Love is in the Air

And when there's love...there should be food. =)

Early Christmas Greeting

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

What Sandwich Am I?

You Are a Grilled Cheese Sandwich

You are a traditional person with very simple tastes. In your opinion, the best things in life are free, easy, and fun. You totally go with the flow. And you enjoy every minute of it! Your best friend: The Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Your mortal enemy: The Ham Sandwich

What Kind of Sandwich Are You?

Oh no, it can't be! I need my meat!

Mario's Part 1

Ah, finally! This post has taken a while I know, but nevertheless, I will not be delayed any further. A great experience is always worth sharing and relishing and this experience definitely falls under that category.

Our first blogger event ever and it couldn't have been any better. Thank you Spanx for the invitation.



Liv and I, I must confess are one of the few non-experts at Mario’s that evening. Having eaten in Mario’s only occasionally growing up and once as a couple, I guess we had quite a blurry grasp of what our favorites were except for the oysters which we had for our appetizer. With our wisdom falling short, we thought it best to make sure we experienced what Mario’s was all about through Fil Benitez’s sagely judgement.

Salpicado:




This dish left me in awe…. It was magnificent not in that it was so complex but because it seemed so simple … Liv and I could have argued over who ate what but being the meat eater between the two of us, this dish was MINE.

Served modestly on a bed of white rice with a drizzling of light sauce and topped with the requisite garlic flakes, my Mario’s salpicado experience began the moment I slipped my knife effortlessly to part the earth toned beef’s flesh with seductive ease. Taking a few seconds revered with a deep breath, I proceeded to bare the beautiful pink, tasty, perfectly cooked beef underneath. Expertly pan-seared, Mario’s Salpicado is an homage to the beauty of 1st class Philippine beef as it relies primarily on the natural flavor of fresh, top notch beef rather than the flavor of any sauce. The zen of salpicados, this Mario’s favorite left me satisfied and reminded me that keeping it simple is really the best way to go.

Seabass



Served with rolls of maki. This dish started out as a bit on the bland side, it was lightly seasoned with a drizzling of sweetish sauce that adds a shade of sweetness. I initially thought that there must have been an oversight in its seasoning or perhaps too little sauce (the kitchen was incessantly churning out freshly cooked food for quite a number of hungry bloggers after all) as the dish for some reason didn’t seem to come together for me at first. It was only until I had it with the maki that I realized that I was quite mistaken. A piece of fish, some sauce and a bite of maki revealed the reason behind the combination. The lightly seasoned Chilean seabass and the sweetish sauce was complimented by the soft rice, delectable mango and the bursting flavor of the nori. I find it quite a marvel how the intriguing maki played a vital role in integrating the different elements of the dish. What seemed like an odd mishmash coalesced and everything seemed to fall into place.

Overall, the fish was fresh as expected and like the salpicado, the Chilean seabass’ natural flavor served as the focal point of the entire dish.

(Thanks to my very generous wife for allowing me free reign at her food);p

Up Next

Eathing Healthy

2 years into our marriage and I would have to say that the biggest change - other than Andrea - would be our eating habits. We eat so much more now compared to before we were married. It's sad I know but it's completely true.



In the Philippines this is taken as a sign that you're happy with your marriage. While I would admit that I am (I don't know if Ruy is, I better ask him), I don't think our eating habits have anything to do with happiness. We are just simple voracious eaters. We are not gourmets, we are gourmands.



We have talked about eating better, now that Andrea is growing the motivation to do this is even greater. We know we need to be role models for Andrea. Yes, she eats healthy food now but she will eventually want to eat whatever it is we're eating. This means we better start eating healthier food...and fast.



There are lots of sugar substitutes out there but a lot of them taste artificial. Salt substitutes on the other hand are a bit harder to come across here in the Philippines. I watched a show in Discovery Channel explaining that while the tongue has a lot of sugar receptors - which explains the fact that there are soooo many sugar alternatives out there - meanwhile, there is only one salt receptor resulting in a very limited number of alternatives for salt.

The good news: we saw a website which offers yummy looking salt alternatives. The bad news: it's not available locally. Waaah.

I guess eating healthily will have to wait (don't you just love excuses?)

Okonomiyaki

Walking down this dark alley one cannot help but be thrilled at the prospect of what awaits you on the other side. The alley is hidden and can easily be missed if you don't know what to look for. There's something sexy about going somewhere hidden, it's as if you're in on a secret that a lot of people don't know.

The secret is Kagura and its heavenly Okonomiyaki.



Kagura is a small resto within the Little Tokyo area and is the only resto there specializing in Okonomiyaki.



