Our Calamansi Tree

I remember when this tree was very small and now it's way taller than me. Many times, this is where we get our calamansi, something that Anthony Bourdain referred to as ubiquitous to the Philippine cuisine. So it's really very useful to have our own calamansi tree.

calamnsi tree
Our Calamansi Tree

Growing your own fruits, vegetables, and herbs make a lot of sense. This has a lot to do with the concept of sustainability. We also have a sili (chili) plant. And they're not that hard to grow, I am assuming. We don't really bother buying complex fertilizers or minerals for the soil. Just watering it from time to time is fine. And during the rainy season, you don't even have to do anything.

One day I want to have my own garden complete with my favorite herbs, spices, and vegetables (fruits too, but I think they're too big for a home garden).


#NowPlaying: Phaeleh feat. Soundmouse - Afterglow (Akira Kiteshi Remix)

Alabang Country Club Chicken Satay Recipe

Satay is actually originally a Thai dish, I think. The first time I was able to try it was in chinatown in Singapore. Talk about complex fusions and overlapping cultures.

alabang country club chicken statay

Here's the one that's available in the menu of Alabang Country Club. It's actually pretty good. A friend once commented that it's even better than what she tried in Singapore. One of the chefs is actually a friend of my parents and his Singaporean. I think his name is Joseph and he's from Sta. Elena (they're currently the food concessionaire in the club).

satay philippines

I really love the complex combinations of flavors of satay. It's very unique and not so prevalent in Philippine cuisine. And so right after coming back from Singapore, I wanted to try cooking it right away. Luckily, you can buy these instant mixes of the marinade and the sauce. I found mine in South Supermarket in Alabang.

I'm actually still here in the club, in the library. I just came from the sauna. Such a lovely experience. I feel so healthy and detoxified. Just using the wifi here. But yeah, I'm so sleepy. If you follow me on my twitter you'll know why. So be sure to follow me to get updated on my latest blog posts and other random things happening in my life: @harryinitiative

Mga Kwentong Alinsunod sa Kakulangan sa Pagtulog

Gusto ko sanang kumain sa Jollibee. Alas-dos na ng umaga. Naalala kong 24 hours nga pala sila dito malapit sa bahay ko sa Laguna.

Kaarawan din nga pala ni Rizal noong isang araw at naisip kong ito’y magandang oportinidad na mabawi ang aking pagiging higit pa sa hayop o malansang isda. Dito sa bayan ng Laguna lumaki si Jose Rizal, sa may dulo lang ng SLEX, sa Calamba.

jose rizal

Ang Jollibee ay isang institusyon na sa Pilipinas. Basta pritong manok, makakaasa kang hindi magsasawa ang mga tao (lalo na ang kabataan) sa kanilang chicken joy na talaga namang huling-huli at swak na swak sa panlasang pinoy. Ika nga nila, “laman muna, balat later!” Talaga namang panalo at nakakatakam.

Natakot silang mapatumba ng inihaw na manok ng Bacolod kaya’t binili nila ang Mang Inasal na siya namang hinahamon ngayon ng Chic-Boy. Nakakamangha talaga ang mga benipisyo ng kompetisyon sa merkado (yan ang tunay na apelyido ni Pepe!).

Naging laganap at popular ang konsepto ng unlimted rice. Isang bagay na talaga namang nakakaakit at tinatangkilik ng mamamayang Pilipino. Ang ating bansa ay mayaman sa agrikultura at ang kanin ay talaga namang parte na ng ating araw-araw na buhay.

Konting ulam para sa maraming kanin—isang isyu ng kahirapan o kaya naman ng katakawan? Hindi ko alam. Pero may kilala ako na nakapag 9 na extra rice sa Tokyo Tokyo. Meron din namang may kaya ng apat na siomai ipapagkasya sa apat na kanin, idaan na lang sa toyo at chili oil. Bukod sa panlasa, para sa mga pinoy, mas importante na nakakabusog. Kanin all you can = kanin all the way.

Sa pagtuloy ng aking kwento, hindi na ako kumain sa Jollibee. May bayad pa kasi ang parking doon sa Paseo De Sta. Rosa (aba, extra rice na din ang sampung piso!). Bumili na lang ako ng siopao sa 711 (bumili din kasi ako ng prepaid load).

