09 Feb2010

Pinakbet in a Wok a la Marketman

by Marketman
 

IMG_1504

Pinakbet is one of my (possibly even THE) favorite pinoy vegetable dishes of all time. In a broadly answered and widely read poll on pinoy favorites, here, pinakbet ranked in the Top 5 dishes. The first time I cooked and blogged about it, I was trying to replicate a version that we used to enjoy at home when I was growing up, here. Apparently, that version with kalabasa or winter squash was a dead giveaway “non-Ilocano” style pinakbet. Kalabasa is added mostly by folks around Manila and the southern part of Luzon. I later tried pinakbet while on a whirlwind trip through the Ilocos region, and saw the produce in their markets, even bought a palayok or two, hoping to make my own “authentic” pinakbet. The result was Palayok Pinakbet a la Marketman, a fantastic version of this well-loved dish, and done about as close to the Ilocano version as possible. Having made it as close to the original as I am probably ever going to get, I figured I could now try other ways of cooking the dish, this time in a more practical wok which is probably far more accessible to readers than cooking in a palayok over a wood fire. :)

Read Post | 29 Comments

 

POSTED IN: General, Main Courses, Vegetable/Salads, Vegetables

08 Feb2010

Lechon Sisig Buns a la Marketman

by Marketman
 

IMG_1629

Diet be damned! At least for this one unctuous meal made up of three different versions of Zubuchon sisig pao a la Marketman. Outrageously good. Lip-smacking, finger-licking, died and gone to fat heaven material. I have been meaning to replicate David Chang’s Roast Pork Buns from his Momofuku chain of restaurants, and I was THRILLED to find the relatively pain-in-the-rear to make white soft buns for sale at a store, so i bought some 3 dozen, came home, and started to tinker…

Read Post | 39 Comments

 

POSTED IN: General

05 Feb2010

If you could ask them just one question…

by Marketman
 

When I used to work in strategic management consulting, my bosses often asked me to distill very complex issues into a 30-60 second answer. It was called the elevator response. Working for huge clients, often banks, finance ministries, etc. with as many as 10,000+ employees, I would be given the dream scenario of riding up to my team somewhere in the headquarters building, and suddenly finding myself alone with the CEO or head of the company inside the elevator. He looks at me, and says “so how’s it going?” Not wanting to waste that precious minute of time alone, you were expected to use it wisely.

Read Post | 108 Comments

 

POSTED IN: General

04 Feb2010

Stevie’s Hainanese Chicken Rice To Go…

by Marketman
 

IMG_1595

Mrs. MM and I once lived in Singapore for several years and standard fare at least once a week was a good Hainanese Chicken Rice. A soft poached chicken, often with a trace of blood still evident, the flesh was silky and moist, the simple flavors enhanced by dipping sauces made out of ginger and scallions or spring onions, kecap manis (a sweet soy concoction) and some fiery chili or sambal. Until yesterday, we had not found a decent version locally… more often than not, the chicken is overcooked and “boiled to death” and the essence of the dish is destroyed. So Mrs. MM and I were very pleased to have tasted Stevie’s version of Hainanese Chicken Rice, which he makes available with an advance order and picked up from his home in Makati. I think it’s safe to say it is the best local version of Hainanese Chicken Rice we have tasted so far. And at PHP950 for what I consider to be 4 servings (Stevie suggests 5), I think it is a relative bargain.

Read Post | 51 Comments

 

POSTED IN: Chicken/Fowl, Main Courses, Markets, Food stores & Provedores

03 Feb2010

Spectacular Momofuku Pickles…

by Marketman
 

IMG_1582

The plate of pickles we enjoyed on a recent visit to Momofuku Ssam Bar in New York was the reason I bought the Momofuku cookbook, and eventually tried making the pickles for myself. They turned out brilliantly. I love pickles and these ones are just right up my ally. Made from prime fresh produce, treated to a brief bath in a simple pickling solution, and crisp to the bite but unmistakably pickled. If you love pickles, you will love these…

Read Post | 23 Comments

 

POSTED IN: General, Other Recipes, Vegetable/Salads, Vegetables

03 Feb2010

Lunch at Momofuku Ssam Bar (Much Better the Second Time Around…)

by Marketman
 

IMG_0064.JPG

Last Thanksgiving, the Teen and I were in New York and we decided to head down to “Elvie’s turo-turo” for some Filipino comfort food. We took a bus downtown to the East Village, walked up to Elvie’s, and were both shocked and disappointed to see it had permanently closed for business. Bummer. So after a quick visit to nearby Gabay’s, the close-out shoe/clothing store with occasional GREAT finds, we started to wander east in search of some lunch. After a couple of minutes, we found ourselves in front of Momofuku Ssam Bar, and wanting something at least Asian in the flavor spectrum, we decided to give it another try. Roughly two and a half years earlier, we had lunch at the same restaurant, and despite all the rave reviews at the time, we had a surprisingly plebeian and unremarkable lunch, so blah in fact that I decided not to write about it then (even a quick post on Hershey’s Kisses 100th anniversary made it onto the blog from that trip instead!).

Read Post | 21 Comments

 

POSTED IN: General

01 Feb2010

The Unbearable Lightness of Being (on a Bloody Diet)!!!

by Marketman
 

Several folks have emailed me asking me to post every single ounce or morsel of food that I consume during my diet, probably to act as a guide for their own attempts. I didn’t want this to become an all-consuming chronicle of weight loss, but for the benefit of those who asked, here is what I consumed for three entire days, trying to keep my intake to less than 2,000 calories, but ideally less than 1800 calories. I am over the worst part of the effort, the START and the few days that followed where my stomach and innards kept chanting “FEED ME, FEED ME, FEED ME”… You may skip this post if you are underweight and disinterested. :)

Read Post | 34 Comments

 

POSTED IN: General

01 Feb2010

Akegai Clams with Ginger & Black Beans a la Marketman

by Marketman
 

IMG_1522

This is best made with fresh clams from a highly reliable source. Having said that, I made them with frozen akegai clams and the results were say a 7.5 out of 10.0. Edible, but not cartwheel material. But it’s another simple quick stir-fry recipe to keep in the back of your mind for the next time you have brilliant small clams on hand…

Read Post | 19 Comments

 

POSTED IN: Main Courses, Seafood, Shellfish

View more recent posts

 

Market Manila Home · Topics · Archives · About · Contact · Links · RSS Feed

site design by pixelpush

Market Manila © 2004 - 2010