Comments on: A Farewell Dinner for Diplomats…

By: paolo

paolo — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 22:38:06 +0000

I’ll take good ole Philippine Adobo anytime. It’s simple to make, clean taste of soy sauce, garlic, laurel and vinegar.
Caldereta? No, thanks.. sauce too heavy with all the junk in it.

By: Maricel

Maricel — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 05:31:31 +0000

MM, I read Apicio’s comment on the Sotanghon Guisado post and I think the leaf on your plate is a pepper vine leaf or “ikmo” in Tagalog (I think Apicio calls it “samat”). The leaf is what the Lola’s wrap the betel nut or “nga-nga” with before chewing it. The betel nut comes from a kind of palm tree.

By: Nathan Lim

Nathan Lim — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 01:27:25 +0000

Hi Marketman. Great job with the blog. I went on a Pampanga culinary tour last month and was told that you can actually buy dressed quail in Pampanga supermarkets. Turns out that quail is common fare for the Capampangan.

By: Colleen

Colleen — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 10:31:20 +0000

To Grace:

I use the coconut milk (in cans). Reduce it until you have a semblance of the cream. I have tried using the coconut cream in cans but it is too sweet for my taste. What i am trying to achieve is the kakang gata^, as my mom would call it. The more you simmer the coconut milk, the more it takes on the taste of the ginger, garlic and onions.

To Marketman:

I have not tried this dish with other types of fish since tilapia fillets are of abundance here (in DC). And since tilapia is bland, you can control the seasoning to your liking.

By: joey

joey — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 09:23:10 +0000

I should have known the answer was “i have a plant in my garden…” :) Thanks for the kind offer! If I find interesting recipes using them I will likewise pass on to you! :)

By: jo

jo — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 06:28:06 +0000

MM, you rule! I finally tried your bistek tagalog recipe with lotsa onions for dinner tonight and it was a hit. I made lotsa rice and it was almost all gone. Thank you! I would like to try your sotanghon guisado recipe on sunday.

By: Marketman

Marketman — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 00:35:54 +0000

Kristine, thanks! Colleen, that dish sounds good…and if there isn’t tilapia, several other firm white fish fillets might work like maya-maya (snapper) or lapu-lapu (grouper)…yum! Edee, in the months ahead, I will try to do more Pinoy menus for entertaining… sotanghon coming up soon. Joey, I have a small betel plant in my garden, it was a gift from an in-law last Christmas. While it is thriving, I have only about 50 leaves so far, but if you need some (say a dozen or so, I am more than happy to share them with you… I haven’t gotten around to doing the Thai dish with dried shrimps but if you could use the leaves, let me know… The plant is growing proudly beside my oldish kaffir lime tree. Yella, sounds like a great menu to me… did the guests find the fish or shrimp paste in the pakbet a bit strong? I am curious… ykmd, yes that is ham, more on that on the sotanghon post… Johnny, I totally agree with you…there are few pinoy desserts that don’t seem to wow foreign guests… perhaps the blander rice based desserts aren’t so much of a hit but yes the cassava and certainly the baked goods all do very well. Aileen, it came out as good as I could have hoped for! Candygirl, thanks! Gosh, I hope I don’t end up in jail for insider trading when I hit 60…heehee. Apicio, the rock cornish game hens are imported frozen from the U.S. There are local farmers raising the same chicken as the French Bresse variety…I just bought one but haven’t cooked it yet. And the weirdest part, the country is chockfull of quail’s eggs, but I can’t find a single darn quail to cook!! Maria Clara, the betel leaf had two purposes…visual and color impact against the salad and perhpas more important, as a way to block the dressing of the salad from sitting on the mother of pearl plate. Many folks may not be aware, but the acids in a vinaigrette strips the plates of their lacquer, so it is best not to have direct exposure and wash your plates as soon as the appetizer is eaten. I have had these MOP plates for nearly 20 years (a gift from my mother) and they are still in perfect condition. Grace, I would imagine Colleen starts with milk and reduces that down… Grazia, hmmm, I should remember to look for that issue of the magazine, I don’t normally purchase Martha Stewart magazines here unless they are the old issues and marked down in price… peanut, it is funny that we have these food menu biases… Mrs. M, thanks for asking, I forgot to mention, we served a rather modest Californian Chardonnay with the meal and it worked VERY WELL with the menu!

By: mrs m

mrs m — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 23:50:02 +0000

hi MM,
Your mango salad looks very appetizing.
I’m curious about what drinks did you served your non-pinoy guests.
With our non-pinoy friends who come to visit, I serve Bistek Tagalog and Pancit Canton because they always get the biggest attention.

By: peanut

peanut — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 22:15:24 +0000

You know what my husband and I were talking about serving food to guests when we have visitors.We both think that a common mistake that we overseas Pinoy do when we have Pinoy tourists over for dinner is that we tend to serve them Pinoy foods!We realized awhile ago this mistake hahahahahaahha.So if we have Pinoy tourists acquaintances that we invite for dinner we try to serve Australian food.But for the pinoys that’s already here for yonks we do serve Pinoy foods.

By: Grazia

Grazia — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 21:53:41 +0000

One of the comments compared you to Martha Stewart and coincidentally, this month’s issue of her magazine features Filipino classics such as lumpia, pancit, and flan, albeit Americanized versions.