Biko for the New Year

In the run-up to the New Year, you might want to cook something sweet and sticky and the easiest dessert to make is biko for Visayans or sinukmani for Tagalogs. Each one might have his/her own recipe for biko but the recipe below is so scrumptious it will make you forget your low-carb diet. Adding finely chopped calamansi peel, which I learned from my Bol-anon students, will give it a lemony tang which is a good counterpoint to the rich coconut milk and brown sugar taste. Try it and I'm sure you will like it.

This recipe serves four hungry persons so you may need to double or treble the measurements if you're cooking for a bigger group.

Moni's Biko

2 cups malagkit (preferably tapul or black)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 big coconut, grated
1 1/2 c water
1 tbsp finely chopped peel calamansi or grated lemon rind
2 tbsps pounded ginger

Put 2 cups malagkit or sticky rice in rice cooker pot or thick pot using an equal amount of water. Add salt and pounded ginger; push the ginger to the bottom of the pot. Cook until done. Add 1 1/2 cups water to the grated coconut and extract the milk. Mix coconut milk, 3/4 cup brown sugar and chopped calamansi peel in a wok (kawali, kawa). Bring to a boil, then put in medium heat and keep on stirring until the mixture is thick. You need to stir continuously to prevent the coconut milk-brown sugar mixture from curdling. [To test the mixture for thickness, put a drop of the coco milk-sugar mixture (latik) in 1/4 cup water.] If it dissolves in the water, it isn’t ready yet so continue simmering until it is thicker. Stir in the cooked malagkit and mix thoroughly with the latik.

Divisoria before the New Year

I went to Divisoria after lunch yesterday and realized that it was much too late in the day to go to a crowded place. But in the morning, I had to wait for the aircon technician to install a bigger drain pan to the bedroom aircon as it was leaking. Two nights before I could hear the water dripping on the aircon one floor down from my son's condo unit and I didn't want the resident to complain again.

Upon arrival, I avoided Divisoria and instead headed to Ongpin and Benavides St. to buy Zhen de shou for my son and two packs of black bean bread at Xinyilong and two taipao from Masuki. I escaped immediately afterwards and I was grateful to the pedicab driver for taking me to the area near Sta. Cruz church where traffic was surprisingly flowing at 3:30 p.m.

This morning I decided to return to Divisoria to buy a few items like the no-battery flashlights at 168 shopping mall, a batik malong and Caruso handkerchiefs in Ilaya, seedless navel oranges at Sto. Cristo, etc. Being the wholesale fruit center in Divisoria, Sto. Cristo was teeming with wooden crates of pomelo and guava and boxes of oranges, kiat-kiat, Fuji apples, etc. Piles of wooden crates and boxes of fruits spilled into the streets and this has caused a huge traffic jam.

Many Filipinos believe that having 12 round fruits on New Year's eve will bring them good fortune in the coming year. Round fruits are said to resemble money. Kuya Kim (Kim Atienza) was about to give the trivia surrounding this practice but I didn't get to hear his story. No wonder, fruit buying in Divisoria in the days leading to the New Year has become a frenzied madness. Many buyers, rich and poor alike, bought kiat-kiat, chico, grapes, dalandan (native orange), pears, longgan, guava, watermelon and apple. Someone on TV suggested yesterday that the 12 fruits need not be imported. One should consider aratilis or manzanitas (Singapore cherry), tomato, singkamas (turnips), mangosteen, santol, macopa (tambis), and mabolo.

Still, it is hard to resist the bargains that beckon everyone in Divisoria. It is a place where one's money will go a long way. Large seedless navel oranges were being sold at 3 for 50 pesos. I quickly calculated the price difference between the oranges I bought in Shopwise in Makati the week before and I succumbed to the bargains. Lugging back a dozen navel oranges was a challenge as I had to weave in and out through the sea of people, pedicabs, porters hauling boxes of fruits, and delivery vans.

For the uninitiated, Divisoria may not be the place to be during the holidays because the crowds and traffic jam will defeat you. But for the brave at heart like me, Divisoria will always be a special place.

Who are my readers?

It warms my heart to see an increasing number of readers from the Philippines, U.S.A., Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Germany. Google Analytics, which provide the stats, showed that in the Philippines, an overwhelming majority of my readers come from Batangas. Interesting. So far, very few has ever left a comment in my posts. Comments and posts make up a blog so I would appreciate it if you could leave some feedback -- a question, a comment, perhaps another twist to a recipe or a travel experience I have ranted or raved about.

I hope the lack of comment does not reflect a lack of trust in the writer of the blog. To find out more about me, you can check out my other professional blog -- devcompage -- in which I write in my own name and the About section describes what I have done professionally. Happy holidays and let me hear from you.

Moni's roast pork

Since it's Christmas eve, this is a good time to cook this special dish. This is my favorite and although the basic recipe is Chinese pork asado, I spent years modifying it while we were living in Kauai, Hawaii in the 1970s. It is so easy to make and it has always elicited raves from our dinner guests. Besides cooking it for formal occasions like dinner at home, I also bring it to picnics where the preferred potluck dishes are not the soupy ones.

The spices -- Chinese five spice powder and star anise -- can be found in Chinese grocery stores, supermarkets, or even wet markets. If buying these spices in a wet market, the key is to use their local terms.

If you have queries about the cooking procedure, please leave a comment to this post and I will get back to you quickly.

Moni’s roast pork

2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp Chinese five spice powder
2 pcs star anise
1 head garlic, crushed
1 ½ cups water
2 kg pork ham (pigue) – whole with bone removed, tie with cotton string (crochet thread)
1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 1/3 cup water

Mix the first five ingredients in a thick cooking pot or Dutch oven. Add whole pork ham (pigue). Cover and simmer in low fire for about 1 ½ hours or until tender when pricked with a fork – you may have to add more water to avoid drying up; make sure there’s about 1/3 cup liquid left in pot when pork is cooked. Remove pork from pot, cut string, and slice thinly (like ham). Thicken the remaining liquid in pot by stirring in cornstarch dissolved in water. Arrange the thinly sliced roast pork in cascading style on a platter. Drizzle some gravy on top of sliced roast pork, but keep a gravy boat nearby.

