When in Chic Boy

It's very late at night and you unconsciously sway with every step. There is no voluntary reason for coming here. It is already your body compelling you. It is carnal desire.

When in Chic Boy, this is my modus operandi. It is pleasurable and deadly. It is the taste of freedom, of danger. Like most of the really good things in life, it's something you'd regret, the type you'll get guilty about when you wake up in the morning. It's something you swear you'd never do again but also can't resist to come back for more.

If this is a vice then I wish no virtue.

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#NowPlaying: iBenji - Boneless

Bulalo Recipe of the Philippines

The bulalo is probably one of the best recipes that Philippine cuisine has to offer. It's basically the beef leg bone part (I don't really know what it's called) softened and cooked to perfection in a very simple broth. No fancy ingredients or techniques needed.

Eating the bone marrow part is probably one of the most pleasurable things you can do here on earth while you are alive. And with that pleasure, of course, comes risk. It is very unhealthy and dangerous but I guess that is part of the thrill of eating bulalo. It is like the extreme sports of food. There's a big risk that it can kill you but it's fun and it reminds you that it's good to be alive.

Last night when I got home, it was the best surprise to see a steaming hot bowl of bulalo on the kitchen table. And being that I live in a hypertensive household and that I am an 'only child', I can have the bone marrow all to myself. It was gluttonous and sinful. It's so good that it should be illegal (this is a metaphor because I do not support prohibition or lifestyle regulation by the state).

And it's not just the bone marrow. It's also the soft, melts-in-your-mouth meat, the fats and litid around the bone and within the meat itself. When asked to describe it, it's really a lot closer to pleasurable than just plain delicious. And then top it off with some soy sauce, calamansi, and chili.

And now all I can do is recall the memories of last night as I write here in front of my laptop hungry and bored.

Mercato in the Fort

After a fun night out with your friends in the Fort, it's perfect to go food tripping in Mercato food bazaar.

It was actually my first time there and I felt like a kid entering a huge toy store not knowing where to go first or what to buy with the money I had. And I guess that's one of the main problems of such a competitive market such as this food bazaar: you won't be able to try everything in just one night and you'll miss out on so much unless you come back for more.

The prices aren't as attractive as the food they are selling though. Surely the rent in this place is very high because so many things are overpriced, in my opinion. I ended up spending 25 pesos for a stick of isaw which on the streets would only be around 5 pesos each. I'd have to say that having around 200 pesos or higher would be perfect for a good food trip night here in Mercato in the Fort.

Food places that open until late (or 24 hours) are always a the best and now what more if it's a bazaar with competing stalls! Those who are indecisive will surely be tortured in this place and bombarded with seemingly unlimited choices. Several suggestions from friends that I have to try when I go back there would be the Japanese hotdog, the Angus kebab and many others.

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Eating Gotong Batangas in Batangas

The best place to eat Gotong Batangas will of course be in Batangas. We were actually in Lipa on our way home from Laiya. And that's the most perfect thing because Gotong Batangas is also most of the time referred to as Goto ng Lipa.

After a tiring weekend at the beach, getting to eat a warm bowl of Gotong Batangas was the absolute reward. Ideally, I'm not even allowed to eat this (mas masarap ang bawal!). I'm advised to avoid internal organs and other stuff high in uric acid and bring us to the popular Filipino concept of "Minsan lang naman e". hehehe.

Gotong Batangas is differnt from normal goto because it doesn't have rice. When asked about it, I usually respond that it's a bit similar to the popular goat preparation of papaitan (we actually have a whole dead goat in our freezer right now, I'll blog about that as soon as we cook it).
It's weird how some Filipinos themselves are deterred by these kinds of ingredients. Last night, I was watching the Vienna episode of No Reservations and saw that these kinds of ingredients were actually a delicacy there and something that they're really proud of whereas here, even when it's all local produce, people will actually consider it exotic. McDo mentality. They are missing out. Oh well, to each his own.
I usually get Gotong Batangas right by the entrance of Nasugbu in Tagaytay (which is technically also Batangas already). You'll surely pass it on your way to Punta Fuego or Tali. It's really one of my favorites. In fact, if you Google search "Gotong Batangas" you will see one of my old entries on HubPages as the number on result on the first page:

