Shoot First Eat Later

In search for the best Apple Pie

There are days when I yearn for fruit. And my favorite fruit is the apple pie. So far the best apple pie for me is from Sugarhouse. The apple chunks are thick and crunchy unlike most apple pies that have soft mushy apples. I also like their use of grated cheese as topping for their apple pie. Cuts down on the carbs from the extra crust, right? The bottom crust is so good too it tastes like cookies. This is the only pie crust I eat. I don’t know how they keep it crisp.

Sugarhouse’s French Apple Pie
(P125 slice/P1,090 whole 9″)

cross section of the apple pie

My takeout apple pie had so little cheese. Whipped cream on the side.

Sugarhouse
Ground Flr. V-Mall
Greenhills Shopping Center
telephone: 584-9482

Bannaple‘s apple caramel crumble pie has a very pleasant burnt caramel taste. The filling is not too sweet. The apples are not as firm I as I would like but it’s not bad at all. I’m not too fond of the topping which tastes like fine breadcrumbs with cinnamon. It doesn’t do anything to the pie. I didn’t eat the bottom crust which was soft, thick and all carbs.

Banapple’s Apple Caramel Crumble Pie
(P80 slice/P590 whole)

These two pies look similar don’t they? Banapple’s pie is really darker because of the caramel. The streusel topping and crust of Sugarhouse is far superior. That’s why Sugarhouse still has the best apple pie.

I’ve tasted other apple pies like the ones from S&R -all sauce not much apples but good crust, Mary Grace -mushy apples and crust, Carla & Elaine’s -good filling, terrible mushy crust.

Do you have any suggestions? What’s your favorite apple pie in Manila?

Banapple Pies and Cheesecakes
2nd Level IL Terrazzo Mall
35 Tomas Morato cor. Scout Madriñan, QC
telephone: 413-2675

Yakiniku Sakura Restaurant

A friend invited us for lunch at Yakiniku Sakura Restaurant. Let me get straight to the point. The interiors and ambiance are a 2 (di pwede kay Erap!) but the food is a solid 8. Don’t mind the heat, awful lighting and furniture and just dig in.

kimchi and beansprouts appetizer

wakame salad

unagi don

salmon

US prime rib karubi – this is good for 3 and includes soup, rice and fruit.

you cook the beef yourself on the table grill (thus the sweating)

The marinated beef is very tender and flavorful. Just don’t overcook it. You dip the beef in a choice of sauces to which you can add raw garlic and chili paste. I guarantee you will eat a lot of rice.

Yakiniku Sakura Restaurant

1020 A Arnaiz Avenue (Pasay Road)
Makati City, Metro Manila
telephone: 844-4489

Fried Lumpia

Fried lumpia or fried spring roll is a common snack in the Philippines. There are all sorts of fillings possible for the spring roll wrapper from sweet to savory. This lumpia has a filling made of beansprouts, pork and shrimp.

I prefer using Vietnamese spring roll wrappers for fried lumpia.

Just mix together beansprouts, ground pork, shrimp, singkamas (jicama), carrots. Season with soy sauce and pepper. Parsley or Wansuy (cilantro leaves) are optional.

Soak the wrapper in water for 1 minute to make it pliable. Add some filling and roll.

Fry in hot oil. Transfer to paper towels and blot out as much oil as you can. Serve with a dip made from soy sauce, vinegar and garlic or use sweet chili sauce. Enjoy!

Fruits trees in our garden

We’re lucky to have some fruits growing in our garden. Although our house is the only one on the street without coconut trees.

calamansi tree

langka (jackfruit) tree

mango tree

click this pic to see all the mangoes

1st haul of the season

Lunch at 145° Fahrenheit

Jane or Queenjane as she’s known on this blog treated Mila and I to lunch at 145° Fahrenheit for her birthday. The name of the restaurant refers to the ideal temperature for cooking a medium rare steak or as a friend in the next table told us 145 means “I Love Steak”.

Jane

Continue reading “Lunch at 145° Fahrenheit”

X-Mini II speaker and Panasonic LX 3 Accessories

I wanted to buy a hotshoe cover (P600) for my Panasonic LX3 pictured below. I found it at SillieNation.

Panasonic LX3 with hotshoe cover

I was looking around the site and saw the X-Mini speakers. I did a little research and found great reviews for it so I ordered one too. The site’s owner, Eilis texted me that the new X-Mini II (P1,600) was arriving the next day so I ordered that instead. I didn’t know what to expect when I plugged in my Ipod Touch. I was amazed to hear a loud, clear and bass heavy sound. It was absolutely fabulous. I can’t imagine such a big, full sound coming from a tiny thing like this. I tried playing different songs from Adele’s “Chasing Pavements” to Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody”. It all sounded great even when I put it on the loudest volume. The sound can be comparable to a 3 piece pc speaker with sub-woofer even though it’s just a mono speaker.

Another thing I love about this speaker is it’s built in rechargeable battery that lasts for 11 hours. A usb cable for charging comes with it. If you have more than one of these X-Mini IIs you can connect them together with the supplied cable to create an even louder sound. I played it in our office and impressed the people there and now they want to order 5 speakers for their families.

