Harry's Ultimate Easter Sunday Apollo 13 Style Shiitake Beef Burger

I live in a household that really practices the holy week traditions. All meats, for instance, just randomly disappear come Holy Thursday. They vanish into thin air. It's like meat rapture, really.

Shiitake Happens

If the only tool you have is a hammer then treat everything as if it is a nail. I've been overusing that line a lot, really. I think it was Maslow who said that. That's where I got the idea of Apollo 13 style because most of the ingredients I use for this recipe are used not by choice but by chance. I work with what I have. I feel that this forces me to be creative and imaginative; unafraid to go against conventions and try new things. It's like what they say: Shiitake happens.

Thaw Something

Luckily, it's after midnight, sleep arm in arm in the stairwell. Just kidding, but yeah, so technically it's Easter Sunday and the tomb's supposedly empty by now so of course meat miraculously appears in my freezer. Such a magical place, this house I live in. And since S&R is always sponsoring your resident blogger with free taste of random food, they get that product placement on the photo above. 

Bread

Google results suggest that I can actually eat shiitake alone even without the meat but then what's the point in that. Randomly finding bread, I knew it was going to be a sandwich of some sort. Beef sounds perfect with shiitake. 

Sesame Oil and Worcestershire Sauce

And so I go back to this burger recipe I had from a long time ago. Sort of like Asian meets English concept that, again, is merely brought to me by coincidence and not by choice. 

Cooking

I dip the shiitake in water to make it just the right ammount of soggy before frying it in olive oil (I actually prefer canola oil but I couldn't find it). I then fry the beef patties I made on the same oil I cooked the shiitake in. Shiitake mushrooms really have such a powerful and influential taste.

Japanese Mayonnaise

And since I'm already sort of going for this oriental flavor of sorts, it would be heresy if I didn't put Japanese mayonnaise. I don't even think of Japanese mayo as a condiment but more of a main ingredient, really. And so I generously bathe my sandwiches with what I consider to be one of the greatest contributions of Japanese culture to humanity.

Harry's Ultimate Easter Sunday Apollo 13 Style Shiitake Beef Burger

I actually miss my DSLR. My pictures would be so much more awesome if I could use my prime lenses. I've actually just been using my Samsung Galaxy Y and the camera does the job but of course I know how photo quality can impact a food blog such as this one.

The burger was great. Long live cows and their byproducts. There's actually quite a bit of shiitake mushrooms here so I'm thinking of making more stuff with it so be sure to watch out for that. Follow me on my Twitter to get updated on my latest blog posts. For now, you can listen to me mess around with the vocoder in my cover of Daft Punk's Something About Us:

Itlog na Maalat na may Kamatis (salted egg with tomatoes)

Salted eggs with tomatoes, very easy to prepare and absolutely delicious. This classic Filipino favorite is surely satisfying in spite of its simplicity!

Itlog na maalat na may kamatis (salted eggs with tomatoes)

I was going through the fridge, looking for something to eat and figured I should prepare myself this classic dish and eat it with rice. It's really so simple to make and for something that's this simple it's really so good.

There's this wonderful contrast of textures and tastes with the salted eggs and the tomatoes. And the yolk, my favorite part, is so complex. It really goes perfect with the freshness of the tomato.

Plus, it's very affordable. I remember eating it when I used to live alone during college. And since I had a fixed weekly allowance, for something that's this affordable, I really got my money's worth.

It's interesting how this blog continues to earn in spite of lack of posts. Since I told myself I will be focusing on blogs and articles that are more profitable, expect to see more frequent updates here in this blog. Thank you for dropping by!

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How to Cook Poached Eggs

Sick of fried egg? Just a few moments ago, I decided to cook some poached eggs for the first time in my life.

my not so helpful tutorial video on how to make poached eggs
I used to watch Top Chef all the time and I remember some challenges would require the contestants to cook poached eggs because it requires a lot of skills and techniques. Basically it's just boiled egg but making it look perfect requires a lot of delicate movements and timing. So I decided to make some for myself and try it out instead of just going for the typical fried egg.
I still prefer fried egg, of course. Healthy food would usually sacrifice taste. But hey, it's my first time so I'm sure I'll learn more about it as I cook it more times. I need to practice on sauces and other things that will compliment the egg. I'm sure eventually my poached eggs will be more preferable than my fried eggs (and more presentable too).
There's really no excuse anymore in having conventional and boring meals. The internet gives us all these information on different recipes and cuisines most with step-by-step guides and tutorials. Plus, even without the internet, there will always be the imagination that provides reckless and unrestricted creativity.
I am the eggman.

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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.

Beef Pares and Street Food

I always love looking for hole-in-the-wall type of places to eat in. Not only will you be able to buy very affordable meals, you will also be able to try out local recipes and delicacies.

A few months ago, my girlfriend and I got a chance to find this really good place that sells beef pares. For 35 pesos, you will surely be satisfied. It's different from all the beef pares recipes I've tried and it's so affordable.

I have written about Philippine street food before. I am very intrigued at how foreigners would think some of the local food we eat is gross but really it's a cultural thing. Not because something is unusual to you, does not mean that it is already something you should be afraid of.

Don't you just get sick of having McDonald's? or any of the other typical fast food chains? It is about time that you just explore a bit. A good meal is probably just a few streets away. You'll get to try out something new and at the same time get a chance to save money! Now that's what I call satisfaction.