Balikbayan Filipino Street Food at Centris Weekend Market

05/12/201505/11/2015 | Doyd

2014 was the year I feasted my eyes with local Filipino food at the Centris Weekend Market in Quezon City, Manila. This is a place where my sister would go every early Sunday morning to get her produce and ready-cooked Filipino food for a simple weekend treat.

It was a super humid day but I forgot about my sweaty nape and back, just by staring at all the local delicacies and fresh Filipino vegetable varieties.

Without a doubt, I had to have my Taho (soybean pudding with brown sugar syrup and sago pearls), my cheese and ube (yam) flavored Sorbetes (local Pinoy “dirty” street ice cream — it’s NOT dirty, it’s just the way Filipinos got used to calling it), my coffee Barako (fresh local Batangas coffee) and my Lumpiang Sariwa/Ubod (Vegetable egg rolls from the heart of Banana palms wrapped in crepe, served with sweet sauce infused with fresh minced garlic and ground roasted peanuts).

This is a must-see, a must-visit and a must-experience place to go to for all the Balikbayans going to Quezon City.

Mamang Sorbetero. Order your ice cream on a cup, a cake cone or a bun!! Yes, a BUN!

Wild Pig and Deer Tapas (Dried or Cured Meat)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar-apple — Sugar-Apple or Atis in Filipino… Childhood memories eating this for snack.

Ready to eat deep fried snack varieties (Fish, Pork belly, Ukoy, etc)

Heart-attack in a tray (Deep fried Pork skin and fat)

My favorite Filipino Pork Barbecue in a Stick!! A must eat for everyone.

Fried here, fried there, fried everywhere!!! Time to eat! Great with Spicy vinegar dipping sauce.

Ma, it’s our Day!

05/11/201505/11/2015 | Doyd

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rII9JQ7KjUY

Life is always celebrated by get togethers, banquets, and laughter but when our most beloved Mom is not around anymore to be appreciated and loved on Mother’s Day, there’s emptiness somewhere unexplainable. Looking back, I have so much to thank my Mom for, and the two most important things are for my life and for the unconditional and unending love she gave me. I miss you on this very special day.

Ma and Me circa 1975, Katipunan Metro Manila Philippines

Why the late post? It’s because I too celebrated Mother’s Day. I thank my children and my husband for making my life complete. My two most precious girls have brought so much happiness, laughter and love into my life. Because of my girls, I have learned about my strengths that I never knew I had. Now that I’m a Mom, I understand… Now that I am a Mom, I just want to thank back my Mom for everything.

Portrait of my Mom by Jade Art Masters Class

Ten things I know about my Mom From my Jade for Mother’s Day 2015

Song for Mommy: “Mama”

I used to not like singing this to my Mom because of the sad words in the song but she loved it a lot everytime I sang it to her. I won my first singing medal when I was in 3rd Grade singing this song by Lea Salonga.

Mama, I miss the days when you were here beside me
Mama, those happy days when you were here to guide me
Safe in the flow of your love
Sent from the heavens above
No one can ever replace
The warmth of your tender embrace

[Chorus]
Oh, mama
Until the days that we`re together once more
I live in this memory
Until the days that we`re together once more

Safe in the flow of your love
Sent from the heavens above
No one can ever replace
The warmth of your tender embrace

[Chorus]

Oh, mama
Once more…

Filipino Chicken Arroz Caldo (Porridge)

05/04/2015 | Doyd

When the family craves for something comforting, another recipe that comes in mind is porridge. I cook chinese, korean and vietnamese porridge but today, it was a day for my childhood porridge called Chicken Arroz Caldo.

My Mom is not a good cook but when I see or crave for arroz caldo, I always remember her. Now that I cook a lot, I just realized Mommy does not prepare our Arroz Caldo the right way so we always end up eating super dense and sticky porridge, sometimes burnt on the pot but as always, it was heaven for us kids.

Here’s how I made mine:

1/2 Organic Chicken, including liver, heart, gizzard and neck

3/4 cup short grain white rice

Sliced ginger

Chopped Onions

Minced Garlic

Fried Garlic

Safflower (Kasubha)

Salt, Pepper, Fish Sauce for seasoning

Chopped scallions for garnishing

Hard Boiled Eggs

Sliced Lemons

Boil chicken with 1 Tbsp. salt and a whole onion. Make sure to skim the stock every now and then to keep it clear from scum. Cook for 30-40 minutes on medium low heat. Set aside when done.

On a different soup pan, heat oil then start stir frying the ginger, garlic, onions. Add the rice and cook for a few minutes. Pour 3 cups chicken stock then let it simmer in medium low heat until rice is half done.

Add the chicken (roughly chopped or hand-shredded), season with salt, pepper, fish sauce to taste then add the safflower to add a vibrant shade of yellow to the porridge. Add 4-5 cups more chicken stock and continue to cook until porridge is rich and glutinous enough to eat.

