Lumpiang Shanghai & Adobo

With Thanksgiving this Thursday I just wanted to share my turkey story. Before I became a grad student at the University of Florida (Go Gators!!) the only roast fowl I've encountered were the tasty chickens from Robina (remember their Makati branch along Buendia across from Barrio Fiesta?) and chicken inasal in Bacolod, plus an occasional duck. The whole idea of poultry the size of a small dog made me wonder: how can you cook anything that big? After several tasty Thanksgiving dinners hosted by friends, and with me the sous chef for one dinner party, I finally got the nerve to roast a turkey on my own, and invited several friends from my department. In my tiny kitchen (so tiny that I couldn't open both oven and refrigerator doors at the same time; not that I would want to do so!), I made turkey and all the traditional fixings for Thanksgiving. I didn't have a dining table large enough, so we ate just outside the apartment, at one of the picnic tables set up in Married H...

When I was a child my father was a lawyer with the Judge Advocate Unit of the Philippine Constabulary. His job took him to many military installations around the country, and he met up with people from different backgrounds. Because of this we learned not to ask him too closely about what he did. One morning though, after he had returned from a dinner meeting with a Japanese journalist, I opened our refrigerator to find some unusual leftovers --- they were pieces of nigiri and maki sushi that he didn't eat because the fish was raw, but was too polite to decline when Harai had ordered them for him. This was the start of my love affair with Japanese food. I sometimes make sushi rice, salmon teriyaki, and tamago (egg omelet) for my family, and the rice toppings I found in Asian stores are a godsend when I don't want to deal with toasting nori and sesame seeds. But what I really like is eating sushi, especially mackerel and tuna. They remind me of the sea and in turn, of home, si...

I just finished working a 14 -hour day and came home to Chinese take-out. I wonder if I should have just eaten the leftovers from the Nilagang Baka I made the other day. When we were growing up my parents would go Saturday mornings to the market near our house. Cartimar in the '70s and '80s was busy, noisy, crowded; fruits and vegetables in one area, fish in another, and meat and poultry in a third. You would make the rounds of your different suki , giving your order for that day, before going home with a full bayong of food, meats and heavier items on the bottom, and fruits and vegies on top. (I remember wondering then why we couldn't buy our food all nicely packaged in plastic!) We always had Saturday lunch together as a family then, with my dad as chef. I don't use oxtail or marrow bones now, but you're welcome to tweak this recipe as you see fit! (Serves 4 with left-overs) Prepare steamed rice. Rinse vegetables and drain before chopping. Rinse meat and pat dry...