Bon Appétit

Lomi Noodle Soup Recipe

2010-08-12T19:49:00.000-07:00

I learned about this recipe when I was in College. This is one of my father's favorite dish. During semestral break I usually go back to my Hometown. And almost always pop's will ask me to buy this noodle soup from a restaurant at the market. That day, when I came there to buy 'twas closed but the owner said if I could wait a lil longer she will cook "Lomi Noodle Soup" for me. So I said, "ok, I can wait." As she was cooking the noodle, she let me watch her so I won't get bored waiting. But from that day on, we never bought Lomi Noodle Soup from her restaurant anymore, because I learned how to cook them already. har har.

When we moved to Japan, the Filipino Association of Scholars in Tsukuba had a welcome party for me and my son Keith. But I wasn't able to come because I was so busy reading Dan brown's Angels and Demons. So, I cooked this Lomi Noodle Soup for my hubby's potlock. It was an instant hit, everyone was looking for me after that. They said my lomi is phenomenal. Haha! I didn't believe them though, maybe they just said that because they aren't in the Philippines and missing the local food here. Oops! enough of this long introduction, let's move on to this magical lomi noodle soup.

You will need:

1/4 kilo lomi noodles (when I was in Japan I used rice noodle)

1/2 cup chicken (shredded)

1/2 cup shrimps (shelled)

1 large onion, chopped

3-4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 cup shredded cabbage

1 tbsp. chopped carrots

6-7 cups chicken broth

2 tbsp. cooking oil

1 tbsp. cornstarch.dissolved in water

2 raw eggs

salt to taste

Instructions:

- Sauté garlic and onion. When brown add Chicken, and Shrimps.

- Stir for 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water, cover and simmer until water is almost dry.

- Add broth. Cover and let boil for 10 minutes.

- Drop in noodles, carrots, and shredded cabbage. Let boil for 3 minutes and thicken with dissolved cornstarch.

- Put off the heat.

- Beat eggs and stir in. Do not boil. Serve at once.

How about you? Do you cook and eat this kind of soup? Kindly share your story about it.

Creamy Macaroni Chicken Soup

2010-07-19T15:23:00.000-07:00

Here is how to make Creamy Macaroni Chicken Soup. Whether you are a fan of soups or macaronis and stuff, this one is rather easy to prepare. It can be eaten as a single dish or alongside a main course.

This is a hearty soup to go with your fried or grilled fish or meat, an easy macaroni soup cooked with browned bits of chicken, carrots and lots of chopped onion leaves.

Here are the ingredients:

5pcs thinly sliced chicken hotdogs

500 g chicken breast

250g elbow macaroni

1 onion, minced

1 carrot, cut into small cubes

2 tbsp. of butter

1 can 158ml Evaporated Milk

salt and pepper

3 hard boiled eggs sliced

250g of thinly sliced cabbage

chopped spring onions

fish sauce / patis

water

125g cheese cut into cubes

Cooking procedure:

Bring the water to a rolling boil and cook the macaroni until it is soft then set aside. Boil the chicken as well and save the broth to be use later. Shred the Chicken meat using your fingers. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan or casserole. Heat until frothy. Sauté garlic and onion over medium heat. Add the bell pepper and cook until aromatic. Stir the shredded chicken, season it with powdered black pepper. Add the carrots and do a quick sauté. Pour in the chicken broth. Season with salt and pepper. Add the macaroni. Cook, stirring until the broth boils again. Slowly pour in the milk while gently stirring. Add the cheese cubes to add some texture and flavor to your soup. Add the cabbage. Adjust the seasonings with patis or salt and cook until the milk is heated through.

Serve it with sliced egg on top and sprinkle it with chopped onion leaves. Enjoy!

Sarsiadong Tilapia (Fried Tilapia in Tomato and Egg Sauce)

2009-12-23T00:56:00.000-08:00

I love eating fish. And Tilapia, so far is the only fish my son Kitô loves to eat since we got back here in the Philippines. My husband wanted to eat fish for dinner so I decided to cook Sarsiadong Tilapia or Fried Tilapia in Tomato and Egg Sauce.

Things I prepared for this dish:
3 pcs Tilapia
4 pcs big red tomatoes, sliced
1 pc onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp alamang (shrimp paste as i've mentioned before, i love playing with my ingredients)
3 pcs egg, beaten
water

How to cook Sarsiadong Tilapia (Fried Tilapia in Tomato and Egg Sauce):

Fry Tilapia and set aside. Wash the frying pan that you used to avoid roasted smell of the fish, or better yet, use another pan for the next step. When ready, turn up the heat and sauté onion and garlic until the garlic turns golden brown and the onion starts to caramelize. Add shrimp paste and mix until it is cooked. Add tomatoes and stir. Cover and let cook for about 3 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper. Put the fried Tilapia and add water. When the liquid starts to boil, pour egg then cook for an additional 5 minutes. Serve with plain steamed rice.

