Cook and Brew.

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.

Lumpia is a type of stuffed spring rolls. They are served fried or non-fried and fillings vary: pork, beef or vegetables served with sweet and sour sauce. This is Chinese in origin and other Asian countries have their own lumpia versions and variations as well. In Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia, it is called “popiah”. In Vietnam, it is known as “cha gio”. In the Philippines, it is called lumpia. The Filipino lumpia is further categorized to two: Lumpiang Ubod – served fresh and wrapped in a crepe-like sheet; and Lumpiang Shanghai, or Fried Spring Rolls or Fried Lumpia.

Here’s how we usually prepare our Fried Lumpia:
* 1 lb. ground pork
* 1/4 cup finely chopped onions
* 1/2 cup finely chopped carrots
* 1 small box of raisins
* 2 whole eggs
* 3 dashes of sesame oil
* salt and pepper, to taste
* 3 tbsp. soy sauce
* lumpia wrapper (1 pack usually has 50 sheets)
* vegetable oil, for frying

Procedure:
1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mix until well blended.
2. Wrap into thin rolls with a lumpia wrapper. Fry in deep hot oil.
3. Serve with your favorite ketchup or make your own Sweet and Sour Sauce recipe.

To make sauce, combine vinegar, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, sugar, water, ginger and garlic in small saucepan. Bring to boil. Stir in cornstarch paste and simmer 5 minutes, or until thickened. Season to taste with salt. Keep warm.

“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.

A few weeks ago, I joined a blogging contest sponsored by Red Ribbon in line with their newest cake product, the Cookies and Cream Cake. My entry was about the birthday celebration of dear hubby where I sent pictures of him and my son enjoying the Red Ribbon cake. And that could have tickled the fancies of the judges and picked my entry to win the first prize. No not as grand and luxurious as Las Vegas Show Tickets (how I wish!) but Php 1500 worth of Red Ribbon Gift Certificates. Thank you Red Ribbon because we enjoyed a Smores Cake for our Father’s Day celebration.

One of the dishes that we ordered for hubby’s birthday celebration at Sentro 1771 Greenbelt last month was Rated GG.

This signature dish of Sentro 1771 consists of Galunggong (Mackarel/Big-Bellied Round Scad) fillets fried in garlic, oil and topped with browned garlic. Priced at Php 230, the husband and I find it too costly for its quality. Nothing really spectacular about the taste.