Razon's Halo-Halo with Love

Hello there foodaholics!

It's been a long time since my last post. I've been so busy with other stuffs lately and I must admit, I missed posting here. 

Well, enough of the explanation. Let's start now. It's officially summer here in the Philippines and when you say summer, it means that Mr. Sun is shinning so bright up in the sky. Aside from plunging into cool waters, this is the best time to indulge ourselves with cold foods like ice cream, banana ice, ice candies, popsicles, and of course the famous HALO-HALO. 

Recently, Razon's opened their branch here at SM Lipa. My dearest papa asked mama and I to try their famous Halo-halo and pancit luglug. So after work, I went to the mall to meet them at Razon's.

This is not the usual kind of halo-halo. It has few ingredients but what surprising about it is that they used fine crushed ice. It's like I am eating ice cream. I can easily mixed them all together. They provide the best tasting, most authentic Kampampangan food. I also like their pancit luglog. 

I had a great time with my parents. The simple joy of dining among family and friends is what defines the Filipino culture. I think we should do this more often. :)

Hazel's Birthday Dinner Celebration @ Lipa Grill

I super love birthdays! 'Coz it reminds us to treasure the time we have been given. Everyday is an opportunity to learn and positively touch lives.

Last time, my cousin Hazel--one of my angels celebrated her birthday. We had a dinner at Lipa Grill, a local restaurant in Antipolo del Norte, Lipa City which offers variety of Filipino delicacies.

They have a huge nipa huts to accommodate their guest. If your looking for a serene place for dinner, Lipa Grill is one of the best places in Lipa City, Batangas.

Aside from my family and set friends, my cousins are my super buddies ever. We shared lots of great things together. As much as possible we make sure that we still have time to bond. Sharing stories, dramas or just laugh our hearts out. It's really fun to be with my angels. And during special moments like this, we love to make surprises for each other.

Because it's Hazel's birthday... this dinner celebration is her treat! LOL! We gave her an Almond Java Moose Petite cake from Goldilocks Bakeshop.

Lipa Grill satisfied our hunger with their mouthwatering dishes. We ordered the following:

We all love Sinigang na Hipon- this I think is one of their best-seller. It has the perfect combination of sour flavor and the shrimp's taste.

The birthday girl requested to order Grilled Spare Ribs. The meat is tender and the sauce seals in the goodness of these delicious rib. 

Here's the Fried Chicken, no doubt it's also everybody's favorite. The chicken is well-cooked and flavorful.

Chop Seuy for a veggie lover like me! Yum yum! The crunch of the vegetables is just right.

Crispy Pata for the boys. Another best-seller of Lipa Grill.

There's chicken, pork, and shrimp... of course there's also fish-- Grilled Tilapia. Batangas is well-known for good quality Tilapia a good quality of taste as well.

For those on their strict diet, we also ordered Pancit Canton. Lipa Grill's recipe has many ingredients... veggies, meat... and seafood. Wow!

What a way to celebrate a birthday! I had a lot of fun. I'm excited for the next gathering. Again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dear couz Hazel. May God Bless her more. YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU... XOXO! (-_-)

The Way to your Love Ones' Heart is through their Stomach

I adopted the original old age quoted proverb, "The Way to a Man's Heart is Through His Stomach" to "The Way to your Love Ones' Heart is Through Their Stomach." 

Cooking is my one of my greatest passion. This is my way of showing my family how much I love them- I just cook my heart out for them.

Prior to my Shrimp in Sour Soup post, I've got some other pictures of the people I love during our dinner. Here they are...

This is my father, he's very health conscious when it comes to food. Maybe because he needs to watch out for his carbohydrates, fats and sugar intake. Well, he's not getting any younger-- it's better to eat healthy and live healthy. Most of the time, he prefers to eat fish and vegetables.

Now, here's my very lovable and sweet brother. Shrimp Sinigang is one of his favorite. He loves the shrimp so much and he can eat 1 kilo or more on his own. Because of his young age, I think he is a picky eater. He barely eats veggies, he's more into chicken and pork dishes... and Oh! he loves to eat junk foods.

And here is the most important woman in our life, my mama. She's also a good cook like me. If my papa is the heath conscious one, mama on other hand is conscious with her diet. She's so afraid to get bigger and bigger. But she loves to eat... it hard for her to control her eating habits. She's into fish, meat, chicken and vegetables. Mama also loves having desserts after her meal.

