Shrimp Tempura

Prawns and shrimps are my favorite food, next to chicken. Since chicken is somewhat staple at home, so whenever we have shrimps or prawns, I always consider it a time for indulgence.

Last Friday, there were shrimps at the market selling for 80 pesos per 1/4 kilo, 150 per 1/2 kilo. Of course we went to go for 1/2 kilo, half of which we cooked for Saturday's lunch. The next day, I found myself alone in the house, and seeing more shrimps, I just attempted to do something I always crave to eat -


Shrimp Tempura. 

We don't have Tempura Mix here at home so I just searched online for easy tempura batter. Well, it didn't result to the kind served at Japanese restaurants, but I think I did good for this batch. An online friend told me it looked more like Camaron Rebusado than a Tempura, which I agreed with. I guess I really need to practice how to do restaurant-style Tempura. :)

Well, for a shrimp lover, this one was heaven.

Max's Restaurant Merienda Mixes

During the time when there were very few food places near our place, our family would always celebrate family events at Max's Restaurant. I admit the family would often go there to eat either lunch or dinner, but not once did we eat snacks there.


If you're just like me who always visit Max's Restaurant to eat lunch and/or dinner, here's one reason for you to eat your snacks there, too. Introducing the Create Your Own Merienda Mix, where you can choose what mix you want to have!


First, choose your Max's Corner Bakery treat. It can be Ensaymada, Cheese Roll or 1/4 Cake Roll (choose between Chocolate, Mocha, Ube, Jelly, Ube, or Mango flavor)...


Pair it with your choice of Main Merienda - Pancit Canton, Champorado, or Pancit Luglog...


Then finish it with your choice of drink - Pepsi, Brewed Coffee or Sago't Gulaman.

The price? 95 pesos. Believe it. :)

So many ways to mix and match that would fit one's satisfaction! During the launch of the promo, food were served ala buffet, so we can just have whatever we want, but bloggers at our table asked for a little plate and bowl of each main merienda so we can present the Merienda Mixes like these:


Pancit Canton was cooked so good! It wasn't saucy, but not too dry either. It had quite a lot of liver slices, but it was okay... it had some chicken cuts, dimsum balls and shrimps for me to eat (I don't eat liver, that's why).

The ensaymada, it was so soft and fluffy, delicious!

The Sago't Gulaman, I loved that it had a lot of sago and gulaman, but it was a little too sweet for my liking.


Champorado was really good! I loved the consistency and how the rice are oh-so-soft! Actually, this tasted like they used melted chocolate (like Toblerone), which made me love it more.


When it comes to Pancit Palabok or Pancit Luglog, I always go for the thick noodles. This was the very first time to try their Pancit Luglog and I was so pleased with it. Thick noodles, flavorful sauce, shrimps, egg slices, spring onions and chicharon powder. Awesome!

As for the Chocolate Roll, it tasted like the typical cake roll, minus the frosting outside the cake.

By the way, the main merienda you will get should you order the Merienda Mix will be much more than the ones in the pictures I have. Like I said, the food at the event were served ala buffet, so these pictures are just for presentation.

The Max's Restaurant Create Your Own Merienda Mix is available at all Max's Restaurants from 2 to 6 pm. It's valid for dine-in, take-out, and delivery transactions. You can also order deliveries online, but it cannot be combined with any other promos and discounts. This promo runs until 16 September 2012... but another good thing that comes with it is that for every purchase of the Merienda Mix, you stand a chance to win a trip to the US to visit the Max's Restaurant branch in San Jose, California as well as watch a concert. So keep your receipts and head on to Max's Restaurant Website or http://www.facebook.com/maxsrestaurant for more details.

Yummy Magazine July 2012

Ten more days left before the month ends, but I would just like to share to you guys the magazine I am reading just now -



Yummy Magazine July 2012 issue. I do appreciate every food and dining magazines available - both locally and internationally published - but Yummy Magazine has got to be the one that I always read. I look forward to its different recipes and features. Another knowledge-filled issue, I must say.



