Kalingking na Batag

Vacationing out of town is useless if you don’t get to try or learn something new. During our most recent family vacation in Bicol where we experience “the life” from the peak of luxury to the humblest of barrio living, I happened to experience both. I tried their local delicacy and learned how to make it myself. I haven’t tried making it on my own, but I’m sure I’ll get there one of these days. 

One of the many meriendas given to us by our relative was Kalingking na Batag (it is a Bañadero, Daraga, Albay dialect, I needed to write it down because I cannot memorize it.hehe). It is similar to our maruya here in Manila but actually different. Because 1) they use only hilaw na saba (raw cardava banana) and 2) it is cut into strips (like French fries). Why hilaw, that they can’t answer exactly.

Hilaw na saging na saba, cut into strips
Flour
Sugar
Water
Oil for frying

1) Dissolve flour and sugar in the water, add saba strip.

2) Get a bunch and fry (according to my cousin, traditionally they use banana leaf to form it when frying)

3) Serve and enjoy.

My take: The tenderness of the raw saba complements to its crunchiness when fried. It also neutralizes the sweet taste. Since it uses only flour, it doesn’t over power the banana.

Tip: Start frying early and make a lot. It will surely be a hit.

The verdict: You will definitely ask for more.

Lugaw with Fried Chicken

Thoughtful as Mr. M. is, he would bring home lugaw (congee) bought from the neighboring lugawans he passed by when he bikes. The kids enjoys his pasalubong a lot but I couldn’t seem to finish my bowl. I love lugaw, no doubt, but I find the lugawan’s version too complex for my picky palate (hello luya and sibuyas all over). So I decided we make it at home.

Malagkit (Sticky) Rice

Rice
Chicken
Garlic, Onion, Ginger
Flour, Crispy Fry, Salt and Pepper (for chicken breading)
Roasted Garlic, Onion Leaves (for garnishing)
Pepper, Salt, Patis, Calamansi (to taste)

1) Sauté garlic, onion, ginger in a pot. Add chicken.
2) Add water. Bring to boil until chicken is tender. This will be the broth.
3) Remove chicken from the broth but leave the small pieces there.
4) Cook malagkit rice and rice in the broth. Pouring more water if needed. Season with a little salt and pepper and patis.
6) While cooking the rice, bread the chicken. Fry.
7) Garnish the lugaw and add fried chicken on top.
8) Serve hot.

My take: The malagkit rice plus rice combination gives a good sticky not-too-watery effect to the lugaw. The fried chicken on the other hand gives a crunchy contrast to the softness of lugaw, making it a complete meal. 

Tip: This is an enjoy-it-your-way kind of meal. It is more exciting if the eater garnishes his own food and seasons it just the way he likes it. 

The verdict: Nobody can say no to a home-cooked meal.

Johnny Rockets, Tomas Morato

After our vanity-Friday session, Mr. M. and I, together with Floki (our blogger-wannabe friend) headed to Johnny Rockets (JR1 Building, Tomas Morato Avenue, beside CBK Building, Quezon City). I scratched Johnny Rockets from my must-try-asap list after reading the review of the Foodiestation. I was persuading the two for a pasta joint instead, but they were fairly decided. Since Floki will shoulder the first P1000 from our bill, I was obliged to seat inside this friendly restaurant with dancing crews and smiley ketchup.

Johnny Rockets has an old-school American vibe. I felt I was time warp as I enter the restaurant. It makes you sing along to the likes of Do Wah Diddy and other classic pop rock songs. The only thing that was missing in that branch was the Jukebox, I actually asked the crew and she said it was lent to other branch.

Mr. M. had a Rocket Fuel Burger (P285), spicy burger with fresh lettuce and American cheddar cheese and Nacho Jalapeño. It has a single serving of fries. You can make it a double or even triple patty burger by adding P95 per patty. Floki upon seeing its huge photo in the menu book ordered for it too.

I had a bite of his burger and I forgot about it. I was hearing Mr. M. that he still liked Army Navy’s Burger better, while Floki kept on complaining that it’s too spicy. Apparently, she has a low tolerance of spicy foods, nevertheless, she finished her burger after alternately taking pictures of the food (food blogger wannabe I told you), munching and drinking water. 

Because I really liked pasta that night, I ordered Mac ‘n Cheese – P275 (I only had 2 choices the other being the spaghetti). It came with loaf bread. It has the perfect amount of cheese that sticks to your fork and your mouth. The serving was too small for my appetite. So I had to fill my tummy up with the fries and chocolate milkshake. 

