a love affair with food

what's the common thing between hoteliers from crimson by way of santa mesa manila, an ozamis native of hilton, the artistic vibes of hinigaran negros occidental from radisson blue, a manileno writer from peopleasia and an imported iloilo native doing hr services and training for the bpo industry have in common?



an orgy of delicious food parading in front of us in Tsim Sha Tsui. And I don't mean the road in kowloon, hoooong kong, somewhere nearer in Ayala Terraces is the cebu franchise of the same restaurant that has taken the next level in dimsum buffet. imagine an assorted of dimsum and dumplings set on a conveyor belt that goes round and round.

take a deep breath until you feel light in the head after an overdose of vetsin and feast your eyes on this set...



tofu stuffed with meat, fried and steamed. the steaming process softens the fried tofu. tasty with a black bean sauce that gives it that salty ooomph!



beef balls, nope, this is not soup no. 5 made into dumplings, real beef formed into balls then steamed until cooked. taaasty.





machang, sticky rice with assorted meats wrapped in lotus leaf then steamed until cooked.



the lotus leaf imparts a smoky, sort of tobacco flavor that permeates the rice and meat.

there are other dimsum and dumpling selection on the list aside from the array of desserts, then again i bet you are just as tired of seeing the same array of quail egg, shrimp, pork, chicken feet, mandungo, steamed chicken, pork spareribs featured in every other chinese dumpling blog entry :)

for more incessant rambling, visit my blog.

Food, Complicated.

if i were to translate xia long bao into a facebook status it would probably be, "Sinfully Delicious and COMPLICATED".

i don't know about you but my soup usually gets served in a ceramic bowl, in some cases served in a coffee cup, or the uniquely presented french onion soup in a bread bowl.

the bread bowl is complicated enough, but have you heard of soup served inside a steamed chinese bun (baozi)? the general pinoy idea of chinese bun is either the savory stuffed sio pao or the plain cua pao used to make patatim sandwiches or to wipe off the last bit of sauce left on your plate.

generally, steamed chinese buns use fully raised flour resulting in a fluffy white texture. on the other hand, partially raised flour results in a wrapper that is smooth, tender and a bit translucent when steamed. the ingredients are simple enough, all purpose flour, cold and hot water then a lot of muscle to knead the dough.

to filipinize the concept of xia long bao, think of thick, tasty savory molo soup with bits of chicken, pork or shrimp inside a sealed wrapper made of the partially raised flour. yes, soup inside a steamed bun.

the eating process is just as complex as it is not a simple matter of popping it inside your mouth like any dumpling as you run the risk of scalding the insides of your mouth with the steaming hot soup.

so how complicated is that? better yet, the question is how do you get soup inside the wrapper?

the process starts with creating gelatin made from seasoned meat stock and cut into cubes (the culinary term for this is "aspic"), mixed with an assortment of precooked meat and delicately wrapped inside the partially raised dough. form a bun that looks like the traditional sio pao by gathering the edges and sealing it with a twist at the top.

the small buns are then arranged on top of a layer of cabbage inside the steaming baskets and cooked until the texture of the buns become smooth, translucent and tender to the touch. the magic begins when the heating process melts the gelatin that fills the bun with savory soup.

the next problem is how to eat the xiao long bao. methods vary but the best way is to set it on top of a soup spoon, lightly bite along the side of the bun and to gently suck the soup. follow through by dipping the bun in you favorite mixture and taking it all in one bite.

if it's not complicated enough, xiao long bao is technically not referred to as a dumpling, nor is it called steamed bun. it doesn't exactly sit well with soup or main dish categories in the menu either.

with origins in shanghai china, it has since spread across the world and took a while before it reached the philippines.

i thought it would take me some time to sample this wonder if and when i get the chance to visit a friend whose uncle opened the singaporean franchise of crystal jade la mian xiao long bao in greenhills sometime in september of 2010.

then again, my eyes went wide and bright when i saw the xiao long bao emblazoned in the special menu of tsim sha tsui in ayala terraces cebu. i didn't lose time in ordering a serving just so i can taste all the little things that make the dish complicatedly delicious. my excitement turned to disappointment when the waiter informed me that they have ran out of stock.

