Now and Zen, so light and healthy

He who eats like a pig should not marry one who eats like a bird," said Confucius.

Okay, I made that up. When I say like a pig, I don’t mean one who slurps and smacks his food, but simply one who loves to pig out.

That’s me, admittedly. My love for food goes beyond eating. I love doing the marketing as well, and cooking at home. I am not ashamed to admit that I clean the fridge myself, while my wife cleans the car. And I must say, we both excel in our departments. Speaking of role reversals.

When I have gone through all the trouble of preparing and cooking the day’s fare, I expect my creation to be devoured and appreciated. Thus, I can never imagine myself being married to a perennial dieter who will be happy with just a plate of greens while I attack a whole lechon de leche. That will be a good ground for divorce – incompatibility on the table! Thank God, Mary Ann and I are both fond of food.

About a month ago, we found ourselves in good old reliable Zen in Glorietta 4, Makati. It was one of those nights when we were not particularly hungry for dinner, or, at least, not craving for anything in particular. Times like these, we let our feet drag us to wherever they fancy. Our feet stopped outside Zen, as we looked at the menu displayed by the door announcing their summer offerings and new dishes.

"Oh, we gotta try these," said Mary Ann.

Being Zen regulars, we were familiar with their regular menu, which we always enjoy, as it is consistently very good. The waiter showed us their two month-old summer menu. As we browsed through it, our appetite slowly built up and we started to get hungry. We agreed to only order from the summer menu and the chef’s offerings, except for our son Nico, who is not as adventurous and ordered his Zen favorite, tenderloin steak donburi.

For starters, we had cold white noodles, somen with crabmeat. It was a refreshingly welcome treat, like a cool drink on a hot summer day.

Next came oyster tepan, grilled and served with ponzu sauce. The oysters are imported from Japan, and it was no wonder they were fat and succulent. Local oysters are not at their best this time of the year. We usually get the big fat ones starting with the —ber months, especially the ones from Capiz.

A Zen dragon maki followed. It was a sushi roll with pieces of unagi (grilled eel) and ripe mango bits inside, similar to a California maki.

Then it was seared tuna presented beautifully on a plate, much like an ikebana arrangement. Slices of the lightly-cooked fresh tuna were wrapped around small bunches kaiware or mustard sprouts, and sprinkled with a light soy vinaigrette dressing. This dish is a salad in itself, a wonderful contrast of tastes and textures, yet so light you would want to have more of it.

A plate of broiled halibut in teriyaki sauce followed. I loved the rich buttery taste of the halibut, just like the gindara or black cod fish. Beef rolls with mushrooms came next. An uni (sea urchin) tempura capped our meal. The uni was stuffed in rolled narrow sheets of nori, dipped in batter, and then deep-fried. Though this is a novel idea, somehow the uni doesn’t lend itself well to cooking. It is best eaten fresh. The cooked uni was hardly discernable, I must say.

After dinner, Mary Ann and I looked at each other and said "And we thought we were not hungry." Before dinner, we just came out of the movie house, where we had a tall bucket of buttered popcorn. As they say "It is very hard to impress a full stomach." Still, we were indeed impressed and we enjoyed dinner tremendously.

Zen’s new summer menu and chef’s choices are so now – they’re so light and healthy, even for the calorie conscious.