Tag: food

Sarap at Home

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On December 18, 2009

There’s a new TV show in town called “Sarap at Home” which stars Sam Oh and Chef Nino Logarta. “Sarap at Home” is different from other cooking shows in that it is like a sitcom. It presents the lives of 2 friends and neighbors.

In every episode, 2 friends encounter a dilemma. They end up cooking a delicious & easy-to-prepare dish that compliment the situation perfectly. Various celebrities are invited to appear in each episode as well.

I’m glad that I was able to attend “Sarap at Home” press launch yesterday. I was able to meet the people behind the show and ofcourse, the hosts, Sam Oh & Chef Nino.

sarap at home host

“Sarap at Home” features Chef Nino creating recipes using San Marino Corned Tuna. Other CDO products are going to be featured as well like CDO Liver Spread, CDO Mayo & CDO Hams.

During the press launch, Chef Nino and Sam showed us how to make San Marino Chili Corned Tuna Dinamita w/ Guapa dipping Sauce. At first, I asked where the tuna was then found out after biting that it was inside the green chili 😛 I can tell you this: it was delicious and it was not spicy at all.

cooking demo

Here’s the recipe & it’s very easy to follow as the ingredients are mostly items that we have in our pantry. In my previous post, you can find more San Marino Corned Tuna recipes. I hope you enjoy them.

San Marino Chili Corned Tuna Dinamita w/ Guava Dipping Sauce

tuna dinamita

Ingredients:
8-10 pieces green chilis
1 can San Marino Spicy Corned Tuna
1 cup grated cheese
1 plum tomato diced
1/3 red onion diced
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
8-10 large wanton wrappers
1/2 cup guava jelly
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/2 cup water
oil for deep frying

Procedures:

Slit the chilis lengthwise & take out all the seed inside.
Mix the San Marino Corned Tuna with tomatoes, onions & cilantro & a lil cheese as a binder.
Stuff tuna mixture into chilis & add more cheese into slit opening.
Wrap chilis in wonton wrappers & deep fry until golden brown.
Season w/ salt once taken out of jail.
For dip, dilute guava jelly w/ lemon juice & water & simmer until incorporated.
Garnish dish w/ additional cilantro leaves.

Pictures from the Sarap at Home Press Launch can be found here.

Sarap at Home airs weekdays at 10:50AM, 6:20PM & 9:20PM, saturdays at 2:10PM, 5:50PM & 7:50PM & sundays at 2:10PM, 5:50PM & 9:20PM on QTV Channel 11.

Official Website of Rochelle Sy Chua where she talks about her travel experiences in Taipei, Taiwan, Philippines and Asia, as well as her adventures in food and restaurants

San Marino Corned Tuna Recipes

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On December 18, 2009

I was given several recipes during the Sarap at Home event yesterday. The recipes featured San Marino Corned Tuna. I tried one of the dishes and I found it to be delicious! Let me share with you some of the recipes here in this post.

But before that, I wanted to let you know what I learned. Apparently, corned tuna doesn’t have corn! Corned tuna means the tuna is processed. I’m still kinda confused though as anything that is put into a can is processed so it’s still a mystery to me. A blogger pointed out that corned tuna has more salt than the normal canned tuna. Well, I don’t really care much but this I can say, I like the taste of San Marino Corned Tuna.

I already asked my cook Lucy to try out the different recipes using San Marino Corned Tuna that we have right now in the house. So I hope you find this useful too! 🙂

Tuna Canapes

tuna canapes

Ingredients:
1 can San Marino Corned Tuna
10-12 pcs. wonton wrappers
5-6 grapes, halved lengthwise
Cayenne pepper
salt
1/4 cup cream
1/4 cup cream cheese
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped chives

Procedure:

Dust wonton wrapper w/ cayenne pepper & fry until golden brown. Season w/ salt right after cooking.
Whip cream cheese until soft.
Mix cream cheese, cream & chives w/ San Marino Corned Tuna.
Spoon tuna mixture on fried wontons & add 1/2 a grape to each canape.
Garnish w/ extra chopped chives.

