Granville Island

Granville Island is a must see for tourists in Vancouver. Located under the huge bridges of Vancouver, this place is bustling with activity. Restaurants, food shops, market, toy stores, tattoo shops, art galleries, park and boat haven are in one place. If you go to vancouver, go here.

salmon and tuna (i think)

cheese frenzy

bagel haven

fruits of a farmer's labor

closest thing to an old fashioned fudge

pasta galore

The Soup Stock. This is a shop from which I got my first job offer in vancouver! I liked the idea of working there but they needed me tied with them for 6 months. I refused. Sorry. but the shop is great!

bread mania

sweet tooth paradise

crab in a (not so) secret ingredient

this is a recipe that would make a soda pop giant very happy. they might not even know that their product is being used all over the philippines for preparing good sea food meals. in any small village in any point of the country, they would know this for sure!

crab in a (not so) secret ingredient

crab

1 bottle secret ingredient

salt

get a good sized live crab. mussels, which are common in the philippines, and shrimps may be used too. place it in a deep pot.

pour the secret ingredient into the pot enough to half cover the crab.

poach for about 15 minutes or until the crab is done and had changed color.

and the secret ingredient is..................

orange!

orange kisses!

orange ice cream!

my first grill-out in vancouver

since arriving here last winter time, i've been waiting for the hottest days of the months. they tell me that it will be so annoyingly hot that even if you leave the doors and windows open, all you get is steady air! but where is it? it's already july!!!!

well, last weekend, we had a clear and warm day. cool winds are still there but none of the annoying stuff. we slept over with some friends and we had the chance to grill! yeah! grill! my first here in vancouver!

we're with friends and i have to make some ribs with marinade from anything i can find available. i used here a mix of italian seasoning, a dab of oyster sauce, a little soup stock to make the marinade runny, salt and pepper. marinade is not extra rich and thick as i want my ribs not to be over-powered by a heavy sauce.

ribs were pre-boiled to make it tender and easily grilled without waiting several hours to cook through. i also found some onions, a piece of corn, and two slices of pink salmon in their fridge. i decided to grill them too to have a little variety.

asian burger

with the abundance of asian grocery stores here, adding a twist to a western sandwich is a stroll in the park. I added tofu and coriander leaves to a basic burger recipe and it did wonders.

asian burger

1 kilo good quality ground extra lean beef
1 egg
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
3/4 cups of roughly chopped fried tofu
salt and pepper
pinch of rosemary (optional)
fresh coriander leaves


mix the ground beef with the chopped onions. add the egg to bind the meat together. add salt and pepper according to taste. I usually add about 1 teaspoon of salt and about half a teaspoon of ground pepper. the pinch of rosemary will add a little taste of freshness to the burger. add a tablespoon of soy sauce. soy sauce will improve the color and adds flavor.


combine the chopped fried tofu with the meat mixture. i used about 4 small 2x2x2 cubes of fried tofu which i got from a chinese grocery store. mix the meat mixture until all the spices and the meat are properly blended together.

get a chunk from the meat mixture and form it into a small ball with your clean hands. using your palms, flatten the ball into a nice patty. it would be up to you on how big or how thick you want your burger to be. just keep in mind that when cooking extra thick burgers, place your heat into medium low to let the insides cook through without over-cooking the outsides. patty will shrink a bit after cooking so make sure that the raw patties are a bit bigger than your bread!



layer patties on plastic sheets to prevent it from sticking together. I use cling wrap for these. once frozen, you can easily pull-out 1 patty instead of getting the whole batch thawed and re-freeze again....which is not good.

to prepare, pan fry the burger till done. smother a lightly toasted burger bun with mayo and mustard. place the burger inside. top it up with cheese and lettuce. generously add fresh coriander leaves.

baked basa fillet

one of the easiest way to make a good dinner is to bake fish. the secret here is just make sure you have good quality fish. this is a sure-fire-sumptious-sonofogun-sarvation-satisfaction for guests who come crashing to your door for no reason at all.

baked basa fillet

2 large pcs cleaned basa fillet

olive oil

butter

sprigs of rosemary

salt and pepper

a squeeze of lemon

coriander leaves for garnishing

on an oven proof dish, drizzle olive oil. place the 2 basa fillets on the dish. add a few rosemary sprigs on top. sprinkle a little sunshine of salt and a happiness of pepper.

squeeze a lemon full of life and a dollop of butter on each fillet. drizzle more of the good olive oil.

bake for about 10 to 15 minutes on a hot oven or till soft and done. garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

you can substitute basa for any other available fresh big fish options.

H-Mart, Robson

wandering around downtown vancouver, you come across a mix of restaurants of various cuisines. at the corner of Robson and Seymour is H-Mart. On the second floor, a korean grocery occupies the flat except for the window aisle.

at the far side of the grocery store is a small food court. one of them is a korean stall. it sells exciting korean cuisine translated into a colorless english equivalent. the stall has no name...or just a generic "Korean Food" stall.

we got yuk gae jang. it's humdrum english equivalent: hot beef and vegetable soup. hmm...yuk gae jang sounds better. Beef broth is full bodied. getting a peek into the kitchen, a big pot of simmering broth is continuously brewing. I guess this contributes a lot to the flavor you get when they serve the soup. i only wish that they serve them in one of those hot stone pots to keep the broth hot up till the last morsel.

the meal comes with a siding of kimchi. i'm not sure though if they prepare their own kimchi. or maybe, they just go around the counter and get one from the grocery store. anywayz, their kimchi is great with yuk gae jang.

price is ok at $6.50.

H-mart

550 Robson Street and Seymour

Vancouver