crisostomo, manila.

visited manila for the first time last weekend, and enjoyed “turn of the century filipino dining” at Crisostomo.

fish filets, with young mango and crispy spiced bits of.. im not sure what, but it was delicious!

slightly spicy taro leaf puree with a coconut curry sauce atop. it doesn’t look that appetizing.. but it was my favorite dish of the meal. tons of flavor.

filipino style crispy fried pork knuckle. hUge dish.

dessert, chiffon cake with a kind of custard with crusted sugar… the yellow custard with a layer of hardened sugar was a bit sweet, so i ended up scraping off the “frosting”… but the chiffon cake was ok. will try something else for dessert next time. i hear there’s a popular cake that i can’t remember the name of…

different from anything filipino i’ve ever tried.. and as we were taken by locals in manila, im pretty sure it was authentic cusisine.

love new food experiences.

cheers.

xx

yilan. bu lao buo luo.

we took a day trip to yilan last sunday. it was really nice to get out of the city. one hour drive out of the city, a short walk over a suspension bridge ride in a range rover up a steep mountain! the adventure starts right away.

gorgeous setting in the mountains. fresh air, light rain.. chilly day.

we passed by their mushroom farm on the way up- and were taught how to pick and eat them straight off the logs. the mushrooms are SO amazing. YUM.

mushrooms!

some of the freshly farmed + picked veggies that we would enjoy today.

upon arrival at the common area, we were seated around a fire pit and given skewers of marinated pork to cook. we also cooked the freshly picked mushrooms over the fire. after they were soft, sea salt was sprinkled on, returned to the flame for another 10 sec.. and then eaten. my fave.

homemade sweet potato chips, salted.

this root like veggie was picked from a fern/plant on the drive up the mountain! it crunches like cucumber, then is slightly sticky after some chewing- like nagaimo yam. prepared with ponzu sauce, diced onion and caviar.

sweet potato, eaten with a bite of fresh spicy ginger and sprinkled with a little salt.

this was interesting. escargot wrapped in thinly sliced cucumber, with something spicy an sour all wrapped up inside this little bite. i usually don’t eat escargot, but for the sake of trying everything, i had one.

soup/stew. WOW. full of flavor, stewed with fatty pork, carrots, turnips, radish and taro. ( i didn’t eat the taro- but everything was so amazing!)

“shiao mi jio” little rice wine. we had 4 different types of rice alcohol throughout the day.. this one was carbonated, like a beer.

super fresh fish, caught this morning from their farm, then cut and grilled in front of us. served with lemon and salt.

cured fish, smoked and served with a small rice “zhongzhi.” the bones are all edible and chewy. this dish went really great with the rice alcohol.

pork rib steak, bone in. SOO GOOD. the marinade was amazing. i ate it ALL, even though i was already full from eating all day.

 

definitely a great trip! aside from the food, we learned a bit about taiwanese aboriginal culture. and had a great time with the hosts.

seasonally, the food changes to whats fresh- so its worth coming out often!

xx

pizzeria oggi

tried a new pizza place in tianmu per the recommendation of some friends.

woodfired pizza oven. nice.

the combo pizza. nice thin crust. crunchy @ the sides. the shrimp was not my fave.. a weird topping on pizzas for me.. i usually stay away from seafood on pizzas.

hawaiian pizza. what makes this different is the dehydrated pineapple. it absorbs the juices and moisture from the pizza- a really great touch! yum..

will be returning soon to try the arugula topped pizza.

 

xx

“korean restaurant”

we randomly walked in to this tianmu restaurant for dinner.. aptly titled “korean restaurant” in english. in chinese its something else, but i have no idea what. when we sat and looked at the menu, we saw that they really did have a variety of all korean foods: bbqs, seafood, pancakes, noodles, tofu, soups, hotpots.. etc.

look at the side dishes.. and their sauces: bean paste + salt w/sesame oil. pretty authentic.

we ordered two kinds of meat for the bbq: prime beef and kalbi.. which was kindly cooked for us at our table by the happy and enthusiastic manager/owner.

the bbq comes with leaves for wrapping, chopped jalapenos and garlic, and a lightly seasoned salad of lettuce + green onion for eating with.

heres my bowl of spicy beef with vermicelli noodle soup, it came in a larger stone pot, and is served with a bowl of white rice.

my favorite “late night” korean dish from college: spicy rice cake. served hot.

not bad.. i have to say the meat quality was just ok, but for the quantity and options, we will be returning.

 

love finding new places close to home.

