capricciosa: cheese overload

one night, my hunny was craving for cheese. cheese stuff. any cheese. just cheese. we remember my cousin k treated us at an italian restaurant at greenbelt. we were told that this is a franchise and has branches at guam and all over.

we remembered the cheesy stuff we got and went there to satisfy my hunny's craving.

we entered capricciosa and was welcomed by the waiters warmly. sat on a couch, the waiter explained their food stuff in layman's terms...which is good as pinoys are not that really knowledgeable of italian stuff.

we got a salmon spring roll for appetizer and a full serving of shrimp spinach rigatoni.

the salmon spring roll is good. fresh salmon slivers are rolled with a mix of veggies inside and deep fried just enough for the salmon still in its glorious pink color.

the spring roll comes with a creamy white dip. we asked the waiter what's in the dip. he just told us that it is a house ceasar salad dressing but with a mix of spices that he is not allowed to tell. hmmm..... i'll wait for this waiter to be disgruntled about his work and maybe ask the secret spices from him after.


next was the shrimp spinach rigatoni. this is the cheese overload that you'll look for. the rigatoni is smothered by cream and melted cheese with large shrimps and spinach tenderly mixed with the sauce. after having this rigatoni, you'll never have another evil cheese craving for months.

capricciosa
level 3, greenbelt 3
makati city

citibank tuna sandwich

our sales manager struck a deal and decided to treat us to a quick snack. he decided to get sandwiches for everybody.

our office is in one of the floors of citibank tower here in makati. they went to the citibank canteen and got tuna sandwiches.

here is the tuna sandwich citibank canteen is offering.

neatly packed in crisp paper, the sandwich is toasted rightly - reaching my table still hot from the oven.

but look at what they are really offering!


thinly scattered tuna flakes smudged by sweetened mayo.

just think that this is the sandwich they feed the good citibank employees that serve millions of customers. hohum.

cater pro
8/f Citibank Tower
Paseo de Roxas st.,
Makati City

surviving on food from nowhere: tuna chili tops

we rummaged around our trusty old ref and found in the vegetable compartment a bundle of chili tops.

chili tops are the young leaves of a native siling labuyo. this is a small chili pepper whose hotness is strong but not very sharp to the tongue. it's a bit mellow and tolerable. i think this is also known as bird's eye chili pepper. i have to ask pilgrim's pots and pans for the technical aspects of this wonderful chili pepper.


going through our food cab, a can of tuna was there waiting for us.


my hunny had an idea of combining both ingredients for dinner. she developed a marvelously combination of flavors between the saltiness of tuna and the slightly bitter taste of the chili tops.


tuna chili tops

1 bundle chili tops
1 can 350 gm tuna, solid in vegetable oil

2 tablespoons chopped garlic

1 medium onion chopped

oil for sauteing

salt and pepper

1 boiled egg, quartered

fried chopped garlic for garnish

remove the leaves from the tough stems of the chili tops. select only the young and tender leaves. add as well the baby chili peppers if you find them hidden within the young leaves.


on a hot pan, add oil. add the garlic. before turning brown, add the onions. garlic should be a bit white and not golden brown.


open the the can of tuna. add the oil in the saute then drop the solid tuna in the pan. saute for about 2 minutes. add the chili tops. simmer till the leaves are limp or for about 2 minutes more.


put the tuna chili tops in a bowl. top it with the quartered boiled egg. if desired, add the fried garlic chip on top to add flavor and character to the dish.


good alternate: spinach


a good substitute for the chili tops is spinach. just trim the spinach from the main vine and use it instead of the chili tops.
you can use the spinach as whole leaf or you can roughly chop them like what we did.

yummy lunch cancer

i just got a copy of a new magazine from summit media. Yummy.

i think this is the first magazine of summit media for food lovers.

magazine is interesting and it is a good buy for local kitchen folk.

ingredients are adapted to the local market. nothing fancy. (or maybe they are still feeling through the market and we might expect surprises on the second issue.) get a copy and you can go right through the grocery store and get all the ingredients in a jiffy.

recipes and information are entertaining especially this one. a spinach article was posted. and it says:

"It's been reported that folks who eat spinach daily are less likely to develop lunch cancer."

tuyo scent busters

tuyo is any kind of small fish, salted and sun dried. tuyo, which literally means 'dried', is a poor man's food. however, filipinos, rich or poor, are very much into eating this delicacy on any meal.

tuyo is usually fried and eaten with vinegar and hot chili peppers or man-handled tomatoes. i don't know why but this is best eaten on a rainy day!


the problem (or the good thing - depends on you) with cooking tuyo is that the scent (love it or hate it) of the fried fish will engulf the whole house and even invade the streets around you.


people passing by would sense the smell and would blurt out...that smells good!!!! and then they would cook tuyo as well.


but this blog is not about tuyo, it's about how to get rid of the smell in your house! we found a good combination which we practice and perfectly removes the odor quickly in 2 simple steps.