Chicken macaroni salad

Another favorite Christmas dish of Filipinos is chicken macaroni salad. I have an attachment to it as I practically grew up eating it, just as other families must have their ham and quezo de bola. I have whipped up macaroni salad for many years, serving it at special occasions like my son's graduation party. But with our shift to a low-carb eating lifetyle, I have excluded this from my list of must-eats but I would like to share the recipe with you. The quantity is clearly for a crowd and you can adjust the recipe, depending on your guest list.

Chicken-macaroni salad

1 kg chicken breasts, boiled and flaked
1 kg elbow macaroni
3 big cans pineapple tidbits
2 apples, peeled and diced
½ kg carrots, boiled and diced
1 medium pkg. raisins (200 g)
1 small bot. pickle relish
1 bot. Lady’s Choice mayonnaise, 810 ml + ¼ can condensed milk
1 box cheddar cheese, grated
2 tsps. salt

Boil elbow macaroni following package directions and drain. When cooked macaroni has been drained and cool, mix with the rest of the ingredients in a large mixing or salad bowl, except for the grated cheese, which should be added last. Freeze for 1 hour and chill in refrigerator.

Humba (braised pork belly)

I'm visiting my son during this long Christmas holiday so I have obliged and cooked humba for him. Today, I woke up early to go to the wet market in Guadalupe, Makati City to buy the leanest pork belly I could find. Is there a lean pork belly or is this an oxymoron?

After lunch, I called up my sister in San Francisco, CA. to greet her a merry christmas before the phone lines get clogged. In the course of our conversation, I asked her what she was preparing for Christmas dinner. She said she was going to cook humba using the recipe I sent her. I told her, how coincidental as I had cooked humba a few hours earlier. I don't have a photo for now but I hope you can imagine how it will look like. Here's the recipe of my Cebuano version of humba:

Humba (braised pork belly)

1 1/5 kg pork belly (cut up in chunks)
2 tbsp canned salted black beans (crush beans with back of spoon or ladle)
1/3 cup vinegar
6 segments garlic (pounded)
2 tsp black peppercorns (crushed)
2 bay leaves
2 star anise
2 tbsp brown sugar (preferably muscovado)
1 1/2 cup water

Heat a thick cooking pot and pan fry pork chunks till light brown to render the fat. Drain oil from pot and set pork aside. Stir in sugar and melt in low heat.[Note: If you're on a low-carb diet, you can substitute 1 sachet of Splenda for the brown sugar.] Mix all ingredients - Simmer in low fire for about 45 minutes or until the pork chunks are tender. You may have to add more water to avoid drying up. Make sure there's about 1/3cup liquid left in pot when pork is cooked.

Serve hot with steamed rice.

Nha Trang, Vietnam

I was in Nha Trang, Vietnam on Nov. 7-8, 2007 for a work-related meeting. Nha Trang is a coastal city so reminiscent of Pattaya but without the chaos and "farang" crowds. There were "farangs" too as Nha Trang is a very relaxing place. No wonder, my Vietnamese friends suggested meeting there. It was windy on the days I was there as a typhoon was about to hit it, but luckily it was diverted elsewhere.

The seafood -- clams, shrimps, mussels, squid, lobster, and fish -- was unbelievably cheap and very fresh. I didn't bring my camera so this post will purely be text.

Mileage accrual in online bookings

I always tend to write positive stuff in this blog unless I had a dismal experience with a restaurant, market or airline that I am forced to rant about it (Conti's at Serendra, for instance). A few months ago I raved about frequent flyer miles programs extolling their rewards and how my son has benefited from free travel. This time, I'd like to share my experience in mileage accrual in an airline's online book and buy facility so that you won't lose money the way I did.

Since I moved back to the university in January 2007, I have been booking and buying my Philippine Airlines air tickets online and managed to earn both mileage and credit card points with no sweat. Lately, PAL jazzed up its website to make online booking easier. While it shows the lowest ticket price options, it makes it difficult for Mabuhay Miles members to choose a lower-priced flight with mileage accrual because that option is not shown. Unless PAL's website is improved, the only recourse to get the best deal at the moment is to book and buy an air ticket through the call center (reservations number: (63-2)855-888).

Last week, I've been had. I booked and bought a roundtrip air ticket to Ho Chi Minh City and picked the lowest priced option. I thought it would have mileage accrual as in the past. Then I booked my domestic flight (Tacloban-Manila-Tacloban) through PAL's reservation number because this is the best way to get the cheapest ticket by speaking to their call center agents. After my domestic bookings were done, I asked the agent to kindly check if the flights for HCMC that I had bought the previous day had mileage accrual. She searched the database and informed me that it did not. Since I am chasing the mileage to up my Mabuhay Miles membership level, I emailed PAL (OnlineBooking@pal.com.ph) and requested an upgrade to the flight class that will earn mileage points.

I learned that I could upgrade to a flight with mileage accrual which was understandably P1,467 more but the catch was I had to pay USD25 for rebooking fee. Can you imagine? USD25 is a small amount but I could donate that to a worthy cause like Marketman's school feeding project in December. I didn't argue and replied to go ahead. But these unnecessary steps and cost could have been avoided if PAL's online booking facility provided these choices. I hope PAL or people working in PAL would read this post and relay this rant to their web developers so that something could be done quick to their online booking facility.

Because I live in the province, I always use PAL to get to Manila. I love PAL for its safety record, free upgrades, award tickets and years of traveling in bliss and I don't want all this to go down the drain.

Grilled eggplant salad - Leyte style

Today I finally found time to go to the Baybay market. As Tuesdays and Saturdays are market days (tabo), there were lots of fresh
produce from the nearby villages -- native chicken, fern (pako), eggplants, banana heart (puso ng saging), green papaya, unripe jackfruit, sweetpotato, cassava, pineapple, pomelo, banana, among many others. The eggplants were newly harvested, shiny, tender, and cheap (P20/kilo) so I decided to cook eggplant salad, our Waray style, so I can take a photo and share the recipe with you. This dish, which goes very well with grilled fish, can quickly become a conversation piece among your dinner or lunch guests. It has never failed and it is highly likely that you will end up giving the recipe to them.

