Soju, So Good

This bottle of Soju, a JINRO CHAMISUL ORIGINAL SOJU, has been sitting on top of my fridge since last weekend. Finally opened it today, at lunch. And boy, it was good even if it was at room temperature! I got this bottle for Php75 at a newly opened Korean Grocery store along Pioneer, Mandaluyong City, Philippines, across Joey Pepperoni.

We have been wanting to redeem a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts since last weekend and finally did so last night. I think doughnuts are good with beer (and soju!) as these carbs balance the bitterness, and the oils line your stomach. However, while it makes drinking more enjoyable, it is most unhealthy.

I will stick with the soju.

Pulutan Explained

I just realized that there is no explanation on what "unconventional pulutan" is.

According to Wikipedia: "Pulutan (comes from the Filipino word pulutin which literally means "something that is picked up") is a term roughly analogous to the English term "finger food". It originally was a snack accompanied with liquor or beer but has found its way into Philippine cuisine as appetizers or, in some cases, main dishes, as in the case of sisig."

To this definition, I would say the opposite can also be true. There are those pulutan that were main dishes first, before they were discovered to be good with beer or the like. As for me, one of the unconventional pulutan I have ever tried and actually loved is a combination of crushed crackers and tuna in can.

In Dumaguete, Have Balut and Tanduay Ice

It was a long weekend in the Philippines so we went on a sort of spur of the moment trip to Dumaguete (we actually went to Siquijor and Apo islands, too)


Photo courtesy of Pauline Derige

Near the famed boulevard of Dumaguete City, we settled for a round of Tanduay Ice at this place called Blue Monkey Grill.

The next night, we had Julien, a French guy traveling with us experience balut! This delicacy is now part of the appetizers menu in restaurants and thus, make for unconventional pulutan.


UPDATE: Finally have a video of the balut-eating experience. Enjoy!

TGIF's Mojitos

Went to TGIF at Trinoma, a convenient location for peope who think MRT is a gift from heaven (like I do!) I think their Ball Park Nachos is a version of unconventional pulutan because of the sheer volume as seen in the photo (okay, so that's my niece. And no, she did not finish that).

1 Mojito
1 Mojito Apple
1 Ball Park Nachos

Price: Php 736.61 (excluding service charge)

I liked the original mojito more than the apple one. But for Php 174.11 a glass, I just had to find out how to make one.

From Taste of Cuba:

1 teaspoon powdered sugar
Juice from 1 lime (2 ounces)
4 mint leaves
1 sprig of mint
White Rum (2 ounces)
2 ounces club soda


Place the mint leaves into a long mojito glass (often called a "collins" glass) and squeeze the juice from a cut lime over it. You'll want about two ounces of lime juice, so it may not require all of the juice from a single lime. Add the powdered sugar, then gently smash the mint into the lime juice and sugar with a muddler (a long wooden device pictured below, though you can also use the back of a fork or spoon if one isn't available). Add ice (preferably crushed) then add the rum and stir, and top off with the club soda (you can also stir the club soda in as per your taste). Garnish with a mint sprig.

So in the end, I probably don't need a mint sprig.

Mogwai

Mogwai was it for Friday night last week. Good friend from China came home to do pamamanhikan to his fiancee's parents in the province.



Onigiri


Before going to Cubao Shoe Expo, went to Kozui, a green tea place along Tomas Morato where I collected a pack of shelled pumpkin seeds and cheese hopia from Sonya's Garden. I was made to try Onigiri, a snack made of Japanese rice (yes, I was forced to eat rice with my Roast Green Tea Latte with soya milk) shaped into a triangle. It had bits of tuna and some salty japanese sprinkles and had a nori strip at the bottom. It will be part of the pastry display of the store soon. I imagine this to be effective in lining one's stomach before drinking. It will actually go well with beer, I imagine, because it is rice and fish (which you can conveniently bite into like a piece of bread--not that i eat bread with beer).




(Mogwai images by pro photographer Nicky Sering)

Anyway, Mogwai is a place (restaurant-bar with a theater or screening room on the second floor) owned by Erik Matti and Lyle Sacris. It's a cozy place and we always choose to meet here now that everyone has outgrown (or simply find it not sulit to go to) Sarah's and Molo's. Beer is affordable here. But what I do like are the lava cakes, both dark and white (P90 a piece), the Alamid cofffee, and a plate of spaghetti with fish fillet smothered with achovies.

It was packed that night. While waiting to be seated, I asked my friend what he was going to bring for the parents and if it was lechon? His answer, as usually, was funny that I am actually "all for it" for its novelty. He said he was bringing boxes of Krispy Kreme. Hahaha