LP 5: Noche Buena in Singapore

Though Christmas is just an ordinary holiday here in Singapore, we were able to make it a grand celebration in our own home for the past many years. Not only because we were so excited to celebrate it as an independent family unit, but also because we were able to understand among ourselves the meaning and importance of each other as made stronger by the relevance of the birthday of Jesus. Though of course, the thoughts of all the laughter and merriment and the joys being with relatives during Christmas made us a little bit sad, the fact that we were together as a family made us so thankful.

Having a happy family celebrating Christmas every time, I was inspired and wrote Singapore Christmas Story. In it, I was able to tell that we Filipinos celebrate Christmas with a table full of food.

Our Christmas celebration last year was so wonderful for us a family. But when I was still basking on the merriment brought by the celebration and ate a lot the next morning, I felt guilty the next moment. The time I was eating with much gusto, the Asian tsunami devastated homes and killed lives. How would you feel when every minute the number of dead people escalated into thousands?

With the memory of last year’s calamity, I told myself that I would minimize the materialistic celebration of Christmas. And maybe, it was just a coincidence, but on Christmas Eve, I really felt that there were a lot of angels around. It was really a different christmas

So for our Noche Buena, I prepared simple dishes. Just enough. For the Filipino in us. For the angels .And for Jesus. To honour Him with food we prepared together as a family.

menudo, as cooked by my husband

kare kare, as cooked by yours truly

pasta as cooked by my second daughter

potato salad as cooked by my youngest daughter

That heavenly taste

I really like chicken in whatever way it is cooked. Though my favourite is fried, I enjoyed eating Kenny Roger's Chicken which is roasted. Come to think of it, it has cheese macaroni and sweet corn with baby carrots or you can have a choice of fruit salad and rice or any other combination, you'll really be able to consume all with much gusto. After that your next meal will be the next day's dinner. And surely, you'll be tempted to order the same dish again. But on second thought, I rather explore other restaurants. Variety is one of the the answer to life's never ending problems. Same as variety in food preparation style is the answer to our never ending search for that heavenly taste.

LP 4.5: Puto Bungbong

I am so happy visiting Jeff's site for he's posting photos of things he sees while on vacation in Manila. One of those is this photo of the puto bungbong.

As you all know, puto bungbong is a Filipino delicacy associated with Christmas. During early dawn of the Christmas season in the Philippines, foods are abound in the streets. For after the morning mass called "Simbang Gabi", (note: during my childhood days, the simbang gabi were celebrated in the evenings) people who attend mass are welcome outside the church with an array of food to eat that are all affordable.

My favourite then was the puto bungbong. Not only that I liked its colour of purple for it was made from purple yam, the shredded coconut with white sugar or at times white sugary sauce tasted heaven on my mouth. A real yummy!

With Jeff's photo of the puto bungbong, I feel I am in the Philippines eating it with a happy and contented heart. And with a vision of a purple mouth, who can beat the feeling I am having right now?

NO TO PLAGIARISM. I believe on that. We should give credit where credit is due. And so I would like to thank Jeff for giving me the go signal to use his photo of the puto bungbong.

LasangPinoy4.5

Japanese Food

I am not really a fan of Japanese food. Though my youngest daughter is very fond of it, I am reluctant to eat those food she brings everytime she can. But then, when I tried eating these food, my perception changed. Japanese food is delicious.

Getting Ready For The Holidays

Now that Christmas is approaching, my book Complete Guide to Food and Cooking will be a great help for me in preparing our Noche Buena and Media Noche.

Me and my daughters are already discussing on what to prepare, on what ingredients to buy and what dishes to cook. We eve came to a point wherein we were weighing on whether to travel to a neighbouring country and spend the holiday there. But then, our being Filipino became more dominant among us. We decided to spend the holiday at home for isn't it nice to cook and eat food at home together?

So, I am already browsing this book of mine.

And last Sunday, we went to NTUC for we wanted to eat fish this time. We bought 2 white snappers. I paid SGD 12.00 for these 2 white snappers.

I read the Fish Doneness Test on page 166 of the book. And of course I didthe test with my white snappers.

To test fish for proper degree of doneness, insert the fork tines into the fish. Then twist the fork gently.

PROPERLY COOKED FISH

When the fish is opaque, begins to flake easily, and comes away from the bones readily, it is properly cooked. The juices should be a milky white.

My white snappers passed the test. And ubos nga eh!!!!

Shakey's Pizza

When I was still in the Philippines I used to eat at Shakey's. For I like its pan pizza better than Pizza Hut's. Though, I could say that Pizza Hut's pizza is also okay.

Over here in Singapore, there's no Shakey's only Pizza Hut. That was why I was so happy when I visited KL for over there they have Shakey's.

Wow! I really enjoyed my pan pizza.

Nasi Lemak

Nasi Lemak Stg Sambal

Nasi Lemak Ren. Daging

These two dishes are both Nasi Lemak from Mek Kelante in KLCC food court. It was a delight eating Nasi Lemak. I ate the one with fish while my husband ate the one with beef.

