Yadobi

I always intend to go back to the Food Friday post, but what to share was always a problem for me since I post foods that I cooked for this meme. I don't cook that much anymore, so my Food Friday wasn't as update as it once was.

For this week, I am sharing yet another adobo dish. It was one of my life goals - to cook the perfect adobo - but with this one I failed again. Well, the family loved it, and I am confident that this one's delicious, but what I meant with "perfect" was dunking all the ingredients in the pot and slow cook it, without any more alterations. However, whenever I cook adobo, I would see myself tasting it over and over, then adjust the taste. I really can't get the balance between the soy sauce and vinegar on the first try.

Any tips on how to cook adobo?

*** Jenn ***

Goldi!

Since we don't do it weekly, us family consider grocery time to be our bonding day. And before we go to the supermarket, we would eat lunch first, so we won't feel a bit guilty about having to eat too much.

On this day, it was just us three girls (mom, sis, and I) who went out. Where to eat was always a problem for us, but we decided to eat at Goldilocks, because it's been a while since we last ate there. I always eat the pancit malabon, and to add to the meal, I ordered fresh lumpia - which I shared with mom. For desserts, us three shared the gelatin / ube halaya plate.

The pancit malabon wasn't as good as the previous ones I've eaten - probably because they used a different kind of noodles, but it was still delicious. The lumpia.. well, that's one of Goldilocks' signature dishes, so it's always delicious. I loved the ube halaya, but the gelatin.. not much.

*** Jenn ***

S = Suman

Suman is a native Philippine food made from glutinous rice or grated cassava and coconut milk wrapped in either banana or palm leaves and is steamed until cooked. It is often served as breakfast or snacks, and is sprinkled with sugar or grated coconut (the mature ones). Some say it is also best paired with ripe mangoes. A hot cup of coffee makes the meal complete.




There are so many varieties of the suman, with different parts of the country having their own version. In my mom's hometown, they would put the glutinous rice in a bamboo trunk, and is cooked in fire. This picture is the Suman sa Ibos, one of the most popular variety of the food. It is unique in its way because it is wrapped in coiled palm leaf and is steamed in water with turmeric, giving it its yellowish color. This one has a slight salty taste, and can be eaten alone. Of course, if you'd ask me, I'd dip it in some sugar. =)

The wrapping of suman is an art. Although majority of it were wrapped using banana or palm leaves, there are suman that are elongated while some are triangular in shape.


The most interesting suman I have seen and tasted was the Budbud Kabog, a suman native to the Visayan regions of the country. Instead of using rice and / or cassava, the main ingredient for this one is the Millet Seed (which looks like bird seeds) - a grain used in making chapati and roti. This one has a slightly sweeter taste, so no need for the extra sugar. I bought these in the weekend market in Salcedo Village, Makati City - a very expensive food for 25php a piece, but it was really worth it.

*** Jenn ***

Spur of the Moment Pancake

If you'll ask me, I will tell you that I don't eat pancakes made using the store bought pancake mix. I don't know why, I just can't seem to finish one cake... my throat would seem to close up and reject the pancake. Over time, I found a way to eat pancakes by adding up something salty to it - either grated cheese or cold cuts.

But, if the pancake is made using ordinary all purpose flour, I would eat it with gusto. And yesterday, I asked brother if he could whip up some pancakes. No specific reason, I just suddenly craved for it and sister liked the idea, too. At first brother was hesitant because we need to have some baking powder if we wanted it to be fluffy (otherwise it would be so flat). We seemed not to mind it, so brother gave in.

He was able to cook 5 pieces of pancakes and what he did was to stack them up, and quartered it so all of us would have equal share. It was very simple, but delicious. Hopefully, when we go grocery shopping, we could buy some flour so we can get to eat this just whenever we want.

*** Jenn ***

Last Meal

...before my friends and I went home after the Palawan trip, that is.

