Ramen Craze Plus at The Maya Kitchen

Japanese food is something I am not widely familiar of, but is something I want to explore more as there are only a few Japanese dishes I know of. When I found out that The Maya Kitchen is going Japanese for the month of February, I was very excited to tell my mom about it as my mom has been my classmate for the featured class at The Maya Kitchen since she first attended.


Our teacher for the Ramen Craze Plus class was Chef Seiji Kamura, who has written two Japanese cookbooks with The Maya Kitchen, and has been teaching Japanese cooking. For this class, we were taught four Japanese noodle dishes:


Hiyashi Chuka, a cold noodle dish, perfect to be eaten during summer. Topping the bed of noodles are Japanese cucumber (which I learned is a great kind of cucumber as it has less seeds compared the locally grown cucumbers), crab sticks, crepe egg, wakame, and chasu (pork belly seared in little oil and boiled in shoyu base). It also has a dressing made from soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, garlic and Ichiban.

The dressing was very flavorful and the combination of the noodles, pork, and cucumbers was amazing! It was my first time to taste wakame and I really loved it!


Yakisoba, which I dubbed as Japanese pancit canton, but tasted very different (of course) because of the ingredients used.


Miso Ramen, which had a very intense miso flavor as the base used had a combination of black and white miso. Personally, I am not a big fan of miso, but the ramen was very hearty and comforting.


Shoyu Ramen, my favorite of all the dishes prepared because the soup base was thinner than the Miso Ramen, and also because it had wakame, egg, and big slices of Chashu (yum yum).

Aside from making the noodle dishes, we were also taught how to make the soup base and other secrets to Japanese cooking, allowing us to make our own at home. I realized preparing the dishes weren't as challenging as I thought it would be, but sourcing the ingredients will be the most difficult part.

I am still learning how to fully appreciate Japanese food, but slowly I am getting there.

Slurp Some Ramen at The Maya Kitchen This Saturday

Hello, hello!

It's been more than a month of no updates here on the blog, and I apologize for that. My netbook has gone bonkers, and I find it really difficult to update the blog using my phone as doing so drains the battery very easily (and it was difficult to tap the letters one by one as well). Right now, my sister is letting me use her netbook - provided my mom isn't using it. Hopefully, I can have that chance to use this gadget even for a few hours everyday so I can update all the blogs, that are now gathering cobwebs. :)

Anyway, weather lately has been weird - the other day it was super hot, and yesterday it was fairly cool. Regardless the temperature, a slurp of broth is always a comfort, and this Saturday, The Maya Kitchen is going to have a Ramen Craze Plus, as Japanese master chef Seiji Kamura will share his tips and secrets in creating wonderful ramen and other dishes like:

Miso Ramen, a chicken or pork broth with miso, lard and sesame for a thick, sweet and hearty soup. The thick, curly noodles are topped with spicy bean paste, butter and corn, leeks, onions, bean sprouts, ground pork, cabbage, sesame seeds, white pepper and chopped garlic.

Hiyashi Chuka, cold noodles served with thin omelette strips, boiled chicken, cucumber, boiled bean sprouts, tomatoes and pickled red ginger and wakame seaweeds.

Chachu or Japanese asado is tender, slow-cooked, marinated, stewed pork belly that can be served many ways. Chef Kamura will pepare Chachu Salad with Sesame Dressing.

Tonkatsu, pork cutlet breaded and deep fried until golden brown. Katsudon is the familiar rice bowl with panko coated pork cutlets with a sweet, savory sauce.

Chef Seiji Kamura has made the Philippines his home. He is regarded with high esteem in the local culinary scene and has been cookbook author, culinary consultant and chef demonstrator. He has penned two cookbooks with The Maya Kitchen entitled Japanese Cookbook for Filipino and Secrets of Japanese Cooking. He attended the Tokyo Cooking Academy and trained in Lyons, France.

To be a part of this event happening this Saturday - 15 February 2014 (9am - 1pm), contact The Maya Kitchen -  8921185 / 892-5011 local 108 / Mobile No. +63947 835 2290, or e-mail them - contactus@themayakitchen.com. You may also drop by The Maya Kitchen Culinary Center, located at the 8F Liberty Building, 835 A. Arnaiz Avenue (Pasay Road), Makati City.

For more information on other courses offerings, log on to www.themayakitchen.com.

Food Trip Flashback | Tokyo Tokyo

There was a moment when Tokyo Tokyo at SM Fairview was closed for renovations. My sister and I happened to be at the mall when it re-opened, and because it was near lunch time already, we decided to eat there.