I posted this Nasi lemak for Thess who wrote that she misses Nasi Lemak as she is now in Europe, Netherlands in particular.

And for those who love Nasi Lemak, these food photos are for you too!

Lasang Pinoy 4: Food for the Soul

Ginisang Patola

I still remember up to this day that night when my two older brothers asked me to join them in watching a TV show in a house on the opposite side of the road in my little barrio in that small town in Laguna. On the way home after the show my brothers asked me to run once we reached the big house for they said it was a haunted house. When we reached that haunted house, I was so scared and ran so fast. I was so shaken. For it seemed that the white ghost was running after me.

After a few months, I learnt that the big house was not really a haunted house but my grandmother’s house. It was so sad to learn that I have a grandmother whom I knew existed only on the day she died. I could not explain what I felt then. I was angry.

A few months later, after my father was elected as the municipal mayor of our town, my family shifted to the big house. The house where they said ghosts were abound. I neither never ever experienced any sightings nor ever see that white lady or the golden hen which they said laid a golden egg and gave my grandmother just enough fortune. But I was happy for I felt that my grandmother was there with me. I was sure of that.

When I became an adolescent, I realized and understood the family conflicts that happened and why I never even see my grandmother in person then. And now that I am married myself, I came to understand my parents and my grandmother the more. And why they behaved that way then.

One old lady who knew my grandmother told me once that my grandmother liked eating ginisang patola combined with dilis and hibe. That was why I was happy every time any of my mother’s relatives cooked that dish. I felt that through eating that dish, I felt a nearness to my grandmother.

And over here in Singapore, I also cook ginisang patola. It is easy for me to cook as the ingredients like the split fish and the dried prawns come handy in convenient packages.

Here’s my ginisang patola:



















Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

salt and freshly ground pepper

20 g split fish

20 g dried prawns

medium sized patola, sliced

10 g mee sua

Cooking procedure:

Heat oil in a pan and fry the split fish, then the dried prawns. Set aside. In another casserole, heat the olive oil and fry the garlic then onions until soft. Add the sliced patola and fry gently until cooked. Add a bowl of water and cook for at least 5 minutes. Then add the mee sua. Add salt and ground pepper to taste. Cover and cook until the mee sua is soft enough. Add the fried split fish and fried dried prawns and then stir. Serve hot.

lasangpinoy4

Ice Kachang & Char Siew Wanton Noodle

Ice Kachang

wanton soup

Char siew noodles

I went to Causeway Point last Saturday. After buying some food stuffs in Cold Storage, me and my husband decided to went upstairs and eat at the food court. As I was not that hungry, I just ordered this noodles. It is called Char Siew Wanton noodles. It is a common dish here in Singapore and is cheap for it costs only $3.50 per dish. And it comes with a small bowl of wanton soup.

Compared with our very own pancit bihon and pancit canton, this noodle is cooked without oil. Though I like eating noodles that give me that oily taste, this noodle is not a disappointment. It tastes really nice. And as they say, it is healthy.

I was not able to stop myself taking spoonfuls of my husband's order, the Ice Kachang. As you can see, the ice is poured with that red and green coloured syrup and with evaporated milk. It is almost the same with our own Scramble. The only difference is that there are red beans, grass jelly and whole kernel corn inside. So it can be the same with our halo halo too. Only, our halo halo is more special as it has more fruit ingredients and has ice cream topping.

Lopez, A Malay Delicacy

Yes folks! This is called lopez and it is a Malay delicacy.

With this, I can't stop myself from camparing it with our very own suman na malagkit as they are almost the same. It is also made from glutinous rice though it is not wrapped in banana leaf and as you can see it is triangle in shape while ours is smaller and is mostly rectangle in shape.

When we were in Laguna, we usually dip the suman in a mixture of white sugar and shredded coconuts. Here in Singapore we eat lopez which is rolled in shredded coconuts and then the brown sugary sauce is poured in it. So yummy!

Ahh, I ate a lot of lopez today!! Why so? Yesterday was a public holiday in Singapore as it was Hari Raya Aidilfitri. And as they said that if Deepavali is for the Indians and Christmas is for us Filipinos and Christians everywhere, then Hari Raya Aidilfitri is for the Malays.

Isn't it nice that through food we learn from other cultures too?

Singapore Food

This coming early Decemeber, my centre will visit the elderly home. I am preparing one item for my children to perform. My children with their chef costumes will sing Food, a rhyme from Rhyming Round Singapore book written by Kathleen Chia and Linda Gan. I just titled it Singapore Food.

The rhyme tells the different food here in Singapore: Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian Cuisine. Here's the rhyme:

Hot dog, french fries
Hot dog, french fries
Onion rings, onion rings
Chocolate ice cream sundae
Chocolate ice cream sundae
large milk shake
Large milk shake.

Roti prata
Roti prata
Chicken rice too.
Rojak or mee rebus
Rojak or mee rebus
Wan tan soup
Wan tan soup.