Of course, I won't share away all the details about the magazine, but here are some interesting things to look forward to for this issue.

• Easy dishes to prepare. The theme of this issue centers on stress-free cooking, and I really think almost all of the recipes are indeed easy to prepare.
• Creative way of preventing watery drinks at your party - Flavored Ice Cubes!
• Quick-fire recipes. Yes, I did say almost all recipes are very easy to whip up, but the magazine has devoted a segment featuring recipes you can cook in under an hour.
• Eggs! Recipes featuring eggs... and I am so looking forward in cooking that Fish Cakes with Poached Eggs.
• Tips and tricks from chefs, bakers, food experts, and Yummy Magazine staff. Wanna know the secret  how to make a killer Kare-Kare or how to tend herbs at home? 

Another thing featured at the magazine was about their iPad App called "Yummy Filipino Recipes".

Released two weeks ago, Summit Media’s Yummy Filipino Recipes app skyrocketed to the top of the App Store charts, peaking at number two under the ‘Top Paid iPad Apps’ category and maintaining its week-long position at the top 10 of the charts. It joins App Store luminaries such as Temple Run, Where’s My Perry?, Plants vs. Zombies HD and Apple apps such as Keynote and Pages.

Thanks to its engaging layout and nifty interactive features coupled with the mouthwatering list of 101 recipes spanning five major food categories, customers have given the app a perfect score of five stars, with user Orlan saying “It’s worth the price! Lots of local recipes to choose from. Nice presentation and good layout.” Another buyer of the app, Izhiang also gave the app five stars and commented “Been waiting for this app!”

Designed to make learning new Filipino recipes and making them your own engaging and fun, the Yummy Filipino Recipes app sure looks like it is hitting the spot! The full version of the app is now available at the iTunes App Store for the retail price of US $3.99. The App Store link can be found at: http://bit.ly/MzrLtv.

For more information about Yummy’s upcoming series of apps, visit www.summitmedia.com.ph/apps/yummy.



On a personal side note... what I love about culinary magazines aside from the recipes and the lessons are the newest products I could try. One that got me so interested is this - Korean flavored fried chicken mix! I still haven't seen this in the nearby supermarket, but hopefully soon, I can use this to jazz up my fried chicken.


This issue of Yummy Magazine is available at bookstores, magazine stores, and newsstands nationwide. Go grab your copy, you'll love it for sure! To get more YUMMY news, you can check their website at www.yummy.ph or follow them at Twitter - twitter.com/yummyph or like their Facebook page - facebook.com/yummymagazine.

Banana Cake

Baking is something I really don't know how to do. Sure I love pastries every now and then, but I still haven't fully experienced the joys of baking. In fact, it was something I really hope I learn how to do that I even wrote it on my Bucket List.


About two weeks ago, I received a package from the Maya Kitchen, including two small boxes of cake mixes. At first I was sad about it because I knew I couldn't use it, but reading the cooking directions, I realized these cake mixes can be cooked using the Oven Toaster and/or the steamer. I love Banana Cake, so I decided to use it first.

Aside from the cake mix, other ingredients needed are:

• 1 piece (medium size) egg
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/3 cup mashed bananas 
• 3 tablespoons oil 

It's quite easy to prepare, but do add in the bananas and oil last, making sure there are no lumps in the batter. I mashed 2 bananas, which was a little more than 1/3 cup, but I just added it all anyway. The oil, I only put 2 tablespoons.

We didn't have a loaf pan, so for this, I used these mini muffin cups. I bought these a long time ago, back then I just bought it for the heck of it, now I am glad I was able to use it. I filled the cups about 3/4 of the way and placed the steamer pan when the water started to boil. I didn't want water from steam to flood my cakes, so I covered the pan with a cheesecloth before placing the lid. Some 10 minutes after, the cakes looked like this.


I took them out after 15 minutes - but I did prick it with a toothpick just to be sure it's cooked properly. It may not be baked, but it did taste and feel like it was baked!


