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Takoyaki with Attitude
My brain went haywire a couple of days ago so I spent Tuesday and Wednesday grocery shopping for food. I hit South Supermarket, New Hatchin Japanese Grocery, and Makati Supermarket Alabang, spending a few thousand pesos, just on groceries. The idea was save money through bento. In theory, a very sound one. In practice however—
Let’s just say fellow foodies can probably relate with that adrenalin rush accompanied by the rapid outpouring of cooking ideas one encounters as she strolls down a grocery aisle. Anyway, the bottomline is, we have a stuffed freezer and I should start preparing bento on a more regular basis to make the food expenditure worth it. So, here is Day 1 of post-”food shopping moment of insanity.”
Contents:
• Rice
• Korean Barbecue-style Chicken
• Takoyaki with personality!
• A sauce box of Kewpie Mayo
• Bean sprouts sauteed in oyster sauce
Today’s bento was grossly unbalanced, proportion-wise. The amount of rice was tiny, the chicken overwhelming. If you’re cutting down on carbs, it’s probably a good idea but I’m of the no-diet diet so it translates to too little rice! Still, that was the only frozen rice we had on hand and I was too lazy to cook a fresh batch.
The Chicken was bought marinated in Korean Barbecue marinade from a Magnolia Chicken Station. When I’m low on bento supplies, I always hit a Magnolia Chicken Station to get chicken breast fillets, ground chicken, and whatever looks interesting. What I like about getting it from them is I can dictate how little I want. Sometimes, I’d buy just three breast fillets for three separate meals and they’re always quick to oblige. Something which you can’t really do when you buy the frozen pre-packed kind that’s usually sold in kilos. For this particular chicken dish, I simply stir-fried the store-bought marinated chicken in a little oil. The chopped spring onions and sesame seeds, I sprinkled when they were already in the bento. Verdict on the instant chicken dish? Quick and yummy! Not to mention, awfully photogenic.
The takoyaki was bought pre-cooked, as part of my Hatchin stash. To prepare, I simply nuked them for less than a minute in the microwave then garnished them with nori faces. Just to infuse some character to my food. Funny how their expression’s vary. You think Mr. Smiley Takoyaki had any idea what the future held in store for him?
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mmmmmmmmmm all the yumminess, i do feel that rush and when i do nothing can stop me but the ends of my wallet =)
Food shoppers of the world unite!
Looks cute & yummy!
Thank you. It was. Too bad I can’t take much credit for the yumminess since it was either reheat or stir-fry. ^_^;;
XD I feel your wallet’s pain! I headed out to Sta. Lucia today in the hopes of obtaining the pre-makings of at least 5 days worth of lunches and ended up spending nearly 3k pesos on groceries alone! (and I ended up buying a Strawberry Shortcake bento box and a cute one with a strap at Expressions as well…) Granted, my weakness for that seasoned prepackaged Korean nori (the one with the large salt grains) is largely at fault (One package and rice solb na ako!
I’m not even counting in how much I spent on cake pans because the hardware store had a 40% sale on the things. TT__TT My budget is shot and deader than last week’s fish!
Hopefully though, lunch will be good for my first week in my new job.
Poor widdle wallets. Still, it’s nice that we’re well fed. One thing I’ve learned through the years is that it’s all right to spend on food. Unless it’s not and my mom’s really screwed up for teaching me this.
And what a coincidence, I was at ATC today and Strawberry Shortcake was there. LIVE.
Oh, yummy. Where is New Hatchin Japanese Grocery located? I haven’t had Takoyaki balls in years…
I keep meaning to write a detailed entry about Hatchin but I never have time since I usually get there right before closing time on weekdays. Anyway, Hatchin is in San Antonio Village, Makati. I forgot the exact street but it’s the one after Kamagong if you’re coming from EDSA. To help you out, here’s a link to an LJ entry with a sketch
http://tanuki-no-bento.livejournal.com/4724.html
I forgot the exact store hours but I know they’re open until 7pm in the evening only; if you’re going for the Takoyaki though, it’s best to visit them on Saturdays because that’s when they have a Takoyaki booth set up. And remember to bring money because I doubt you can resist food shopping there
WOw… So delicious.
But then, like I always say… how can you eat something that’s smiling at you? o_O
(I’ll eat them anyway. They’ll be in a much better place! *_*)
Simple! Just close your eyes before biting
It’s like eating balut, hwehwehwe.
The takoyaki looks good. I’ve been looking for recipes, but they’re hard to find. Hopefully, it’ll be in the new cookbook I ordered^^
A friend told me you need to use a special takoyaki flour mix, but I’m not sure if that’s all you need. Well, that and the veggies and octopus…