 

 

beef noodle soup.

last week i tried “expensive” beef noodle soup.

at “niu ba ba”…which i shall loosely translate to: COW DADDY.

i’m not the biggest fan of beef noodle these days, but i can still tell a good bowl from an okay one. because b so loves his beef noodle, i still have it quite often.

this bowl is their house special. it was $300NT. they serve this bowl of beef noodle soup, with pork feet.

the soup was pretty light compared to most other beef noodle soups. the meat was good, pork feet, good.. but it was just, okay. it tasted healthy. i should have tried their spicy/heavier flavored soup base beef noodle instead. btw- they have beef noodle soups that cost up to 10,000 NT at this place. thats like paying $300US for a kobe beef burger i guess… i really don’t think that it’s worth the steep price.

anyway, i just wanted to prove that even though my posts dont seem like it, yes.. i’m eating taiwanese food.

xx

packing pains.

i’m packing. and its awful.

i used to be good at packing light + still having everything i needed. now it seems my suitcases are crammed and not big enough.. i can’t bear to think my clothes are crammed in there so close to everything else.. numerous lotions that may explode and leak out of the plastic bags they’re sealed in.. slightly dirty worn shoes… sigh.

and HATBOXES. i never understood them, but now, i seem to need one. crushed fedoras are not pretty.

i’m surfing the web looking for what type of luggage is suitable for long cruises (not alot of closet space), while i have very little time left to pack for a 18 day trip.. and i came across these. wardrobe chests. sometimes referred to as steamer trunks. i have a small set, but they are nowhere as big as these babies! these are HUGE… i wish i had one for tomorrow!!

and this! what IS this?! a portable packable office!  not like i’d want to take that much work with me… but its a cool piece.

so, we are off to europe tomorrow, for a mediterranean cruise, and a few days in paris.

xx

shanghai: Sichuan Citizen

for all you spicy food lovers.

we ate contemporary sichuan cuisine during our visit to shanghai last week.

you can hardly tell what each dish is, because its covered in hot peppers!!! i suffered quite a bit.

this was deep fried spicy chicken.

this dish is called “water boiled fish.” with tons of spicy oils, red peppers, and sichuan peppercorns- bite into one of these on accident and your mouth will be numbed for a good ten minutes.. which i did. they serve coconut milk, which helps cool + counter the effect of the “ma-la” numbness.

mini bread/bun bowls to fill..

so much heat in one sitting!!

Addy: 30(D) Donghu Lu, Shanghai.

hot pot: old sichuan

in chinese, this place is called “old sichuan” it’s ma-la hot pot.

on their sign outside, the english says ” Kingdom of Pa and Shu. Hot and Spcy Tofu with Beef”

a little misleading.. anyhow.

we went with a group of 10 and had 2 of the mixed pots. half ma-la spicy (with tons of duck blood. so good.) and half non spicy.  for the pots, we ordered 2 different kinds of beef, which came in huge portions, enoki mushrooms, 2 green veggies. intestine, fishcake balls, large mushrooms.. i forget what else, but that was what I ate at least!

the pots with the base soups before we started cooking and adding ingredients.

the spicy side was a bit oily/greasy.. mostly spicy oils, but once you cook the beef, it was… FAT.

like i said. HUGE portions of meat. good for big groups.

i’m really starting to enjoy chinese ma-la hot pot… guess this means i’m finally assimilating to taiwan! i used to only love shabu shabu.. X) which i still do of course.

http://www.oldsichuan.com.tw

food for the ears + soul.

i came across this today while browsing twitter.

i immediately RT. and now im posting it.

1. julie_h so awesome. thxx!! RT @My_Shimoda found a bunch of michael jackson albums here… http://tinyurl.com/3536xn2

DL entire MJ albums, old skool to newer.

http://www.djhungama.com/index.php?showtopic=9113

this is it. is missing.. but its getting LOVE from me.

typing to the beat of P.Y.T.

peace, MJ!

xx

the thing is…

i’ve been in a slight food rut since my return to taiwan.

now that b and i have different working hours, i end up eating alone more than often. eating alone doesnt bother me.. i used to love living alone in hancock park, being able to grab pinkberry and fruit, or a ghetto dog and some jamba juice… the occasional sweet lady jane croissant with a latte. these are all excellent dinner choices ; )

oh, and M cafe’s quinoa salad n bento boxes… i miss you.

but here in taiwan.. i dont have a huge list of “single eating girl” places to grab a bite.. nor is it easy to navigate, find, nonetheless order, when i can’t read the menu… the are a zillion places along the way home from work, so how come i cant figure out a new routine?  i’ve realized all my food choices are “us and he”-friendly. ex: “family style meals” a few dishes.. places you cant grab something small in one order and be done with it.

also.. i’m not a fan of eating asian noodles or rice dishes as a meal. :O yeah, i said it.

ok. pad thai is an exception.. and italian/japanese pastas. sOrry to my other half, who loves beef noodle soup so much he can eat it 3 times a week. (barf)

so.. i had dumplings twice this week, and tonight, i am having boba, apple, and a wax apple.

i’ll live. : )

theres always more to come.