Like the Bicolanos, the Warays take pride in many of their dishes cooked in coconut milk. It takes a Waray to whip up a mean fish kinilaw or "apay" (gabi leaves with coconut milk). If you happen to be in Tacloban City, you can order this dish in Agus Restaurant. My Cebuano friends often ask, "How come there is no vinegar?" Why do you have to cook the coconut milk?" I tell them that vinegar is just not added to this salad and cooking the coconut milk prolongs the shelf life of the dish.

Here's the recipe:

8 long eggplants
1 big coconut, grated
1 inch ginger (or 2 tablespoons when finely chopped)
1 round onion, medium size
1 bunch green onions
2 red hot chili
½ tsp white pepper powder
½ tsp salt

In the market, ask the coconut grater to grate only the white part as you want a white coconut milk. This way, the brown surface of the coconut shell won't get mixed into the grated coconut. In your kitchen, grill 8 long eggplants. Peel and arrange on serving dish. Chop off the stem part of eggplant. Add ¼ cup water to grated coconut. Extract coconut milk. Simmer in skillet for 10 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent curdling. Season coconut milk with salt and white pepper powder. Set aside. Chop finely ginger, round onion, green onion and chili. Sprinkle on top of broiled eggplants. Pour boiled coconut cream into the eggplant salad.

Mai Thai - Ho Chi Minh City

Hidden behind the Sunwah Tower in Ho Chi Minh City is an air conditioned, cozy two-storey Thai restaurant fittingly called Mai Thai (19 Ton That Thiep St., HCMC, tel. 08-821-2920). We've been going back to this restaurant which was recommended to us by the owner of our favorite camera sales and repair shop, Madame Thu. The restaurant has a Thai decor and the service crew even don Thai-style apparel. At lunch time on weekdays, Mai Thai offers a set lunch (a main dish, a stir-fried veggie, fruit and rice) at a very reasonable price of VND55,000 (USD 3.45 or PHP 155). The place is always full with a lunch crowd composed of staff from multinational companies holding office nearby.

The food is authentic Thai and Mai Thai has consistently delivered food on the table according to one's recollection and expectation of what Thai food ought to be. The menu lists a total of 81 dishes starting with appetizers, soup and curry, main dish, and dessert. Even their version of phad thai is worth going back for. An order of phad thai costs VND69,000 or USD 4.31 or 198 pesos. In fact, some pad thai that I have eaten in many places in Bangkok and the one I recently had in People's Palace, a Thai restaurant in Greenbelt, Makati would definitely pale in comparison.

For dinner the other night, we had steamed fish with lemon, red curry chicken, stir-fried morning glory with garlic, jasmine rice and Vietnamese tea. As always, the steamed fish was fresh and well done, the red curry chicken just had the right blend of curry and coconut milk, while the stir-fried morning glory was seasoned with fermented yellow beans and julienned red chilis. This dinner cost us only VND 218,000 for two persons (USD13.63 or PHP634) or PHP317 per person. Tonight we dined again in Mai Thai and had fried catfish salad, green curry chicken and steamed shrimps in glass noodles, jasmine rice and Vietnamese tea. This dinner for two cost us only VND 218,000 (USD 13.66). Where in the world can you find a first-class Thai dinner in a restaurant with a cozy ambiance at such a low, low price? Truly amazing!

Nam Giao Restaurant - HCMC

I am again in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) this week and yesterday noon was a particularly rainy day so I wanted some comfort food. From where I stood at the Rex Hotel lobby, I had two options -- to take a cab to Pho Hoa on Pasteur St. or walk to Nam Giao on Le Thanh Ton St. I opted to go to Nam Giao, one of the three places I frequent in HCMC for pho. Nam Giao specializes in Hue food. It is a small, unassuming food shop tucked away in a small courtyard with unbelievably cheap prices. It is within walking distance from Rex Hotel and one would pass by a Pho24 shop before hitting the alley.

Among the house specialties are: banh beo (steamed rice flour cake with ground shrimps), bahn beo tom tuoi (steamed rice flour cake with ground fresh shrimps), bahn bot loc (ground shrimp steamed with rice wrapped in banana leaves), bahn bot loc (shrimp, porkand tropical starch flour wrapped in banana leaves), bun bo Hue (spicy beef noodle), bun cha cua (crab paste noodle soup), bahn canh cua (shrimp, crab meat, sliced pork with special rice noodle soup), and com hen (special clam with rice), among others.

I ordered bun bo Hue (spicy beef noodle) and I squeezed a thin slice of lime and added chili paste and shrimp paste. I also added some mint and blanched bean sprouts to make it a truly healthy meal. It was excellent and the Hue taste sets it apart from other pho concoctions in HCMC. The big bowl of beef noodle soup cost only VND17,000 (USD 1.06 or about 48 pesos) and four pieces of Hue fresh spring rolls with peanut sauce were only VND14,000 (USD0.88 or about 40 pesos). I left Nam Giao truly satisfied and I had to quickly weave through the motorbike traffic to seek refuge in Ben Thanh market before the downpour.

If you find yourself somewhere near Ben Thanh market in HCMC, try Nam Giao for a taste of Hue food. Nam Giao Restaurant is on 136/15 Le Thanh Ton District 1, telephone: 08-8250261.

Market Cafe - Hyatt Hotel and Casino Manila

To celebrate two happy events -- my son's return from his three-week UK vacation and his passing the June 2007 nursing boards -- we had buffet dinner the other night at the Market Cafe at the 3rd floor of the Hyatt Hotel and Casino (address: 1588 Pedro Gil corner M.H. del Pillar Street, Malate, Manila, telephone: +632 245-1234). The Market Cafe has a wide selection of cuisines and food stations including Chinese, Japanese, Western, antipasti, salads, seafood and tempting desserts. There are four kitchens, three food stations and a bar . The show kitchens cook dishes as requested and deliver these to your table. Just at the other side of the Dessert Station is a bar which mixes smoothies, shakes and iced-teas.

