Cook and Brew. » Food Raves

“Mai” Siomai

admin — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 15:10:00 +0000

I go by many nicknames but I’ve now grown accustomed to being called “Mai” nowadays. It actually originated from the handle that my parents gave me which is “Maileen”. However, when I entered college and my best buddies didn’t feel like mentioning “Maileen” every time because it’s “too long” for them, they christened me with a shorter nick “Mai”. Incidentally, I am a big siomai fan and I swear, I can eat a whole bunch of this in just one sitting especially if it’s partnered with soy sauce and an oily, spicy garlic mix. The one’s from Orient’s Best and Bernabest’s Siomai House the best. Then this one (pictured above) from Le Cheng’s Restaurant comes in third. My friend who lives near Binondo (Manila’s Chinatown where all Chinese products are sold like food, beauty and acne products, amulets, etc) said that I should try the authentic and big servings of Chinese siomai. She swears that all other siomai brands that I’ve tasted will be going down the memory lane.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

My Sbarro Fave Meal

admin — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 15:03:00 +0000

We rarely eat at Sbarro but whenever we do (usually at the SM North branch), this is what I order: Baked Ziti (just half) with garlic bread, drinks and a slice of blueberry cheesecake to complete this mouth watering meal. I order just half because aside from the costly price of Baked Ziti these days, the “whole” order size plus the garlic bread are too heavy for my tummy. In fact, this half order can satisfy me already that much. This Sbarro meal for me is like my anti wrinkle eye cream because it certainly de-stresses me and take away all my baggage and worries in life even for just a few minutes while devouring this meal.

Anti-Wrinkle Foods Wrinkles come with old age. Aging is inevitable but with...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Quality Street Chocolates

admin — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 10:47:36 +0000

Just got a news that my sister’s homecoming from Qatar on April is now confirmed. We’re so excited because it’s her baby daughter’s first time to visit our native land and so we’re anxious to meet and kiss her personally for the first time. They have confirmed their ticket bookings and so it’s all systems go. Now here comes one of my pre-arrival favorite parts. That is, it’s listing down time of homecoming gifts (pasalubong). The last time my sister and her husband had a vacation, we’ve got so many confectioneries and the one I liked the most are these Quality Street chocolates. She gave me one tin and I’ve almost consumed the varied chocolates in just one sitting. I like how they are not so “sinfully sweet”. I hope they fill their Samsonite luggage with these chocolates.

Quality Street is manufactured in Halifax, in the United Kingdom by Nestlé. A box or a tin of this usually consists of indiviadually wrapped sweets in 12 flavours, all of which are either chocolate or toffee based:

* Milk Chocolate Hazelnut with caramel (the ‘Purple One’)
* Chocolate Noisette Pate (the ‘green triangle’)
* Chocolate Toffee Finger (gold wrapped stick)
* Toffee Penny (gold wrapper)
* Vanilla Fudge (pink wrapper)
* Strawberry Delight (red circular wrapper)
* Coconut Eclair (blue wrapper)
* Caramel Swirl (yellow frustum)
* Milk Choc Block (green wrapper)
* Orange Crunch (hexagonal orange wrapper)
* Orange Creme (orange circular wrapper)
* Toffee Deluxe (Brown wrapper)

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Are You Sweet or Salty?

admin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:44:28 +0000

You Are a Sweet Person

When it comes to snacks, you’re more likely to grab some candy than heat up a pizza.

There’s a good chance you’re female (women prefer sweet snacks)…

Or at least, you prefer to be in the company of women.

Your tastes are simple and predictable. You are young at heart.

You tend to crave food you can just grab and eat.

Are You Sweet or Salty?

Blogthings: A Fine Line Between Insight and Stupidity

Wow..this is so true. Aside from my being affectionate, which the husband can attest to that, I truly have an incredibly sweet tooth. In fact, the barcode scanners in the grocery could actually break down whenever we shop for my sweets stocks for the week. I stock our cart a lot! From ice cream, to chocolates, cookies, donuts, etc. My latest sweet cravings lately are Goldilocks Polvorons which I’m currently munching as I blog.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Chona’s Delight from Teahouse Baguio

admin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:48:53 +0000

Going to Baguio City this Holiday season? Don’t forget to drop by Teahouse along Session Road or their SM Baguio branch and snag this delectable treat for your own feasting or as a pasalubong to your loved ones here in Manila:

Here’s what I have previously blogged about this sweet treat:

