Week 48 - Ketchup

Have you ever heard of banana ketchup? I didn't know much about it until this ketchup theme came up, because apparently a lot of people really dislike tomato ketchup and needed alternatives. (Didn't know that either!) It's very popular in the Philippines, which made it not only a good choice for the ketchup challenge but also for another entry for the Philippines in our AtWCC.

I followed the recipe at Curious Cuisiniere for making the ketchup, and it was super easy. Onion, garlic, ginger, a couple of mashed bananas, tomato paste, brown sugar, white vinegar, water, and cayenne. Some time on the stove to thicken, then a little cooling, and then blend it all up. Banana ketchup! Super easy.

I didn't really know what to use the banana ketchup for, but on Curious Cuisiniere, they suggested tortang giniling, a Filipino beef omelette, which they also had a recipe for. If you've been reading here for a while, you might think that wasn't going to happen since I don't really cook much red meat at home, plus B has an egg allergy, but we made it work with Impossible Burger and Just Egg, two vegan products that I'm incredibly grateful exist.

In addition to those, the omelette included onion, garlic, diced tomatoes, and some vegetables. It was supposed to be peas, but in prepping the meal, I discovered we were actually out of frozen peas (forgot to update our freezer inventory!), so we ended up using a corn, carrot, and asparagus medley, from which I picked out all the stalks of asparagus because they wouldn't have matched texturally. Next time, hopefully we can use peas as intended.

The banana ketchup was delicious. It added similar flavors to tomato ketchup, but much sweeter and less acidic. It was fantastic with the omelettes. The plate usually also contains some garlic fried rice, but I didn't have time to make that. I tried to fake it by putting some minced garlic over rice, but not the same. Hopefully whenever we make this next (and we do intend to make it again), we can not only remember to get some peas, but also make some yummy garlic fried rice. I love discovering new meals from these challenges, and this was something we'd never had before in our visits to Filipino restaurants. I used up the rest of the banana ketchup making Filipino spaghetti, but that's a post for another time!

Week 20 - Julienning

How is it already mid-May?! The last time I finished a post here, it was the end of March, still cold outside, we hadn't been vaccinated yet, and most people were still taking the pandemic seriously (or at least pretending to). I'm so behind on the 52 week cooking challenge posts and the Around the World Cooking Challenge posts and the WorldEats posts that I think I might need to start doing shortened versions for some of them, so that I can still track/share our journey but not have it be such an overwhelming task. The Week 20 challenge seems perfect for a quick entry.

Challenge week: 20

Theme: Julienning

AtWCC country: Philippines (counting for both challenges, see below)

What we made: Pancit, based on a Filipino cooking class we took

How much it cost (with breakdown): $21.67 (dinner for 3 + two lunches for 2)

- 1 lb noodles - $3.99

- 1 package of Short Cuts roasted chicken - $5

- about 1/2 lb of shrimp - $3.87

- 1-2 lbs of carrots - $1

- 1 bunch of celery - $1.59 (probably only 1/2 bunch but the other 1/2 froze and had to be thrown out)

- about 1 lb of snap peas - $3.50

- 1 yellow onion - $0.37

- minced garlic - $0.05

- a couple big scoops of chicken broth - $1

- a few tbsp soy sauce - $0.45

- a few tbsp oyster sauce - $0.85

Challenge quick review: I could have done an entire dish of julienned vegetables, but we were already scheduled for a pancit cooking class, and the carrots needed to be julienned, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to knock out this challenge without spending hours in the kitchen trying to precisely chop vegetables. I am not the best with making exact sizes and shapes when chopping things, since they're all going to end up in the same place anyway and close has always seemed good enough here.

As for the pancit itself, I did a lot of the prep and A did most of the actual cooking, and it was so good. It tasted like pancit you might get at a restaurant. Since the recipe isn't really public or ours since it was from a cooking class, we don't feel right going into any further detail on the "how" in another post, so I'm going to count this for the AtWCC here too. We did explore something new (for our kitchen), which is the whole point of that challenge. We have a lot more noodles, so I see a lot more pancit in our future!