The Western Kitchen show­cases European and American cuisine. Here you will find thin-crust pizzas, pastas, fish, mashed potatoes, ratatouille and beans. The centerpieces are the grill, oven and smokehouse where prime rib, short ribs, chicken and fish are grilled, smoked or baked to succulent perfection. On the side are different sauces like spicy mustard, horseradish and classic barbecue sauce. I picked some slices of salmon and mahi-mahi and handed these to the grill chef to cook. I told them I will return to collect the grilled fish but they insisted that it will be brought to our table and gave me a number to track our table more easily.

On offer at the Salad Station are seasonal greens and an array of freshly made dressings. The Antipasto Station offers cold cuts, walnuts, cheeses. The Crustacean Station has fresh prawns and oysters flown in from Kalibo, as the label indicated. The oysters are so fresh that these are shucked in front of you. Many diners made a beeline to this station and the staff who shucked the oysters offered me fresh ones and poured a wine vinegar dip for me. She said the prawns and oysters were ready to eat and all one needed was to have a stomach for the fresh oysters. I wasn't quite prepared for it so I brought mine to the Western Kitchen to have them baked. The oysters were baked with cheese on top although I hadn't asked for the cheese. I would have preferred my oysters steamed so I could just dip them in wine vinegar or even sukang Iloko with chili, reminiscent of Josephine's restaurant in Cavite a few decades ago. But that may not be a cooking option in buffet dinners at 5-star hotels.

In the Chinese Kitchen were four sections: noodles and dimsum, Chinese wok and Hong Kong barbecue. Steamed rice and yangchow fried rice can also be found in this area. I took some sauteed mixed vegetables of broccoli and carrots and half a steamed fish Hong Kong style. Likewise, the Japanese Kitchen is divided into four sections: sushi, yakimono, tempura and teppan. Unagi sushi, bacon enoki maki and salmon sashimi are also available. At the back of the Japanese Kitchen are other Asian specialities such as the Malaysian chicken satay, Indian roti prata and chicken curry. I took slices of the roti prata and a small serving of the chicken curry.The Bakery and Dessert Kitchen offers Western pastries such as apple strudel, preserved plum pockets, Vienna waffles, tiramisu, chocolate mouse cake, chocolate trifle as well as sapin-sapin, halo-halo, and other Filipino delicacies. I had chocolate trifle with layers of brownies, chocolate pudding and whipped topping chilled to perfection. My son had sugar-free tiramisu. In between dishes, I decided to have a fresh orange although the staff manning the dessert kitchen nicely offered me a dalandan sorbet. Taking the cue, my son took a scoop of the sorbet and asked me to taste it. It tasted like a dalandan popsicle, so very dalandan, but I preferred the fresh orange.

The food was good but the place was unusually quiet which prompted me to ask one of the chefs on what days of the week is the Market Cafe crowded. He confirmed that there weren't too many diners that night compared to other nights when two whole racks of prime rib would be wiped out. I remarked that perhaps because it was a 3-day holiday and people went out of town. Anyway, that dinner for two with taxes, service charge and all set me back by P2,687.36 or about P1,344 per person.

However, as I am a creature of habit, I prefer the buffet dinner at Circles in Makati Shangrila. Besides its proximity to my son's place, an irresistible attraction is the 50% off the prices of selected baked goods after 6 p.m. at Sinfully Circles. The Circles ensaymada which has bacon bits or macapuno and ube normally costs P50 but after 6 pm, it drops in price to P25. While still retaining its 5-star freshness and taste, this is a best-buy indeed.

The best espasol - where to buy , how to cook

Many popular food blogs have raved that the best espasol can be bought in Los Baños. Well, not quite. Although taste is a matter of individual preference, believe me, the best espasol are those made in Alaminos, Nagcarlan or Pagsanjan in Laguna. This is what long-time residents in Los Baños will tell you and I should know because I spent the years 2004 to 2006 in Los Baños.

The best espasol that I have ever tasted is the one made by Luchie in Nagcarlan (phone: 049-563-2408, cell phone: 0919 4407076). It is truly special and made with toasted glutinous rice flour, pinipig, coconut milk, refined sugar and macapuno strips. It can be ordered by phone and you can arrange to meet her brother or nephew or whoever she can send somewhere for pick-up. I ordered 150 pieces last year and the year before that because it was what my sisters in the U.S. craved for, along with muron, binagol, sagmani, bibingka, and puto bumbong, but that's another story. Each piece costs around ten pesos which is a bit more expensive than those sold in buko pie and pasalubong shops along the national highway from Los Baños to Pansol but Luchie's espasol is always well worth it.

However, if you live overseas or even in the Philippines but far away from Laguna, you can still have good espasol by cooking it yourself. I started experimenting with the espasol recipe in my kitchen in Kauai, Hawaii many, many years ago. I must have had a gradual learning curve because it took me 20 long years of intermittent kitchen testing before I was able to perfect my recipe. I used to keep this recipe a secret from my friends and co-workers but since I have not parlayed espasol-making into big business, I decided that it's about time to share it with others. Marketman's food blog (www.marketmanila.com) has been an inspiration.

One of the key ingredients to a finely textured espasol is finely ground toasted glutinous or sticky rice flour or mochiko. If you live in Hawaii, you can easily buy a pack of glutinous rice flour or mochiko in the supermarket. I recently tried making espasol using sticky rice flour that I bought in Vietnam but it was a disaster. The sticky rice flour was very sticky and the flour was just too fine. It was difficult to dissolve the flour in coconut milk that I had to sieve it. Still, the resulting consistency was like a mix of tikoy and pitsi-pitsi. So I wouldn't recommend using the Vietnamese sticky rice flour in espasol.

The best option remains making your own flour by toasting glutinous rice in a wok until it turns golden brown. Then take the toasted malagkit to a food miller and have it ground into fine flour. It takes about three passes through the mill before a fine texture is achieved. In wet markets, this milling service is usually provided by stalls selling and grating coconuts. They have a small mill on the side for grinding soaked rice grains to make into galapong for puto and bilo-bilo.