What is Okonomiyaki you may ask? Wikipedia defines it as:

Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き, Okonomiyaki?) is a Japanese dish consisting of a pan-fried batter cake and various ingredients. Okonomi means "what you like" or "what you want", and yaki means "grilled" or "cooked" (cf. yakitori and yakisoba); thus, the name of this dish means "cook what you like". In Japan, okonomiyaki is mainly associated with Kansai or Hiroshima areas, but is widely available throughout the country. Toppings and batters tend to vary according to region.

The resto is tiny, it could fit 25 people at most. There are 3 tables for groups and the rest of the diners have to sit by the bar where they can be treated to the sight of the owner showing his culinary skills.







While it's true that we went there for the Okonomiyaki, man cannot survive on Okonomiyaki alone =) specially not men like Ruy and I myself who are voracious eaters. We decided to try some of their recommendations.




Cold Udon Noodle with Mentsoya Sauce Php230 - Cold. This is my only recollection of this dish. It's like eating rice puffs or rice crispies but instead of using cold milk, you used cold broth. It's a strange dish but I found myself eating it again and again throughout the night. I think the flavor grew on me.



Okonomiyaki with Pork, Shrimp, Squid, Egg and Cheeze Php 350 - I cannot write this without drooling. How can something so simple be so good? How can soomething which is practically just an omelette be AWESOME?
I don't know what these Japanese guys do to these ingredients but the resulting dish is just fantastic. The dish is rich and flavorful with a great combination of textures. While the dish looks tiny it's surprisingly filling.




Saute Squid with Butter Php 188 - This dish celebrates the flavor of the squid. It doesn't try to mask the flavor, there's no doubt that the squid is the star of the dish. Simple. Satisfying. Good.




Kikumasamune Php 200 - Ruy has had sake before so this wasn't new to him when we ordered it. It was new to me however and I was a bit skeptical. Drinking hot alcohol just seems wrong to me.
I'm glad I trusted Ruy. The sake brought me joy...and it brought Ruy amusement seeing me semi drunk while saying SA-KE over and over again throughout the night

Somebody Spank Us

Yes, Ruy and I have been very bad bloggers. We lost the charger of our camera which means we missed out on all our food adventures.

So what have we been up to?

- Liv's obsession with catfish salad.
- Our anniversary. Ruy wanted to eat somewhere fancy but I wanted Jatujak (hello catfish salad)
- Chef Tony's Popcorn
- Ruy's Tomato Cream soup made using our new pressure cooker (bought on sale, woohoo)
- Ruy's Pork Liempo cooked using the Turbo, with a yummy sauce made with pork drippings and hoisin.
- Ruy's 3-week long craving for Sliders.
- Hau, the new Chinese Resto in SM Marikina (they have yummy sisig made from Lechon Macau)

So many more adventures we weren't able to capture =( The good news is...we have a new charger so we're ready to document our future adventures. YEY

Dorylicious

Going around different food blogs just fills my mind with ideas and visions of cooking possibilities. While some are too daunting, too complicated or outright impossible to attempt, there are some that seduce, beckon and set off my imagination to try and find ways to make things happen.

This beautiful dish that I came across thanks to Ning's Heart and Hearth however is among those that didn't put me to sleep until I was able to cook it and satisfy my tummy's desire.

Fish Fillet With Vietnamese Caramel Sauce
(Recipe from Heart and Hearth)

This dish was simple but really good! The flavors so clean and light they seem to energize the tastebuds with the natural essences of rich earth and tranquil sea.

I used cream dory and followed Ning's recipe as faithfully as I could. The only modification/tweak I made was the sprinkling of ground peanuts at the end.

It was so worth the effort (and it didn't even take a lot!)

Quirky Tag

Ning of Heart and Hearth tagged me to write 6 QUIRKY THINGS I DO. I thought to modify it a bit to 6 quirky things I do with food.

1. I love sili and take approximately 3 mins before I eat to pick the perfect 3 pcs of sili to slice into very tiny particles with my spoon which I eat with my food or mix with fish sauce and kalamansi.
2. I use my cellphone to store the recipes I cook. I am constantly typing in my innovations and modifications as I cook. The sad thing about it is that my old phone stopped working several months ago. All my old recipes were stored there.=(
3. I always have to order extra secret sauce for my Big Mac. I spread it on the underside of the top layer burger using french fries.
4.When I eat out alone, I'd rather eat in my car than in the restaurant. I just order the food , take it to the car and eat while parked. Somehow it feels homey in there.=)
5. I love cherry coke so much but can't find cherry syrup anywhere so I just put 7 whole cherries into a huge glass of coke when I watch DVDs at home.
6. I love, love Chowking's Naicha and just recently learned to ask for extra caramel syrup. Sweet!!!

Tagging rules:1. Link back to the person who tagged you - that's me. 2. Mention the rules on your blog. 3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours 4. Tag 6 bloggers by linking them. 5. Leave a comment on each of the blogger's blogs letting them know they have been tagged.

Vicki, Liv, Noemi, Oggi, and everyone who'd like to do this.=)