Gimbap!!! YUM!!!

Lunch for today! For my family, but, since I don't eat rice, I only ate the vegetables.. :)))

Make-shift Gimbap

Gimbap is a futomaki (Japanese) derivative from Korea. There's really no distinct difference between the two except from their origin. The Futomaki is from Japan and the Gimbap (or Kimbap) is from Korea. The dish is just steamed white rice (gim) layered with other ingredients and rolled with dried laver seaweed (bap). It is commonly served with danmuji, or kimchi, which are both pickled something.

Both the Koreans and the Japanese make this dish to serve in picnics and/or as light-lunch. I prepared this for my family today, because I needed to consume the left-over Japanese Mayonnaise from yesterday (Kani Salad). Its pretty easy to prepare, a 5-year-od child can prepare this!

First is, of course, you secure the ingredients needed to make the dish. You will need: Seaweed, Meat (any meat will do! Pork, beef, chicken, even processed meat!), vegetables (I would, however, prefer you use pickled vegetables, it adds favor), and of course, the steamed rice! The steamed rice should be sticky, the east Asians have a variety of rice that becomes sticky when cooked, but you can just as well use the plain white rice! You can make it sticky by adding 2-4 tablespoon of rice vinegar when you cook it, depending on how strong the available vinegar is (you don't want your rice to be sour). Make sure also that the other ingredients are already cleaned and cooked (if necessary), 'cause after your rice is cooked, you would only need 10 minutes to prepare it, and I find it really tasty when you serve it hot! You must also prepare a Sushi Mat for this dish, it is easily available in supermarkets for not more than 250 Php ($5). A picture of a sushi mat is shown below, so for those of you who hasn't seen it, you would know what to look for.

Got this picture form the internet, by searching: sushi mat

You first place the laver seaweed on top of the mat and spread rice over it. Then place the other ingredients on top of the rice in a single horizontal manner on about an inch from the end of the mat. Then you roll it, using the mat, starting from where the ingredients are closer! You can add vinegar to the other end of the seaweed to make it stick. Anyways, I won't go to the details, since I was not able to take photos of the preparation, and since I did not really prepare for a tutorial.. :))

The dish is perfect for those who are always in a hurry! You can prepare it a day before and bring it as your lunch to where ever it is you planned on going, be it the office, the school, or even the mall (for those who are not into fastfoods). It's delicious and its fun to do!!! You can even invite anyone to do it with you! YUM!!!

Kani Salad!!! YUM!!!

 Lunch for today.. :)

 

Kani Salad

A Japanese inspired salad. Kani which translates to crab in the English language is one of the main ingredients in the Japanese Cuisine, actually, make that Asian Cuisines.

The Japanese however invented a substitute of the crab meat in 1973, Sugiyo Co. Ltd, is the first Japanese company that release the imitation crab meat in the said year. They called it Kanikama, which is actually fish meat pulvurized and shaped to resemble crab leg meat. The kanikama is an example of a kamaboko, the collective term for food products made from pureed surimi (ground meat) of white fish.

I prepared this dish myself! I used fresh romaine lettuce, carrots, cucumber, and of course, kanikama; shredded to bite size. I just mixed it in a bowl, added Japanese Mayonnaise, a teaspoon of Apple Cider Vinegar to add sting. A pack of kanikama can make a serving good enough for 5 people to share.

Preparing it was fun, especially when you shredded the crab meat and the vegetables using your hands (hinihimay), which is a custom here in the Philippines. Anyway, not much to say about this tasty dish, aside from, IT TASTES INCREDIBLY DELICIOUS!!! I ought to make another one soon and bring it to school to share with my friends, I'm pretty sure they'll also love it... 

Try making this, and by the way, serve it chilled, it tastes better that way! :)) YUM!!! 

My Lunch Today.. YUM!!!

I've been blogging for almost 8 hours now, and I didn't know that it could be so much fun! I know I'm supposed to be studying for our prelims next week, but the weather just won't let me get in the mood for that... so anyways here is my lunch for today...

Since the weather won't allow us to go to the market and buy more food, my mom just cooked whatever was left in the freezer...

First Dish:

Tilapia

Tilapia is a fresh water fish belonging to a cichlidae family. Filipinos, I think especially Bicolanos,  are fond of fried tilapia. Its affordable and its easy to prepare/cook. We first have to clean the fish, tilapia vendors commonly clean the fish when they sell it, The remove the inedible parts like the intestines, the gills, and whatnot. My mom removes the jaw whenever she cooks it, she says that it ensures that even the insides of the fish are cooked, and that it removes the fishy (malasa) smell and taste of the fish.

