Adventures of the Happy Tummy

This is definitely worth a visit. It's part of your half-day city tour itinerary anyways, don't skip it! And bring your camera!  There are numerous pictorial sites, interesting personalities including the one featured below.... My brother's GF Lotsa food to try: HOPIA (yes, am not kidding), Chocolate Crinkles, pasta, baked goodies and fresh fruit shakes!  the happy shake servers One interestingly refreshing drink is  The Blue Ternate Flower Shake: fresh blue flowers Here's me with the finished product posing by the shakeboard me by the Shake - A - Hula

I miss BEEF already!  Good thing dad is a fan of sukiyaki-cut beef. These packs are a regular in our freezer since dad believes that these are very versatile: for soup, grilling, as additional meat in dishes... and I've loved it ever since. I'm kinda feeling lazy to experiment so since we all love rice toppings, I just steamed our left-over rice on the stove. To think I cooked a lot last night in preparation for breakfast coz dad said we ran out of bread already.  Well, he went out early this morning and brave the heavy rains & flooded streets to the nearest bakery 2 blocks away to buy fresh pandesal! Alright, let's get back to the beef. Take 'em out of the freezer a good 2hrs before cooking to thaw nicely. Soak (together in its container) in room temp water to hasten thawing process.  Then look through your pantry for your mom's magic potion. My mom's is this: Soak just enough for the meat. I placed three tbsp for eac...

Expensive, formal, Cantonese fare. Good thing it's our dear friend's treat! I can't believe we're on one of the top floors of Times Square in Causeway Bay, waiting for our table together with some fancy-dressed Hong Kong people! Except for the man standing directly in front of my shot of the entrance! Better dress up with your new buys from the shopping spree! Everyone is at their date-best and ready to tickle their taste buds. Am not sure of the names of the dishes but all of these are superb!  Especially the slow-cooked pot of meat. Served in an old-fashioned claypot and cooked for more than 4 hours! Reminds me of rich and tasty adobo, only it's super soft and oh-so succulent! We had the very tasty ground beef with sesame buns. A bit dry but the buns are quite a feast! We also had a salad dish with some edible flowers, looks very healthy amidst all the game dishes. Stuffed Peking Duck... need I say more?  The unique shrimp with seaweed is so fresh ...

Rummaging through the pantry... cooped up at home since yesterday and it's time to use some canned goodies! It's still raining so weather's really cool. How about a soup dish? Yes? Tummy says yes! We'll need: 4 cups water 2 tsp chicken powder (Or use chicken broth) 1 can cream of shredded corn 1/2 carrots, diced 2 pcs medium potatoes, diced 3 cloves garlic, diced 1/2 white onion, diced 1 tbsp butter For seasoning: Dried thyme - fragrant! Salt White pepper Cayenne - to avoid cloying For thickening: 1/2 c all-purpose cream 4 tbsp flour dilluted in 4tbsp water Use a soup casserole, boil the water. Add chicken powder & all the other ingredients listed above.  Season to taste using the ones listed "for seasoning". If the taste is to your liking, add the "for thickening" and taste again. Ok? Alright, serve hot!!!

Stormy, stormy day... no way is anyone going out to buy more for cooking and I bet the market is closed anyways, so let's jst make do with whatever's in the ref shall we? I see a pack of abalone... maybe add mushrooms & some greens... Ok found them: 6 cloves of garlic, diced 8 stalks of Baguio pechay, sliced 1/2 carrots, sliced to half moon 3 medium shiitake mushrooms, and 3 black flower mushrooms, all softened in water, sliced thinly Keep the water from the mushroom! Add 2 tbsp mushroom soysauce 1 tsp brown sugar And yes, slice abalones thinly, use about 4pcs 1. Pour a swirl of vegetable oil unto a medium-sized frying pan/ wok. Sautee garlic until brown, add abalone strips, mushrooms. Wait 2 mins then add carrots.  2. Pour half a cup of water to help cook the carrots. Add the pechay: stalks 1st and wait 2mins before adding the leafy parts. Then add the mushroom soysauce mixture. Remember that harder pcs like stalks, need more time to...

Dad, the ever-loyal Monterey Meat Shop shopper got a real steal for 2kgs of Porterhouse meat slice at 470/kg, BUY1TAKE1!  So here I go with my experiments again. I defrosted 1kg (4 slices) of porterhouse steak and sprinkle all sides with: - salt - freshly ground black pepper - Italian seasoning (mix of basil, rosemary, thyme) - worcestershire sauce - a bit of olive oil - thin spread of butter, yes, to make them juicier and glossy too Leave them to marinade for at least an hour. I actually took this time to bake but I'll write about it i it turns out successful. 😜 Don't forget the rice! It will take about 30mims or so to cook so now is the best time to prepare it. Yes, just before you grill.  Cook rice as usual in your rice cooker. For is, it's 6cups of water for 4cups of uncooked rice. Wash 2x and pour water. But wait, I dilluted these in the last cup of water: - 4tsp of chicken broth powder  - 1tsp of salt - 4tsp of yellow curry ...

We ran out of pancake mix! Just when I finally got to purchase my own crepe pan from Gourdo's. It was on sale so I grabbed one as my friend grabbed two. Now here comes the doing part. No need to run to the grocer anyways, I've a pantry full of stuff so here goes! Crepe from scratch... Step1: mix DRY ingredients 1 1/2 c flour 3 tbsp sugar 2 tsp baking powder 1 1/2 tsp fine salt Step2: mix WET ingrdients 1/2 c sourceeam 1 1/4 c milk (use 3/4c milk only for pancakes) 3 medium eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract Step3: combine all. should be runny. Step4: Prepare crepe pan on low heat. Pour a ladle of crepe batter and quickly use wooden-T to distribute batter evenly. The thinner the better. You can adjust batter volume according to your preference. *thick batter on pan = softer crepe *thin batter on pan = crunchier crepe Step5: Check edges of crepe on pan. If they're becoming brown then it's cooked but soft. If darker, then it can be more crisp. Flip. Cook for another minute and a h...

When it rains, hot soup usually comes into mind, doesn't it? So after a long tiring day at work, what better way to reward ourselves for a very productive work week? F O O D. I've always passed by this Japanese shabuX2 place and thought nothing much about it since we usually enjoy it at home or at a nearby QC joint.  We scanned the menu and decided it was worth a try. P750 for a set meal for two: - veggie plate - cup of sticky gohan - Angus beef plate Dipping sauces are very flavourful: soy base and peanut. Condiments on the side includes spring onions, minced garlic, chili powder, chili oil.  Choice of soup base in two flavors: we got chili and regular miso... oooh, I can't wait! Veggie plate: tofu, carrots, golden mushrooms, tagalog pechay And this... is the surprisingly humongous Angus beef plate! I am soooo happy I almost got teary-eyed with the serving! Yes, we were more than satisfied and our tummies are definitely happy.