Lumpiang Shanghai

One of my favorite Filipino-styled dishes would be lumpiang shanghai.

As what my sister mildly put it, if there is ever an event, a celebration, party or gathering, you can trust that there would be lumpiang shanghai prepared. Well, at least in my family this is the case.

Before my sister left for Doha, I was able to get her to teach me how to cook lumpiang shanghai (aka Filipino-edited spring rolls). It is by no means the correct version, but you could say this is our style.

I am now bookmarking this here so that I can remember how to cook it later.

Ingredients:
1. Ground pork
2. Carrots
3. Onion
4. Garlic
5. Seasoning
6. Spring roll wrapper

Insructions:
1. Mince carrots, onion, garlic
2. Mix with ground pork
3. Season with salt, pepper, msg, chicken powder
4. Mix well
5. With 1 tbsp per roll, ehrrr.. roll it inside the wrapper
6. Keep refrigerated until you want to cook
7. Deep fry when cooking
8. Drain excess oil

Serve with your favorite sauce!

Brunch at Rekados Filipino Restaubar

Life in Phnom Penh has not been easy for my sister and I, but we are definitely holding on.

After a few weeks of subsiding on a tight budget, we agreed to treat ourselves with Filipino food that can be hard to find in Phnom Penh.

So we headed off to Rekados Filipino Restaubar, which is located right next to the Philippine Embassy.

The food there is okay though a bit higher. Considering the prices would be cheaper if we were back at our country. But then again, this is Cambodia, so the prices are a bit steep. But who cares? We got to eat delicious Filipino food!

My sister immediately went for the Bangusilog, while I went for the Lechon Kawali. *yum*

Bangusilog

Lechon Kawali

Felt so good to be able to eat something familiar.

Overall, I think we paid around $10+.

 

Rekados Filipino Restaubar, Phnom Penh

Sister. Proud to be PINOY!

Rekados Filipino Restaubar

Address: House #5 Street 422 (near the Philippine Embassy), Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Telephone: 089 859 112
Open hours: 8:00 am – 11:00 pm

Nom Slek Jark

New experience for me.
It looks like the Philippine bud-bud, but not quite. Like bingka, but not quite.
It was quite delicious, not so sweet.
Like rice cake that’s been roasted.

To be honest, I was hesitant to try it at first. Then I found out that I liked it. 🙂
My friend said it’s from Kampot Province (or maybe I got the location wrong).

Tribute to Bulad

Oh, bulad, bulad!
How yummy you are to eat;
For each single meal!

~

The term ‘bulad‘ (or ‘buwad’) is often used by Visayans, which probably gives you an idea as to which part of the Philippines I come from, to refer to salted, dried fish.

I do not have a lot of trivia about bulad, but all I know is that we eat it by the bushels. I kid, I kid! But we do eat it a lot.

If we had our way, we would be eating this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Snacks even, if we have champorado and what not.

Unfortunately, dried fish in Cambodia just isn’t the same as the ones we have at home. So we often have to beg somebody who is going home to bring back some dried fish.

Luckily, a family friend of ours went home to Siquijor a couple weeks back. We did not have to beg her this time since she brought us some bulad anyway.

Bulad, suka, sili! Sikwate… sikwate!

Oh happy days.

Unfortunately, a bag of bulad can only last so long. The contents disappeared in less than a week. We tried to scrimp, mind you, but I guess we needed more.

🙂

Have you tried bulad yet?

For the love of adobong baboy

A colleague of mine does not believe that I have cooking capabilities.

Well, I do. However, my capabilities are far from perfect, and in most instances, I dare to improvise. I do love to cook, but this is but a recent interest that I’ve gained.

Call it fortunate, or call it unfortunate, but I grew up not being inclined to cook since my relatives are particular about cooking. So I gave up cooking for our family until I had my own. See, before I left my home in order to get hitched to my husband, my grandmother told me I MUST, I MUST learn how to cook my favorite dishes, especially since my husband’s family would not be cooking for us. LOL

Well, folks, one favorite dish is ADOBO (adobong baboy). I am sure if you’ve met other Filipinos, I think chances are that adobo is among their favorite dishes. I guess it is a Filipino thing? I also read somewhere that adobo is the Filipino National Dish. Whether this is true, or not, I have no idea.

Grilled Cheese Sandwich Memories

A couple of days ago, I had this relatively intense hankering for grilled cheese sandwiches.

I haven’t enjoyed grilled cheese sandwiches in AGES, so the yearning I felt was so strong, it could possibly blow you off your feet! I blame it on The Devil Wears Prada.

Look at that:

Photo lifted from Tumblr.

Wouldn’t you like some grilled sandwiches, too? 

While I was drooling over my keyboard looking at the images on Google, I had a ‘light bulb’ moment and thought, ‘Why not make my own grilled cheese sandwich?’ As far as I can recall, we had some of the ingredients, so I searched for instructions on the web. 

While I found several recipes on making a grilled cheese sandwich, I figured the one AllRecipes provided was the best to start with. 

Tous le Jours: My New Favorite Place!

So maybe I do have an obsession with The Blue Pumpkin and their sandwiches. I love their desserts and coffee, too!

But there’s a new shop in my life now, and it is called Tous le Jours.

My mom and her friends keep talking about Tous le Jours Phnom Penh because they said that the bread (pastries?) are to die for. I, on the other hand, am a neanderthal and I do not know what it is.

Last week, my mom went to Mobitel, which is near Tous le Jours Phnom Penh, and she dropped by the bakery to buy some bread and doughnuts.

When I got home, I had one of the doughnuts, and guess who became Tous le Jours Phnom Penh’s number one fan? ME!

The very next day, I decided to check out the shop itself.

The Vietnamese Coffee Challenge

One of the things I have learned to enjoy since achieving my expatriate status is Vietnamese coffee.

While I haven’t had a good cup for several months now, I was reminded of how delicious and simply fulfilling their coffee is a few days ago.

My mom and I were on our way to Ho Chi Minh for the Khmer New Year, and during the regular stop at the Hono Red Restaurant and Bus Stop*, I ordered coffee so that I had enough kick in me to last the day.

Ah, coffee.

Ton Lob (Persimmons)

This is just a repost of my entry over at my main blog. You can head over there for more details about this experience.

Yogurt Ice Cream, because I’m melting

Minutes ago, yes MINUTES, I stepped out of the office to buy ice cream. The weather in Phnom Penh has been crazy insane the past few days, and I really, really, really wanted ice cream.

I badgered my colleague to come out with me simply because I did not want to walk alone. LOL so we went out to the newly opened Blue Pumpkin – Take Away shop which was just close to our office.

They opened this week, and I happen to pass by it every day when I go to work. So yes, it has been waving enticingly since Monday.

Truth be told, I love, love, LOVE The Blue Pumpkin, but curse them for setting up shop so close! They are springing out at almost every corner so I cannot escape.

This shop is quite small, so you do not see the white sofa beds that you can normally enjoy in their other shops. It is at the bus stop, so that is why it has the ‘Take Away’ added to the name.

BUT, I like the fact that they have sandwiches and bread so I can drop by for bread and convince myself that ice cream and coffee are not available.

My colleague had their iced coffee with milk, while I had the yogurt ice cream.

Mmmm…

The Blue Pumpkin – Take Away
Street 106, Phnom Penh