Step 1. Open all windows and doors. This is very simple to do. No muscles necessary.


Step 2. This is the hard part. With the very minimal muscle activity on step 1, you now have to exert effort for this one. Get a floor wax from a nearby store, preferably the scented variety, and wax the floor of your house! this sounds unreal but it works! you will not only have a good dinner, but your house will look clean after. Yeah!

pipol fish chips

i walked around a nearby supermarket and saw an interesting locally made chips. Fish crackers in foil packs. Usually, these fish crackers are sold in flea markets in big bags. This one is packaged in foil packs for a cleaner supermarket item feel.

but looking into the product, i noticed something unique....

... they're selling FISH CHIPS in FISH FLAVOR!!!!! very clever!!!!

KFC Hopia

my brother went home bringing along a box of hopia bought from a local guadalupe market. hopia has been one of my favorite local bakery item and i usually get one from any bakery to check if it is ok or not. (the other item i like is a local pan de sal)

hopia is a flaky pastry perhaps originated from the chinese ancestors. common fillings include kundol, munggo, ube and baboy.

hopia baboy is a misnomer. no pork meat is inside. my lola told me that they use pork fat when preparing the hopia to infuse pork flavor. my hunny once had a bakery. she told me that the hopia baboy only contains sweet white mongo paste but with caramelized red onions as an added flavor. again, no pork meat was used.

but going back to the KFC hopia, the box came in with about a dozen hopias inside. very excitedly, i got my first bite. first taste gave me memories of mc donalds burgers. but on the succeeding bites, it dawned into me that it tastes like KFC fried chicken!!!

I wonder if Ribbonettes found the formula behind the 11 secret herbs and spice which KFC is protecting.

Ribbonettes is available in the metro at different local markets. Try their special hopia baboy and let me know if you taste the flavor of a real KFC fried chicken!!!

Ribbonettes Bakeshoppe
Hopia Baboy
41 Dingginbayan St.,
Tipas, Taguig
Metro Manila

surviving on food from nowhere: tomatoes, eggplants and chicharon

we went home a bit late and very hungry. we are tired to make a nice meal but we need to satisfy our hungry tummy. moving around our humble ref, we found tomatoes and eggplants. opening our food cab, we still have chicharon from guagua.

this combination is a very typical capampangan combination. i still have to see another province that does this for a full meal.

ask the guru from the pilgrim's pots and pans and she would definitely have this good stuff anytime!


tomatos, eggplants and chicharon

2 large eggplants
3 medium tomatoes
6 native eggs from free-range chickens
slivers of leeks
good chicharon

wash the eggplants. cut the eggplants lenghtwise and into 3 inch parts. on a hot pan without any oil, grill the eggplants skin first for about 5 minutes or until they have changed color and the aroma is in the air. flip te eggplants gently and let the other side brown a bit. set aside.

for the tomatoes, wash them thoroughly. with clean hands, cut, squeeze, mangle and mutilate the tomato flesh to bite size pieces. this may be done with a knife to chop the tomato cleanly...but elders from pampanga encourages the manual process as it makes the dish more flavorful. (i really don't know the science behind it. maybe the squeezing helps release the additional flavor pulps from the fruit.)

add slivers of leeks on the tomato. i added the leeks as we have some extra from our ref. this may sound as a forced option...but it's a very good option. you can add chopped onions as well.

for the good chicharon, just have it with the meal. or, do it like my mom does. crush the chicharon into coarse powder and mix it with the tomato. have the meal with nice fluffy steamed rice.

you may add boiled eggs on the tomato to add variety. ima and tatay gave us some free-range eggs and added to the dish.

this meal may look simple but the flavor and the the vegetables and the chicharon will bring memories of native pampanga.