Here is the Sarsiadong Tilapia that I cooked.

Umami, Umami Taste, Umami-Rich Foods

2009-10-07T23:32:00.000-07:00

Umami, Umami Taste, Umami-Rich Foods. So what is Umami or 旨味 in Japanese? Umami is known as "one of the five generally recognized basic tastes sensed by specialized receptor cells present on the human tongue". Literally, Umami means roughly as "tasty" or "deliciousness" and to some extent, it also translated as "brothy", "meaty" and "savory". Often, Umami is associated with the source foods such as meat, cheese, and mushrooms. Umami is widely used as food enhancer.

Umami Taste. The Umami taste is exhibited upon the detection of an acid called Glutamic Acid, wherein, Carboxylate Anion can be generally found. It is a natural amino acid that occurs in cheese, broths and stocks, meats and other foods that are heavy in protein content. Such acid is also known as Glutamates. While major chefs around the world are constantly discovering new additions to their cooking legacy, they can't seem to deny that they are salivating over the merits of Umami. For some reason, Umami is branded as the "Fifth Taste". As referred by Stevenson Swanson of theage.com, "Umami is the "mmmmmm" in meat. It's part of the pizazz in a pepperoni pizza. It's what makes people cheer for cheese".She further remarked that the "fifth taste" that is neither salty, sweet, bitter or sour. 100 years ago, a Japenese scientist was able to isolate the Umami / savory taste, out of his curiousity on the distinct flavor of the Japanese seaweed soup, dashi. Ikeda highlighted that Umami is enhanced from curing, aging, browning and slow-cooking of foods.

Umami-Rich Foods. What are the Umami-rich foods? Take a look at the categories below for your quick reference, courtesy of umamiinfo.com.

Sea Foods
Kombu (brown algae)
Seaweed
Katsuobush/Dried bonito flakes
Niboshi/Small dried sardines
Bonito
Mackerel
Sea bream
Tuna
Cod
Prawns
Squid
Oysters
Shellfish

Meat
Beef
Pork
Chicken

Vegetables
Tomatoes
Shiitake mushrooms
Enokitake mushrooms
Truffles
Soy beans
Potatoes
Sweet potatoes
Chinese cabbage
Carrots

Others
Parmesan Cheese
Green tea

The above-mentioned foods contains high quantities of Umami elements. I think most of us have already taken them but just the concept of the "Fifth Taste" or Umami thing is missing. We have experienced the battling tastes between saltiness, sweetness, bitterness or sourness among our daily foods on the table but the way on how to achieve the unique taste was quite unearthed. But now you know what is Umami, Umami Taste and Umami-Rich Foods. The next time around, you got something to tinker up in your kitchen.

Source: wikipedia.org, www.theage.com.au, www.umamiinfo.com / Photo: wine-pages.com

Sinigang na Isda Sa Kamatis / Fish Stewed in Tomato

2009-09-21T14:33:00.001-07:00

I'm going to share a very simple and quick dish. The "Sinigang na Isda sa Kamatis" or Fish Stewed in Tomato.

For this, you will need:

1 kilo Talakitok ( Ulua ) sliced

Ginger, sliced ( Just a small ginger for added tinge)

1 medium size onion, quartered

3 medium size tomato, quartered

1 bundle kamote tops, trimed ( optional )

2-3 pieces siling mahaba, ( green long chili )

salt

water

How to cook:

Wash the fish meat properly and set aside. In a pot, bring to boil ample amount of water, add in ginger, onion and tomato, simmer for 3-5 minutes. Add in fish and continue to simmer for 3-5 minutes. Season with salt to taste. Add in siling mahaba ( green long chili ), cook for another 2-3 minutes or until fish are just cooked. Serve hot.

Sumptuous fish stew in tomato - best during breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Yoshinoya Japanese Restaurant in SM North EDSA

2009-09-20T15:05:00.000-07:00

Yoshinoya Japanese Restaurant in SM North EDSA - The day when the family went out for a little household shopping turned accidental dinner at SM North EDSA, Yoshinoya Japanese style restaurant was a two thumbs up. We were able to encounter once again our long-missed hearty meal consisting of Gyudon and Yakiniku with Miso soup on the side to sip and refreshing ice-cold green and red iced tea. Perhaps next time around, we will try to order other items in the menu list, such as the Rice Bowls, Jumbo Plates, as well as Noodles and Salad.

Yoshinoya Japanese style restaurant has the following general menu categories: Rice bowls, Jumbo Plates, Noodles, Salad, Side orders, Desserts and Drinks.