You'll be surprised to see how many people search this every day and it is surely a significant contributor to my earnings as a blogger.
And, another reason why I love this is beacause people who serve this will usually give free refills of the soup to those who order. Yup, libreng sabaw. :D

Steak Marinade Recipe

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Anthony Bourdain has been torturing me for a few days now throug his show No Reservations that I've been marathoning. Because of this, last night at around almost midnight already I decided to look around for food that I can cook. Luckily, I found a bunch of raw t-bone steaks in the freezer.
Random Marinade Recipe
I just got whatever I could that I figured could make the taste of the steak better for the marinade. I really would have preferred A1 steak sauce but sadly we currently don't have any. So going through our stock in the pantry, all I found was BBQ sauce, worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco. It's a pretty good mix. The internet said that when you have no time to marinate, it's best to make rubs or something like that but then I didn't really have the ingredients required for that so just ended up mixing whatever I could find.
Cooking the Steak on Butter
This part is kind of tricky. I ended up making my steak a bit medium well when I was going for medium rare. I guess I underestimated the electric stove (it's usually weak plus the steak was still very cold). So just after a few minutes of bathing in the random marinade I made, the steak was cooking in butter and later on ended up in my stomach. I didn't even get to take a photo of the finished product because of hunger.
Well there's some more left on the freezer and I'm planning to cook some again tonight.

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Anthony Bourdain is Cheating Through Life and Torturing People Like Me

Watching No Reservations is a lot like torturing yourself. It's just too much of what's too good and currently too far to reach. And I come to the conclusion of one thing: Anthony Bourdain is the luckiest man alive.

Uni and Salmon Roe on Rice

Yes, he's a brilliant and talented TV show host and writer, giving the world a unique perspective on food and travel but he himself said before eating that meal above that he feels like he's cheating for being paid to do that. And I was here in front of my laptop getting tortured as I watched him eat that heavenly bowl of pleasure.

Anthony Bourdain drinking vodka in Ukraine

And every episode, all he does is drink. It's like he's paid to get drunk and eat amazing food. The girl he was with in Hokkaido called him a professional drinker. After watching how much vodka he drank in Ukraine, I'd have to agree.

Hey, I'm already getting paid just for writing about food here. Surely there's something there, yeah?

Like he says: always be hungry for more.

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Instant Vietnamese Noodles (Phở)

On my way home the other day, I decided to go to 711 to buy food so I can eat something while watching the stuff I downloaded or while surfing the internet.

I saw this instant vietnamese noodles. Vietnamese food is actually one of my favorites ever and probably even beats my love for Japanese food. The photo on the right side panel of this blog is actually me eating vietnamese noodles.

The instant noodles was 55 pesos, if I remember correctly. It's quite pricey compared to other local instant noodles but quite cheap compared to other imported instant noodles (the Japanese ones are very expensive but very good as well).

It wasn't really that good. I guess cause the experience was incomplete. It didn't have the bean sprouts and the leaves (I'm not sure what they are and I'm lazy to Google). It didn't have the meats. The soup was bland perhaps because I usually put sriracha sauce (one of my favorite sauces ever as well).

So all in all, I wasted 55 pesos but at least I learned. Next time, Yakisoba na lang ang bibilihin ko.

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Kanin Club — I ate here last night!

It's always a delight to get a random call that you are getting free food most especially if it's one of your favorite places to eat in. It was my really good friend's birthday yesterday and his family treated him to some food in Kanin Club.

My apologies for the not so appetizing photo. I was in a hurry to eat! On the left of my plate you will see the very classic crispy dinuguaan along with their other specialty sinigang rice. The one on the right is something that I tried for the first time last night. It's their pad thai recipe and it was unbelievably good, I swear. It is an instant favorite for me.

I got to try many other things from the Kanin Club menu such as the laing, adobo, binukadkad na tilapia, and crispy pata. One thing I noticed is that they really have mastered the art of deep frying and making things crispy. This remains true for many of their specialty dishes. Just writing about their food right now makes me so hungry.

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