20-Minute Chorizo Fried Rice
I must admit, I’m one of those who thinks that making fried rice is difficult and time consuming until last Monday, when I decided to wake up early and give fried rice another chance. I’m surprised because it only took me roughly 20 minutes to cook this complicated-looking dish. So, for those of you who are always in a hurry, feel free to try this recipe out.
Ingredients:
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1 egg, beaten
- 4 cups of cold cooked rice, hand-mashed
- 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 2 tablespoons of sesame oil
- 1 cup of mixed vegetables
- 2 pieces of chinese chorizo, chopped
Procedure:
- Beat the eggs and season with salt and pepper.
- Heat a non-stick pan with cooking oil.
- Saute the garlic until brown and then add the chorizo and mixed veggies.
- Add the beaten egg and mix until the egg is cooked.
- Add the rice, season with additional salt and pepper depending on your taste and stir often until cooked.
Timing:
- Preps: 3 minutes
- Step 2 to 4: 5 minutes
- Step 5: 12 minutes
Smoke Restaurant in Tagaytay
After 27 years of existence, at last, nakarating din sa Bora!!! Thanks to Nes and Ian for inviting us to their wedding kasi kung hindi pa dun, di pa din siguro kame pupunta ng Bora =) During our first day there, hubby and I had our 3pm lunch at Smoke Resto (with Inggo’s recommendation), and no regrets for that 
The chicken curry rice topping that husband ordered was superb! I mean, the chicken no longer tasted like chicken (you know how boiled chicken tastes right, that’s what I mean), but tasted totally in sync with the curry. The sauce was perfectly creamy, the chicken, potatoes, and carrots tender and cooked just right.
On the other hand, the sizzling bicol express was behind in quality… too bad. The pork was not tender enough, the dish lacked coconut sauce and it was kind of dry.
Since I really loved their chicken curry, we went back during our last day with friends and ordered Bulalo soup, lechon kawali, spicy kangkong, chicken curry, and buttered shrimp. Here’s what we thought:
- Bulalo soup – others found this great tasting but for me, it was just okay… there were lots of meat though, so I guess it’s worth the price
- Lechon kawali – yummers!
- Spicy kangkong – tasted sweet instead of spicy due to lack of chili, we forgive Smoke because they warned us beforehand
- Chicken curry – as expected, everyone loved it
- Buttered shrimp – all of us found it ironic that Bora restos failed to serve quality seafood dishes but thank God because we found one resto who did serve fresh shrimps hooraaay!
On another note, don’t expect lavish interiors because Smoke Resto is bordering turo turo slash carinderia kind of resto. But hey, who cares? I don’t, as long as they serve yummy curry, I’ll keep coming back.
As for price range, the rate of their dishes range from Php 80 to Php 200. I think the curry rice topping is approx 120 while the bulalo that fed all 5 of us was around 180 pesos. Totally not bad right?!
————————————
Smoke Resto caters and delivers too. You may contact them at (036) 2886014 and (036) 2884565.
Revisiting Antonio’s Tagaytay
Went back to Antonio’s for the second time and the place looked more beautiful in broad daylight. The food was better than I remembered and the service was above average.
My order: Seafood Sampler @ PHP 1,600
From left to right:
Prawn Thermidor – I think this dish was the best among the three because it gave me the right amount of flavour without becoming too salty, and creaminess without overpowering the natural flavor of the prawn. This dish actually made me regret that I ordered the Seafood Sampler instead of the Mixed Seafood Thermidor
Crispy Cod Fish Glazed with Kombu Sauce on Peppered Egg Noodles – The glazed fish came off a bit too sweet for me and it kinda reminded me of turon (banna fritters). On the other hand, I loved the noodles so much, I think it tasted better than chinese misua being served in popular chinese restaurants.
Pan Seared Scallops on Celleriac Mashed, Truffle Cream Sauce – This tasted delicious but it didn’t offer something new and unique the way the thermidor has; it tasted like a normal scallop ;p
Herb Roasted Rack of Lamb with Cardamon Beurre Blac @ PHP 1,650
Schwein Haxen (Roast Pork Knuckle), Sauerkraut, Chateau Potato, Cabbage @ PHP 1,000
(not sure with this one yet, I’ll have to check)
Organic Free-Range Roast Chicken Leg with Bourbon Tomato and Boiled Potato @ PHP 1,200
My friends were raving for this… its aroma reminded me of my all-time favorite Fazolis’ chicken.
Mixed Seafood Thermidor (scallops, prawn, mussles, and cod fish) @1,450
*drools* I wish I ordered this instead =(
My order: Sorbet (guava, green mango, lamolime, green apple, watermelon, calamansi) - This tasted like an ice shaved off from an ice candy. After tasting this one, I immediately swapped with Nats because I couldn’t bear eating one more spoon of it.
I swapped Sorbet with Profiteroles with Vanilla Ice Cream, Chocolate Sauce or Caramel Sauce
This one tasted a liitle better because of the bread and ice cream but I did not like the very generic taste of its chocolate. This is so far the best among the dessert offerings of Antonio’s.