just when we're about to end our meal, the waiter came up to me and said that there was a cancelled order of xia long bao and if we still wanted to sample the dish. i should have declined the offer but my desire to have a firsthand taste of the dish made me say yes.

the taste is everything i imagined it to be except for the visual presentation. the order that was served to me had a "deflated" looking bun set on condiment dish and swimming in soup that has leaked out of the bun.

the tsim sha tsui version does not do xia long bao any justice. good thing i can still make my complicated expectations a reality if when i get the chance to visit crystal jade in manila.

note: photo credits go to "steamy kitchen", soon, i'll have it in my library as well :)

for more incessant rambling, visit my blog.

the sound of silence

a friend posted in facebook that she had the opportunity to have an amazing talk with her dad.

frankly, i sort of envy that.

you see my dad was a man of few words. his vocabulary range with us was sort of limited, more like syllables.

huh? u-huh. hmmm? yes. no.

men, real men didn't spare much. except when he was hanging out with his friends over beer and food and the conversation pretty much turns into cars, sexy girls, guns, big guns, even bigger guns, the campo, sugar (the sweet type, not the lady called "sugar"), and the club (he was a member of the lion's club).

in the few times he was able to complete his sentences, he taught us a number of values and lessons, foremost of which is being religious.

"nako... magdasal ka na at makakatikim ka ng sinturon!"

of course, that automatically translates to "eager anticipation".

"mag antay ka at pag dating sa bahay, mata mo lang walang latay!"

and as a complex individual, he also taught me the meaning of "irony".

"sige! maglaro ka dyan sa bubong, pag nahulog at nabalian ka, wag kang tatakbo takbo sa akin!!"

not to be outdone, my mom also taught me a number of things such as being flexible:

"ayan laro ka ng laro sa araw, tingnan mo ang dumi sa likod ng leeg mo?!?"

uh that sounded like a description for an extreme contortionist. my mom also taught me the meaning of "weather" every time she comes in the boy's bedroom:

"ano ba tong kwarto na to? talo pa si ruping! parang dinaanan ng bagyo!"

kidding aside, in dad's later years, he started to talk to us more like adults rather than kids that pestered him. then again, it was regular conversation that didn't really carry any meaning, more like acquaintances meeting over coffee and exchanging pleasantries.

towards the end of his days, he added to his collection of words and expanded his vocabulary.

he learned to say "I Love You."

that's the shortest and sweetest sentence i'd carry with me for the rest of my life.

mmmmama gielicious

most places are closed the day before christmas or new year. with little options, i took a chance that mama gie was open on the 24th - one, to get some lunch and two, order palabok for take out. the kitchen gods must have been listening as we arrived to a busy crew preparing orders and orders of pre-ordered palabok.

i was tempted to order the pinakbet for lunch considering that in my previous visit, it easily stood out as my favorite. nevertheless, in pursuit of (re)discovering more of mama gie's dishes, i decided to order the embutido and paired it with an order of callos.

callos is a tricky thing as i have a tendency to compare it with the way my mama palangging would cook hers. the soft velvety texture of ox tripe and pata boiled for hours to get the heavy, sticky, meat flavored stock then simmered in a rich tomato sauce with the smoky flavor of bell peppers is something that automatically transports me to my mom's kitchen and the nightly dinner with siblings that usually turn to a free for all as we position, maneuver and outbox each other for prime portions.

coincidentally, mama customized the recipe to suit our taste, adding potatoes, carrots, chickpeas and chinese sausage instead of the standard chorizo bilbao. it was much later that i found out that olive oil would have been the preferred choice in cooking the dish with chorizo bilbao to get the strong flavors of paprika.

that aside, i think the most authentic (and savory) callos would be the arano's version where you don't see any of the ingredients except for the meat stewing in tomato sauce. then again, i would say mama palangging's version is still the best.

with such history behind it, i'm usually curious when the menu carries callos as part of the offering and i never fail to order that at one point. in this case, mama gie's callos is good, not exactly the spectacular savory experience i was looking for, it lacked that heavy meat flavor, the sauce wasn't as creamy and thick as i imagined it to be. for less than a hundred per serving, i would say it is good value for money.

