely because they are really no-fail bake items.

That left me the easy job of just mixing everything needed for the cream cheese filling, and procuring all the necessary ingredients (said Cake Mix, cream cheese and cupcake liners).



The cupcakes turned out fantastic!



Now I'm raring to try making Sticky Buns. But first I have to look for ready-made puff pastry dough. (And take pictures of the cupcakes I made.)

We're still unsure of what to do with the chorizo we have at home. It's this huge can, a vat of olive oil encasing close to a dozen pieces of chorizo. The thing is, once you open the can, you have to finish everything right away. (That would be a cinch for the common Filipino household, but technically there are only three of us who would have to toil through everything. That may seem whiny, and not even be a dilemma given everything that's happening in the world right now. It's hard when you're constantly racing to eat everything before its expiry date. There are, after all, some things that don't deserve to be thrown in the freezer.)

Ramblings aside, I got a tip as to how to cook chorizo. Dip it first in olive oil (she used "dip", not "marinate", so I guess this is shorter than five minutes?) before laying it on a grill. This produces chorizo that is absolutely succulent, with just the right amount of crisp. I don't think this is the chorizo you should mix with fried rice. It deserves its own time on stage. And don't forget the mashed potato rosette, like the one in the picture.

Have you ever had a relative who went to Macau and brought home boxes and boxes of this powdery, almond cookie? It's most likely from the famous Koi Kei Bakery, which boasts itself of the market's mammoth share of souvenirs. Koi Kei Bakery also sells sheets of dried meat (like beef jerky), sardines, preserved dried fruits and assorted baked and fried goodies.

Admit it. It gets a bit taxing to finish all the boxes. First of all, there's a different twist to Macanese food. I think they tend to mix the savoury and the sweet. For example, they have a sweet, egg-based crispy biscuit with a strip of dried seaweed inside. They also have gummy strips of sour ginger.

One way to finish a box of those almond cookies is by creating this traditional dessert, which is pictured below.


Crush the cookies and sprinkle (do not mix!) on some cream (toss together some chilled all-purpose cream, a few teaspoons of condensed milk and sugar) and voila! Instant, simple dessert that's sure to satisfy your sweet tooth cravings.

The current frozen yogurt craze in Manila is starting to resemble the one in early 2000, when everyone was lining up for pearl shakes (usually from Zagu). I've only tried frozen yogurt twice. The first time was a cup of Pinkberry with blueberries when I was in the States. Despite my cousin's words of caution I hurried to the first Pinkberry we saw and bought an overpriced cup. Should have listened to her, but I guess you could file this obscene purchase under bragging rights, yes?

The second time was at Lulubelle, a subsidiary of FIC, in Rockwell. I shared a cup with my mother, who promptly took a bite and said that it tastes like a cup of supermarket yogurt chilled in the freezer. She was right. The quality of Nestle yogurt has improved greatly, with a creamier taste and convincingly real fruit bits, so feel free to stick one in the freezer. You'll get the same experience, guaranteed.


One local frozen yogurt shop has the same design aesthetic as Pinkberry; I just can't remember which one.

I would understand that spareribs would be served with fries on the side, but spicy giant prawns? Our meal was pre-ordered, so I'm not too sure if we really could choose the starch that came as a side. Although the chorizo did come with a delicate mashed potato rosette.

As expected from any port city, seafood serve as pillars in Macanese cuisine. Case in point: the clams!


We suspect that these fresh clams were simmered in a bath consisting of premium grade olive oil, white whine, garlic and onions. If you absolutely adore the depth white whine gives to any dish, then order a bowl of clams in O Porto Interior Restaurant. If you love a more mellow broth, your best bet is the Madeira Restaurant at the Venetian Macau.

I think I'll throw in another picture of giant prawns swimming in chili olive oil.

Normally I never stay away from any dish. Growing up I've tried eating seashells (there's a specific kind that doesn't cause any inner organ lacerations), kilawin (slices of raw fish tossed together with vinegar, onions, garlic and chili) and marine animals that you would normally marvel at while scuba diving or snorkeling.

So when I took a bite of this unsuspecting dish in my mouth, I was surprised to hear my dad say, "Wow! Now you can tell your friends that you've eaten octopus." RIGHT. All this time I thought it was just a plate of oddly-chopped pieces of pickled squid. Octopus has the same gummy texture as squid. But there is the weird feeling of coming across the suction cups that makes the eating experience a bit cannibalistic. If you chew it quite fast and swallow, it's just like eating squid. Only with chunkier, bigger bites.