One of the first cuisines I got introduced to was JAPANESE. It would be such a treat if we could eat in a jap resto when I was younger. I have always loved Japanese food -- it would probably be one of the first exotic cuisines I got to taste. Exotic in the sense that it wasnt normal fare at home. As a kid my favorite would always be miso soup and Ebi Tempura. No fail, that was my go-to order when we would have Family dinners at Okasan (a restaurant along Madrigal Avenue, Alabang). But as I got older, I've begun experimenting on other dishes and have grown to love sushi, teriyaki, ramen and Katsudon. Which bring us to the topic of this blog post. One afternoon, I was craving for Japanese food and Katsudon came to mind. I thought to myself, why not try to make it from scratch? How hard could it be? (I was also going through a DIY phase where I wanted to handcraft, handmake, hand whatever everything!). Again, the internet proved to be a vast resource and I was able to pluck a relatively simple recipe. The next item was to source the ingredients. Friends of mine recently opened an Oriental Grocery here in L.A. (Legazpi, Albay) and had in stock things I would need. If you want to make this -- or other oriental recipes check out DyLeeShious along Rizal Avenue. It's a play on all their last names which is why it's spelled that way, nevertheless food there IS delicious so check it out. To cut the suspense, here is the recipe and a few of my tips: Ingredients:
The rest of the recipe goes like this:
It's a fairly simple recipe and it only took me 30 minutes tops to make! No kidding! This could be in the running for Jamie Oliver's meals. And the hubby loved it so that's a plus. Of course, the finish product didnt have the plating skills of Master Chef contestants but what maters is the taste -- which my number one critic (the hubby) said was AWESOME! If I can make this, so can you. So try it at home. Serve with chopsticks too if you want it to really be authentic. I've got photos below of what my FIRST TRY looked like. haha Maybe with a little practice it would look more presentable.
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It is now 2016 and I cant quite wrap my head around the fact that 2015 is over. There were quite a few downs in the past year but they were totally eclipsed by highs the year had to offer. Here are my highlights: 1. Travel One of my greatest luxuries is to travel and 2015 sure did tick off a lot of places in my bucket list. I was lucky enough to visit 6 countries throughout the year and experience cultures that were alien but interesting at the same time. Because of JCI, I attended my first ever Asia Pacific Conference in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. The Philippines was a pretty big contingent that bagged a couple of awards like Best New Local Organization. Too bad however my bid didnt win -- but I am quite pleased that it was a finalist in my category. There is always next time. Added to this, Mart and I got to explore the gorgeous landscape by sea and steam train! Food too was awesome especially in the local driver pit-stops where it's cheap but damn good. Added to that we did a repeat of 2014's epic Northern Luzon road trip but this time in reverse. Our drive started from Manila then we took the west-side route and landed in Vigan for an overnight stay. The following morning we proceeded with the trip passing through Paoay, Laoag, Pagudpod before finally reaching our destination, Lal-lo, Cagayan, at 10pm. 2. Cook This year I really got to cook-- honing not just my Baking Skills. Highlights of the year would definitely be my Bun-Cha a souvenir of the family trip to Vietnam, The Monster Sandwich I prepared for H, Bacalao using a family recipe. The winners on the baking front are of course my Fudgy Brownies and making my first bread -- Cinnamon Rolls that H has touted the best he has ever tasted. Of course that could just be an extremely biased opinion. 3. Calligraphy Yes my hobby started in 2014 has definitely grown. The past year became a host of firsts regarding this topic. - Made my own DIY Traveller's Notebook from real leather and sold it - Organized and hosted the first calligraphy class in Albay - Dabbled in typography by attending classes by Abbey Sy, Alessa Lannot, etc. - Hoarded more craft supplies which includes more Holbein Watercolor, Peerless watercolor, Inks, nibs and of course my new baby -- the Silhouette Curio - Got my first BIG commission of 200+ escort cards for a wedding - wrote, edited and made a "logo" for my sister I am hoping that this year will yield even more growth for me in this craft. Of course I cannot end this blog post reminiscing about 2015 without giving a small portion in remembrance to my partner-in-crime and run buddy who is now in Doggie Heaven. Boston died on October 20, 2015 after being infected with erlichiya. It was painful for him but he really held on until we arrived from a trip to Manila so we could say good bye properly. I miss him terribly and would constantly hope that I'd still see him around the house but having JY -- his daughter and look alike-- around has soften the blow of losing him. Until we meet again buddy...