To serve, top with hard boiled egg, scallions, fried garlic and squeeze some lemon juice before eating.

Indulge! Easy, healthy and comforting.

“Ma, I miss your Arroz Caldo.”

Phở Gà (Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup) using my homegrown Bean Sprouts

Image | 04/23/201504/23/2015 | Doyd

The best part of growing your own sprouts is the day you harvest. There are a number of family favorite recipes where I can use my bean sprout harvest but I decided to make hubby’s favorite comfort soup, Chicken Phở.

Since we used our own harvested bean sprouts (grown in my Le Creuset Stock pot) and fresh basil from my garden, our children craved and dug into the pile of their choice toppings to fill their chicken noodle soup bowls. Phở is one of the most vibrant, comforting and delicate flavors I’ve ever tasted. I got hooked with this soup because of the many fresh ingredients mixed all together. I learned my recipe from reading Vietnamese cook books, asking around Vietnamese friends and following Helen and learning her easy Phở recipe online. Here it is:

Wash a whole chicken (I only use organic chicken when making soup) very well. Rub it with salt to remove the smell then rinse completely. Add chicken into a big pot and fill it with water until water is covering chicken itself. Add 1 tbsp. of salt and 1 medium whole peeled onion. Bring to boil and carefully and consistently skim off the foam. When all the foam are gone, continue simmering until chicken is tender, around 30-45 minutes depending on the size of your chicken.

I purchase a Phở packet from our local Vietnamese market and I added it to the stock 10 minutes before the soup is done. This gives the soup the authentic Phở aroma.

When chicken is cooked, remove from stock, wash and cool down. Slice the chicken meat depending on the size you like or shred it into chunks.

On a large serving bowl, place a handful of blanched Vietnamese Phở Noodles (I buy the “802 Brand Rice Sticks at 99 Ranch Market). Top with chicken, sliced lime leaves, chopped green onions, thinly sliced onions (soaked in cold water), basil and bean sprouts. Serve the hot stock onto the bowl then serve the Phở with these optional ingredients: cilantro leaves, fish sauce, hoisin sauce, and/or chili sauce.

Enjoy!!

Kids Photo Shoot

03/27/2015 | Doyd

mei

Green is her favorite color. That’s the reason why I am using green fonts for this post.

In a few days, our younger daughter is turning 4. I’ve been asking around OC Mom groups about finding a good photographer who can do a mini-session with my daughter so that I can have a photo memory of her turning 4 years old. Money is an important consideration so after contemplating on it, I realized that I was the one who took all the pictures of my eldest daughter years ago, so why not grab my cameras, bring some toys, extra cute clothes and put them in my mommy bag and start heading for the nearest park.

We spent almost 2 hours playing, running, talking, and laughing and I ended up taking 60+ shots of her and I will be keeping around 15 compositions that truly captured great memories of her.

Next plan… another photo shoot – this time with her big sister.

kids photo shoot

Cholesterol-lowing Muffins

03/20/2015 | Doyd

It’s another one of those days… Days when we realize we need to eat healthy. I miss making these. Aside from being so easy to make, it’s super filling and tasty. Here’s my Oat Bran muffins made with egg whites and soy milk, mixed with pine nuts and medjool dates (both my favorite muffin add-ins).

Cravin’ for Ramen ラーメン

03/05/201503/05/2015 | Doyd

When I went to Japan, my Japanese friend asked me what I wanted to eat. She recommended Sushi but I said I wanted ramen (Japanese noodle soup dish). She was surprised that I “only” wanted ramen. My reason was that, I can eat high grade sushi in California but I have never found an authentic Japanese ramen restaurant in the USA that makes their ramen like they do in Japan (cooking the stock for hours).

My favorite ramen flavor is Tonkotsu (pork bone broth) but ramen comes in many varieties depending on where you are eating it in Japan.

When I crave for ramen, I go to our local Mitsuwa Marketplace or Marukai and I buy fresh ingredients and make it at home. Today I made ramen using pork tenderloin meat from my freezer. Ramen is usually eaten with thin slices of pork roast with a little fat for richer flavor but my pork tenderloin version garnered thumbs-up from my family.

Cravin’ for ramen? It’s really easy to make.

Throwback Thursday 02-26-2015

02/26/2015 | Doyd

I don’t usually throwback my photos but today I am. I just realized, instead of putting photos on Facebook, I want to save this photo here.

What are they doing on the photo? My husband and our youngest daughter used to hang a piece of string (named “Wormy”, yes it has a name) on a pushpin pegged on our wall. This started when hubby was tasked to bathe our little one. She was about two years old at that time. We tried to find something that will make the bathing routine fun and easy. The key was to find something or someone that will make us look forward to bath time everyday.

We purposely took a picture one night to record this moment and show it to our daughter when she gets older.

Fun memories – parenting makes life colorful.