Ordering from SillieNation is a breeze and delivery is super fast c/o Air 21. I ordered this on Thursday and got it on Friday morning.

unopened X-Mini II

opened X-Mini II

I also bought a Ricoh LC1 auto lens cap in Hong Kong for my Panasonic LX 3. It’s so convenient since I always forget to remove the lens cover before. I used my Fujifilm F100fd to take these 2 shots.

some pads to avoid vignetting

I bought a new case for my LX3 recently in Hong Kong to replace my standard leather case. I got tired of removing the screw on the bottom of the case just to access my sd card or to charge the battery.

old leather case w/ screw on the bottom

This new LX3 case is flimsier than the one above but I like it because it serves the purpose of easy access and storage when the case is in my bag. A warning though – this case is very hard to find. It sells for HK$290 in the Panasonic counter in Sogo department store in Hong Kong.

new slip-on case

Arny ♥ Dading’s Peachy Peachy

Everyone I know loves this dessert made of cassava. It’s a mainstay in potlucks and is a popular Filipino snack. A lot of stores and restaurants sell this but the best in my opinion is the one from Arny ♥ Dading’s Peachy Peachy. Finding their locations is not as easy though.

The problem is when you try to google it. First is the unique name of Arny ♥ Dading. That alone leads to several misspellings. Next is the words peachy peachy. In the Philippines it’s more commonly known as pitsi pitsi or even pitchi pitchi. Pitsi pitsi is cassava balls in English.

What makes their peachy peachy so good is that it’s firm, not so sweet and covered with cheese. The traditional pisti pisti is usually covered with grated coconut. I like cheese better. It gives a nice contrast in flavor and texture to the peachy peachy. Here’s how I eat this. Open the refrigerator, open the styro container, pinch a piece and pop it into my mouth. The cold slippery texture of sweet cassava and the bits of salty cheese blend into my mouth as I chew standing in front of the refrigerator. Next, close the door and walk away.

As much as I love their peachy peachy I’ve never been to any of their stores. I rely on the mercy of Jay to buy some for me when he can.

both the coconut and cheese versions

Arny Dadeng's peachy peachy.jpg 18-54-21-664

So for everyone looking for their branches I hope you land on my site and find this.

Arny ♥Dading’s Peachy Peachy
254 C. Arellano St. Malabon City telephone: 281-0637
4A Gov. Pascual Ave. Concepcion, Malabon telephone: 281-9758
48A Congressional Ave. Proj.8, Q.C. telephone: 454-0883
207 Katipunan Ave., Proj.4, Q.C. telephone: 433-6443
27B Kamias Road, Q.C. telephone: 496-7553
NGR Bldg. South Super highway Cor Casino St. (near Cash&Carry) Makati City telephone: 550-8079 cellphone: 0917-8323464

for more branches click here

The Century Seafood Restaurant

This is my first time to try this restaurant located on the ground floor of Century Park Hotel. This restaurant is known for big wedding receptions for the Chinese community. We were invited by the one of restaurant’s partners for a truly unforgettable lunch.

live seafood tanks

lobsters

sea mantis in plastic bottles and rock lobsters

We were all half way full after finishing this delicious clear soup filled with exotic ingredients called Buddha Jumps Over the Wall soup. It’s should be good since it costs P1,000 per bowl.

buddha jumps over the wall soup

dried abalone & mushroom in superior sauce

wagyu steak (sorry not in the menu)

century fried rice – with dried scallops, dried shrimp. best ever fried rice!

mango pudding

the sign from the entrance within the hotel

Ground Floor Century Park Hotel
Pablo Ocampo St. corner M. Adriatico St.
Malate, Manila
telephone: 524-1821 to 27

Vigan Longaniza Tortellini

I bought a pack of Vigan Longaniza at the Food Expo. Vigan Longaniza is from Ilocos, a province in the North. It’s a pork sausage that’s very garlicky and a bit sour. This brand is a good one since it’s not very fatty. I’ve bought some before that was almost all fat.

Since I had a pack of dried tortellini and some fresh shitake mushroom I decided to put together a unique Pinoy-Italian pasta dish. The recipe is not exact since I just added ingredients as I thought of it. It turned out to be good!

Vigan Longaniza Tortellini
400 – 500 g pasta of your choice
6 links of vigan longaniza (or your choice of sausage)
8 pcs. shitake mushroom, sliced
1/3 cup garlic, chopped
1/3 cup onions, chopped
olive oil
splash of red or white wine
red pepper flakes to taste
salt & pepper
worcestershire sauce

1. Cook pasta per instructions. Don’t forget to add plenty of salt to the water for boiling the pasta. Boil the longaniza links in some water until the water evaporates. Slice the longaniza to remove the meat from the skin.

2. Put the meat back into the pan. Add garlic and onions and saute until soft. Depending on how much oil is in the pan you may want to add some olive oil. Add the mushroom and cook until soft. Add a splash of wine and cook on high heat until the wine evaporates. Season with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and worcestershire sauce to taste.

3. When the pasta is cooked use a slotted spoon and transfer the pasta straight to the sauce. You can add some pasta water to the sauce. Mix well for a few seconds over heat to incorporate the water to the sauce. That’s it! Enjoy your pasta.