Meaty and sweet from Sydney

There are times when I read an e-mail, a song just starts playing inside my head, and the temptation to use the song lyrics for a blog title is just overwhelming. Reader Chi Clemente is based in Sydney, Australia. She showed my blog to her mom who saw my pic and said I looked familiar. It turns out Chi’s mom and I studied Law in the same school. When I read that, well, the lyrics of “It’s a small world after all” just kept going over and over inside my head. But, anyway, Chi’s contributions had been sitting in my inbox for a while — my apologies for the delay in posting them. There were two emails actually — the first one contained the photos; the second, the descriptions. There were tons of e-mail in between and I just got lost. Much like the beef swimming in gravy in the photo, I got lost wading through my e-mail.

And what does Chi say about her masterpieces?

Beef brisket swimming in gravy – “Meltingly succulent beef dish with the perfect gravy. I used a leaner slab of beef brisket because the gravy already looked very rich. My husband noted how tender the chunks of beef were, poured the gravy over his rice and said: ‘Gravy pa lang, ulam na!’”

Sweet and sour pork (I’ll be posting a new recipe soon, by the way) – “The sauce seals in the crispness of the battered pork – I am proud to create it from scratch!”

Chicken teriyaki – “I have cooked this dish twice already. I noticed there’s really a difference between using the regular (darker) soy sauce and the light soy sauce. I reckon the latter blends better with the mirin. The grated ginger makes the chicken less malansa especially when you reheat it.”

Tiramisu – “Mascarpone is the secret to this dessert which very fittingly squeals: ‘Pick me up!!’ A bit messy to prepare (some of the grated chocolate melted in my hands and never made it to the wine glasses *wink*) but it’s all worth it! I added fresh berries to make it more refreshing.”

Thank you, Chi. And please say hello to your mom. I hope she’s enjoying my recipes through your cooking. Quite a way of staying in touch with a fellow alumna of UP Law.