There was a very big change - for one, the counter was directly across the entrance of the restaurant and the dining area became spacious with ample amount of lighting.


Chicken Karaage
As usual, my sister went with her favorite Tokyo Tokyo meal - the Chicken Karaage. The place may have changed, but the food remained the same... it was still as delicious as we once tasted it.


Chicken Oyakudon Donburi
My favorite Tokyo Tokyo meal is the Beef Misono, but because Tokyo Tokyo just released new dishes, I decided to try it out. Japanese food is something I am teaching myself to appreciate and love, and this didn't fail me. Serving was more than enough to fill the tummy, the sauce was just right, and it gave me a new reason to come back at Tokyo Tokyo.

I am liking Tokyo Tokyo more and more. They provide good Japanese food at affordable prices, and whenever cravings for Japanese food arise, we know eating there would satisfy that.

Lunch Meal Sets at Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant

Slowly, I am learning how to fully appreciate Japanese cuisine. I still can't convince myself to eat raw seafood, but Japanese food is not only about Sashimi, so there are still plenty of choices. A few days ago, I got to try food at another Japanese Restaurant with my brother and fellow blogger pals.


Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant is very popular in Japan, having over 700 branches all over the country. Here in the Philippines, there are two branches - one in SM Mall of Asia and the one along Hotel Drive in Glorietta 2, where we had our lunch. Another branch will open soon at SM Aura (Bonifacio Global City).



I love, love, love how it looks inside! The lighting is slightly muted, but enough for diners to still photograph their food without much complaints. Most of the tables are good for four, but the restaurant also has two-top tables for couples and some long tables for bigger groups.

Watami serves a wide array of Japanese dishes, but we came here to try their Set Lunch menu. There are 12 sets to choose from, and here's some of what we had -


Beef Sukiyaki Rice in Stone Pot Set
Toni's meal.


Tuna Sashimi Rice Set
Lianne's meal, the salad, udon and miso soup were served a little later.


Salmon Sashimi Rice Set
My brother's meal. This comes with salad, udon, and miso soup, which I wasn't able to photograph because my brother already started his meal when the rest of the set were served. Brother liked the salmon sashimi, he said it tasted fresh and it had the natural sweetness he's looking for in a salmon sashimi.


Roasted Mackerel Set with Rice
Jonel's meal.


Black Pepper Beef with Rice in Stone Pot Set
Alex's meal.


Tempura Rice Set
Stacy's meal.


Deep Fried Pork Cutlet Set
My meal. Well, since there are 12 set meals and I hoped to photograph as much as I could, I decided to order something different. I was thinking whether to go with this or the Chicken Cutlet with Scrambled Egg Sauce, but I went for the pork instead. The pork cutlet was thick, giving me the satisfaction that I got my money's worth, but it tasted like typical pork tonkatsu. Though it wasn't very exceptional, I did love the sauce and the coleslaw. The coleslaw had this tangy creamy dressing that went well with the pork cutlets, and the miso soup was one of the best I have tasted.


All of the 12 Sets comes with side salad and miso soup, some comes with a choice of hot or cold udon. These set lunches are definitely much cheaper compared to ordering it one by one, and because it's already complete and enough to make one full, I truly recommend it.

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Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant
G/F Glorietta 2, Hotel Dr Ayala Center, Makati
+63 (02) 808-0475

ABC Wednesdays - M & N

I wasn't able to post something for ABC Wednesdays last week, so allow me to catch up this week, posting my entries for M and N.




I first learned about Mochiko through a Vlog posted by Karylle. I got interested about it, and when my sister and I attended a food event, we finally got to taste it and fell in love with it. Mochi is a Japanese confection made from glutinous rice flour and is filled with red bean paste. Mochicko's Mochi however infuses this confection with ice cream and other ingredients, creating a very wonderful harmony of flavors.

These mochi are quite expensive, but worth every penny. My sister and I loves whatever flavor we go for, but her favorite is black sesame, and oreo & milk, while I love the choco-nut flavor, because it is very Filipino, and is only available in June - the Philippine Independence month.

It is frozen as you buy it, so it is recommended to thaw it for a few minutes before biting into it. Although, don't thaw it for long because you might not appreciate melted ice cream oozing out of the rice dough.



Nigiri Sushi or the Hand-formed Sushi is the type of sushi with oblong sized mound of rice topped with seafood, usually with fish and wasabi. I am just starting to learn how to eat Japanese food, but I still don't go for raw meat, so this one is still something I haven't tasted. :)

This plate of Nigiri Sushi was served to us during a food-tasting event at Minori-Tei.