Overall, Antonio’s is so worth another visit. Their main course dishes are awesome but don’t expect much on their dessert because you’ll be dissapointed.
*Antonio’s main course meals come with salad, soup, dessert, and coffee for free
——–
Antonio’s Restaurant
Bgy. Neogan, Tagaytay City, Cavite
+63918 8992866
Ilocos Longganisa (Philippine Chorizo)
I grew up in Cagayan Valley and that’s how I came across one of the best delicacies of Ilocos region (Cagayan, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, etc.) - longganisa or Philippine Chorizo. Ilocos longganisa is often referred to as derecado or mabawang na longganisa because of it’s distinct garlicky and salty taste. This type of longganisa is best eaten with vinegar (especially Pinakurat vinegar) to further enhance the taste.
Ilocos longganisa is truly a favorite. Since we moved here to Manila, we rarely got the chance to eat this delicious delicacy simply because we cannot find anything like it at grocery stores. Just recently, mom was able to contact her best friend who resides in Cagayan and requested that she sends us some longganisa -yay!
Mom was also able to contact her sister who also lives in Cagayan and asked her a huge favor, that is to let us share this very delicious longganisa to Kitchen BQ readers ;) For orders, you may use the contact form on this site.
So how do we actually cook longganisa? See below for the steps:
- In a pan, drop the longganisa and then add 1/8 cup water.
- Cover the pan.
- Set the fire to medium or high heat and bring the water to boil. Wait until the water has completely evaporated.
- At this point, oil from the longganisa will come out. Do not lower the heat to produce a slightly crunchy crust.
- While holding the handle and the cover of the pan, toss the longganisa to ensure that all sides are cooked equal.
- Wait for a few minutes more or until the longganisa is cooked before turning off the fire.
- Drain excess oil before putting the longganisa on top of paper towel.
Food Tasting in Oceana
A yummy surprise greeted me in the office this afternoon =) I was requested by my boss to go to Oceana (our Christmas party venue) and attend food-tasting offered Oceana for the the Christmas party committee of our organization.
As of now, I’m only sharing the pictures of the food we’ve ordered and will give the verdict after our Christmas party because I know there are still room for improvements; after all, the reason for the food-tasting is to get our feedback on how they can improve the taste of the dishes.
Special thanks goes to Carlo for his Nikon D40 camera; and Barbie + Rhenz for the beautiful photos.
Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Cinnamon, Cream, and Bacon
Curried Potato Salad
Pepper Crusted Seared Tuna Nocoise
Pan Roasted Mahi-Mahi Fillets with Pesto Cream Sauce
Penne Pasta with Pancetta Cream, Wild Mushrooms, and Fresh Peas
Beef Pot Roast with Mushroom Bordelaise
Crepe Suzette
Fresh Mango Tarlets and Creme Brulee
Fresh Mango Tarlets
———————–
Oceana is located at San Miguel by the Bay, SM Mall of Asia Complex. You can contact them at +632 7032515 or visit their site at www.cca-manila.com.
Pepper Crusted Salmon
This is another one of my favorite recipes because it is very easy to prepare. You just have to thaw a few slices of salmon, rub it with salt and freshly ground pepper, drizzle a little seasoning and then its off to the oven!
Ingredients:
- Salt
- Pepper
- Knorr seasoning
- Salmon
Procedure:
- Pre-heat oven for 10 minutes at 190 degrees celcius.
- Rub salt and pepper to salmon.
- Drizzle some Knorr seasoning.
- Put salmon over tray with baking paper and insert the tray to the oven.
- Wait for 20 minutes more and your pepper crusted salmon is ready.
Tawilis Tempura
My friend, Noemi, first introduced me to this yummy fish called Sardinella Tawilis when we ate at View Point Restaurant in Tagaytay.
Sardinella tawilis (sometimes obscurely referred to as the freshwater sardinella) is a freshwater sardine found exclusively in the Philippines. It is unique in that it is the only member of the family Clupeidae that is known to exist entirely in freshwater. Locally, they are known in Filipino as tawilis.
She once told me that tawilis can only be found in Lake Taal and I did not believe her till now… It’s sad to know that tawilis is facing extinction in the near future; sad to see that even tiny tawilis are being sold in the market, I know because I was a patron myself! errr sorry naman…
To all our fishermen, please please please, stop fishing for tiny tawilis and to all our vendors, please do not buy/sell tiny tawilis so that our fishermen would stop getting them.
Anyway, this recipe is called Tawilis Tempura and you’ll be needing the following ingredients:
- Flour
- Egg (seasoned with salt and pepper)
- Bread crumbs
- Tawilis (you can also season the fish with salt and pepper)
Procedure:
- Coat tawilis with flour.
- Dip the tawilis into a mixture of salt, pepper, and beaten egg.
- Coat tawilis with bread crumbs.
- Fry in oil until cooked.
I personally like it golden brown =)
