Market Manila

This post is unbelievable. Unbelievable. Lightning has struck twice and seared a path right through Marketman’s head, again! The t-shirt in the photo above was a gift from a friend, who wrote in her accompanying note that “we saw this t-shirt at the shop and knew it belonged in your closet…” and it should be my daily uniform. I don’t look for these service situations, they find me. I refuse to be indifferent, it is a sign that you are numb, and numb means you are near dead. I have so far, remained utterly vigilant, albeit often frustrated, when ridiculous service situations strike me when I least expect it. And worse, this luck doesn’t translate to more positive instances… I had several tickets to The Rockwell raffle with the red Mercedes, and I won zilch. So here goes… you will not believe this post.

Read more…

Another “Marketman/Bond 007 Diet” option for lunch or dinner is this grilled chicken breast served with a generous amounts of grilled vegetables. Instead of eating Pinoy pork barbecue in the previous post (the minimum of which I would consume is three sticks), with say 1.5 to 2.0 cups of white rice, lots of sweet acharra and chilli vinegar, you could use the same hot grill to make this healthier alternative. The chicken breast was marinated in some olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and lots of rosemary and a sprinkling of dried chilli flakes and grilled over a charcoal flame. If you are being extra good, remove the skin before serving it…but I don’t always bother to be that good. Next, toss some vegetables in a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper…in this version I used some sliced zucchini, eggplant, asparagus, leeks and onion slices. You can also use tomatoes, red and yellow peppers, endive, fennel, etc. Grill until just cooked.

Read more…

There are many irritants in the local food acquisition scene. Often the supplies are highly erratic. Folks are prone to hoarding when something is available, therefore stocks are wiped out and we go months before they are replenished. Stuff always seems to be near their expiry date. Weather, bugaboos and storage issues sometimes result in crushed, moist, bug-infested goods. Canned goods are sometimes dented and worse, rusting. Stores are semi-stocked, out-of-stock, or have no idea what kind of stock you are looking for. Sales staff often DO NOT KNOW what products their store carries, and fewer care to know. Basically, it is a tough food retail scene, and if you knew enough, and had the time to hit several stores a day, you could arbitrage or take advantage of price differentials from one store to the other. Little real competition, too many supply chain disruptions related to transport, customs, storage, pilferage, etc. and a less than demanding clientele with a lower than expected total buying capacity that are happy to take whatever is put on the shelves. To keep my pantry well-stocked, I resort to visits to several local purveyors, I have balikbayan boxes sent from the States several times a year, and if I get to Europe I do the same from there. Short trips to nearby cities such as Hong Kong and Singapore fill in the remaining gaps. But even worse than supply issues, are the incredibly unreliable prices of goods across the city. And here is one of the worst examples I have come across in recent months…

Read more…

I am almost certain that somewhere on the planet, a Filipino national out there is currently consuming a stick of Pinoy style pork barbecue. Pork barbecue is definitely a favorite, even though it didn’t come out as such in Marketmanila’s survey of favorite pinoy dishes whose results were summarized in this post. From small towns to hidden corners of large cities in the Philippines, sidewalk vendors are fanning the coals as they cook up some pork barbecue. I suspect we all have our favorites, but the key to this dish is the flavor that emanates from local pork, and ideally, the fat to meat ratio that results in the flavor, mouth feel, moisture and the taste that only comes from our own brand of charcoal roasted heaven on a stick. Everyone’s marinade differs a bit; whether salty, sweet, spicy or all of the above, pork barbecue is the stuff of good memories. I have perhaps consumed hundreds, possibly even thousands of sticks of pork barbecue since I was a child, and at home, my mom used to make it herself and I can distinctly recall how she used to skewer the meat so that it was impaled just right. And homemade from street-bought was distinguished by one clear difference…the homemade didn’t have the totally fatty piece of pork at the bottom of the stick! A couple of weeks ago, I decided to try making it on my own…

Read more…

Here’s a “Marketman/Bond 007 Diet” Dinner that is healthy and hearty. A salad of mixed greens with a couple of sliced bottled artichokes and some homemade roasted red peppers and tomatoes if you have them. Dress it with a simple olive oil and balsamic vinegar combination, and salt and pepper to taste. If I am feeling tough on myself, I cut the oil and just drizzle vinegar. Serve this on a huge plate (makes it seem like you aren’t depriving yourself), with a nice large serving of roasted vegetables. On this particular plate is a mixture of one-half carrot, a small onion and cubed kalabasa or squash that was drizzled with olive oil and baked in a hot oven until cooked. I then cut up an extra boiled potato (that was being used in another dish) and mixed it all in. I realize the potato is a bit of a no-no but I do like to have some carbohydrates since I am also exercising. If you wanted to, you could add some sliced chicken breast (skinless) and this would be a very complete and filling meal.