I only have 6 small tin muffin cups, and even if I brushed it with all, there were still some morsels of cake sticking onto it, making me feel doing it with the cups were a bit too tedious to do - as I still have to wash the cups before I could repeat the steaming process. Brother suggested I use the Leche Flan tin mold to steam the remaining batter, and the result was this.

I let my family taste it and they all liked it and said it tasted like the ones bought at a pastry shop. Well, it sure is good to know that I don't really need an oven to enjoy banana cake... but of course I still hope to bake my own cake or pastry in the near future.

Credit Card Roulette at the Dinner Table – Who’s Paying?

When dining out with friends, most people would probably agree that it’s easiest to split the bill into equal portions, rather than time-consumingly going over it with a fine-tooth comb and a calculator in hand.

Alternatively, there’s always the option of playing a risky game of credit card roulette – in which each person contributes a credit card into a hat, the waiter removes one card at time, and the last card removed pays the entire bill – but that’s probably a rather expensive and impractical solution for most ordinary mortals.

The question of ‘who pays’ at the dinner table becomes all the more complicated, however, when it comes to couples. There’s no better place than a restaurant for a romantic rendezvous, but dates (and particularly first dates) can often become uncomfortably awkward once the bill arrives.

For many men, paying for dinner is simply the done thing. It helps them to look as though they are generous and powerful, two qualities that do wonders for a man’s image. It also fits into the conventional view of the man acting as provider, although this view is now considered by many to be outdated, with traditional gender roles becoming increasingly reversed.

Thankfully, nowadays women have far more financial (and social) freedom, and many ladies may want to assert their independence by picking up the tab themselves. But if both parties volunteer to pay, why not opt for the painless compromise of going Dutch? Splitting the bill equally should leave both parties satisfied and eliminate any undue awkwardness.

Of course, regardless of how you divide up the bill, a credit card is still the most convenient method of payment, sparing you the chore of counting out cash at the table.

American Express UK offer a number of great value charge cards that are sure to provide all the spending power you need. With no pre-set spending limits or interest charges, you simply need to pay the balance in full at the end of each month, with the option to earn exclusive membership reward points on virtually every purchase you make.

The author of this article is part of a blogging team that works with brands like American Express. The content contained is for information purposes only and should not be used to make any financial decisions.

Snacks After a Shopping Spree

My weekend started a little bad - not being able to go to the sale at SM North EDSA, but Saturday, moods started to change for the better, and even if I wasn't able to check out the sale because of many personal reasons, I was still able to shop that afternoon with my mom and sis, and I was able to find a pair of DKNY Jeans, making me cross off an item on my bucket list (ever since college I dreamt of wearing/using DKNY products).

After that short shopping spree, we went to eat some snacks. We decided to just eat at Jollibee - mainly because it was raining hard and Jollibee was the nearest food place. I was still not hungry as I ate quite a lot for lunch, so I told them I'd just go for the usual favorite..



Jolly Hotdog! Of all the sandwiches Jollibee has to offer, this has got to be my favorite.



Normally, the Jolly Hotdog value meal comes with regular fries, but I asked if I could upgrade it to the Cris-Cut Fries just so I could taste it. They allowed me to go for it and I chose the cheese flavor. Well, it wasn't that crunchy compared to the fries, and it seemed to have a lot of cheese powder so overall I found it a very salty snack. Well, it was good, I guess, maybe the one who prepared this put in quite a lot of cheese powder.



My mom and my sister both had the Champ, which I wasn't able to photograph, but instead of having the regular drink, sister went for the Iced Coffee Float. I took a sip and it had the right blend that I prefer in a coffee - it was creamy, it was sweet, and it had the bitter taste of the coffee. I wasn't able to blend in the sundae, but it was okay, I think this drink is something I might go for next time.

It was my last meal for the day - I told them I won't eat dinner anymore and I didn't. Halfway through the month and I am still struggling with my weight loss journey. Ugh, I really need to pick myself up and finish what I started.