Kaninang hapon bumili nga din pala ako ng manggang sorbetes, mga instant noodles (si Jose Rizal ay mahilig sa pancit), liempo, at ang matagal ko ng pinagiisipan bilihin na salami milano (ang alam ko ay isa to sa mga naging paborito ni Rizal noong siya ay nasa Europa). Di ko alam kung ano talaga ang patutunguhan ng sinusulat kong ito. Basta tunkol sa pagkain ang blog na ito, diba? Maaga pa ang gising ko bukas at wala akong shower water heater kaya dapat ako’y matulog na (mahirap maligo ng malamig na tubig kapag puyat ngunit hindi pa ako inaantok).

May mga nagsasabi na muntik na daw mag retract si Jose Rizal dahil sa kanyang chicks na si Josephine. Sabi ko nga: kahit si Superman ay meron din namang kryptonite. Parang ikaw, ikaw ang aking kryptonite.

Bukod sa extra rice mahilig tayong mga Pilipino sa libreng sabaw. Beleyted na Happy Birthday, Dr. Jose Rizal.


Kung nagustuhan mo ang sulating ito baka magustahan mo din ang:
1. HarryLeaks - gusto mo bang umunlad ang ating bayan? halina't bisitahin ang blog na ito at alamin kung paano.
2. Ang Aking Twitter - maging una sa mga makakaalam ng mga bago kong blog post at iba pang nangyayari sa buhay ko.

Why is Omakase so Successful?

The concept of "by word of mouth" has certainly evolved because of social media. And I think Omakase has really penetrated this evolved "by word of mouth" marketing. There's Facebook, Twitter, Foursqaure, blogs, and many others. Without having to promote themselves, their own customers become their marketing agents.

omakase restaurant

To put this in Twitter terms, Omakase is trending. Most of my friends are staunch believers of Omakase and will stand by their experience of eating there. It is always full and many times you will have to wait before you can get a table. I actually just ate there a while ago for lunch and figured I should write about my thoughts.

harry twitter
Follow me on Twitter: @harryinitiative to get updates on my latest blog posts and other random things happening with my life

In any competitive market, patronage goes to those who are innovative. Suppliers are always kept at their feet and forced to provide better service in fear that their competitors will outsell them. And that's what makes the market economy so democratic: the fact that consumers can voluntarily vote with their money and decide who stays and who goes. Innovators are rewarded with profit and it is this profit incentive that keeps the competition running.

So I guess we can consider Omakase as innovative. Their recipes are certainly very different from competing Japanese restaurants. They've provided something unique and the market responded well.

I'm personally not so fond of it. I mean, deep frying, adding Japanese mayo and other fancy designs and plating—these things won't impress me. I'm more of a purist, I guess. I'm the type who'd prefer the traditional and authentic Japanese cuisine. But then again that's just me and the majority of consumers, as I have said, have voted otherwise. And, of course, I must commend them for their innovations and creativity regardless of my own personal preference.

The internet and social media really gives power to consumers. I was eating there a while ago and now I am writing about them. So restaurants of the world beware—every single customer can share their experience, good or bad, to their own personal networks and to the world (in realtime!).

So I guess I'm writing here again. It's more of observations, I guess. I mean, I'm constantly training myself to see what others can't see, to look beyond what is apparent, you know. The love for eating or my "cooking" may eventually return as well, we never know. Ah, women, they are my Waterloo, yeah? Even superman had his kryptonite. Weaknesses does not define one's super-ness, okay? So leave me alone hahaha.

It seems that in spite of not writing here, it has proven to be the highest contributor in my earnings among my blogspot blogs. Gotta suck it up and blog! On that note I leave you with a beautiful song I've been listening to all day:

Google's New Recipe View

Google now has the "recipe view" feature that will surely revolutionize the way we look for recipes online.



You can filter your search queries by ingredients, cook time, and even calories! You can even put what ingredients you have and those that you don't have.

The search results are a bit biased toward the more credible authority sites though and seem to have disregard for small time recipe blogs. This could really be a bad thing, I think. There is that different feel when an independent blogger shares an experience as compared to just reading about ingredients and directions in big recipe websites.

Of course a part of me is somewhat annoyed, also being that I had a similar website idea and that some of my ranking articles are about recipes and my traffic might be affected. But hey, this will only force me to innovate even more and really test the limits of my creativity. Competition is good, even when your competing against a giant like Google.