(Sing to the tune of "I hear thunder")

Rojak
*uploaded from Google Images

Can you guess to what race Rojak belongs?

Lasang Pinoy 3: Buko Pie & Fish Balls

I could not access my site yet where I used to post my entries and where friends know where to find me.

This food blog of mine was born out of my feeling for that blogger who commented on my site that I decided to hibernate for a while. But then I really would like to continue posting on this site of mine though I haven't made this site public.

Since I could not access my previous site yet for reasons I really don't know, I am posting my entry for LP3 here.

The theme for LP3 is about street foods.

With food, I always remember my birthplace, Laguna. Where coconut trees are abound and is known for its scenery, craftmanship and hospitable people.


And of course my province is well known for its buko pie.


During my college days, whenever we would be going home, I always prayed then that my brother would take the route to the Laguna Expressway rather than the route to Antipolo, so we could stop in Los Banos or Calamba, Laguna to buy boxes of buko pie. Though it took more hours for us to take the Laguna route going to my small town, it was okay for me for all the travel pains were gone from the smell and of course taste of my buko pie.

I am not sure if buko pie is considered a street food since we can buy that from stores along the highway. My concept of a street food is something peddled in the street. If that is so, then one of my favourite is the fishball.


When I got married and bought a house in a place in Rizal, street foods became so prominent on my sight that I also became a "suki", meaning a regular customer. How my daughters loved those fishballs with a choice of different sauces. My daughters loved the sweet tasting sauce while I always asked for the sweet and sour one.

Luckily, my daughters and me can still eat fishballs whenever we wish for there are a lot of fishball brands here in Singapore. What we missed a lot are those sauces. Everytime I make one, the taste could not match the excellent sauce we tasted there in Rizal.

So for our next vacation, humanda kayo buko pie and fish balls with those sauces!!!!

*all photos uploaded from Google (Images)

Ginataang Kalabasa

Our theme last week was about vegetable and so I wrote a lesson plan about pumpkin. I brought to school the pumpkin I bought and showed it to the children together with the seeds. The children of course were so amazed of the real pumpkin and the pumpkin seeds and then promised me that they would ask their Mums to buy and cook one for they would like to eat pumpkin.

After my lesson, I brought home my pumpkin. Why so? Because it was really my intention to have two birds in one shot. I was able to show my children the real pumpkin and at the same time, I would be able to cook the Filipino dish we call Ginataang Kalabasa.

Of course I bought the red chillis .


And the powdered coconut milk.


How I cooked it? Basta, I sauted the onion and the finely sliced young ginger followed by minced pork. After a while, I cooked with it the sliced kalabasa. Then I pour the coconut milk and then the chillis. Wow!!! Sarap ng luto ko!

And here's the final product. My ginataang kalabasa. Tingin pa lang masarap na di ba?

Applebees and Ruby Tuesday

at Applebees in Williamsburg


at Ruby Tuesday


Ruby Tuesday's fried chicken

If you find these food nice, you can visit Applebees and Ruby Tuesday in Williamsburg. Why I put these two restaurants together? Well, the food are almost the same.

Since I am really fond of chicken, I tried the fried chicken and the sweet and sour ones. For me, fried chicken will always be the best.

Cheddar's Cafe

Cheddar's Cafe is an all American restaurant in Newport News Virginia. It is one of our favourite place to dine. We like their Onion Rings very much. And everytime we go there we see to it to have that Onion Rings in our list. Their Onion Rings is the best I've ever tasted so far.



The place is just fine with enough parking space for customers.



I like that potato. So yummy. Though I forgot how they call it.



My eldest oredered this salad. The first time we ordered this, ubos lahat!



This chocolate cake is something! I asked for 4 spoons.
Dapat lang siyang ubusin!

I highly recommend Cheddar's Cafe.Not only for the food but for the place itself.

Road Trip Snacks

With my new web site I for sure will be going on different trips to visit blogs about food. I will then be going on road trips for food.

Ahh, I remember that road trip we had. We all prepared everything but forgot about the food we would be bringing. My daughter said that we would be stopping over to eat in restaurants that we would pass by. Magastos talaga!!!

We just only turned the road, but all of us were hungry already. Luckily, there was a drive-in named Sonic.

The snacks at Sonic were just OK especially if you're hungry already. We usually order there whenever we go to Target or WalMart as it was convenient for us what with 3 toddlers with us.







Though I could say that snack foods are not healthy, it is really tempting to eat such food at drive-in. And convenient pa!

My Food Blog

This is my new blog site where I will be posting about food. And of course I will be joining the Lasang Pinoy3. It was "unfortunate" that I was not able to join the second blogging event due to personal reasons. The truth was that I already have the ideas running on my mind then. I knew what I wanted to write. Unluckily, I was not able to post it. But this time I will be doing so. I have this food blog site now. Yehey!!!

So dear folks, I hope I am still welcome to join you.