The Rice bowls boast their delicious Gyudon, Yakiniku and Chicken Teriyaki set.

For the Jumbo plates, you will get to choose from Jumbo A (Gyudon and chicken teriyaki), Jumbo B (Gyudon and yakiniku) and Jumbo C (Gyudon and 4 pcs. tempura).

Noodles feature the Yakiudon, Beef Udon, Chicken Udon, Tempura Udon and Gyoza Udon. Salad goes with Nippon Basic, Nipon Salad with Kani, Nipon Salad with Chicken Strips.

Side Orders: Miso/ Nori Soup, Kimchi, Skewer (Lobster/ Prawn/ Cuttle), Kani/ Shiitake Shumai, Gyoza, Japanese Chicken Wings, Fish Fry, Tempura Basket

Desserts: Coffee Jelly, Chocolate Mousse, Strawberry Mousse, Fruit Jelly

Drinks: Green Tea, Red Tea, Apple Tea, Coke in Can, Bottled Water

For the rice people, an order costs 20 PhP. In general, Yoshinoya main courses such as the Rice blows, Jumbo plates and Noodles will give you a cost bracket of range 70 Php minimum and 160 Php maximum. So if you like Japanese food, I think Yoshinoya is one of the great places to go within the Metropolitan.

Home Made Garlic Sauce Tuna Spaghetti

2009-09-20T04:04:00.000-07:00

I'm going to share my own recipe of Home Made Garlic Sauce Tuna Spaghetti. I love Italian food and this has been one of my family's favorite over the years. I always play with the ingredients according to my mood. Today this is what I put in.

1/2 kilo Angel Hair Pasta
200g Mushroom buttons (sliced)
370ml Evaporated Milk (I'm using evaporated milk for added flavor)
420g Century Tuna Flakes in Oil
250ml All Purpose Cream
200g Kraft Eden Cheese (because it's creamier) cut into cubes
7 cloves of garlic, minced
10pcs Chicken hot dogs, cut into strips
Margarine (instead of butter, for added color and flavor)
Olive oil
Salt
Annatto seeds soaked in warm water

The Home Made Garlic Sauce Tuna Spaghetti. The pasta water was brought to a boil and a small amount of olive oil and salt was added to it. When the pasta was cooked, the garlic, hot dogs, tuna flakes and mushroom were sautéd, in medium flame, then cheese was added, followed by little milk to let the cheese melt. The remaining milk was then added along with the all purpose cream (for a creamy thick sauce), stirred constantly. When the sauce became considerably thick, I put 1 tablespoon of Annatto seeds juice for a color treat. Then seasoned it with salt. Set aside 1 cup of the sauce for toppings and mixed the remaining with the drained pasta. Here is how the pasta looked like on a plate.

For the health conscious out there, never mind the calories lurking in. I think, this is good for the dieters' cheat day. All in all, this dish gave us, as well as my neighbors, one sumptuous meal on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

A Cooking Journey Begins

2009-09-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

When I left home to study in the city at age 16, I can't even cook a hard boiled egg perfectly. I thought spoiled rice are distinguished by its smell. I remember cooking rice and it lasted for 3 days in room temperature - it's not smelly so I still ate it. Later I learned to cook instant noodles (by reading the package instruction). Those times, cooking is not really my thing as I don't really eat a lot back then.

But during the early days of my marriage and motherhood, I tried cooking. Or let's just say that I have to cook for my son and husband. I just cook anything and almost always more than 3 servings! And I usually give some of it to my neighbors. They always said it was good and usually they'll ask what is my secret? I'll just laugh about it. I didn't really take it seriously. Strange thing is, I am the type of person who can easily extract a recipe out of the foods that I eat and like. So I guess, that explains, perhaps?

I continued my cooking experiments and developed recipes of my own in our tiny kitchen. As a young mother, I just stayed at home 24/7 so then I spent most of my time cooking. I thought that perhaps I got nothing to do that's why I've indulge myself in cooking.

When my husband left to study in Japan, I lost my appetite in cooking. I always told everyone, no one to cook for. It was only me and my son so I'll just buy food for us. Time and money saver. Then when I went to Japan, my interest in cooking was once again awaken. One, there's my husband whose always been my inspiration in cooking. He loves to eat! And two, because I missed the local food in my country. Then our fellow Filipinos begun to notice my cooking abilities. Whenever there is an event that involves cooking, they always tag me in. No buts no if's.

Then every now and then hubby encourages me to put a cooking blog, which I don't really put my mind into. Now, im back here in the Philippines with my family and I got a newborn baby. I have to stay home all the time because I'm a hands on mom and thought of putting up this blog, at last. So folks, please bear with me and my cooking chronicles and eating delights!