Hot Pot at Choi Garden Restaurant

It was raining non-stop last Friday when Deb texted me if I wanted to have lunch with her. She wanted to eat hot pot so I suggested Choi Garden restaurant. Yes Choi again. Choi Garden is THE all in one Chinese restaurant that serves dimsum all day, ala carte, lauriat and hot pot.

To those who are not familiar with hot pot it’s the Chinese version of the Japanese shabu shabu. With hot pot, soup stock is used to cook your food instead of just plain water. It’s the healthy fondue.

This is a quick lesson on how to eat hot pot. Click on the menu to see all the choices you have.

Step 1. Choose your soup base. We chose the double soup in pot. One side is sate and the other side is clear soup. I like the sate soup because it adds a little kick to the flavor of whatever your cooking.


Hot Pot menu
(click to enlarge)

Step 2. Choose your meat, poultry, seafood, meatballs, fish/squid/lobster balls, wanton or dumplings, vegetables and noodles. The choices are endless. Click the picture below to see what we chose. Everything we ordered was good but you HAVE to order the house fish curd. More on that later.


food for two!?!
(click to enlarge)


sliced imported fat beef

Step 3. Make your sauce. Do you want it spicy hot? garlicky? Choose the ingredients you want. My favorite is the barbecue sauce which is grainy and not spicy. It’s not sweet like American barbecue sauce. It’s just plain good.

(click to enlarge)

This is how the Chinese style barbecue sauce looks like in the supermarket. I suggest you buy yourself a can and enjoy this sauce at home. You can use it on grilled meats, dumplings, wanton, siomai and much, much more .

Bull Dog Barbecue sauce


Deb’s sauce ingredients

You dip all your meat, fish balls, etc in the sauce before eating.

top it off with the soy based sauce

Step 4. Carefully put in the raw food into the soup. Wait for the soup to boil. When the balls, dumplings and wanton float to the top that means it’s cooked. For the beef just dunk it in the soup for a few seconds until the color changes. Be careful not to overcook it. Their beef is melt in your mouth tender.

The fish curd is only available at Choi. It’s my favorite. It tastes something in between soft fish ball and bean curd. Thus the name fish curd. You have to try it. It’s also available in their menu as fish curd stew. Check it out here.

fish curd


Deb is “steaming w/ happiness”


filled with all our food

Step 5. Use the slotted spoon and scoop out your food from the boiling soup. Put it all in your bowl. Take a deep breath, smile and eat!
After cooking all that food the remaining soup will be very, very flavorful and concentrated. So don’t forget to drink the soup. There is nothing better to eat during a wet, chilly day than hot pot.

Choi Garden Seafood and Shark’s Fin Restaurant
12 Annapolis St.
cor. Purdue St.
San Juan, Metro Manila
telephone: 727-6042

Dinelli Gourmet

I just discovered a new deli, restaurant and wine cellar in Makati’s Bonifacio Global City or what I still call The Fort. Dinelli Gourmet is not new. They opened their first branch in Timog, Quezon City last year. But since I hardly go to that area I never knew of Dinelli’s existence until they opened this branch in Makati.

It’s a treasure trove of Australian products. Since I got back recently from Western Australia I was excited to see all these products. The products sold at Dinelli aren’t the usual stuff you can find at Coles. Some are more high end items so not surprisingly the prices are high too.

They have a wide range of cheese, steaks, sausages and seafood.


cheese from around the world

chocolate panforte P570

These fruit paste for brie looked really interesting.

apricot & pistachio fruit paste P338


pear & hazelnut fruit paste P338



lamb, wagyu steak and fish


pate, ham and salami


sausages


durum semolina, grains & dried fruit


repacked nuts


unique spices


cookies


juice


tea


crackers & wafers


dessert pudding logs


chocolates & candies


pasta


wine


olives


olive oil


different oils &
infused olive oils


sauces

herbs & veggies


brands sold in Dinelli

This is their restaurant right beside the deli. I will write about it as soon as I’ve eaten there. The menu has a lot of interesting sandwiches, pasta and steaks with prices ranging from P200 to P2,800.

Dinelli Gourmet

Forbes Town Center,
Rizal Drive, Bonifacio Global City,
Taguig City

5 Timog Avenue, Quezon City
telephone: 666-3544; 376-6849

In search for the best Puto

Puto is steamed rice cake and it’s a very popular snack or dessert in the Philippines. You can eat it on its own or paired with savory or sweet dishes. There are many kinds of puto and these are just some the more popular ones.

