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.

(more…)

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.

(more…)

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.

(more…)

Across the street from our old office was a local Japanese restaurant that served yummy Curry Omuraisu. A large omelette stuffed with chicken curry rice, I loved how each bite was full of meaty curry goodness. It’s been months since I last had it though since we moved offices, so when I realized we still had leftover Japanese curry, I decided to give it a go.

(more…)

First off, my apologies for being so behind with updates. Not much time to pack lunch lately, in fact, this is my first bento for November, so not much material to update with either. Work and other hobbies have been taking up my time, I must admit.

(more…)

Jose Rizal, our national hero, is surrounded by a large body of stories. But more than the tales about his bravery and about his writings, it was the stories about his childhood, when he was merely young Pepe, that I liked to hear when I was a kid. About how he wrote his first Nationalistic poem when he was 8. About how his mother told him the story of the moth who got too close to the flame. And about how he invented Champorado (chocolate porridge).

Legend has it that young Pepe, in an effort to turn his day-old rice into something more delectable, poured a cup of tsokolate eh (Spanish hot chocolate) on it. Of course, the story is much debatable. Day-old rice is loose and a bit dry and tsokolate eh, no matter how thick it’s prepared, just won’t create a porridge-like consistency.

Still, it’s a nice story, and when posed with the Lasang Pinoy 21: Cooking for Heroes challenge, I figured that a freshly cooked bowl of Champorado would be an interesting dish to serve Dr. Rizal. Alongside a few pieces of tuyo (dried fish) of course.

(more…)

The first Japanese dish I learned to eat was tempura. In the 80s, when Japanese cuisine wasn’t as prevalent in Manila as it is now, tempura was probably the definitive Japanese dish. It was the only thing I’d order as a gradeschooler. So it’s understandable that trying a new dish out, Tonkatsu, was an exciting concept.

Now, years later, I know that Tonkatsu is just a Japanese version of porkchops, everything’s demystified. Still, that doesn’t lessen the tonkatsu love. I mean, you guys have probably noticed how often I do tonkatsu bentos—love definitely. So to fellow tonkatsu lovers, here’s a quick, step-by-step guide to demystifying this ubiquitous Japanese staple.

(more…)