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siomai

Bagamat matagal-tagal na rin akong kumakain ng siomai sa tanang buhay ko, nagsimula lang ako magkainteres na hanapin ang pinakamasarap na siomai sa kalakhang Maynila nuong matikman ko ang siomai na tinitinda sa likod ng University of Santo Tomas (UST)

Isang simpleng estante na nagtitinda ng dalawang uri ng siomai, pork at saka sharksfin, at gulaman na nagsisilbing pantulak sa bumabarang siomai sa mga nabibilaukang parokyano ng tindahan. Una ko itong natagpuan ng minsang napadaan ako at nakita ko ang naguumpukang mga estudyante na di magkandaugaga sa pagbili at pagkain ng siomai. Animo'y na-duduwende ang mga bumibili at nagkakagulong umorder ng tatlo, apat na order (isang order ay P11.00 kada tatlong (3) piraso) at nilalantakan na mismo duon sa lugar, bagamat yung iba ay inuulam pang-hapunan.

Masarap ang siomai dito, lalo na kung gutom na gutom, at ang mas masaya ay ang presyo nito na parang hindi naaapektuhan ng implasyon at pandaigdigang resesyon at hindi pa nagtataas hanggang ngayon (o baka tapat lang ang tindero sa itinakda niyang halaga na nakapinta sa kanyang rolling store o baka tinatamad pintahan ng bagong presyo).

Kaya sa kada baba ko ng LRT, kada pasok ko ng mga mall, at kada lakad ko sa mga lansangan ng Maynila, hindi ko mapigilang tumigil at tikman ang mga tindahan ng siomai sa mga tabi-tabi na maaaring masabing "the next best thing sa siomai"para sa akin.Sa hanayan ng mga siomai, eto so far ang madalas kong mabili at makain, dahil na rin sa dalas ng pagdaan ko sa mga estante nila.

1. Bernabest Siomai (LRT stations)

2. Master Siomai (LRT stations)

3. Likod ng UST (check out photo)

4. Siomai sa tapat ng Our Lady of Fatima Church, Cordillera, Q.C.

(repost from www.patchworkkwentos.blogspot.com)

ooking cooking

Ponso cooking hamburger patties early in the morning.

(repost from www.punkrocktatay.wordpress.com)

Maty's

It was a motorcycle diary trip with my co-teacher Bok Pioquid last October 13, 2009 as we motor through the southern cities of Metro Manila coming from a meeting in Muntinlupa. My mind wandering looking at the city sceneries feeling like fucking Che Guevara as he transcended his class consciousness via his motorcycle trip around South America with his buddy Alberto Granado.

But I am no Che and I just want to check out the southern scene of Las Pinas and Paranaque. Good thing my esse, a true blue Las Piñas hommie, knows the area's shit. We passed by the Bamboo Organ Museum at St. Joseph's Church and learned that a certain St. Ezekiel Moreno once served as parish priest of the church. No Shit! A saint from the bamboo shoot organ church. Mind buggering! I thought it was only Lorenzo Ruiz and some unknown Dominican Spanish friars who stepped on the Philippines and became saints. Fucking have to check my church history books and shit.

But the story, liver lover boys, I should say, boils down to food. Its the Tapsilog story retold many times over again as we streaked through Quirino Avenue on the way to Paranaque's famous Don Galo area for their TAPSILOG. Freaking rows of tapsilogan stores line the Don Galo strip claiming to be the original shit. But it is Maty's I think that is used as a benchmark on what really is good Tapsilog this side of the metropolis (based on Bok's articulation of what is a good tapsilog fare).

Maty's is an unassuming restaurant that offers the typical menu of whatever stuff then suffixed with a SILOG (for Sinangag and itlog). We ate at the first Maty's coming from the Las Pinas area (there are three Maty's along the strip but was informed that the first was the real thing and the second, and third, are bollocks).

The TAPSILOG is not monumental in terms of taste. The egg is an egg is an egg. Its fried. The fried rice is fried with garlic. And I think it is not even a classic leftover rice from last night. They just cook plain rice then cook it again with oil and garlic. The tapa is tapa straight up. Its beef though sometimes, horse meat is also served, maybe. Side soup is commendable though.

What is crazy is the dip. Man, it's an art preparing it the Parañaqueño way! Like a delicate shaolin sword moves, one mixes salt, chili pepper, ketchup, and vinegar in swift strokes to get the balanced preferred taste of the artist dip mixer where you dip your tapa, or tocino, or bangus, or bbq, or whatever viand+silog that you ordered.

Maty's
0395 Quirino Avenue
Don Galo, Paranaque City

Eightfold Lounge

The sinful crunch followed by the soft succulent pork meat that can almost melt in your mouth still lingers in my palate and imagination. I never heard of a Thai cuisine restaurant serving crispy pata but eightfold lounge can get away with it. No shit. Who cares if they eventually decide to serve laing pizza or kebab and still call their restaurant a Thai-asian restaurant as long as the food is great. Masterful Venerable Buddha would not mind Im sure. They make a mean pork and tuna sisig, sizzling hot you'd jump over to Manila bay or guzzle all the beer and wine to quell that kick that comes from the hot spiced sisig.

eightfold lounge offers a variety of thai-asian food. The menu and the cooking does not intend to shock one's food sense but is more downright honest in reaching out and maintaining the familiar with the Filipino palate. It must be the Asian tag that gives Eightfold Lounge the leeway to offer Filipino food like crispy pata and sisig. Hell yeah, that's the trick. The hyphen (- Asian)

