Pan De Manila

Pandesal cannot get any more Pinoy than it already is. It has been part of each Filipino household through the years.
And when Pan de Manila and Pan de Pugon boasted of bringing back the traditional way of baking pandesal in a wood-fired brick oven, just the way our grandparents did, I was excited to try it.

Straight out of the bag or toasted lightly in the oven for a crispier brown-ier crust, the inside remains fluffy and tasty.

.... with cheese.... with jam.... with peanut butter.... with corned beef.... with margarine... with condensed milk.... I can go on and on and on with the countless ways of enjoying pandesal.

Pan de Manila also has other baked goods. I was able to buy a couple more from the shelf.... their ensaymada (left) and their cheese pandesal (right, cheddar cheese topped and baked in each bun).

The Herb Cream Cheese is a yummy treat. It has real garlic and parsley bits, perfect for topping.

Talangka and Taba

Talangka is one of the Filipino dishes I do not often get to eat. That is why I do enjoy it whenever I get the chance.

Rui and Suu were both confused why their crabs were so small! They look like baby crabs really. It confused me to when I was young. Hahaha...

But for those who love to have talangka every day, everywhere, there is the bottled taba ng talangka in the groceries and markets. And for me, the best brand around is Navarro's. I pick the premium variety which is pure, no "halo".

It is pure unadulterated goodness of taba ng talangka!

This is how I enjoy mine... I mash about a tablespoon of it onto my hot steaming heap of rice and mix... and I have got myself one delicious treat!

Fern C

I was never really fond of taking vitamins ever. It was just a ritual for me when I was young, that I had to take some supplements everyday. This was until I learned about Fern C, a new Vitamin C preparation that is out in the market this year.

A lady dentist friend, who was selling it and part of the networking, introduced me to Fern C, promoting all the neat stuff about it... about how effective it is in increasing one's immune system, about how it prevents colds and flu, how it promotes wound healing, and a whole gamut of other positive things about it.

Since she was a dear friend, I didn't want to turn her down so I bought from her, much to my skepticism. And to my suprise, Fern C really worked! It does! I had colds at that time so I took Fern C like she told me. And I was really amazed that my colds was gone in no time! Plus, I did feel a lot stronger. No kidding! I wasn't expecting it to work, but it did!

Fern C (Sodium Ascorbate) comes in a box of 100 or a tile of 10 capsules. It is a white tasteless powder in a dark brown capsule. You may drink it like a regular capsule or dissolve it in any drink for your kids. It boasts of being non-acidic, thus, it doesn't cause any abdominal discomfort.

Now, everyone in my family, from the oldest to the youngest, takes Fern C daily. No, I am not part of the network and I am not selling, and this is not a paid blog. But I had to talk about Fern C if only to promote how good a product it is. And it really is!

Now it can really be said, that a Fern C capsule a day helps to keep the doctor away.

Lumpiang Gulay

We all know how a lumpia looks like. But have you seen how one is made? This lumpiang gulay is one of the reasons why I love going to Aani Weekend Market.


My suki let me take shots as he prepared my lumpia... Let the show begin!

This is the heart of the roll... the delicious healthy mix of sauteed vegetables...

And these are the added treats that give the lumpia the kick... coarsely pounded greaseless peanuts (left photo), wansuy leaves (middle photo) and , those white strings (left photo) are bihon noodles admixed with dried nori. Yes, the same nori that we use in japanese cooking. The final touch, of course, is the coarsely chopped fresh garlic.

And now comes the finale... the folding and the rolling...


I have always wondered how they are able to put each roll neatly and perfectly into each plastic pouch. Here is the trick... each plastic pouch hangs by a ring in this contraption, eagerly awaiting for each roll to arrive.

Everything was done in just a minute! Much as it looks easy to do, I'm okay with buying them ready and to-go.

Voila! My lumpia is ready!

Little Tehran

It is a small Persian restaurant here in the south, along Dona Soledad Avenue in Better Living Subdivision. Hearing so much good feedback about it, Mon and I decided to check it out for oursleves one night.

It is as small as it looks from the outside. I can count only about 4-5 small tables-for-two inside. The interiors weren't really all that Persian in motif.

We picked the farthest table by the window. More knick-knacks brighten up the walls.

The soup and the salad were the side dishes that came with our dish. The soup was tasty. Beef stock with herbs and spices. The salad was fresh cuts of tomato, onions and cucumber.

We ordered their Beef Biryani (left foto) which came with the side dishes. We wanted to try their Lamb dishes but unfortunately for us, they didnt have lamb that night. It is this tall mound of 'orange saffron' rice with large chunks of beef inside, seasoned and cooked the Persian way. We also had the Tomato Beef Onion Dish (right foto) which Mon enjoyed more than the Biryani.

We also tried their Beef Kebab. This was their version of barbecue save for the skewers. Plus, the beef is ground and seasoned, then molded to shape like so. This one, I liked.

We can't leave this restaurant without bringing home their famous Shawarma which I must say is one of the better tasting I have tried.

All in all, it was a good eat. Not the best but good. A bit pricey too, I think. But maybe we will come back for seconds, though not real soon.

Mad About Crabs

If there is one seafood I would never tire of eating, that would be crabs. And one of the better places to find them live and aligue-packed just the way we all want them is at Aani Weekend Market in Taguig.

They are in separate bins... the males, the females and the bakla. My mom taught me how to tell the crab's sex thru the flap in its underside.

The female's flap is rounder and darker (left photo) and the male's flap is straighter and whiter. The bakla's flap (right photo) is a mix of the two, less round, less pointed.

Part of the fun is in picking the crabs, myself. My suking tindera helps me out by peeking inside the crab to check if it is aligue-han or not.

From the bin..... off to my steamer..... and on to the table, bright red and steaming hot!

This is the bakla variety. The taba is brownish, soggy and mushy but very very tasty.

This is the female variety. The taba is the traditional aligue we know, firmer and orange.
For a crab lover like me, I will take anything as long as it is as aligue-han and as fresh as these.