Miscellany

Over a period of time we have collected a few bits and pieces relevant to food which might satisfy our readers’ quest for culinary satisfaction. Here are some of them.

Mama Sita’s Cookbook. On a leisurely day, we went through our cooking library and picked one at random. It was Mama Sita’s and since we thought our brood might have become a bit bored with our traditional menus, we leafed through the pages and found three interesting recipes which we immediately tried one after another. One is called Spicy Sitao, which gave a new twist–chili and sesame oil–to this long bean. The other is Naiibang Lumpia or Vietnamese rolls, done with tengang daga and vermicelli noodles. Note that tengang daga, when soaked "mushrooms" (pardon the term, not intended as pun) into a rather large size, therefore do not use all 50 gms in each packet The third one is fried bean curd with oyster sauce, button mushrooms and spring onions. All are seemingly ordinary dishes, but the taste is enhanced by the use of the many mixes sold under the Mama Sita brand. Stock up on them, they’ll come handy when you cook her recipes. Those interested might want to look it up or get a copy from any bookstore.

Don’t be impressed by foreign branding on the meat sold in some supermarkets. We recently purchased a pack of so-called rib eye steak from Brazil and got greatly disappointed. It was so tough we minced the left-overs and made it into soup (almondigas). Yes, we should be innovative instead of throwing away unwanted food stuff.

Ansang’s Pancit is one of the best we had recently. It is sold on the street where the Parañaque City hall is. A big bilao, good for 20/30 persons, costs P500. We gathered that Ansang has been in the business (in Bulacan) for a long time and has established a good reputation among its clientele. Individual servings are also available.

At Rustans, if you are checking out through the Express Lane, be sure to have cash. They don’t accept credit cards in this counter. It was in this store (Makati) that we found the lumpia wrapper-type pastry puff flavored with onions. This is fried in very little oil, taken as is , or with a thin spread of tomato-based dip. Incidentally, we are rather confused about Rustan’s corporate name. It seems they have discarded the possessive ‘s’ in a few of their branding efforts while retaining it in some outlets/promo materials.

Ylai’s Seafood Depot is new at Market!Market! beside Dizon’s, a bit off Pelican. They have seasoned bangus and some other specialties.

Strawberries are back and so are imported fresh cherries. But we did not have the conscience to get the latter as they were selling at P1,050.00 a kilo. It was the same feeling we had about the jumbo prawns of one vendor in the BF wet market who priced them at over P900 a kilo; one bite might cost you nearly P50! We got Demet’s, at a good P200 less.

Metro Supermarket, also at Market!Market! is such a huge one that the few times we were there, we did not know they had a section offering foreign brands. We discovered that only recently. It is at the farthest end, if you use the main entrance where the fountain is. We got soft tofu for another new dish we would soon try.

Mangoes, at an all-time high of P85 to P90 a kilo, are not very good these days. In our younger years, we were told that once it rained mangoes would not ripen well. Apparently this is true. We’ve gotten fruits that were lovely on the outside but spoiled inside. Laga as they say in Tagalog, meaning the flesh is discolored and rotten.

For those who want fruits as regular desserts, canned longan, rambutan and lychees are good substitutes for the fresh ones. They are in light syrup and are available in practically all the supermarkets. It is good to have them in stock.

Amalia, the lady behind the kitchens of La Tasca, Minggoy’s and Una Mas, is now in BF Homes Parañaque, on Aguirre Avenue, in a cozy place with only a few tables, serving delicious paella and other Spanish dishes. Reasonably priced as well with efficient service.

"Bakery and Catering World 2006" starts off the year’s many such events. It will be held at the World Trade Center on January 19 and 20. Organizers are Premuim Events Plus. Call 929-7993 (ask for David Ty).

Our family being pancit fanciers, we need to look up the Pansit Malabon Express, supposedly a company that has been operating for the last 100 years! An outlet is in the basement of St Francis Square, open to those who want to be franchisees. Call 521-7403. They have the noodles in bilaos, in what they call Fiesta Meals. Also on their menu are Lumpiang Malabon, Lechon Malabon, Tahong Nuggets and Kare-kare.