Bak kuh teh is a soup but it is traditionally served with rice and a dipping sauce made of light soy sauce and crushed chilis. It is made with pork ribs and spices simmered for hours with soy sauce and sugar until the meat is literally falling off the bones. Bak kuh teh is found ... (more)
Smoked milkfish, mushrooms and tofu spring rolls
Posted on January 14, 2009 · 29 Comments
You are looking at the fried spring rolls that we had for dinner tonight. I can only hope that my husband who is in Boracay for four days with his officemates can read this entry so he’ll know what he’s missing. Because I’ve never had better spring rolls in my entire life. Not that this recipe cannot stand further improvement. I bet it can. Like using onion leaves in lieu of onions. And adding chopped cilantro. But all of that will be for next time. Right now, I just want to say that I hit jackpot big time that it almost feels like winning the lottery. Where did the idea come from? Out of nowhere. Sheer luck. A moment of boredom followed by inspiration that hit like lightning.
Penne with portobello mushrooms
Posted on December 16, 2008 · 17 Comments
I had never eaten portobello mushrooms before (it used to be hard to find them in local supermarkets) so when I saw trays and trays of the stuff at Shopwise, I bought a 220-gram pack. Six pieces in all. I minced three and mixed them with ground chicken to make burgers for last night’s dinner and, as I was eating my burger, the distinct flavor of the portobellos suddenly reminded me of the pasta at La Maison. Ergo, for lunch today, I boiled some penne and went about my attempt to recreate that wonderful creamy sauce that I enjoyed so much.
Portobello mushrooms
Posted on December 16, 2008 · 3 Comments
I’ve been searching for portobello mushrooms for ages and, at last, they are now regularly available at the nearest supermarket. According to Gourmet Sleuth, portobello is simply an oversized crimini or brown button mushrooms. When the crimini reaches four to six inches in diameter, it then becomes portobello.
What’s so special about the portobello? The musky, smoky flavor. The size too…
Mushrooms and cheese omelet
Posted on July 26, 2008 · 2 Comments
I grew up at a time when eggs for breakfast everyday was not unusual. Sometimes, we even had eggs for our mid-afternoon snack. It was a shock to read decades later about the not too healthy effect of eating eggs everyday. What was even more shocking was finding out after that that the “bad image” given to eggs was not even that accurate. According to the latest studies, it is okay to eat an egg once a day. It did cross my mind that, perhaps, the period when eggs received so much bad press was the time when makers of “instant healthy breakfasts” were pushing their products hard to the public.
Chicken, mushrooms and potato salad
Posted on June 6, 2008 · 6 Comments
If all low-fat meals can be this good, I won’t miss lechon kawali and crispy pata. It was a borne out of a split second of inspiration which struck as I was simmering chicken for last night’s chicken and vegetables soup. Before adding the cabbage and chayote to the pot, I took out a large piece of chicken thigh and decided I was going to make a salad with it. And so, I did.
Chicken and mushrooms burger
Posted on April 23, 2008 · 30 Comments
If you’ve been to Tagaytay City, you must have passed by Mushroom Burger along Aguinaldo Highway. And if you’re a Tagaytay habitue like I am, you must have eaten at the place more than once. If you’re a real Mushroom Burger fan, you would probably know that there used to be a branch at the Makati Commercial Center and that there is still a branch in Quezon City. And if you’re the kind of person who is curious about what exactly goes into a Mushroom Burger, you’d probably have read up or asked around and discovered that it is one part ground beef and one part ground oyster mushrooms.
Pork and mushrooms noodle soup
Posted on March 2, 2008 · 3 Comments
The fresh shiitake and enoki mushrooms were meant for sukiyaki but thirty minutes before I was due to start lunch yesterday, I got flustered. In all the Japanese restaurants I have eaten in — and I have eaten in a lot of them — sukiyaki has always been served as a soup. Then, I saw an article by a Japanese lady that says sukiyaki is a fried dish and the eggs are for dipping the hot beef and vegetables into. Sounds more delicious than the sukiyaki soup served in Japanese restaurants in the Philippines (shall I call them bastardized sukiyaki now?) but something that would require quite a set-up — like a skillet on the dining table itself.
Shiitake mushrooms
Posted on March 1, 2008 · 3 Comments
Dried shiitake mushrooms are available in most supermarkets; fresh ones aren’t that easy to find. While dried shiitake is more convenient for storage purposes — keep them away from moisture and they can last for a couple of months — but there’s nothing like fresh shiitake. For some reason, even when soaked for hours, the texture and flavor dried shiitake aren’t quite the same as fresh ones.
To prepare shiitake mushrooms — fresh or dried — the stems need to be cut off and discarded. Whether the caps need to be sliced or not…
Enoki mushrooms
Posted on March 1, 2008 · 9 Comments
Sometimes called golden mushrooms, enoki mushrooms are a traditional ingredient of Japanese sukiyaki. I bought them (Shopwise, Antipolo) for exactly that purpose but I found other uses for them as well.
Enoki mushrooms come in clusters. They require little preparation and a very short cooking time. Cut the stems where they can be separated individually. I prefer to blanch them in boiling water for about 30 seconds only…
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