I already knew that the “unlimited fries” comes with extra price but we still opt to have our fries unlimited for P75. To our surprise, it was actually a separate order, but only those who had a hamburger meal can avail. Sayang, we had two orders pa, we could have shared instead. 

Of course, our Johnny Rockets experience wouldn’t be complete without ordering their milkshake. I ordered chocolate milkshake for P145. There were various variants but I am just not bold to try. I could say I super-duper love their milkshake. It was made with pure pleasure one could forget his name. It has scope of real ice cream and other special ingredients only food fairies know. 

My take: Happy crew brings out happy customers. Although we were not satisfied with the serving, the taste was fairly above average. 

Tip: It pays to read the food description. Never judge the food by its photo.

The verdict: Johnny Rockets is still a must-try restaurant. Maybe not ASAP but it’s still worth your list.

ASYA Filipino-Asian Restaurant, Eton Centris Walk

The in-laws had spontaneous lunch-out after hearing the Sunday mass. The girls (headed by my MIL) asked to “look around” the Tiangge over at Centris before going home. After our quick shop scan, the FIL declared he’s hungry (you know men). So he decided to dine at Asya – Ground Floor Centris Walk, Eton Centris , EDSA corner Quezon Avenue, Quezon City. 

Asya is a Filipino-Asian Fusion Restaurant. It serves exciting Filipino-Asian dishes presented with a modern twist, it moves you to encounter the flavors of the orient and reinterpret traditional dishes with new inspiration. Asya has cozy feel furnished traditionally. Each table has this man-shape chair, each with different face and body. Their high chair was rather unique too. 

Juice was served first but it didn’t take long for our food to be on the table, it was delivered almost at the same time. The food serving was good for 3-4 average eaters. We had: 

Sinigang na Liempo (P320) as soup. We like how all the ingredients were present in this dish and it gives us the enough kick of sourness that even the kids can tolerate. 

Chopsuey (P275). See how it was packed. It was so complete you can eat it on its own. The sauce has just enough consistency and the vegis were crunchy good.

Crispy Squid (P230) was the love. It was always a hit for the kids but this version my favorite so far. It was crunchy and flavorful inside and out. 

Lechon Kawali with Laing (P260). While the Lechon Kawali was above the usual – crispy and not dry type, Laing was the best. I was eating it on its own (I do not eat vegi, btw), the gata was flavorful and has enough touch of spicy-ness. 

Pancit Mix (P280). I was too full to judge this, although I had spoon or two (left-overs of Miss L.). It is safe to say that it was good. 

Kids had Ripe Mango Shake (P95), which has the natural taste of a ripe mango while adults had Sago’t Gulaman (P60). I liked how the small sago comes with every sip and it stayed sweet up to the last sip. Jasmine Rice was P45/serving.

**Prices were exclusive of 10% service charge and 12% VAT.

My take: We were all pleased with the food. But I just didn’t like the attitude of the restaurant’s crew. They were approximately 15 there and they were only serving 2 tables yet they were too inattentive. I asked for additional highchair for Master E. a crew looked at me then looked away. They were even so hesitant or rather slow to comply with our request for water when MIL was still ordering. The staffs were not really courteous. Then it all changed when the MIL had placed our order. What’s that mean?

Tip: Don’t mind the crew? (Am I tipping here?) 

The verdict: Asya offers good food that can satisfy any palate. 

Oceano Acuatico Restaurant

Our Acuatico escapade was a blast. If you read our experience in my other blog, you’ll notice I have not mentioned about what we had. Of course food completes an escapade so I’ll share here our food experience. Acuatico resort only allows in-house food, though we were able to sneak-in few snacks, we still relied on Oceano, Acuatico’s Restaurant, for our main meals. 

Oceano Acuatico is located at the second floor of the hotel. It is overlooking the whole place, which gives you the panoramic view of the resort’s beauty and the beach as well. Oceano offers buffet and sit-down a la carte meals. They also offer complementary coffee and tea, all day, all night. Plus it can be delivered anywhere you want.

Oceano Facade

There is also a floating bar in the middle of the pool, this offers extensive selection of beverages. 

Acua Floating Bar

Mango Shake (P90) from Acua Floating Bar

For our 1st meal, our lunch, we opted to avail of their buffet (P550+/adult; children 7-12 years old pays half the price; and 7 below are free of charge). We wanted to order a la carte but the wait staff advised us that it would take 45 minutes to an hour to prepare the food. She suggested further that we should order in advance if we really want an a la carte meals.