And of course motherfuckers, believe me, they serve thai food. Otherwise, it would just be Asian food minus the Thai (-). Although Thai food is definitely asian by categorization, I am a bit lost on the categories but with the post-modern thing, i'll just let the food do the talking. They serve a malupet and wasak ang panlasa mo sa sarap Chicken pandan, pomelo or mango salad, and Pad-Thai thus still making eightfold lounge primarily a Thai cuisine restaurant. I never got to taste or learned the other food. Honestly I tried reading their menu and plan to retain the food line-up in my mind but it was washed by the raging beer that wiped everything I planned to remember for this blog. But,

the location is great for chilling and relaxing where one can wait and check out the Manila bay sunset while sipping cold San Miguel Beer. I think they have a good collection of wine (I just think because I know no shit on wine and anyway, I observed how my cousins guzzled the wine bottle by bottle, and because the wine bottles looked good arranged in a row inside the wine cabinet) reasonably priced (Merlot, Cabernet Chauvignon, etc.)

The beer, as always, we have no choice, its a fucking San Miguel monopoly.

Namaste.

eightfold lounge
San Miguel by the Bay
SM Mall of Asia

to contact: just meditate and the Boddhisatvas will lead you to the 8fold path to the bay.

Biggest Burritos, Ever.

The biggest burrito, EVER!

Imitating my three year old son Ponso’s sentence structure of adding ‘ever’ to impress the immensity of whatever he is describing, the entry of RISTRAS in the mex/tex-mex/cal-mex/cal-tex/petron/shell genre changed the Philippine restaurant landscape scene, EVER!

The BURRITO…the burrito is so freaking wasak BIG it can feed five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred people. No shit! It is so big and tightly packed with everything that is required to meet the requirement of becoming a burrito. One is given the privilege to choose beef or chicken (beef is the bestseller, survey says) to jump into the Mexican lumpia. But make no mistake about it esse, it might look like a Filipino fresh lumpia but it is not lumpia. It is a jumbo burrito! Dips for the giant burrito include jalapeno (green and very űber hot), salsa, and garlic sauce. I close my eyes as I bite the burrito savoring the exploding mix of tastes. It was very, well, Mexican for my lack of gourmand terms to describe the food.

I got excited seeing rows of foreign looking beer in RISTRAS’ Frigidaire, as we call it in the Philippines, or refrigerator, or chiller but freaked out when told its 200-450 pesos a pop depending on the bottle size. Anak ng pu talaga! Nahilo ako talaga sa kaartehan ng presyo ng beer. Magiging ginto ba ihi ko at maisasanla pag iyon ang ininom ko? I know that San Miguel Beer is the best beer in the world. My grandfather said so, my father said so and it is my filial duty as a dutiful Asian son to believe and respect their decision with reverence (as I happily sour grape thinking what is in store inside those dark lager bottles).

I like RISTRAS.

RISTRAS

J. Abad Santos cor. Lopez Jaena Sts.

San Juan City

Table Chaos

Comfortable Cold Cuts

At the height of a typhoon, anything can taste authentic, especially if it feels like the last supper. Not really knowing the extent of devastation typhoon "Ondoy" caused Metro Manila at supper time, we walked towards the Mabuhay Rotonda area to check out a chinese restaurant known for we do not know because it just opened. But good words spread like wildfire, or rain, for good food and this is one place where foodies would give a good word for its good food.


It looked traditional chinese as we sensed its old chinese feel reminiscent of Old Ongpin-based chinese restaurants minus the over used furnitures and dirty interiors that would make you wait for Jacky Chan to come out and beat the shit out of those drunk tiger palm buddha kung fu fighters.

The service tea was good and the assorted cold cuts was just wonderful. Easy on the palate and tasted very refreshing without that aftertaste associated with the dreaded monosodium glutamate (MSG) assumed to be ever present in chinese foods. And the price was very reasonable.

Chinese food is comfort food in times of calamity and Luck Garden Tea House and Seafood Restaurant sure comforted my cold and hungry stomach.

Luck Garden Tea House & Seafood Restaurant 3 Kanlaon St cor. Quezon Avenue, Quezon City, 415-5825, 4156-5825

longganisa

Longganisa, or native or local or pork sausage, whatever, is a fascinating food as it transforms its looks, composition, and taste depending on its point of origin in the Philippines. Nueva Ecija's Cabanatuan Longganisa, Quezon's Longganisa Lucban, Vigan Longganisa, Tuguegarao Longganisa, and the Longganisa list just goes on and on.

Its a miss and hit trick in finding the best longganisa for each one. We have our taste preferences and it takes a lot of patience, trial and error, and lots of trust built and trust reneged (for sellers claiming to have the best longganisa).

I am for the garlicky longganisa with ground pork stuffed with lots of garlic and maybe, other mysterious ingredients health buffs are known to barf about. I like the Nueva Ecija Cabanatuan longganisa with its tighter than a nun's ass garlic packed sausage.

Longganisa with garlic rice and sunny side up eggs, with vinegar dip and the not so healthy orange juice mixed from a sachet powder, makes a good breakfast morning.

chicken

chicken is an attempt to tell stories about food, cooking, eating, drinking. Or show pictures of food, cooking, eating, drinking. Whatever is available. Its an attempt, anyway. No one can do anything about it. Its my shit. So be it.