The I-don’t-like-Arroz-Caldo recipe

The Arroz Caldo (chicken congee or porridge) is a bowl of comfort for millions of Filipinos out there. Perhaps the counter part of chicken noodle soup from the North Americas, it is a cure all for the sick. It is also a warm hug for the grieving, often present during memorial services, especially in the chilly evenings.

Unfortunately, the Arroz Caldo does not earn a coveted spot in my line-up of comfort foods. It not one of my favorite Filipino dishes. In fact, I don’t like it. There’s something about dishes with boiled chicken, especially those with the bumpy skin on, that have me heading for the hills. *insert Goofy yoddle here*

But then as The Husband and I were menu planning, he wanted arroz caldo to rid our wee pantry of the not-so yummy jasmine rice we bought. Then arroz caldo it is…Gulp!

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A corny Purefoods corned beef post

I will be perfectly honest that I just do not feel like blogging right now. I am dead tired after deciding to vacuum and scrub down our floors on all floors in order to remove the collecting dust from the past two weekend’s sandstorms. My eyes are droopy already with my head bobbing up and down as I struggle to finish today’s post.

Oh, did I mention that I also did writing work and cook on top of my Cinderella duties? Tired…

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There’s something about Monggo

Ginisang Monggo (mung bean soup / stew)

What is it about monggo that we Filipinos adore? I just can’t seem to pin it down.

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I drink blood, but I ain’t a vampire…yet.

Image from www.garibay.tumblr.com

It’s 4AM and I am still wide awake. That’s my body clock these past few days: wide awake at night and asleep in the mornings. I’ve made it a commitment to join The Husband in the constant changes of work schedule to ensure that we both enjoy peaceful, restful sleep together in our wee studio flat, where the tiniest noise is the doom of the lightest of sleepers like The Husband dearest. And so here I am wide awake and still very full after a bloody meal. Literally a bloody meal.

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The horror of misleading Filipino food headlines on foreign publications

Image from munchpunch of www.photobucket.com

I was so disappointed, or maybe more like appalled, on how the Gulf News did this feature on “Demystifying Filipino food”. Sure, the feature was 2-minutes long, but you can do a LOT of demystifying in that period of time…

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Will the real Chicken Halang-Halang please stand up?

Will you please stand up??? (Image from icanhascheezburger.com)

Today, I encountered a Filipino dish I have NEVER EVER heard about or tasted (at least to my knowledge). I am now a Chicken Halang-halang virgin no more…

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The perfect partner to a cloudy Dubai day

Pork Sinigang soup on a cloudy Dubai day. I know...the oil!

When I woke up this noon (I am by heart a morning person, but adjustments have to be made due to the shifting with The Husband’s work schedule) and got mighty disoriented. I wasn’t sure if I was Dubai anymore. No sunshine streaming from the gaps between our curtains. No creeping heat that makes me want to turn on the air conditioning. Was I back in damp and dreary tropical Manila? This was perfect bed weather I knew and loved so dearly, the kind that makes you want to crawl back into bed and just stay there all day.

But I could not stay in bed because I had to cook brunch, which was a perfect partner to such a lazy, cloudy desert Winter’s day.

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5 things I realized about Filipino Cuisine

Our Filipino merienda (snack) feast at Delmon Restaurant in Karama, Dubai UAE

I am Filipino and I eat Filipino cuisine often, but I don’t claim to be an expert in it. I know what I eat from my own learnings based on what was imparted to me by my food loving parents and my own food experiences from travels around the home country. Tonight, I even learned more about my home cuisine as I explained it to a good foodie friend, who was patient enough to hear more about my Filipino food stories and observations for the 2nd time around.

Here are some of the learnings I’ve realized over the our 2nd Filipino dinner together:

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Papaitan for my sweet!

If Tony Bourdain enjoyed it, so should I? (Image from spankyenriquez.blogspot.com)

My father always described Papaitan to us, children, with much gusto. I guess because he knew how our faces would transform from happy-shiny-people happy to just plain disgusted. He explained that farmers would gather the secret ingredient of this dish, bile, by squeezing out the half digested grass in their stomachs. Lose your appetite already? Sounds awful, doesn’t it? I swore that I would never let my palate come close to such monstrosity. Well, until I got married that is…

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Project 30: Why breakfast is the most important meal of the day

My mama said: Breakfast is IMPORTANT." (image from www.allabouteggs.com)

My mama told me that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It was the day’s pacesetter, filling up the body with it’s much needed energy to get through the challenges ahead. She made sure that we never left the house without a good hearty plate of breakfast. My mama trained us well that I grew up to be a certified breakfast lover.

But as I started the working life at 22 years of age, sadly, breakfast somehow slipped out of my daily routine. I wake up, take a shower, dress up and rush to the office with no breakfast every single day. It’s a shame, but how can someone shake off a 22-year old habit? Sadly, it is possible. The same way it is easy to shake off my heritage here in Dubai…

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