I'm always the one left in the house to cook most especially for dinner. I really love to cook for them and I'm happy to know that they appreciated my efforts. I believe that a good meal served with so much love has its own magic. I think the best ingredient in every dish I make is my heart and unconditional love for them.

Show some love Foodaholics! Cook for someone you love. (0_0)

Authentic Tastes in Singapore

Last May 7-11, 2001, we are very lucky to avail a slot in Cebu Pacific Air promos-- flight from Manila to Singapore.

It's my first out of the country trip with four of my lovely cousins (Anne, Irish, Hazel and Ate Bebe).

They say that: "When you travel, the best way to get to know the city your seeing is to meet it with your feet and walk its many paths. Get out there and stroll the city corners. Every places has its own vibe, own sights and sounds and you can feel all of that on the soles of your feet", so better be ready wearing your flats instead of fashionable high heels.

Aside from sight seeing, picture taking, mall hopping, shopping and enjoying lots of MRT/LRT rides... trying out Singaporean cuisines is part of our four days and three nights journey.

Fancy restaurants and fine dining are all well and good but for a taste of the dishes, Singaporeans and tourists enjoy in a daily basis, you must visit a hawker centers. Here are some must-try foods in SG.

Singapore Duck Rice with special sweet sauce plus chopped cucumber on the side. As far as I can remember, I think, we ate this during our lunch at Lucky Plaza, a popular mall where most of the Filipinos gathered together whenever they are off to work. This is one of the cheapest meal that we've tried--2sgd I think.

We also get to try the foods on China Town. There's a lot of food stall there so we get the to choose whatever combination we want. At first, we were a bit anxious to select and taste it to find out if we'll hate or enjoy the food. For me, it's surprisingly good and interesting.

Ate Bebe bought this noodles with crispy chicken and fried egg. She's very generous enough to let us taste her order. I so loved the crispiness of the chicken, it's quite sweet and sour. This meal is around 5sgd or less.

Anne, Hazel and Irish tried this Fish ball noodles for 4sgd. Ain't bad, the serving is big enough for someone like their appetite. The noodles is so flavorful.

Being a Filipino, I like having rice, veggies and meat combinations in most of my meals. I ordered this rice with leafy veggies and pork. The pork is like our adobo. The food stall owner asked me if I want to put some chili sauce-- of course I said "yes". I'm really into spicy foods but I never expected how spicy it was. I felt like my tongue is going to burst out--hehe! But still I liked it. :)

We're also pretty excited to check out the food on Makansutra Glutton's Bay, an open air, moon-lit food center offering a spectacular view of the Marina Bay skyline. This is one of the hotspot for visitors and sleepless in Singapore--surely a food lover's paradise. You can take a pick from their wide variety of foods most especially when you're looking for a full meal. You don't need to watch out for your diet because eating is-a-must here!

But because we are half way on our stay in SG, we definitely missed Filipino foods. Since there is a stall here selling Lechon and Pork Barbeque, we decided to grab a bite-- and of course it's always better to support our own.

Irish, Anne, Hazel and Ate Bebe ate rice with Pork Barbeque.

I ate Lechon and rice with different variety of sauces to choose from-- Ketchup, spicy vinegar, and the usual Lechon sauce.

We also ate at some familiar food chains like McDonald's and KFC, but their menu is different from what we have in the Philippines. I'm looking for rice meals but it is not included in their food lists. Sad! :(

At Universal Studios, we dine at Goldilock's (not the same Goldilock's in PH). We ordered the Mama Bear Combo.

The Mama Bear Combo includes 2 pieces big fried chicken, 1 small bun, a choice between coleslaw or mashes potato and large soft drinks. This is around 6sgd I think. 

Other must-try in SG:

Their famous 1sgd Wall's ice cream on a wafer. We bought this after a long, tiring and hot walk at Chinese and Japanese Garden.

There's a lot of flavors to choose from, according to the ice cream vendor, Ripple and Choco Chip are his best-seller. Ripple tastes like strawberry ice cream. Choco Chip is also exciting, just like cookies and cream.

Another refreshing delight in SG is their Bubble Tea- generally of two distinct types: fruit-flavored teas, and milk teas added with pearls.

Ate Bebe at Bugis Market, trying out Bubble tea original for 2sgd.

Very refreshing drink, this Bubble Tea is also famous in Korea and Taiwan.