Ever since we tasted this heavenly cake dessert, we make it a point that this is the number one in the list of pasalubongs to take home from Baguio. This refrigerator cake called Chona’s Delight is named after the brilliant Aling Chona, the owner of Tea House Restaurant and Bakeshop located along Session Road. This establishment is one of the oldest chow place for locals and tourists craving for noodle snacks, coffee, bread and sinfully delicious cakes such as the above pictured Chona’s Delight. Tea House now also has a branch at nearby SM Baguio where we bought 5 small tubs of Chona’s Delight for take home during our annual Christmas vacation in the city of Pines last year. Three of the five small tubs were exclusively devoured by me..yes, that’s how delectable and addicting this cake is. It consists of layers of rich chocolate cake frosting and fillings of creamy custard and whipped cream. Don’t be fooled with the rich, dark chocolatey look but this doesn’t taste tooth-cringing sweet at all. In fact, you can really even consume all by yourself in one sitting the small tub which they sell at Php 105/container.

Tea House Restaurant and Bakeshop
87 Session Road, Baguio City
Branch:
SM Baguio, Upper Session Road, Baguio City

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Kikiam

admin — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 02:38:15 +0000

Kikiam

This has been my favorite merienda (snacks) these past few weeks. Our neighbor, who has a streetfood stand and sells variety of street foods, prepares the yummiest kikiam and tongue tingling sauce I’ve ever tasted.

Kikiam or Que-kiam is a popular Chinese dish made with ground pork and vegetables wrapped in bean curd sheets then deep-fried until golden. Basically, kikiam has been used as an ingredient of Chinese dishes like pansit because of its meaty taste. However, it also tastes great when eaten finger food style…best with a sweet and spicy sauce.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Red Ribbon’s Chocolate Smores Cake: Sinfully Delicious

admin — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:36:28 +0000

“My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far today, I have finished 2 bags of M&M’s and a chocolate cake. I feel better already.”
~ Dave Barry

I’m literally drooling while posting this picture. And all the more I salivated when I noticed that my recent snapshots share are all food…so tempting and alluring. This is the husband’s shot of his special Father’s Day cake…Red Ribbon’s Chocolate S’mores Cake: moist chocolate cake with layers of heavenly marshmallow and grahams. Topped with caramel and chocolate squares.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cookies and Cream Cake.

admin — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 07:31:21 +0000

From among Red Ribbon cakes, the S’mores Chocolate Cake used to be our top most favorite but the Cookies and Cream changed it. Its layering of creamy cookies and cream filled with real chocolate cookie chunks and vanilla and chiffon cakes in between is the best thing about this cake. Plus, the soft whole oreo cookies toppings finishes the taste with a big bang. I just love it to bits because it doesn’t taste that sweet as you would think because of its chocolatey-cookies-and-cream appeal.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Chocolate Banana Parfait

admin — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:13:10 +0000

Tokyo Cafe's Chocolate Banana Parfait

For our Father’s Day lunch dessert at Tokyo Cafe, we had this very sinfully delicious Chocolate Banana Parfait. I can’t actually find the perfect word to describe how my taste buds went gaga over this. All I know is that I suddenly felt heaven when the sweet blend of the chocolate, cream and banana touched the tip of my tongue. I researched on the web the recipe for this one and this is the simplest I got from dole.com. I am yet to try this recipe so I can’t guarantee yet if this recipe is as heaven as Tokyo Cafe’s.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup boiling water
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 DOLE® Bananas (1 extra-ripe, 1 firm)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/4 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed
1/2 cup DOLE Fresh or Fresh Frozen Raspberries

Directions:
* Pour boiling water over chocolate chips in small bowl; stir until smooth.
* Combine extra-ripe banana, brown sugar, vanilla and melted chocolate, in blender or food processor container. Cover: blend until smooth. Fold in whipped topping.
* Spoon half of mousse into 4 parfait or dessert glasses. Slice remaining firm banana over mousse in glasses. Spoon remaining mousse over bananas. Chill at least 30 minutes. Top with raspberries.
* Garnish with additional sliced banana if desired.

***Photographed by my beloved husband.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Native Foods Delight

admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 01:38:06 +0000

Mom and Grandma arrived early this morning from an 8-9 hour bus drive from the province up north. Their arrival would mean a giddy giddy stomach later because they have lots of native foods in tow: homemade longanisa, tinapa, tulya (a clam species that is good for breastfeeding moms, they say), tupig, carabao milk candies, and crunchy chicharon. And the happiest of all, of course, my overly delighted stomach and my son who’ll be feeding from me through my milk. Happy Feasting to me!!!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.