 

Seasoning the fish is also a breeze, you can either choose to just season it with salt, or you can do it using other seasoning mixes that are commercially available. First you must, cut the fish so that its flesh is exposed, like how it is shown in the picture, than you just spread the salt/seasoning mix using your palm on the fish, do this on both sides of the fish. Then let it soak on the seasoning (manuot), maybe for about 3 hours, or you can just go ahead and fry it immediately if you are not so much in to waiting. Filipinos are used into soaking their foods in seasonings, especially the fried ones, and while they are waiting, they use this time to cook another dish. The seasoned tilapia is then deep-fried in oil, i suggest you use vegetable oil, or canola oil, there's no rationale for it, I just think that it tastes better. My mom once used Olive Oil, and I didn't like it.

 

Next Dish:

Mung Bean Stew (Mongo Stew)

Another all-time favorite in the Philippines. Mung Bean is a leguminous plant in the Fabaceae family. It grows easily on any wet environment, even on a wet cotton, but don't expect that it will live long if you plant it in cotton. Anyways, mung bean stew is perfect for cold weather, just like the weather our place is currently experiencing (southwest monsoon rains). Cooking mung bean stew is pretty easy but requires good tongue, so you can know what it lacks when you taste it. The mung beans, is first cleaned and soaked in water for about 2-5 hours, you then removed the floating mung beans (I don't know why they do that, i just know that they do). You then let it simmer until the beans are soft enough to last another cooking with the ingredients. I'm not really familiar with the steps on cooking this dish, so I'll just go ahead and tell you that it is TASTY! Or maybe I'm just biased, this is my common carbohydrate source, since I don't eat rice (a staple food of the Filipinos), it is also high in proteins, so I find it energizing when I go to gym. Best served hot! 

Enjoy!!! YUM!!!

Eggplant Omelet (Tortang Talong) YUM!!!

Eggplant Omelet (Tortang Talong)

This is a common Filipino food, I'm not sure if other countries also make this kind of omelet. Most Filipinos tasted this food, this is one of my favorite dish that my mom cooks, especially when my aunt in Bicol sends us eggplants (a lot of it - 5 kilos or so). Mom first tasted this when Dad's mother cooked it for her, since she told her that she hasn't tasted the dish.

The eggplant is first cleaned using tap water. It is then grilled, others use the traditional griller found all over the country, others use torch, my mom uses the electric stove, she just let the eggplant sit on top of it and just flip it every 3 minutes, if the eggplant is of good quality, it will soften in about 20 minutes, but since most eggplants today are infested with worms (uod), it takes more than thirty minutes to completely make it soft enough. The worms in the eggplants are not harmful, its even nutritious enough that it can be a meal in itself (but I would reserve that for another entry). Grilling/torching the eggplant using any of those techniques I've mentioned doesn't affect the taste, its more on which method is more convenient for you. after grilling the eggplants, it is then peeled, we don't need the peelings so we discard it. Then using a common fork, press the eggplant to an almost flat oblong. We then dip it in a seasoned beaten eggs (1 medium size egg can coat 1 medium size eggplant), then fry it. Since the eggplants were already grilled, you only need to wait for the beaten eggs to be cooked, others prefer steaming the egplants before frying it, but that's not our style.. :))

Anyways, if you haven't tasted this dish, then you should find a canteen (carinderia) and ask for it! You won't be disappointed. If you are, however, from a far away land, and planning to visit the Philippines, you shouldn't miss the opportunity to taste this!

Introduction.. Yum!!!

Hi there!!! This is a Food Blog. Everything that will be posted in this blog are those that the owner of this blog as already tasted and/or cooked/prepared.

About the owner:

Hi! My name if Ezra Rey Ramos, I am a senior BS Chemistry student in the University of Santo Tomas in Manila. I love to eat, and whenever I do, I make it a point that I eat at restaurants I haven't eaten before, or if I ever eat at those I've already visited, I order the foods that I haven' tasted yet. I eat almost everything edible, with a few exceptions such as: blood-based dishes (dinuguan), intestines that are not thoroughly cleaned, and raw to half-cooked internal organs. Most of the times, I ask a friend to come and enjoy the voluptuous meal with me. I take pictures of the dishes I order. Unfortunately, I only now thought of starting a food blog, but since I really want to share the great finds in the metro, and sometimes around the metro, since I also love to travel, I decided to make this blog.

About the foods:

Some of the foods that will be posted were cooked/prepared by the owner  of this blog, some are of his mother's. Foods that are bought will be specified; place/restaurants and the name of the food (so you will know what to order).

I will post my reviews about the foods, and I'll try to make it as objective as possible, I will also try to include the ingredients used to cook/prepare the foods. I do, however, apologize if I won't be able to give you the details of other posts, for some of the post are taken way in the past, and was not able to list the names of such dishes.

Disclaimer:

I own all the photos that will be posted in this blog from here on out, unless otherwise specified. I take pictures using my camera phone so these are photos are rightfully mine. If any stores/food corporations/restaurants want their dishes remove, just give me good reason and I'll be happy to oblige.. :))


So, anyways, enjoy your stay and don't hesitate to ask me anything about a post...