Basil Spaghetti

basil spaghetti

Ingredients:
100g spaghetti
20g sun dried tomatoes chopped
10g red onions sliced into
1/4 inch rings
10g minced garlic
1 can San Marino Corned Tuna
10g basil
2-3 tablespoon olive oil
20g parmesan cheese
5g parsley for garnish
Salt
Pepper

Procedure:

Cook spaghetti according to package directions.
Sautee the onions & garlic in olive oil.
Add the San Marino Corned Tuna & tomatoes & continue sauteing for 3-4mins.
Season w/ salt & pepper.
Turn off the heat & toss in basil & mix.
Plate & garnish w/ parmesan cheese & parsley.

Tuna Nachos

tuna nachos

Ingredients:
1 bag nacho chips
1 can San Marino Corned Tuna
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon cumin
Salt & pepper to taste
1 cup shredded iceberg lettuce
1/4 cup sliced black olives
1/2 cup melted cheese sauce
1/2 cup ready-made tomato salsa
1/4 cup cup diced mango
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/8 cup sliced jalapeno peppers

Procedure:

Heat olive oil & saute San Marino Corned Tuna for 2-3 minutes. Season w/ Paprika, cumin, salt & pepper.
On a large plate, layer shredded lettuce then top w/ the nacho chips.
Evenly layer on top the rest of the ingredients except for the grated cheese.
Top w/ Corned Tuna & finally layer the grated cheese on top.

Official Website of Rochelle Sy Chua where she talks about her travel experiences in Taipei, Taiwan, Philippines and Asia, as well as her adventures in food and restaurants

Modern Toilet Taipei

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On December 16, 2009

Modern Toilet
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886 (02) 23118822

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Would you eat food that was served in a mini toilet bowl? Would you drink from a urinal? The dinner that we ate at Modern Toilet Restaurant in Taipei was our most memorable one from our Taipei trip! I guess that’s because the concept of Modern Toilet is very unique, cute and something we cannot forget!

To be honest, I totally forgot that we were hungry because I was too busy appreciating the design of Modern Toilet Restaurant. The chairs were specifically designed toilet bowl. The table was a shower with bathtub that was covered in glass.

moderntoiletdesign

Then it hit me, if their restaurant is designed to look like a toilet, what would their washroom look like? I later found out that their faucet was actually a toilet bowl that had a water faucet attached to it!

moderntoiletwashroom

All that was a signal that Modern Toilet Restaurant is an interesting & innovative place! 🙂 Considering that this restaurant is a totally unique concept, I was thinking that it might cost us a lot. Looking at their menu, the price are very reasonable. It was affordable for all of us!

Here are what we ordered:

Modern Toilet Chicken Curry (190NT)

Do you see that thingy that looks like “shit”? Guess what? It’s the appetizer which was some vegetable.

German Smoked Chicken with Cream Sauce (200NT)

Modern Toilet Combination Hotpot (260NT)

We ordered beef hotpot though we could have ordered pork (w/c was cheaper by 10NT) or seafood (290NT). I remember that the taste was nice, I was really so distracted with how they presented the food hahaha! Such a delight to eat food in toilet bowls 😛

Italian Chicken with Tomato Sauce (200NT)

Marton Number 2 (100NT)

The is the Ultimate Modern Toilet dessert. It was strawberry flavored ice with lots, lots, and loooots of ingredients put into it. I guess this is their own version of “halo-halo”.

I loved it! Notice that the ice cream is almost always better shaped like “shit” hehehehe. Marton Number 2 is best for sharing. Unforgettable!

Those spaghetti & hotpot meals had dessert & drink included. We also had the option to take home this urinal container for our drinks for only 30NT! hahaha Guess what? All of us bought one! 🙂

dessertmoderntoilet

moderntoiletdrink

More pictures from our super memorable dinner here.

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Congo Grille

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On December 15, 2009

Congo Grille
G/F, Toledo Building, 277 Tomas Morato Ave. corner Scout Limbaga St., Quezon City, Philippines
(02) 332-2193

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I was lucky enough to be invited by Congo Grille to sample their dishes. Congo Grille has always been one of my favorite Filipino restaurants. Well, this is mainly because of their sisig! Theirs is the best IMHO. I remember celebrating my birthday way back in year 2000 at Congo Grill. Now that year 2009 is ending, Congo Grille is still getting better and better!