M's Favorite Food Memories of 2017

Somehow it's already May, and we still haven't posted our favorite food memories from last year. We originally planned to do it by Chinese New Year, and then wanted to finish them before we moved, but things got so busy and so hectic (multiple all-nighters level of busy), much more than we anticipated despite knowing we had 12 years of stuff to move, and we never got to it. A lot of our stuff is still in boxes, and we still don't have a complete living room, but we don't want to neglect this blog forever. So this post is long overdue, but before summer officially kicks off, here are my favorite food memories from 2017. We ate a lot of good food in 2017, both at home in NYC and on our trips to LA, Seattle, and Vancouver. In (sort of) alphabetical order, here are my 10 favorite food memories of 2017.

1. Eatsa (NYC)

I went to Eatsa for the first time early in 2017 (we posted about it) and returned several more times over the course of the year. (It probably would have been many more if I had still worked in a Midtown office.) Eatsa revolutionized the eating scene in two different ways: the ordering process (automat-style from a kiosk/phone app without any human interaction) and making healthy quinoa bowls affordable (pretty much everything was under $10). In the end, the price may be part of what did them in, since quinoa isn't cheap, and they closed all their non-SF stores in October. (The cynical part of me still wonders if all the stores were just a test run for their tech.) I'll always be sad that I can never have another no worry curry (what ended up being my favorite) bowl again, with its tasty quinoa, spaghetti squash, apple-cabbage slaw, pickled onions, red Thai curry sauce, and more, but all the tasty bowls are a happy memory of 2017.

2. Bollo de pescado from Ecuadorian Delights at the Queens International Night Market (NYC)

I love going to the Queens International Night Market (which has already started up for 2018 before I finished this post). In 2017, we made two visits and sampled Burmese, Guyanese, Antiguan, Salvadoran, Ecuadorian, Guatemalan, Persian, Nigerian, and Filipino cuisine. There really isn't anywhere else in the city where you can do all that in a short period of time and at affordable prices. My favorite thing at the night market last year was the bollo de pescado from Ecuadorian Delights, a green plantain tamale with tuna and peanut sauce wrapped up in banana leaves and topped with pickled onions. It was so delicious, and tasted like something that was just made in someone's home kitchen. We got it on both visits because we liked it so much, meaning we were too full to try their hallaca or corviche, and now I have no idea where to go to get any of those.

3. Corn ice cream taco from Empellon (NYC)

We went to the Midtown Empellon to celebrate my birthday, and one of the desserts that we heard a lot about before our visit was the corn ice cream taco. I figured it would be good, but I wasn't prepared for the explosion of corn flavor in every bite. Corn and ice cream are a great combination, one of my favorites, with some sweetness, saltiness, and savory flavor all in one bite. It wasn't a big dessert, so we were also able to get the avocado dessert and a seasonal apple dessert sampler, but it was probably my favorite dessert of the year.

4. Acai and pitaya bowls from Fruit Wonders (Palm Springs, CA)

Our big trip last year was to California, and we spent a few relaxing days in Palm Springs. It was really hot during the day, and the perfect way to cool down was a visit to Fruit Wonders. We got an açaí bowl the first time and a pitaya bowl the second, and both were really good. Sweet smoothies with granola, hemp seeds, oatmeal, blueberries, bananas, strawberries, kiwi, coconut, and agave. We'd been wanting to try açaí bowls for a while, but this was our first time, and we were hooked thanks to Fruit Wonders.

5. Los Tacos No. 1 (NYC)

Los Tacos No. 1 has been open in Chelsea Market for years, but they finally opened a second location, right near Times Square, last summer. Their tacos are some of the best in the city, and this new location was so much closer to us. We went there a lot since their opening, getting tacos, quesadillas, mulas, and nopal plates topped with (most commonly) pollo asado or adobada. Even with all the new spots in Hell's Kitchen/Midtown West over the past year, its arrival was the most exciting thing that happened for us. One of my few regrets before we moved was that I didn't manage to go there even more.