the embutido is another dish that easily stands out as a favorite and frequently ordered request by mama's friends. the classic embutido is the pinoy steamed meatroll and is a tedious dish that it usually gets prepared only on special occasions in the house.



the classic embutido does not use foil as a wrapper but uses "sinsal" or a glutinous pork entrail that is carefully cleaned, scrubbed and spread out like a mat on top of a wet cheesecloth. imagine the japanese method of rolling sushi, that is very much the same method of how to form embutido.

my mom's embutido has cheese, raisins and red colored hotdog as the core of the meatroll which gives it that oddly reddish streak when it is cut for serving. fried or served cold, it is something that makes me think back and say... damn, so that's how i got so fat as a kid.

fast forward to the present and i got served a pale version of the embutido in mama gie. i can see pickles, carrots, strips of ham, no cheese, raisins and the meat is not as thickly packed as i wanted. then again, for a six inch roll with a 1.5 inch diameter and priced at Php 60 pesos i would say that value for money, this one's a good buy. taste wise, the rating would still be a "good", nothing spectacular, but definitely a keeper in my list.

overall, mama gie is still a good place where you can bring friends and family for a simple home cooked experience that is not too grand, but with enough character to keep you coming back for seconds.



and oh... don't forget to order the lechon kawali. artery clogging, sinful and totally fatty. you gotta love it or hate it. me? love it, calories be damned.



disclaimer, i technically DIDN'T order this dish. tata served us this when we got to talk about lechon kawali recipes ha ha ha. i so totally believe her when she said that it is practically a best seller and a hit with the kids :)

rediscovering an old treasure

u-huh another pilipino restaurant. in a city where every nook and corner feature the gamut of low to high end filipino restaurants, another new pinoy place doesn't necessarily make me go oooh and aaah.



what piqued my interest was the enthusiastic response i got from friends when I mentioned "Mama Gie". specifically, people who studied in Velez circa late 60s up to the late 80s. coincidentally, these people are established professionals in the medical field and to hear them reminisce about mama gie as the place where they hanged out for snacks and meals left me wanting to know more about mama gie.



the set up then was simple enough, people sat on a long counter set with stools and food is served through a serving window that connects directly to the kitchen. nowadays, it occupies the space left by Big Bucks cafe in Bigfoot along F. Ramos St. and operates as a full service restaurant.



as far as their story goes, Mama Gie became popular as the place that introduced pancit palabok to the cebuano market. i would opine that the jollibee version is tastier but it is easily outclassed by mama gie's version in the sheer number of ingredients included as well as the generous portion set at a very affordable rate.



it would be difficult to set your reputation on a singe dish and this is where mama gie steps up to offer other delicious options. the place touts their selection as kapampangan though at first glance it seemed to offer the standard fare of tocino, kare kare, lechon kawali, callos, sizzling boneless bangus, kilayin, dinuguan, beef steak etc etc.



a little research showed that there's a strong indication that all the dishes mentioned above (with the exception of callos, beef steak and bangus) do come from the kapampanggan region although they have long since been adopted by the other regions. a fact that is not surprising as kapampanggan is considered to be the most mature cuisine in the philippines.

for people wanting to visit mama gie, what i would really recommend though is to sample the vegetable selections such as the fresh and fried vegetable lumpia, the exquisite pinakbet and sarciadong ampalaya. surprisingly, these top my list of favorites instead of the usual suspects.



personally, i wasn't so thrilled with the kare kare as it didn't have any actual meat but had more of the glutinous pork skin from the pata / leg portion. the vegetables were fresh though the sweet peanut butter didn't sit too well with me.



aside from that, the other dishes were reasonably good though i would say that the standouts would be the pinakbet and sarciadong ampalaya.



oh, and don't forget the pancit palabok that is worth every single rave from my doctor friends.

i still have a long way to go in terms of going through the menu, i'll post new pictures and individual dish reviews as they come. hopefully, this new reincarnation will inspire a number of loyal patrons who will pass on their memories to the future generation of diners.



for now, i'll be content with rediscovering an old treasure...