Speaking of competing with Google, the reason I haven't been blogging here is because I've been focusing on the more lucrative side of blogging for now. But of course this does not mean that I will no longer be posting here, no way. As useless as it may seem compared to my other blogs, Libreng Sabaw is probably the closest to my heart.

So anyways, introducing my newest blog about technology, social media, and search engine optimization: Beating the Search Engine.

What nourishes you also destroys you

It's my mom's birthday party today. Lechon will be served later on tonight. I am not as excited as I should be, I noticed. I haven't really been in the mood for food.

You know there's this concept called "Inedia" or the ability to live without food. It's not really about starving to death or whatever. I feel that it's more spiritual, actually. I guess it's more of how we usually eat more than what's enough and it becomes just so unhealthy. Most of hunger is just in the mind, I believe, and many times our mind plays tricks on us.

Sometimes I wonder, how come I can eat 1 cup of rice and be full and sometimes eat more than 1 cup of rice and still be in the same level of fullness? It's as if I was just being impatient for the satisfaction to sink in and the excess food wasn't really necessary.

You know, most of our energy actually comes from the air we breathe. You can survive 30 days without food and yet only 3 mins without oxygen. I remember this story about a girl who survived 7 years without food and gets all her energy from the sun. It does seem like a fake story. But hey, it's true I spend most of my time in front of this laptop or out at night and not under the light of the sun--the one that gives our planet heat and life.

A few months ago, when looking for an internship job for school, I actually wanted to write about food. Someone even told me that it's ridiculous and that I can't write about food--I guess because I never really expressed interest in it or ever wrote specifically on food alone. That's why it's quite heartwarming when someone tells me "nabasa ko yung food blog mo ah"--oh wow, people actually like the way I write. It's authentic surprise, actually, and not trying to be condescending at all.

But then, as I have said, I don't really have that much appetite for food nowadays. I feel that all the unhealthy stuff (fats, caffeine, alcohol, sugar) or overeating will just add to my current disarray. Lately I've just been having what I believe to be enough as compared to how active (or lack of being) my lifestyle is.

Also, I focus on water, something I believe I lack, and is something that composes 75% of my body. We all know that we need at least 8 glasses of water a day and yet I know many times we don't reach it. I learned this the hard way around almost 2 years ago when I got kidney stones (some say it is something that is even more painful than giving birth).

I'm just really not in the mood; some sort of generic distaste for everything. Right now, you can tell me I've won a trip to Hawaii to tour the set of the TV show Lost and I probably would just shrug it off and not care. Everything is tasteless and black and white.

How to Properly Fry Dumplings: a Culinary Epiphany

A discovery that will change the way you cook and eat dumplings for the rest of your life.

And so I was merrily walking around the kitchen and preparing myself some dumplings. I figured I should fry it then eat it with rice. It's not every day that one can have fried dumplings as ulam, I figured, but somehow I wasn't that excited. Then I realized that perhaps there has been something very wrong in the way I fry my dumplings. Little did I know that this little blurb of curiosity will change the way I cook and eat dumplings for the rest of my life.

fried dumplings
The image you see on the left is the typical way we see fried dumplings such as the Japanese "Gyoza" (one of my ultimate favorites when it comes to Japanese cuisine). The other image, the one on the right, is how I've always fried my dumplings; thoroughly and golden-brown. The most staggering difference is that with the one of the left, only a certain portion seems to be fried. And yes, apparently this was the case.

So the idea is for you to fry the bottom part of the dumpling in cooking oil until it is golden-brown and then pour water on your pan, turn the dumplings, and cook the other side in the water and let it simmer. This gives that beautiful balance between crunchy and soft; truly a harmony of textures.

Regret filled my heart as I ate the dumplings I cooked. Why do I discover this only now? It is as if a small part of my life had been a lie all along; a charade of wasted dumplings. But all that matters is I now know what I know and I can write about it and share my glorious epiphany to the world.

For the sauce, I conjured this interesting mix of Kikoman soy sauce, sesame seed and sesame oil, and sweet chili sauce. Surely I didn't want to submit such a discovery to a mediocre sauce and so I thought of making that sauce mix and to my surprise it was actually very good.

For something so basic and can easily be done, it is something I have overlooked. More than a good meal, this was also a great lesson. I put all my experiences of bad dumplings behind me. I move on and survive to cook another day.

Peace.


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