Tuesday, March 01, 2011

Cookfest

Since the cooking bug hit me I've also been loving in going to the local market and discovering the fresh produce being sold. It's loads cheaper than always buying it in the grocery and you are assured of the freshness.

I've also been fond of watching KBS and Arirang tv shows and it inspired me to cook this Korean noodle dish called Jap Jae. It's actually quite similar to the Filipino style sotanghon or bihon dishes. It was a hit among my friends that I cooked it again in another gathering of ours. It was wiped out again which made me very happy. The Two Chefs show is really fun to watch and it's where I learned the recipe.

I've been wanting to entertain here in my house and I had my friends Blady, Cielo and their two kids Brandon and Bryce over for a simple dinner. I know Bryce loved eating macaroni salad so I cooked my own version using the recipe of my former boss and friend Ditas.

I made a variation though and used Japanese mayonnaise giving it a much creamier and sharper taste. Next time I will use the original recipe and see if they will like it too.

Last Sunday the Perezes invited me for lunch at their place and I made a tomato and salted egg salad to go with fried fish. We ate so much that I couldn't breathe after. Usually in our house we put onions but this version of mine just used salted egg, tomatoes and a bunch of cilantro plus a dash of salt and, here I think is the secret ingredient that made it yummy, a dash of fish sauce! It's so good with rice and any fried food.

For another dinner with friends, I thought of cooking clams. It's so cheap to buy clams here in SR. Two kilos of those lovelies is just a dollar. I was looking for manila clams actually but these sand clams has plumpier flesh inside, which is a treat to eat.

I cooked the clams in spaghetti with a cream base sauce. It's so YUMMY! We also had pizza and both food paired well with Ciel d'Or sauvignon blanc. So far I'm most proud of this and the Jap Jae I cooked. Just last night I'm dreaming of cooking risotto and couscous. It's gonna be bad for my waistline but...

4 comments:

Make it Easy said...

ooh dinner parties are always fun!
thanks so much for the bday wishes!!!!

Anonymous said...

Your Korean noodles made my mouth water at 10pm in the evening with no sotanghon in the house (or even in our sleepy town) in sight! I am just wondering if salted eggs are available in Siem reap or do you make them yourself? Thanks for sharing your culinary adventures.:-)

Sintea :-)

fuchsiaboy said...

They have salted eggs here in Cambodia. Unlike in the Philippines where it's colored fuchsia or red, here it's un-colored and sometimes not cooked but already cured. So you have to cook it first like regular boiled eggs.

Anonymous said...

im loving our dinner time so much! thanks again for sharing this with us! i super like the maipo white wine now and the meiji chocs! (your influence!hehe) yum oh! --cielo