6. Salmon oshi sushi from Miku (Vancouver, BC)

We had a lot of things on our Vancouver to-try list for our few days there, and one of the must-dos was aburi oshi sushi, a special type of sushi that is not very common around here, pressed and flame-seared. We went to Miku, an expensive restaurant on the downtown waterfront, and sat at the bar for a light meal just so we could try the sushi. The salmon was BC wild sockeye salmon, and it was topped with jalapeño and Miku sauce. This was unlike any other sushi we'd had before. It basically melted in your mouth, and was so full of flavor. Pretty much a perfect bite of sushi, and I still dream about it.

7. The famous chicken for two from The NoMad (NYC)

We went to The Nomad for A's birthday, and we were finally able to try their famous whole-roasted chicken for two. We weren't sure if it would live up to the incredible hype, but it definitely did. They bring the chicken out to you once it's done, but then bring it to the back and plate it. You get a large piece of white meat chicken, so juicy and tender, with foie gras, black truffle, and brioche bread crumbs under the skin, on a plate with potato puree and leeks, and then you get the dark meat in a small bowl like a stew. It was amazing, and its stellar reputation is well-earned.

8. Cheddar garlic roll from Piroshky Piroshky (Seattle, WA)

I'm not big on waiting in line for food, but we waited for Piroshky Piroshky. We had tried their salmon pate piroshky years ago when a relative gave one to us to try, so we got that again along with some other stuff that looked good. While the salmon one was as good as we remembered, what we really loved was the cheddar garlic roll. Layers of perfectly chewy pastry with cheddar cheese, garlic, and scallions, it was a combination of some of my favorite things. We went back again on the day we left to get some more, because it was just that good.

9. Sisig tacos from various spots around NYC

We don't have any Filipino restaurants in our neighborhood (last year or now), so before last year, we only ended up getting Filipino food once in a (very long) while. Last summer, we got some sisig tacos at a street fair, and that ended up kicking off an unplanned summer of Filipino food exploration. We got so much Filipino food last summer, everything from halo halo to sisig bangus to chicken adobo to buko pandan, but of course, more sisig tacos all over the place. They may not be traditional Filipino cuisine, but they're fun to eat and delicious.

10. Sockeye salmon sashimi from Sushi Itoga (Vancouver, BC)

Last but certainly not least, the sockeye salmon sashimi from Sushi Itoga in Vancouver. Sushi Itoga was another one of those must-try things I put on our Vancouver list. It was a small spot where you ordered sushi at the counter, and then they brought it to your table. Even better, it was incredibly affordable. We got six rolls, a plate of sashimi, seaweed salad, and the included miso soup and tea for like US $35. Even better than the price was the quality. That sashimi was so fresh, and it was so soft that it really just melted in our mouths. (I realize I said the same thing about Miku, but it's true.) We went there on our last day in Vancouver, and we were talking about the sashimi the entire way back to Seattle on the train.

There you have it, my favorite food memories of 2017. Somehow it took over four months to put it into words, but it's finally done!

Week 26 - Philippines

We've had the Memories of Philippine Kitchens book on our shelf for some time now, ever since I got a complimentary copy at a work event. I've always wanted to investigate the recipes in that book, as we're not that familiar with Filipino cuisine, but never got around to it. When the theme for Week 26 was announced - the Philippines - I knew that I wouldn't have to go searching around the internet for recipes. I had the perfect book at home already!

CHICKEN ADOBO

Adobo is one of the most famous dishes in Filipino cuisine. We've never had it before, so it seemed like the most logical choice for the challenge. It was also one of the few dishes in the book that I was confident that I had the materials and ingredients to make. Surveying a bunch of adobo recipes, this seems like a fairly standard combination, other than the coconut milk, which sounds like a regional variation. We were happy to be able to try a traditional version for our first time.

The marinade for the adobo consisted of:

- 1.5 cups rice vinegar ($1.50)

- 1 cup coconut milk ($0.50)

- 1/4 cup soy sauce ($0.35)

- 1 head of garlic (plus a couple extra cloves), crushed ($0.20)

- 3 bay leaves ($0.10)

- 1.5 tsp freshly ground black pepper ($0.10)

Once the marinade was mixed together, I cut up and added 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts and 2 boneless skinless chicken thighs (about $4, bringing the chicken side of this to about $6.75) to the bowl. I refrigerated it for about 5-6 hours. I was hoping to marinate the meat overnight but some of the chicken was still frozen and I didn't want to be up until 2 am waiting for it to thaw. When we were ready to start cooking, I just transferred the marinade and chicken into a Dutch oven and turned the heat up to high.