           

                                                               Lunch Spread

My Plates

Table Set-Up

So for dinner, since we know better, we called-in our orders in advanced and we were told that they’d call us once our food was ready. After 45 minutes of no call, we followed-it up, the wait staff informed us to wait for another 15 minutes and after 30 minutes they called us and informed that our table was set and our food was ready. As we seated, our respective food were delivered to our table. But 3 orders, mine included, were still not delivered. So we asked and we waited and asked again. 

After roughly 15 minutes of waiting for food and feedback, I decided I should talk to the officer-in-charge. The supervisor, though knew nothing about the incident, was very apologetic. He was requesting for a little time to talk to his staff but I said we cannot wait any longer, it was almost 2 hours since we placed our orders. So right there and there, he decided to give us complementary buffet (which was actually P600+/adult). 

My Plates and Mr. M.'s Sandwich (P290)

Oceano Acuatico also prepares elegant dinner set-up by the beach upon request, P2100/person. It is a sit-down, set-menu with personal butler. The supervisor was busy attending as a butler here that’s why he was not able to attend to the concerns of the main restaurant. 

I don't want to invade their privacy

Our breakfast was complementary with our accommodation. 

My take: We have no complain as with regards to the food. Although the buffet spread was not as extensive, it still delivers quality food which can satisfy any guest. The only fall back was the presence of fly. The supervisor told us that the flies were really their big concern but it also seasonal. He said, it might be because it’s the harvest season (May-June) for mango farms around their resort. And in-fairness, flies were also present in the whole Laiya stretch. He also said the resort is already installing air-conditioners in Oceano to address the problem.

Tip: As we learned from the wait staff, place your order in advance if you are to settle for a la carte.

The verdict: Courteous staff, good food, great ambiance. Oceano delivered. 

Cakes and Cupcakes by Cookcakesbyliz

For those of you who have cake and cupcakes needs, you may want to try Cookcakes by Liz. Liza the baker/entrepreneur is a good friend. She enrolled in a baking class, practiced for a while and then quit her day job to concentrate on her passion for baking. I can say she’s pretty well in her craft. She customized and works within your budget and very easy to deal with.

I personally tasted her chocolate alcapone cupcakes when I ordered for my son’s 6 month celebration. 

She also baked the cake for my niece’s 1st birthday. 

I can say with conviction that it was good and will surely please everybody. Here are some of her samples.

Again, for your cakes and cupcakes needs, freshly baked and affordable ones, contact Liz del Rosario at 0939 9375990. You can follow her on instragram: cookcakesbyliz for more photos/updates of her cake and cupcakes goodies. 

Disclaimer: Not a paid post.

Penne Pasta Spaghetti

I am a pasta lover. I eat cooked pasta with ketchup as a kid, that’s spaghetti for me already. But when you grow older, you became meticulous about your favorite dish. You become specific and particular of every details of it. Okay, I shouldn’t talk in the second person when it might be only me. But yes, as I aged, I became so hard to please when it comes to pasta. This recipe is actually my mama’s but I improved it a little to fit my taste. 

500 grams penne pasta (cooked per package instruction)
500 grams Spaghetti Sauce
¼ kl ground pork
¼ kl hotdog
1 big can mushroom
Onion, garlic
Salt and pepper
For white sauce:
1 bar butter
1 small can evaporated milk 

1) Brown the ground pork. Add the hotdog, let it fry a bit.
2) Set the ground pork mixture around the pan. Let the oil drain into the middle of the pan, leave just enough oil for sautéing.
3) Sauté garlic and onion. Combine it with ground pork mixture. Add mushroom.
4) Add spaghetti sauce. Season with salt and pepper.
5) Add the cooked penne pasta. Mix evenly.
6) In a separate pan, melt butter and add evaporated milk. Simmer.
7) In very low heat, pour butter mixture in the spaghetti. Simmer for about 5-10 minutes.
8) Serve hot. 

My take: This proportion always works best for me, although my mama would always argue (she uses ½ kilo pasta : 1 kilo sauce). Cheese in this recipe is optional, the white sauce mixtures takes its place. 

Tip: If cheese is available, I put it directly on the pasta while it is still in the strainer. 

The verdict: This recipe is always a hit, though I really don’t share the works (it my trade secret). But then again, different stroke for different folks (literal meaning) applies. hehe