To make espasol, toast 6 cups mochiko (glutinous rice flour) until light brown. From the 6 cups toasted mochiko, set aside 1/2 cup for dusting later. Bring 5 cups coconut milk (extracted from 2 extra large coconuts) to boil. Add finely chopped calamansi peel from 4 pieces calamansi, 2 3/4 cups white sugar and stir continuously for 15 minutes. Stir in 5 1/2 cups toasted mochiko and 3-4 cups scraped and chopped buko, 2 teaspoons vanilla and 1/2 tsp salt. Mix thoroughly. Cook over low fire, stirring constantly for 1 to 1.5 hours until mixture is thick. When done, let cool for a while. Dust a platter with the reserved toasted mochiko. Spread mixture on tray and flatten to about 1 inch thick with a rolling pin. Cut into small diamond-shaped bars or roll 2 1/2 inch cylindrical pieces and dust with toasted mochiko (see picture).

Instead of cakes, I usually give away espasol or ube jam for presents at Christmas or New Year. I pack it nicely by putting it in a medium-sized aluminum foil lasagna pans with a transparent lid or I cover it with plastic or Saran wrap or in transparent plastic containers that I buy in bulk in Divisoria. Try this recipe and you will be glad you did.

Our fruit farm in Ormoc

August is a merry month for picking lanzones, rambutan and mangosteen. Today I went to our fruit farm in Ormoc City to pick whatever has been left by the fruit bats. Since June, we've been harvesting sweet Bangkok santol and in late July our juicy rambutans have been bearing fruit to the delight of our friends and neighbors. Twelve years ago, my husband has developed this 2-hectare former sugarcane land into a tropical fruit farm for a future retirement hobby. Serendipitously, his Ph.D. from the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture came in rather handy. To secure the area, he constructed a living fence of barbed wire on gmelina arborea and eucalyptus camdulensis around the property and planted it with lanzones, rambutan, durian, mangosteen, mangoes, jackgruit, longgan, and dragon fruit, a veritable fruit salad bowl. Among our most awaited fruits are lanzones and mangosteen, the queen of fruits.














Lanzones (Lansium domesticum Corr.), according to the Philippine Department of Agriculture, contains 68% edible portion. Every 100 g. of the edible portion contains water, 84 g.; carbohydrates with some protein and fat, 14.2 g.; fiber, 0.8 g.; ash, 0.6 g.; Ca, 19 mg; K, 275 mg. It contains vitamin B1, B2 and a trace of vitamin C. Rich in tannin, the lanzones seed and rind have chemical substances that are medicinally and industrially useful. Lanzones flesh and juice are used by rural folk to treat sore eyes. The fruit peel serves as a mosquito repellant while the bark is also used for malaria and dysentery patients.

















Of late, mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana) has acquired some fame because of its healing properties. Mangosteen fruit has been reported to contain xanthones, a group of compounds that have powerful antioxidant and other potent physiological properties. The use of mangosteen rind to treat infections and fever dates back to hundreds of years ago. Since 2004, mangosteen juice has been marketed as a healthy option in the U.S. because of its multiple health benefits.

When buying ripe mangosteen in the market, choose small to medium-sized ones that can be pressed gently with one's fingers and look at the bottom of the fruit for the number of brown petals. Although on average a mangosteen fruit has five fruit pods or seeds, the number of petals at the bottom will tell you how many fruit pods there are inside.

Salcedo market - La Cuisine Francaise

On Saturday mornings at Salcedo market, La Cuisine Francaise is one of the must-visit stalls. Their spread of French-cooked dishes is quite varied -- roast chicken with garlic, beef lasagna, lamb moussaka, canard a l’orange (duck orange), quiche, apple tart, etc. Also on offer at the stall is a neatly packed pate (P200) , which Michele , the owner, said, she had learned to make in a cooking school in Lyon.

On a recent visit, I bought a slice of beef lasagna (P200 per slice) and the next Saturday, I went back for lamb moussaka (P275/slice). I must say that their prices are not within reach of the hoi polloi. A few young women wanted to buy lasagna but backed out when they heard the price. Although the prices are somewhat steep for a market stall, their beef lasagna did not disappoint. It turned out to be a hearty blend of ground beef and layers of different types of choose – ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, romano – if I heard it right from the French man.

The slice or slab is quite thick and can be shared by two persons. When I took it home to eat it slowly, the lasagna was so very good. The tartiness of the tomato sauce was just perfect. The taste of the beef lasagna makes you feel that it is the quality that you would aim for if you were to cook it for yourself. But if you live alone or there's just the two of you, cooking a whole pan of beef lasagna might not be a preferred option because you don't want to end up eating it every day for the entire week or you may not have the time, the skill, or the cooking equipment. Indeed, going to the food stalls of Salcedo Market on Saturday mornings to buy bibingka, ensaymada, paksiw na tawilis, sinaing na tulingan, Cebu lechon, Ineng's pork barbecue, lechon baka, Indian food, La Tasca's dishes, blueberry or whole wheat bagels, Vietnamese spring rolls, vegetable quiche, or lamb moussaka can widen your meal choices.

Highlands Coffee - Ho Chi Minh City

On my recent trip to Vietnam, my colleague and I had an hour to kill while waiting for the office car to pick us up for a trip to Long Dinh in Tien Giang province. So we decided to have coffee at the nearby Highlands coffee shop across from Rex Hotel. Highlands coffee shop, which has several branches all over HCMC, is always strategically located. The one we went to occupies the second and third floors of the Satra Tax building at the corner of Dung Du and Le Loi Streets. The interiors are quite modern, with walls painted deep violet on one side and avocado yellow on the other, modern pictures on the walls, upholstered seats, has free wifi, and large bay windows overlooking the rotunda.

We got there at 8 a.m., an hour after it had opened at 7 a.m. We ordered hot traditional Vietnamese coffee with sweetened condensed milk. The coffee was so reasonably priced at only VND18,000 or USD 1.12. But on this particular visit, the service was slow as it took 12 minutes for the coffee to be brought to our table. We followed it up but to no avail so we amused ourselves by saying that perhaps the Highlands baristas were still boiling a gallon of water.

The long wait was redeemed by the great espresso-like coffee, full of body and aroma. We had to ask for some more hot water to dilute the strong taste. The coffee came with a small sugar cookie on the side. Not bad at all.