After the mixture starts boiling, you reduce the heat to a simmer, and let the chicken cook, stirring every so often to make sure the chicken stays covered. After about 20 minutes, the chicken should be cooked and tender. At that point, transfer the chicken to a separate bowl or plate, and turn the heat up to medium high to allow the sauce to reduce. I let it go for quite a while until it was very thick. 

Once the sauce was the thickness I was looking for, I put the chicken back into the pot and coated it with the sauce, waiting for the rice to be done. The way I had timed everything, I thought both the chicken and the rice would be done at the same time, but I was wrong.

Cooking chicken adobo is basically braising it in a vinegar-based sauce. I really like braising as a cooking technique, so this was right up my alley. We liked the chicken adobo, but the vinegar was definitely very heavy. We like vinegar, but this was a ton of vinegar! That said, this recipe felt like a success. The only thing that was weird was that the garlic was still a little hard and crunchy after all that braising. I was expecting it to be soft like roasted garlic, but it wasn't at all. Is that how it should be?

MUSHROOM AND BAMBOO SHOOT RICE

According to the book's authors, they serve their chicken adobo with this mushroom and bamboo shoot rice. Well, if they do that, why shouldn't I do the same? I had all the ingredients already, since I bought a can of bamboo shoots ages ago and stocked up on shiitake mushrooms in Chicago, so it was a great idea for an accompaniment. I changed it up a little bit by using brown rice instead of jasmine rice, but otherwise only made small adaptations. Since there were only 2 of us, we probably shouldn't have made the full 3 cups of rice since we still have some leftovers, but lesson for next time.

For the rice, we used:

- 3 cups brown rice ($2)
- 2 spoonfuls of coconut oil for sauteing ($0.30)
- 1 onion, finely chopped ($0.60)
- 2 small carrots, small dice ($0.40)
- 4 garlic cloves, minced ($0.10)
- a few handfuls of dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated, stemmed and thinly sliced ($1.25)
- 1 can (10 oz drained) of bamboo shoots, chopped ($1)
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric ($0.12)
- 6.5 cups of water (including water from rehydrating the mushrooms) ($0)
- salt and pepper to taste ($0.10)

The rice portion came out to about $5.87, which meant the total for dinner was about $12.62. Not terrible considering we had rice for days and days, so much that we still haven't finished it and I'm not sure if it's any good anymore.

According to the recipe, the rice should have taken 30-35 minutes to cook. I'm not sure if it's because we used brown rice instead of jasmine, but in order for it to fully cook through, it took us closer to an hour and I had to add more water halfway through. The basic steps were:

1. Heat coconut oil in large saucepan.
2. Add onion and carrot. Cook over medium high heat until softened.
3. Add garlic. Cook another minute.
4. Add mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and turmeric. Cook until mushrooms give off liquid. (I forgot the turmeric here but added it in the next step instead. Not sure if that makes a difference.)

5. Add (washed) rice and water (4.5 cups). Add salt and pepper, and bring to boil over high heat.
6. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium low, cover, and simmer until liquid is absorbed.
7. If rice still needs to cook longer, add more water and continue to simmer until liquid is absorbed.
8. Take pan off heat and fluff rice. Cover and let stand. Adjust seasonings if necessary (I should have added more salt and pepper.)

The rice was okay. It was really good with the adobo, but on its own, it was a bit boring. It was nice having rice with vegetables in it and the texture was okay, but it wasn't that flavorful on its own.

WEEK 26 OVERALL

This was my first time cooking Filipino cuisine and I think it went well. We enjoyed the adobo with its thick tangy sauce on top of the rice, but didn't love the rice on its own because of the lack of seasoning. Overall, it was good though.

Would we make this again? Maybe. We liked it but when it comes to braising chicken, we preferred the carbonnade from Belgian week a bit more since the chicken wasn't drowning in vinegar and probably would make that again first. I'd like to try cooking more Filipino dishes, maybe some pancit or lumpia. It's definitely a cuisine I want to learn more about.