a really simple, less than 10 ingredient cake that is extremely delicious and moist After some pretty devastating news last week -- my four-legged partner in crime Boston died from an erlichia infection -- I decided that it was high time for a pick-me-upper. Which is why tonight was a bake day. I decided on a really simple, no-fuss recipe drawing inspiration from my Spanish roots. Thus the Torta de Santiago-- which is a Galician local dessert translated as "Cake of St. James" and served along the Camino de Santiago. The torta doesn't need much to make but is really delicious in flavor using very aromatic ingredients such as lemon zest, cinnamon and almonds. However, almonds aren't so readily available here in Legazpi and are quite expensive. Which is why I decided to substitute this with the indigenous and equally famous nut -- the pili. INGREDIENTS: 250g blanched almonds (I used roasted pili instead) melted butter to grease pan 1 lemon rind grated finely 1/4 tsp cinnamon 6 eggs 1 c granulated sugar Icing sugar to dust Directions:
Because I used roasted pili my torta is dark brown in color when the original is quite light. But in taste they are identical! The cake's texture is quite moist and light. Hubby says this is actually a very healthy cake utilizing ingredients that are high in protein but low in cholesterol. There isn't actually that much sugar in it as well. So give in to your not-so-guilty pleasure and bake this simple cake! I must warn you the recipe I will write below will blow your minds and belt buckles I have always loved brownies -- they're like bite size pieces of chocolate heaven. They're relatively easy to make with only a few ingredients that will satisfy any uber-hungy chocobrownie deamon you have in your tummy (or in my case: home). You can make them different in many ways -- add nuts, caramel sauce, ganache, etc -- but the base remains the same: proportionate quantities of chocolate, butter, sugar, eggs and flour. I've recently found out that the secret to extremely gooey brownies is to under-bake them. Yes you heard me right, take them out earlier than expected from the oven. This leaves the outer layers crisp but the inside remains soft and moist. PERFECT COMBINATION, I say! So without further adieu here is my recipe for the month of June: SUPER GOOEY FUDGY MUSHY CENTER BROWNIES:
Dont ever underestimate the power of a good sandwich. I have always loved a good sandwich, making one is SIMPLE EASY and very DELICIOUS. Especially if you have the right ingredients to create a winner combination. This is why for May, given my very hectic schedule studying for a board exam and submitting bids the recipe I chose is the perfect sandwich...something I'd like to call the MONSTER SANDWICH. With Martin's current obsession with smoking meat and fish, our ref is full of his little backyard creations. One that I really highlighted for this recipe is his home-smoked bacon. Upon frying on a cast iron pan the smoky flavor and spice rub really makes this humble piece of meat shine! There is no perfect way to make a perfect sandwich. Sandwiches are highly personalized creations because it is based on your tastes and hungers. For this particular sand-wish I raded the ref for all the good stuff I'd think would go with the bacon. I came up with the ff:
Now to assemble the MONSTER SANDWICH is all about layering. This is how I did it:
Truth be told it was one hard sanwich to eat because it was so tall! But my target audience - aka my husband- loved it!! Since I had extra vegetables I decided to create a small side-salad. (Also because I wanted the dish to somewhat still be healthy despite the heart attack nature of the ingredients!) It tasted so good that I had orders for the MONSTER SANDWICH from my mom the next day. So yes the perfect sandwich-- based on my opinion. Why not try making your own perfect sandwich? Be creative, go crazy and most of all enjoy your gastronomic works of art! |
Who is sab_adventures?I have always wanted to write. This will now be a creative outlet-- home to all my arts and crafts. So feel free to browse around my everyday adventures. Interests
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November 2016
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