Read more…

You must be all thinking that Marketman has completely lost his diet marbles. What with all the high-calorie stuff being featured on the site, I should probably be about 80 pounds heavier than I am. And no, rest assured, I have not given up on the 170 pound Marketman/Bond Diet Goal for May 1, 2007. How could I let the 86% or so of readers who “bet” I could make it, down? And how could I pass on the chance to prove the 14% of naysayers wrong? Heehee. Actually, the recent holidays were rather interesting. Because there was SO MUCH activity, I actually maintained my weight for most of December then gained a few pounds after Christmas. From a high of about 192/193 sometime last year, I have lost a good 10 pounds so far; that takes into account the fact that your weight on a scale can fluctuate in a GIVEN day by as much as 3-3.5 pounds from the time you have woken up early morning, dehydrated, voided, and unbreakfasted, to the time you have had several meals, snacks, liquids, etc. and are plugged up. Now that things are settling down, I am focusing on eating better and less, but more importantly, ramping up the exercise…

Read more…

Hope springs eternal for a decent melon in Manila. I have written about cantaloupes and green or honeydew melons before and almost always I am disappointed by the quality of local melons, with a few rare exceptions. And particularly if you have had a Cavaillon melon or Italian cantaloupe at some point in your life, you are basically “ruined,” I think. Local melons tend to be juicy, sometimes even sweetish, but generally speaking overly watery and often devoid of melon flavor, most of the time. Perhaps the best use is indeed in sweetened cantaloupe juice with shreds of melon floating in it. Worse, often they taste earthy, literally, as in muddy. And not because you sliced it with a knife that cuts through a dirty skin and mars the flavor of the fruit within…it just tastes like dirt. But every time I see a good looking melon I inevitably buy it, hoping for a tropical miracle (I am beginning to think these don’t do too well in wickedly hot countries, but I could be dead wrong). I picked up this “Golden Honeydew” at S&R Price the other day, and it was supplied by the fruit provedore, Frutesca, that also has a stall in Market!Market! and I think is related to the Flavours ‘n Spices shop in the same mall. The fruit certainly looked terrific from the outside and it was very heavy for its size, typically a good sign for a melon…

Read more…

I am just back from my market rounds this morning. There are days when the quality of produce on offer is almost depressing…a reflection of the declining buying interest/power of consumers with respect to fresh food, then there are great days where there are signs some hope. We are, in fact a huge agricultural nation, that should be able to raise the finest produce from land and sea if we only cared enough to do it right, and consumers ate the stuff… Recent months have yielded poor offerings in the markets when compared to previous holiday seasons. Several typhoons which battered both the Northern provinces where much of the metro’s vegetables comes from, AS WELL as the Southern provinces like Laguna, Cavite and Batangas, where the other half of the veggies are raised, meant seriously slim pickings and wickedly high prices. But farms and harvests in the North must be recovering as the vegetables on offer at the markets today were noticeably better than just a few weeks ago. Prices have also declined, with good kalamansi at PHp30-40 a kilo, onions back to PHP35-40, asparagus at PHP80 for a large bundle, broccoli at PHP130-140 a kilo, eggplant at PHP35-40 and these were all from a good supplier bringing stuff down from Baguio at the FTI market. I also noticed there was nice celery in stock, snow peas, chinese greens (such as bok choy, mustasa), cauliflower, green peppers, etc. My total bill today was at least 30% lower than during the peak holiday season… This entire basket photographed here cost less than PHP850 and should feed many over the next week… The only things in short supply this week? Good strawberries and siling labuyo. Normally by this time they are abundant and 4 packs to PHP100. Right now, you’d be lucky to get a decent pack for PHP50… And siling labuyo is going for PHP1 PER PIECE!

Read more…