Rex Hotel - Ho Chi Minh City

My favorite hotel in Ho Chi Minh City is Rex so that in the last 15 years of shuffling from Manila to HCMC, I've always stayed there on every visit. Classified as a 4-star hotel, it is operated by Saigon Tourist Company, a state enterprise that also operates Continental Hotel. Rex sits on a great location -- close to the historical Opera House, Satra Tax department store, People's Committee House, and most of all, Ben Thanh market. The two parallel roads to Ben Thanh market -- Le Loi St. and Le Thanh Ton St. -- are lined with numerous shops selling books and office supplies (Fahasa), Vietnamese souvenirs, silk bags and purses, leather shoes and sandals, hats and caps, Asian interiors, gold jewelry, and coffee shops.

Although a superior room can easily set you back by USD100++ per night, it comes with an international buffet breakfast, a tv with international cable access, hair dryer, an electronic safe, free wifi, and free laundry (2 pcs/day). What continues to amaze me is how Rex keeps its bathrooms spotlessly clean and the grout between the tiles are always white and mildew-free. The renovated room, especially in the West Wing, are so spacious, the rug is new, and the furniture is mahogany in color. It is very pleasant and comfortable. Although I prefer to stay in the West Wing rooms (Rm 376, 476, 576) because of their proximity to Ben Thanh market, the best room seems to be the recently renovated Room 304. If you have a chance to book early, ask for this room. It has a wooden floor and dark mahogany wooden furniture and doors. It has done away with the traditional rattan furniture and wall frames that are found in most other rooms. Everything about this room gives it an upscale ambiance, so different from the rest. Perhaps this is Rex interior designers' attempt to showcase the new rooms in the new wing under construction.

Besides, these material elements, what I value most in Rex are the intangibles such as the trust and friendship I have established with the hotel staff -- from the business center supervisor (Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hoan) down to the omelet chef in breakfast place. They are real, warm and ever-ready to help. Once I found myself staying in Palace Hotel because Rex was fully booked. I didn't seem to mind because Palace is on the list of the Lonely Planet's recommended accommodation in Ho Chi Minh City. But it turned out to be quite unpleasant because the band playing until the wee hours of the morning caused the bedroom to vibrate and the carpet had a musty smell. The next morning, I walked over to Rex and related my experience to Ms. Hoan and begged her for a room in Rex. She searched their database and managed to get me a superior room.

I will again have a business trip to HCMC on 30 August 2007 and this reminds me that I need to email Ms. Hoan to book me Rm. 304 or 576 in Rex.

Another market in Saigon

Most tourists and visitors to HCMC often end up in Ben Thanh market in District 1. All under one roof, stalls in Ben Thanh market offer a considerable range of products. On each trip to HCMC, I go to Ben Thanh to buy fabrics, eat che (halo-halo), or buy char sui (xa xiu). But for real serious food shopping like getting 6 kg of pistachio nuts, cashew nuts, dried jackfruit and taro chips, I head to another direction and go to another market behind the Sun Wah bldg, two blocks behind Duxton Hotel. The locals refer to it as the old market but this is more like a street market which starts at the corner of Huynh Thuc Khang and Thot That Dam Sts. Much smaller than Ben Thanh, this market is where the locals go. Unlike Ben Thanh where your success in getting the best price is a function of your bargaining skills, here there is no need to haggle because most prices are fixed. I have a favorite stall which sells pistachio and cashew nuts at VND110,000/kg (US$6.90), depending on the season. It is from my favorite stall where I sometimes ask for an empty box for my goodies. Many shops sell PX grocery items such as imported peanut butter, honey, chocolates, canned ham, cosmetics, etc. Fresh beef, pork, fish, veggies, fruits, rice and even roast duck and char sui are also sold in this market.

Nhu Lan food shop















At the end of the Thot That Dam St., turn left and you will find Nhu Lan food shop about three shops away. Nhu Lan is a Saigon landmark for food. It bakes many kinds of bread -- baguettes and croissants, and offers sandwiches with different fillings -- pate, chicken, hotdog, hamburger, and cheese. Nhu Lan also sells roast chicken, roast suckling pig (lechon de leche), boiled corn on the cob, boiled cassava, cakes and pastries, moon cakes, peanut butter, different kinds of sausages, and the Vietnamese meat rolls like the Philippine embutido.

The sandwich (VND8,000 or P22.50) is a meal by itself as you will find a layers of lettuce, pickled cucumber slices, shredded carrots and radish, a spread of pate, ham and cheese, and even slices of red hot chili. You can ask the seller to use a baguette, a bun or white bread slices and put the filling mix of your choice. For the non-Vietnamese speaker, anything can be had by just pointing with your finger. Inside Nhu Lan is a restaurant section that offers different kinds of pho, rice toppings, spring rolls, fresh fruit juices, soya milk and countless other dishes. It is where many locals go for a quick meal at affordable prices so the place is crowded at peak times.

Breakfast at Apartment 1B

This morning we had a superb breakfast at Apartment 1B (Address: G/F, One Lafayette Square, LP Leviste corner Sedeño Sts, Salcedo Village, Makati; phone: +632 8434075). What we experienced lived up to the raves about this resto which is hidden among condo and office buildings in this side of Makati.

We got there about 7:30 a.m. and the place was quiet. The restaurant has a warm homey feel with an eclectic collection of chairs. Fresh orchids (phalaenopsis and dendrobiums) adorn each table. It also has a collection of glossy magazines and the day's newspaper.









I ordered pancakes (P235), a side order of sausage links (P100) and Vittoria Italian espresso (P75). My son had eggs-benedict with smoked salmon and spinach (P435) and a coke light(P75). Total bill, including service charge came up to P985 which was well worth it coz the servings were large. I got three large thick fluffy pancakes with a small bunch of grapes on the side. The sausage links tasted like Italian sausages, spicy and delicious. The espresso was a Vittoria blend which uses 100% Arabica beans, which, I gathered, are typically lower in caffeine and milder in taste. The eggs-benedict was marvelous - it was a layer of poached eggs blended with hollandaise sauce, spinach, and smoked salmon on wheat bread.

It was a memorable breakfast -- food was great, the place was quiet, and service was excellent. When it comes to food, product or service, my son insists that you get what you pay for. In the case of Apartment 1B, you get more than what you pay for. We shall return perhaps for dinner and try the other dishes in the menu. We wish it would be open on Sundays too so we can relish a late breakfast.

