Spicy Adob-Ooooh!

My Pork Adobo marinade. THE ingredient--Garlic. Lots of it.

Definitely not for the halal dieters. :)

Mystic Istanbul

I am, as we speak, watching Waterfront Cities of the World---and I just couldn't fathom how amazing it is that Istanbul sits right in between the continents of Europe and Asia. You can practically go to the border of both continents via boat. Just imagine--experiencing different cultures in one place at its absolute purest form. There is just something so mystic about Turkey--something that hugely sets apart from Iran, Iraq, Palestine and other neighboring Middle Eastern countries. It's more than the Hagia Sophia and the notorious Islam culture that altogether keeps me fueled with curiousity and fills me with disgruntlement. It's just a complex explanation. I am intrigued.

(And by god, how many languages does Heidi Hollinger speak?!)

Look What I Found!

Oh yeeees!!! Those are, nonetheless, mushrooms, mushrooms, and more mushrooms! All that you may find in Robinson's Supermarket Magnolia, located in Aurora blvd. corner Dona Hemady. They have portabello, flat oyster, Korean mushrooms... My face totally lit up! Too bad I was in a hurry and did not get the chance to look around. I had my eyes quickly scan nearby shelves and racks though---and from the looks of it, that Supermarket seemed complete and by complete, I also mean abundant (or did the fresh deliveries just arrive?). But like I said, it WAS a brief trip and my first at that, so we'll see if the grocery lives up to my expectations on my second trip. I shall keep you posted. :)

Shiitake Mushroom Melt Sandwich

I am an avid TLC viewer and this recipe was an inspiration from Everyday Exotic host Roger Mooking. At that time, I was thinking of alternatives for pork meat and--mushroom is the best alternative by far. Just like pork, it is chewy, naturally salty in taste, and it is a very flexible ingredient, something that you can use in just about any concoction. As Roger puts it--it can be an obedient ingredient. 

*I won't be putting the exact measurements for the ingredients as it may vary depending on your taste.

Here are the ingredients: 

Diced/ Semi-chopped Fresh Shiitake mushroom (or you may use King Oyster)

Minced Garlic

Semi-chopped Onion leeks

A tablespoonful of Fresh or Dried Thyme

A tablespoonful of Chopped Parsley

Butter

Salt 

Pepper

Quick-melt Cheese

Bread

Procedure:

1. On a pre-heated pan put a little cooking oil and then add the butter. *Putting a little cooking oil prevents the butter from burning. 

2. Add the garlic and onion leeks. Let it sweat for a minute.

3. Add the mushrooms. Slowly stir. Let it cook for at least 3-5 minutes. If you are using oyster mushrooms let it brown a little.

4. Add the thyme, chopped parsley and season it with a pinch of salt and pepper.

5. And finally, add the diced quick-melt cheese. Let it melt and gradually stir everything.

I tweaked Roger Mooking's recipe to be able to perfectly pull it off. Originally, he used King Oyster Mushrooms but since it was not available, I replaced it with shiitake. Another is, instead of using goat cheese, I opted to use Magnolia Quick Melt Cheese which was cheaper and easier to find. Also, instead of bruschetta, I went for toasted bread.

Shiitake Mushroom Melt Sandwich ready to be devoured. :)

Simple. Fast. Easy. Yummy. :)

Finding Shrooms

Mushroom--an underrated ingredient in Filipino cuisine. Why so? For the very fact that not a lot of supermarkets or groceries here in Manila sell fresh mushrooms. I have been to 2 SM branches and 1 Puregold branch for the past 2 days and neither of those groceries have fresh shiitake/ portabello/ king oyster mushrooms. I got even more ticked off when they offered me a canned mushroom by Jolly. Call me cocky or an ass but canned mushrooms seriously taste so bland and look really sad. Fresh mushrooms on the other hand, have always been much tastier--it has natural umami taste and it is much more nutritious nonetheless. I thought maybe I was looking in the wrong places. See when I initially tried this mushroom recipe (that I am about to unveil shortly) I went to Rustan's to buy those varieties of mushrooms. So this morning, off, I went to a Rustan's supermarket branch. And guess what I ended up buying---

Hahaha! After belittling the poor canned mushroom it seemed like I got a taste of my own medicine. I hate to say that I had no choice. I wondered why there was a major scarcity of fresh mushrooms around Manila--and then it dawned on me that a typhoon just recently hit our city. Deliveries were probably cancelled (you get the picture). So I settled for those guys up there. Good thing they were shiitake. Now lets get down to cooking (please see entry no.2).