Asians Eat Weird Things

This made me want to go to an Asian supermarket and buy all the foods that I want. 


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Do you really eat all the foods featured in the video? 

Of course not. I'm Filipino so I grew up eating foods like dinuguan, jackfruit, pig intestine, and balut. I even wrote a blog post about these foods if you want to see some pictures. But I would love to try the foods in the video. 

(Belated) Happy Lunar New Year!

While I was getting ready for school Wednesday morning, I asked my mom, 
 

"Did you buy tikoy at Young's?" (in Tagalog, of course)

"Yes."

It made my morning (and then it went down again when I was on my way to school.).
 

Every Chinese New Year, my mom buys tikoy. Our family doesn't exactly 'celebrate' it as to how we celebrate Jan. 1st. Instead, we just eat tikoy.

Tikoy, or Chinese New Year's cake, is glutinous rice. It has different cooking methods in other East and South East Asian countries but in the Philippines, this sweet sticky snack is normally dipped in beaten egg and then fried. 

It's crispy and brown on the outside, but soft and chewy on the inside. My mom cooked it today and this is what it looked like: 

She sliced it first. Not too thin and not too thick. I think my mom would buy another one tomorrow because it's a long weekend here and my family is "celebrating" Louis Riel Day. 

To everyone who celebrates and observes the Lunar New Year, Happy New Year~!

photos by Lora

Filipino foods for Halloween

Since it is in season, I thought I'd conform and write an obligatory Halloween post. Instead of posting the typical "Happy Halloween" or "Trick or treat!" and a picture of a pumpkin or a scarecrow, I thought of Filipino foods and delicacies that are considered "scary" and perfect for the event. 
  
I got this idea from work when the social committee thought of holding a scary potluck as the theme for the Halloween dinner. My friend slash colleague and I were thinking of what to bring. She suggested dinuguan and I suggested balut. She suggested isaw (barbecued chicken intestines) and adidas (barbecued chicken feet) which I think are good enough for a scare, but dinuguan and balut tops the former as "scary-looking" foods. If you think isaw and adidas are the worst, think again, especially if you haven't seen or tasted dinuguan and balut yet. 
  
The foods look different from the taste, so the foods posted here are either scary-looking because of its appearance, its taste, or both. But this varies on Filipinos, whether they grew up eating these foods or not. A caveat: some of the foods do not really adhere to the theme, I just wanted to post them because I like them. 

balut or duck egg (photo by me)

bbq street foods from left to right: adidas or chicken feet, isaw or chicken intestines, hotdog, and the other ones I have no idea (photo from Definitely Filipino)

bbq street foods (clockwise from left): isaw (chicken intestines), betamax or dried pork blood, helmet or chicken heads, and adidas (chicken feet) (photo from Definitely Filipino)

crispy dinuguan or pork blood stew (photo from Definitely Filipino)

Lechon is usually served at parties. They're not really spooky but I just thought that the presentation looks interesting so I posted it here. (photo from Definitely Filipino)

FOOD!

Because it's the holidays, and people usually love this season because of the scrumptious food that are served on the table (and our neighbor's, relative's, and friend's table), I thought about posting the menu from my sister's wedding last August in the Philippines. It's kinda late, and I really was planning to post this, but I guess I never thought about doing it. 

Their caterer was K by Cunanan, and you can visit their website here, although its currently under construction, so you can still visit their blog here if you're interested.

These pictures were taken during our food-tasting at their place. And because I enjoyed the main course so much that when the desserts were served, I completely forgot to take a picture of it. 

the table setting (brown and teal)

tiffany chair

farther right: Hoisin Chicken wrap; bottom: Fresh Vietnamese Spring Rolls

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

Blinis with smoked salmon

Chicken barbeque on martini glasses

clockwise from top right: Grilled red snapper with mango salsa, carrot rice, Barbequed baby back ribs and corn with parsley butter, and Honey nut prawns

Brocolli and cheese soup

Nom, nom, nom. That was fun. Too bad that I wasn't able to take a picture of the Flourless chocolate cake and Lemon creme brulee because I was too excited to gormandize them. But, if you're ever getting married in Manila, Philippines, you can contact this caterer (links above) and they'll be glad to fill your guests' stomachs and not worry about the kids wailing and screaming for food (they have a kids' menu too, in case you were wondering.). Nom, nom, nom.