This is the more traditional type of puto commonly found in places that sell pansit malabon. It’s a common thing to pair carbs with carbs in the Philippines. Puto becomes the perfect partner for pansit malabon.

This puto is very soft yet firm. It’s has just the right amount of sweetness. The cheese on top is nice and salty and provides a nice contrast in flavor.

from nanay’s pancit malabon P10

This is pansit malabon or rice noodles with shrimp gravy. My favorite is from Pansit Malabon Express. Imagine eating a rice cake with rice noodles. Way to go!

pancit malabon

Puto Calasiao is my favorite puto. It comes from Pangasinan a province not far from Manila. It’s bite-sized and made from semi-glutinous rice that is fermented in earthen jars. The texture is a bit sticky and chewy. It’s sold wrapped in banana leaves and stuffed in a paper bag. You can find it being sold along some sidewalks in Manila. I bought this in DEC Chinese deli.

puto calasiao P35

Try eating this puto with a dollop of Jif extra crunchy peanut butter. It’s outrageously good. Really!

puto with peanut butter

This is my second favorite puto. I bought this puto and the pancit malabon pictured above from Pancit ng Taga Malabon in Greenhills. It’s the only branch that sells this puto. I later found out this puto came from Rocha’s Delicious Puto & Kutsinta. It’s a cross between puto and kutsinta. It’s a bit chewy and has cheese on top. Once you try this you can’t stop yourself from eating piece after piece until it’s all gone.


P100 a pack

Don’t forget putong ube which I wrote about before.

This is kutsinta, a brown rice cake. What makes is different from puto is the addition of lye water. The texture and taste is totally different from puto. It’s very smooth and gelatinous. It’s usually eaten with grated coconut. I bought this kutsinta from a stall in Unimart.

Nanay’s Pancit Malabon
37 Gov. Pascual Ave, Concepcion, Malabon
telephone: 281-0449

Pancit Ng Taga Malabon
(behind Automatic Center)
Greenhills Shopping Center
telephone: 724-4980

DEC – Diao Eng Chay Chinese Deli
203 Wilson St., Greenhills
telephone:721-1105

Rocha’s Delicious Puto & Kutsinta
595 E. Mendoza St. Paliparan Subd.,
Sto. Nino, Marikina City
telephone: 941-1519

Michael Jackson’s unreleased song – A Place With No Name

The song — “A Place with No Name” — sounds similar to the song “A Horse with No Name” released by the group America back in 1971. We’re told several years ago America’s manager gave his group’s permission for Jackson to record the song, “A Place with No Name” — despite the similarity.

America’s current manager, Jim Morey, who was also Michael’s manager in the late 80’s and early 90’s, tells us, “The band was honored that Michael chose to do their song and they hope it becomes available for all Michael’s fans to hear.”

It’s unclear when Michael recorded the song.

from TMZ

Canelés from Heat at Edsa Shangri-La

We had lunch today at Heat the international coffee shop of Edsa Shangri-la hotel. I wasn’t feeling well so I didn’t eat much. I did eat a little roast beef and Yorkshire pudding which were excellent. Shockingly I didn’t even finish the little brownie and opera cake I got for dessert.

I saw this dark brown cake beside the churros and asked the chef what it was. She said it was a canelé. It didn’t look appetizing to me so I didn’t bother getting one. It’s a good thing my friend Elizabeth got one and made me try it. Wow it was so good! It was totally different from anything I’ve ever eaten. The texture reminded me of a rich, dense and moist bread pudding. It’s a good thing Sarah had her ever ready ziplock and I was able to bring a couple home to shoot first then definitely eat later.


Canelé

I did some research on the net and found out that canelé (or cannelés Bordelais) is a French pastry with a soft custard center and a dark caramelized crust. It originated from the Bordeaux region of France. It’s made from a crepe like batter and baked in special copper molds.

This is what it looks inside. I’ve never seen this in any bakeshop or buffet in Manila except at Heat. So if ever you eat at Heat be sure to try this delicious sweet cake.

You can find the a step-by-step illustrated recipe at fxcuisine.

Here’s another recipe from Chocolate and Zucchini:

Canelés
1/2 liter (2 cups) milk
30 g (3 tablespoons) salted butter, diced
1 vanilla pod, split, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
100 g (3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
180 g (1 cup minus 2 tablespoons) sugar
3 eggs80 ml (1/3 cup) good-quality rum

Combine the milk, butter and vanilla in a medium saucepan, and bring to a simmer. In the meantime, combine the flour and sugar in a medium mixing-bowl. Break the eggs in another, smaller bowl, and beat gently. When the milk mixture starts to simmer, remove from heat, fish out the vanilla pod if using, and set it aside.