Conti's - Serendra Mall, Fort Bonifacio

Because we could not secure a dinner reservation at Apartment1B earlier tonight, we decided to try Conti's at Serendra (1G-17 Serendra, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, tel. 856-2352). When we got there, it was crowded and other customers occupied the tables outside the restaurant. We were prepared to wait but in a few minutes, a table for two was found inside.

With its contemporary interiors and Zen-like fountain, Conti's can easily draw customers. Its pastry shop has elicited raves from its loyal customers. It has branches in Greenhills and the original one is in Paranaque. Its menu lists a wide range of dishes from appetizers, salads, soups, pasta, vegetables, beef, pork, chicken, seafood and an array of desserts. The prices are extremely reasonable considering its location and ambiance. Consider these: chicken fingers - P80, salmon croquettes - P75, baked New Zealand mussels - P135, roast porkloin - P145, roast beef in mushroom sauce - P195, beef salpicao - P240, herb crusted fillet of fish - P195, tiramisu - P60, coffee kahlua cake - P65.

I ordered chicken barbecue (P140), pineapple macaroni salad (P85) and green mango shake (P60) while my son went for chicken fingers (P80), grilled pork chops (P185), and coke light (P45). The ambiance was cozy, the service was fast, and the waiters were courteous and efficient. The food was served on square large white plates and matching small rectangular pieces for rice and side dishes. It was quite stylish. The food arrived after a reasonable wait. In the menu, the pineapple macaroni salad was described as chunks of pineapple and chicken mixed with macaroni or words to that effect. I have always loved this sinful salad and I had visions of the pineapple macaroni salad I used to whip up in my kitchen. Conti's version, however, was rather unhealthy as the macaroni, pineapple and a few chicken tidbits were drowned in mayonnaise. Next came the grilled pork chops with risotto. What a disappointment. It was so different from the creamy and deeply flavored risotto in Circle's (Makati Shangrila). While I thought the risotto had a funny peculiar taste, my son remarked that it tasted like parrot fish. The chicken barbecue was smothered in some black barbecue sauce and terribly paled in comparison to Aristocrat's chicken barbecue with Java rice.

But tomorrow is Saturday and there's Salcedo market nearby. Tomorrow, I will buy from the French stall, La Cuisine Francaise, a thick slab of lamb moussaka and quiche and sip Japanese cherry tea at The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf just across the road. In fact, this is what other Salcedo market customers do - bring their goodies over to this coffee shop and enjoy it over a cup of coffee or tea.

Frequent flyer award tickets

Despite the hype against frequent flyer programs, I have -- or my son has -- immensely benefited from them. On separate occasions, my son has taken holidays in Melbourne, Bangkok, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, and next month, London. Using my mileage points, I have even given away a trip to Singapore and Bangkok to my son's architect-friend who designed and supervised his bathroom renovation without charge. Since he's a yuppie, free overseas trips with all the taxes and fees paid, was a tempting offer he could not refuse.

Miles or points can accumulate without notice and before you know it, you can claim a free roundtrip air ticket to somewhere. Yesterday, my son went to the Thai Airways ticket office in Makati and got his bookings arranged and the award tickets, armed with just a printout of my email to the Thai Airways and my Royal Orchid Plus card. For their trust and efficiency, the Thai Airways staff were amazing. Payment for taxes and fees and for purchase of top-up miles was done at one swipe of his credit card. There was no fuss at all on what or what not to charge.

I must say that the Philippine Airlines Mabuhay Miles is equally great when it comes to redeeming award tickets. On my son's travel to Melbourne last month, he had his return flights moved without any hassle nor rebooking fees charged. He just called up PAL reservations (63-2 855-8888) to inquire if he could move his Mel-Mnl flight since he was holding a non-revenue ticket. The call center agent quickly made the change and sent him his e-ticket by email. That act spared my son a trip to the PAL office on Legaspi St.

While mileage points can easily accumulate, keep in mind that these can also quickly dissipate with your points expiring at particular times. Weigh the cost-benefit of redeeming an air ticket or letting go of your hard-earned points. Or if you don't plan to use the expiring points, claim an award ticket for a friend who might need it more than you do. Alternatively, explore whether your favorite airline will extend their mileage expiration deadline, as in the case of Thai Airways last year.

Getting the lowest domestic air fares

With my frequent travel, I've been a sucker for the cheapest air ticket and hotel deals. In the past few years, I've been booking and buying my own air tickets online as it seemed cheaper than what the ticket offices sold. Just as I thought that buying tickets online was the cheapest way, I discovered a better way.

For domestic air tickets on Philippine Airlines or Cebu Pacific, check the ticket price online and later call the reservations office (for PAL, its 63-2 855-8888 and for Cebu Pacific, get the phone number of the local agent) and ask for the cheapest domestic air ticket price for your flight date and time. You can then compare which is cheaper.

I stumbled on this the other day when I was booking my Tacloban-Manila-Tacloban flights online. The cost was PHP6,425 (Cebu Pacific's air fare was PHP 3,506) but I was willing to pay for the higher fare because PAL's flight schedule was convenient. However, my online transaction didn't get through as there was server error after I submitted my credit card details. That turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I was forced to call PAL to check whatever happened to the online booking I had made. The call center agent said that my credit card was not billed as the transaction didn't get through. She offered to book my flights and asked if I wanted a promo fare. I replied that I wanted the cheapest fare. When she mentioned it was P3,978 (with Mabuhay Miles points earned and about P300 less without), I was pleasantly surprised to find the huge difference. The call center agent said that the P6,425 online fare was the price at my booking time but she confirmed that cheaper PAL domestic tickets can be obtained by phone. This rule does not apply to international airfares which are cheaper if obtained online.