I can say that this whole Singapore trip is absolutely fun and worth it! Can't wait for our next destination! *_*

Thanks for dropping by Foodaholics! Have a nice day! love...love...love!

Shawarma Rice from Babba

Me and my dear brother Joshua shared the same interests when it comes to food, that's why having food trips together is one of our favorite bonding moments. 

Recently, we tried this Shawarma Rice from Babba Shawarma-- an original Turkish Roast Beef stall located at SM Food Stalls near the supermarket. Shawarma Rice is very affordable, for only 55php you can enjoy the distinct taste of Middle-Eastern roast beef and Shawarma sauce with chopped onions, tomatoes, and cucumber on top of special rice as a replacement for their pita bread. An 8oz. soft drinks is also included on their 55php meal. 

Shawarma Rice is an all in one meal. I highly recommend this meal for people looking for a full meal but on a tight budget. You may also try their Shawarma wrapped up sandwich with two different sizes-- the small (40php) and the big one (50php). They also have two different sauces-- the original and spicy sauce, but you can also combine the two sauces if you want.

Joshua and I enjoyed our Shawarma Rice experience, for sure we'll make time to try this awesome food once again.

So, Foodaholics! what are you waiting for? Grab your Shawarma Rice now! *_*

Kare-Kare ala Jadie

Good Day Foodaholics! Last Friday (Sept. 2, 2011), I posted to my Facebook account that I'll be cooking Kare-Kare for our dinner. At first, I'm quite hesitant because it is my first time to cook this dish and my aunt and uncle will be joining us for dinner. But then I realized, why should i be?... cooking is a learning process and I need to trust my culinary ability. So, at exactly five o'clock in the afternoon I started cooking and today I'm already set to share the outcome of my first ever Kare-Kare dish. Hope you'll like it. 

Kare-Kare, a dish of tripe, oxtail, or pork leg mixed with fresh vegetables cooked in peanut sauce, is one of the most festive Filipino dishes. It is best served with native shrimp paste- "bagoong" (a.k.a. "alamang" in Lipa, Batangas).

There are two ways to cook this dish--the traditional way and the instant way using Kare-Kare mix which is now readily available in the supermarkets.

Now Here's the traditional way:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kilo beef and oxtail, or pork leg (on my dish i used pork leg)
• 3 cups of peanut butter
• 1/4 cup grounded toasted rice
• 1/2 cup cooked bagoong alamang (shrimp paste)
• 2 pieces onions, diced
• 2 heads of garlic, minced
• 4 tablespoons atsuete oil
• 4 pieces eggplant, sliced cut diagonally, 1" thick
• 1 bundle Pechay (Bok choy) 
• 1 bundle of sitaw (string beans) cut to 2″ long
• 1 banana bud,  blanch in boiling water
• 1/2 cup oil
• 8-10 cups of water
• Salt to taste

Cooking Instructions:

• In a stock pot, boil pork legs in water for an hour or until cooked and tender. Strain and keep the stock.
• In a big pan or wok, heat oil and atsuete oil.
• Sauté garlic, onions until golden brown, then add the stock, toasted rice, pork legs and peanut butter. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Salt to taste.
• Add the eggplant, string beans, okra, pechay and banana bud. Cook the vegetables for a few minutes – Do not overcook the vegetables.
• Serve with bagoong/alamang on the side.

Here's the instant way:

• 1/2 kilo beef and oxtail, or pork leg
• 8-10 cups water
• 1 pack Kare-Kare mix
• banana bud, sliced crosswise
• 2 eggplant, sliced diagonally
• 1 bundle sitaw/string beans 
  
  

Cooking Instructions:

• Boil meat until tender.
• Stir in Kare-Kare mix.
• Add in fresh vegetables and cook in medium heat.
•    Simmer until sauce thickens. Serve hot with shrimp paste. 
  
  
  After more than an hour preparing my Kare-Kare, my aunt and my uncle arrived, so I set up the table immediately. While we were about to eat I feel like I'm on a cooking challenge and my family are the judges-- a little bit nervous then. Finally, the verdict came...
  
  
  Papa: Hmm, amoy Kare-kare nga!
  Tita Lena: Pasado! masarap... Salamat sa dinner.
  Tito Lary: Pwede ka na mag-asawa!
  
  
  --Oh! they liked it... I'm quite relieved. We all enjoyed eating... what a happy night!