So what’s new? Well, they have several new menu items. Their servers are wearing hats that say “Sisig King” focusing on their well-known & award-winning masterpiece, Sisig!

congoserver

Congo Grille also improved on the look of the restaurant. Take for example, they have hand painted murals on their walls w/c was made by their resident artist, Yasmine Ong. Each branch is decorated by different artwork w/c is pretty cool and very personal, if you ask me.

congomural

Here are the dishes that were served to us:

Nestle Iced Tea Tower (Php 220)

Good for 4-5 persons. Looks like it’s not just beer that has a tower now 😛

New Zealand 3-way Mussels (Php 270)

Kare Kare (Php 240)

Tuna Belly (Php 300)

This is 300g worth of tuna belly. I guess this was the least favorite of mine but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t delicious.

Grilled Pusit/Squid (Php 305)

500g of squid is sold at Php61 per 100g. This is actually good but I prefer the stuffed squid better. I guess this really depend on the situation. Grilled squid is best combined with beer while stuffed squid is best eaten during dinner time 😛

Sizzling Stuffed Pusit/Squid (Php 320)

I loved this!! This is grilled stuffed squid placed in a sizzling plate. It must be the special sauce because it gave the dish a special “umph”!

Pork Sisig (Php 175)

The sisig is really Congo Grille’s pride! Last 2007, They even won the Sisig Festival for it. Well, what can I say? It is my favorite and after so many years, it is still my favorite! You’re missing a lot if you don’t try this! I always thought that mayonnaise is their secret for their delicious sisig. When I asked the Congo Grill owner & manager, they said it was just the way it’s cooked. Well, it will always remain their secret. But do we care? We just go to Congo Grille if we want to eat the best sisig in town!

Tuna Sisig (Php 170)

Congo Rice (Php 180)

this one I never dared to eat. Well mainly because I care so much about my teeth hahaha! I just don’t want to go out smiling with black ink. Seriously, this is one of the best dishes Congo Grille offfers. Squid-ink flavored rice topped with calamares. People swear by it. Some even call to make sure that it is available before they proceed to Congo Grille.

Bagoong Rice (Php 125)

Congo Mango (Php 85)

I’m not fond of cakes. This version of graham cake, I must admit was good! Every bit of ingredients were spread out well. It was not overpowering w/c made it a very yummy dessert. This is one of 2 popular desserts that Congo Grille serves.

Frozen Maki (Php 120)

Of the desserts served tonight, Frozen Maki was my ultimate dessert favorite! We super enjoyed this dessert. I kinda forgot that I was too full already. An excellent twist to the japanese maki, it had vanilla ice cream with ripe mango wrapped in chocolate crepe which was served with chocolate sauce. This is definitely a must-try!!!

Thanks to Congo Grill & Stratigem for the invite. I really really love the food especially the ever-famous sisig! What a great dinner! 🙂

More pictures here.

Bay Cafe Tamsui

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On December 12, 2009

æµ·ç£å’–å•¡é¤¨ Bay Cafe
2/F Bay Cafe Zhongzheng Road, Tamsui, Taipei, Taiwan
886 (02) 26200448

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After travelling so far to Tamsui & after visiting 3 places, we were so hungry. We walked around the Old Tamsui Road to look for a place to eat. We realized that the food there were quite expensive but we ended up choosing Bay Cafe instead. Mainly because it had good ambiance and you could see the beautiful sea while dining.

The food at Bay Cafe was actually affordable. Yes, each meal might cost you around 300-350NT but it was a complete meal considering it had soup, side dishes, main meal & dessert. I was completely satisfied and when we were done eating, we were all psyched for another jampacked afternoon of travelling!

Here are what we ordered:

German Sausage (300NT)

This was a different twist to the sausage. I’ve always loved sausage but whenever it was served to me, there had no bones in it. But this time around, there were bones. This tasted good and authentic but I still prefer the usual sausage without bones.

sausage2