Pour the eggs all at once into the flour mixture (don’t stir yet), pour in the milk mixture, and whisk until well combined and a little frothy. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod with the dull side of a knife blade, and return the seeds and pod to the mixture. Add the rum and whisk well. Let cool to room temperature on the counter, then cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours and up to 3 days.

The next day (or the day after that, or the day after that), preheat the oven to 250° C (480° F). Butter the canelé molds if they are made of copper (unnecessary if you’re using silicon molds). Remove the batter from the fridge: it will have separated a bit, so whisk until well blended again. Pour into the prepared molds, filling them almost to the top. Put into the oven to bake for 20 minutes, then (without opening the oven door) lower the heat to 200° C (400° F) and bake for another 40 to 60 minutes (depending on your oven and how you like your canelés). The canelés are ready when the bottoms are a very dark brown, but not burnt. If you feel they are darkening too fast, cover the molds with a piece of parchment paper.

Unmold onto a cooling rack (wait for about ten minutes first if you’re using silicon molds or they will collapse a little) and let cool completely before eating. Yields about 20 medium canelés.

Heat
Edsa Shangri-La Hotel
Lobby Level
1 Garden Way, Ortigas Center
Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila
telephone: 633-8888 loc 2740 or 2741

Kuroshio Sea – 2nd largest aquarium tank in the world

There is such incredible life in our oceans….we must protect them!

Kuroshio Sea – 2nd largest aquarium tank in the world from Jon Rawlinson on Vimeo.

(Give this some time to load before watching…otherwise you won’t have smooth playback)

This is just one shot.
It was shot at the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in Japan.

The main tank called the ‘Kuroshio Sea’ holds 7,500-cubic meters (1,981,290 gallons) of water and features the world’s second largest acrylic glass panel, measuring 8.2 meters by 22.5 meters with a thickness of 60 centimeters. Whale sharks and manta rays are kept amongst many other fish species in the main tank.

This was shot using a Canon 5DMKII with a 28-135mm lens.

Oishi Sponge, Plunge and Pillows

These products from Oishi aren’t exactly new but they just came out in party size packs with resealable zip lock. I immediately bought all variants since I only sell big sized snacks in my store, Small Office Solutions. The day I started selling these products they literally flew off my shelves. The bestseller is Oishi Sponge Crunch.

How do I describe Oishi Sponge? Think of a cluster of rice crispies soaked in cheese sauce or a chocolate bath but still crunchy. It’s wet but crunchy. I know that doesn’t make sense but that’s what makes this product amazing and quite mind boggling. When you soak a crunchy biscotti in coffee it immediately becomes soggy. But with Oishi Sponge you can feel and taste the moistness yet it remains crunchy.

Both flavors are very good except I wish the cheese flavor would loose it’s sweetness. It’s a Filipino thing wherein all cheese flavored snacks are a bit sweet. I like my cheese snacks salty like Cheetos.


Oishi Sponge in cheese & chocolate flavors

The second bestseller is Oishi Choco Plunge which are simply chocolate covered cornflakes. Sounds ordinary but these are my downfall. The first time I opened a bag I kept munching and didn’t even notice I finished the whole bag.


Oishi Choco Plunge

Oishi Pillows are similar to Chex cereal but they have chocolate filling inside. They also come in cheese, ube and peanut butter (my favorite) flavors. But only the chocolate comes in party size. These have been around the longest so it didn’t cause much excitement in my store.

Oishi Pillows

This is how I display it in my store. I also have it on the shelves but I can’t keep up with the demand so I have to display them on the counter too. I don’t know why Oishi bothers to put a resealable zip lock on their packaging since the contents never last long anyway. I dare anyone to open a pack and not finish the whole bag in one sitting.

Check your local supermarkets for availability.

Drifters of the Deep

The most amazing creatures nature has ever created, drifting in our oceans. From the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Shot with a Canon HV20 in PF24/Cinemode. Pulldown removed with Cineform NeoHD. Edited with Vegas Pro 8, graded with Magic Bullet. Music and video are licensed separately under the Creative Commons “BY” 3.0 license.

Drifters of the deep from Eugenia Loli-Queru on Vimeo.