Singapore on a budget

If you're going to Singapore on a budget, consider booking a room at Hangout@Mt. Emily. You can book directly with the hostel or enjoy relatively lower room rates if you book your room through the Lonely Planet's Haystack booking facility. That's what I did in April 2007 while on a short trip to have my laptops fixed. I had not stayed in hostels before so I was anxious about the quality of the accommodation. I relied on travelers' reviews in the web. But what I found exceeded my expectations for the low room rate. The double room I got neither had a window nor TV but it didn't diminish its value. It is a no-frills hotel but it offers efficient facilities such as a token-operated laundry room with a washer, dryer, iron and ironing board, free 24-hr broadband internet facility, free coffee, a vending machine for soya milk, softdrinks and chocolate bars. The bedroom was ultra clean and being an obsessive-compulsive person, I was quite pleased. Double rooms come with a free buffet American breakfast consisting of croissants, a wide range of coffees from a vending machine, milk, fruit juice, sausages and muesli.

There are function rooms for large groups to have a meeting or a workshop and an entertainment room equipped with a wide-screen TV and bean bags. It is in this room where the internet facilities, free coffee and vending machine are located.

Hang-out is built on a hill near Mt. Emily park which means that you have to do a bit of walking. There are two concrete steps that lead to the Peace Centre and the Little India mrt station. I had no problem at all walking down the concrete steps to get to the money changer and Cold Storage at the Peace Centre nor walking up the hill from Little India mrt station.

From the Little India mrt station, one finds an Old Chang Kee that sells curry puffs and other local snacks and a Chinese restaurant at the corner of Niven St. I stopped at this Chinese resto to have chicken rice for dinner for only S$3. Not bad at all.

Noodles - pho bo

Pho shops are aplenty in Saigon. There's Pho 24, Pho 2000, and many roadside stalls. Pho 2000 was where US President Clinton dined, as the framed photos on the wall show. But the most popular among the locals and tourists alike is Pho Hoa on Pasteur St. (address: 260C Pasteur St.). On each visit to HCMC, I always order pho bo tai to get a bowl of steaming white noodles with raw beef. The idea is to let the steaming soup cook the raw beef. On the table you will find plates of blanched bean sprouts, basil leaves and many other leafy veggies, sliced chilis and lemons and a cluster of stainless steel containers of chili paste, fish sauce and soy bean paste. Add bean sprouts and the the fresh leafy veggies. Stir in a spoon or so of the orange chili paste and the dark-brown soy bean paste, according to your taste. Squeeze a lemon slice and The soybean paste mixed with the beef broth gives it a truly unique flavor. It is absolutely delicious. Remember to use chopsticks. A large bowl of pho costs VND30,000 (USD1.90 or P84).

After your meal at Pho Hoa, be careful when choosing the taxi to flag down. Walk a few meters away from Pho Hoa and call a "company" taxi. These are the yellow, white or green cabs with their company name displayed on top or on the body, such as the yellow Vina taxi, blue and white Vinasun, and white and green Mai Linh Deluxe. The bantam no-name taxis which have altered meters are often parked right in front of Pho Hoa and other tourist establishments. It can rip you off three times what it will cost you in a "company taxi". I've been traveling to HCMC perhaps more than 50 times over the the last 17 years but it was only last year that I learned from a Rex Hotel porter about "company" taxis.

Savoring Vietnamese coffee

To say that I love Vietnamese coffee is really an understatement. I am crazy over Vietnamese coffee more aptly describes my attachment to it. I have a collection of stainless steel coffee filters in different sizes and I only grind, brew and drink Vietnamese arabica-robusta at home. Whether one goes to an upscale coffee shop like Highlands or a roadside stall, real Vietnamese coffee is best brewed the traditional way - coffee grounds are placed on an aluminum filter that sits on top of a cup. The cup is laced with about a tablespoon or more of sweetened condensed milk. Hot water is then poured over the grounds and the coffee drips slowly. It takes about 10 minutes or so of waiting for the dripping to be done. Whether you drink it hot ice cold, it is so good.



















In most Saigon coffee shops, an order of coffee comes with a free glass of iced lotus tea. The tea is light and does not drown the coffee taste. This kindness is most appreciated especially on a warm day. I used to go to Trung Nguyen coffee shop which has several branches around th city until a Vietnamese friend took me to AQ coffee shop. AQ uses its own NP brand coffee beans. The coffee shop that I go to is on Mac Din Chi St. in district 1. It is a quaint old wooden house and a starfruit tree in the yard provides shade. Bossa music in the background gives it a nostalgic feel. But just as I was getting addicted to AQ coffee, I discovered a more superior blend of robusta-arabica coffee beans sold by Tan Thanh coffee and tea store at My Tho market in Tien Giang province. Price per kilo of coffee beans is 80,000 dong or PHP 224.


















Recently, Trung Nguyen has reinvented itself by establishing new coffee shops around Saigon with contemporary interiors and wifi access. A cup of traditional coffee with milk (hot or with ice) costs 21,000 dong or about PHP59. As in most places in the city, smoking is tolerated even in air conditioned establishments like in Trung Nguyen coffee shop, which can drive out customers who don't want to inhale second-hand smoke.

Falling in love with Saigon

My first trip to Vietnam was in 1990 on a consultancy to work with a team to put together a proposal for Vietnam. The trip started in Hanoi and ended in Saigon. That year, Saigon was dark as shops closed early. Nguyen Hue Boulevard was dim and the little souvenir shops in the center of the road didn't seem well lighted. The major mean of transport were an occasional taxi but mostly it was the cyclo (three wheeled bicycle taxi) that the tourists took to navigate around. Then, the Saigon Floating Hotel, Majestic, Continental, Caravelle and Rex were the better known hotels.

That first trip was followed by many more trips. With an average of four to six trips a year, I must have made more than 50 trips to Vietnam. Everyone who has frequented Vietnam would agree that urban development in Saigon has been quite rapid so that over time, Saigon has reclaimed its old decadent self. The city has seen a steady rise of new hotels, bars, great restaurants, shops, cars and motorbikes.

I have close friends in Vietnam and I find that the Vietnamese are very much like other Asians -- hospitable, sensitive, caring, kind, and sincere. Like other Asians, they also give presents to friends and they are so lavish with gifts, a trait they perhaps imbibed from the Chinese. But I tell my friends that all that disappear when they ride their motorbike. A Vietnamese on a motorbike becomes a completely different person: he/she is aggressive. Perhaps it is a survival rule in motorbiking in Vietnam that scares the tourist trying to cross a busy city street.