When Superferry Our Lady of Good Voyage docked in Manila South Harbor, people were scrambling, trying to leave the ship as quickly as they can. We were hoping to find a place where we can sit and talk about finances, but the port didn't have a lobby where we can stay at, so we just walked and walked, not minding how haggard we looked like.

Our walking led us to Shakey's. We thought it would be nice to have some snacks and just chill out - in a way all of us weren't ready to go back to the "real world" just yet. All of us had a plate of carbonara each. At first Kei and I just wanted something to drink, but when they served carbonara to Lei, Dianne, and Eric, we instantly drooled.

It wasn't the best tasting carbonara I had, but it was delicious. For 120php, I think this one's a good buy. And I love that they used a different kind of mushroom. I love button mushrooms, but I am getting tired eating it every time I eat carbonara.

*** Jenn ***

R - Rattan Fruit

Whenever I go to Baguio City, I always see this fruit being sold in the stores. I didn't really give them that much attention because by the looks of it, it seemed to be part of the lychee or longan family, and since I don't eat those fruits, I don't see any reason to bother about this fruit.

Last July, when I attended a church org conference in Baguio City, we arrived early in the city and decided to go to Mines View Park to unwind, check the scenery, and enjoy the day. A friend of mine went to this kiosk and ask about their strawberry wine. She said her father loves to taste different kinds of fruit wines, and she was planning on giving him a bottle. The kiosk was offering a free taste, and soon our friends came to taste it, too. The kiosk was selling this fruit, so I asked a bit about it.

The vendor said it's rattan fruit. I was surprised when I heard it, I didn't know rattan has fruits - all along I thought rattan was only for furniture. Anyway, searching about the fruit, I found out that not all species of rattan has edible fruits. The fruits from the variety with a bigger vine diameter is edible. I still haven't tasted the fruit, but the vendor said that underneath the snakeskin looking peel are segments of fruit and it has a sweet-sour taste. Other fruits are slightly sour, and some are sweeter than it is sour.

The vendor wouldn't allow me to have a free taste, and I am a bit apprehensive in buying, so I guess we are in the same page - just thinking how it really taste like. =)

*** Jenn ***

Their Lunch

Related to the post I had last week...

When the six of us had our breakfast, we ate at Grand Fiesta, which is the ship's canteen. We handed out our tickets, and when the four of us gave their tickets, they were told that they should be eating at a different food place because that's where the passengers staying in cabins supposed to eat. For breakfast, they just said they will just eat the "econo" breakfast, so all of us could be together (because Ryan and I didn't upgrade the tickets).

Come lunch time, Ryan and I took our lunch and head over the other food place, because that's where they decided to eat their lunch. We were happy we were allowed to bring our food there because we were friends and we were in the ship together. The cabin people were served different foods -Ryan and I had beef caldereta and they had Pork Anisado, which was plated really well, if I may say so. =)

The dish was great - the pork pieces are tender and the vegetables were crisp. I loved it. It was a bit sweet for my taste, but I was thankful that even if my ticket was econo, I also got to taste cabin people's food. Hehehe.

*** Jenn ***

Tomatoes

LaPiS goes Iron Chef, wherein each week, there will be a featured ingredient. For this week, it's the tomatoes. Vegetable or not, fruit or not, I think all will agree that tomatoes do taste good. =)

The above picture (blurred, yes) was taken in 2008, when my siblings and I attended QC Na! Kulinarya, Talento, atbp. One of the events for the festivity was a cook off between professional chefs. In a way, it was kinda like Iron Chef - having to use some particular ingredients in their dishes - but, the cook off wasn't shown to public - they just served the dishes and the judges would roam around the table to taste the dishes.

This one, also taken in 2008, was part of the "extra treats" at Italianni's. That time, they launched their "Extra! Extra!" promo, wherein they give something to diners - may it be extra dessert, extra appetizers, or extra drinks. I was privileged to be part of the group of foodie bloggers who got to attend the launch of the promo. I forgot what this dish was called, but paired with the crunchy bread with chopped mushrooms, it tasted great.

*** Jenn ***