Kitchencow Network
This Doll's Life
Boywatching
The mention of kesong puti (White Cheese) evokes memories of early mornings clutching a piece of hot pandesal (a Filipino bread) that has a thick slice of creamy, soft cheese tucked in the middle. A local cheese traditionally made of Carabao’s milk, kesong puti is a soft cheese that’s light in texture and flavor.
Offal or variety meats are looked upon differently, depending on one’s culture. In the Philippines, they’re put to good use with a lot of delicious and sought after fancy dishes made from these various animal innards. In fact, they’re so mainstream that some dishes made with these variety meats are sold canned alongside cans of sardines and corned beef.
This latest round of Lasang Pinoy is something I really look forward to because it puts one thing close to my heart in the limelight. Bento! I thought that it would be an easy round for me because of the topic, but surprise! Between trying to find the time to bento and finding a Filipino food concept, I was pretty stumped! My firm resolve to join (not to mention a commitment I made to this round’s host, Ajay) pushed me into preparing two lunches for the event.
Last Saturday marked the 2nd Anniversary picnic of Kalye Pinky, our local Pinky:ST collectors group. For me however, it signaled a totally different thing. It was the perfect excuse to break-in my brand new 3-tier Jyubako! A jyubako is a multi-tiered serving box traditionally used for New Year’s feasts. While it’s not New Year’s, nor was it a feast, I figured a picnic bento was a good enough excuse to start using it.
After all the holiday feasting, it feels nice to sit down to simpler food with simple, uncomplicated tastes. Even better if it’s easy to prepare in the mornings before work.
The memories of my childhood’s summers are dotted with ice candy, ice scramble and buko juice. Among these favorites though, it’s buko juice that remains to be a staple. And why not? With its light sweetness and refreshing flavor, it’s something to be enjoyed regardless of season.
Growing up, my grandmother would cook strips of labahita, coated in flour to make fish fillet. While they were delicious, it was more of a texture rather than flavor driven. It was after all, just a fillet of fish, coated in flour, then fried. Later on, as I was learning to cook, my mom gave me a slab of labahita to fry.
