I'M BACK!!!

Well, HELLO!!! I know it's been eight long months since my last post and I'm so sorry about that. I was suppose to be writing about the places I've been, the cultures I had the chance to experience, the wonderful dishes around the world, and the people I met a long the way. Unfortunately, or maybe not, I found myself so engaged into this on-line buy and sell thing.

At last! I found an excuse to my shopping addiction :). If you love fashion and shopping, I think this is the way to go. You get to buy the stuff you like. Then, resell if you feel like it didn't suit you or just simply wanted to update your closet. Plus, the idea of making some cash while doing what you love is simply amazing. So, I'll probably continue doing this until I get tired of it (if that's even possible).

On the other hand, I also would like to go back to writing, cooking, travelling, or maybe even further my education. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, 3 countries and multiple colleges and universities after, I finally got my degree. Woohoo! I attended my graduation ceremony in July of this year. It was definitely a good feeling to have that sense of accomplishment. Especially, if you have to go through a lot to get it.

Anyway, it's nice to be back. You will be hearing from me again soon. :)

Places of Interest: Preview of My Future Posts

These are previews of my future posts. Please keep checking back for updates. :)

Spicy Pork Caldereta a la Collier

My version of calderata whether it is pork, chicken, or both is slightly different from the conventional tomato sauce/paste base. If you’ve read my previous post about my adobo dish, I’ve used the same initial process to prepare the meat.

Here’s what you’ll need:
Meat (pork, chicken, or both)
Soy sauce
Vinegar
Tomato sauce
Garlic
Onion
Bell pepper
Carrots (chopped and fried)
Potatoes (chopped and fried)
Pepper Flakes
Black Pepper
Cuban seasoning (optional)

Process:
First, boil the meat in soy sauce, vinegar, black pepper, and cuban seasoning (optional) until tender (keep adding water if liquid starts to get low). On a deep frying pan, sauté chopped garlic, onion, and bell pepper. Add the boiled meat and its juice then followed by the tomato sauce. Let it simmer for a few minutes then the pepper flakes (add as much as you want). Let it simmer for another 15-20 minutes. You can add the fried carrots and tomatoes towards the end or serve them on the side. This dish is perfect with freshly cooked white rice. Make sure you have some ready. Bon Appetit.

Real Bite on a Fake Apple

I was scanning through our vacation photos and came across this particular one. I just could not help myself not to laugh a little. We were having lunch at the “Veranda” when I first noticed the bite on the apple. Veranda is a restaurant next to a golf course inside Mimosa Leisure Estate in the Philippines. We stayed in one of their villas and the Veranda was just a walking distance. The clear base with what looked like fruits inside is a common table display. I guess one hungry customer thought they were real and tried to have a bite. They must have looked very realistic. LOL. But the thing is, we went back to the same restaurant a few more times and every time the same fruit with a bite was always there. I guess they didn’t bother to remove or replace it to let other customers know that the fruits are not real. Hahaha…

Sauted String Beans

I love my vegetables. For me, the more colorful it is the better because that way you are sure that you are including different nutritions in your meal. This is one of the quickest and tastiest dish I like to make and I am sure that anyone can re-create it pretty easily.

Here's what you will need:
Olive Oil
Garlic (chopped)
Onion (chopped)
1 or 2 sausage/s
String beans
Red Bell Pepper (sliced)
Low Sodium Soy Sauce
Oyster Sauce
Black Pepper

Procedure:
Pre-heat your pan. Pour a little bit of your olive oil. Cook your sausage until golden brown (you can either slice your sausage or just removed the skin and lightly mash it on the pan while cooking it) then set aside. On the same pan, saute the garlic, onion, and bell pepper then add the cooked sausage and string beans. Let it fry for a few minutes then add about 1/2 tablespoon of low sodium soy sauce, stir, then add about a tablespoon of oyster sauce. Add black pepper to taste. Let it simmer until the vegetable is cook, then serve.

Note: You can reduce or eliminate the soy sauce if preferred.

Korean Living

Living in South Korea was a breath of fresh air. Well, at least for me it was. If all you’ve known all your life was the culture you grew up with, when you finally immersed yourself into a whole a new society which customs and traditions are so different from yours, culture shock is bound to happen. I remember having so many questions, yet there were no immediate answers. Or maybe I was just too scared to ask because I was afraid I may not be understood. You know, language barriers, the accent... that kind of stuff. Despite that, there was this sense of opportunity to learn others’ ways of life and the eagerness to explore another world so different from where I’ve been.

The culture shock for me didn't last long because I was more into learning new things than feeling I didn't belong. The first thing I immediately learned how to do was how to go from point A to point B. Because I did not know how to drive, it was very important for me to find out how get around. Well, it seemed that was really not an issue because there was a lot of public transportation available 24 hours a day. The most common means of transportation are buses, taxis, and the train station. I mostly used buses and taxis. The bus was the cheapest if you don't mind waiting at the bus stop for about 10-30 minutes. It took me an average of 15 minutes of waiting which was not bad. The ride may also be delayed because the bus has to stop in different stations to pick up and drop off passengers. Other than that, I think the access to busses anytime and anywhere is very convenient and economical.

However, if you are in a hurry, you might want to skip the bus and call for a cab. One thing to remember though and this is based on my own experience and other foreigners' I came across with, Korean drivers did not always expect for a tip but because foreigners do it all the time, they kind of got used to it and actually waits for it. Also, make sure that you have enough change for the taxi fees and the exact amount of tip you would like to give. One time, when I was getting ready to pay for the taxi, I realized that I didn't have enough change. I think the charge was like 11,000 Won and I gave the driver 15,000 Won. He acted like he didn't want to give me my change back until I literally had to ask for it. While this is a possible scenario, there are still a lot of good and trustworthy taxi drivers in S. Korea. Remember, this does not happen all the time; foreigners just really need to be informed when travelling to Korea or to other foreign countries for that matter.

While in Pyeongtaek, Stars and Stripes Newspaper was conducting a real-time online discussions to assist military families and individuals that are getting ready to move to S. Korea for their new assignment. I was one of the people currently living in the country (married to an American) who gave insights on what to expect when they get there. Participants in the discussions talked about the same issues since military dependents often use taxis to get around. Another important thing to remember, taxis often have information about the driver and the cab company. Pay extra attention to that information in case you ran into unforeseen problems. Also, do not get in an unmarked taxi because they are known to over charge foreigners.

FOOD, FOOD, FOOD... something that we always look forward to. It doesn’t matter who you are or what your background is, when it comes to food we all gravitate towards it especially when we are hungry. However, that does not mean we are all open to explore new and unfamiliar food. I think when you are confined to a single norm; opening up to new stuff could be very challenging. When I was first introduced to Korean food I did not like most of it or maybe because I was just unaccustomed to certain things.

Eventually, I learned to love some of the Korean oddities. Now, I like the idea of having so many side dishes wherein each side has its own distinctive taste. So, every time you roll a lettuce with the meat cooked right in front of you (samgyeopsal), you get to choose which flavor you would like to add. This makes each bite different from the next bite. The food was never bland. On the other hand, if I have my favorites, I also have my lease faves. Koreans swear about the goodness and the healthy benefits of “Kimchi” but it is one thing I just could not swallow. No disrespect but I just couldn’t take that fermented smell. Dog meat is also a no no for me… argh! Having said that, other than samgyeopsal, I also like kimbap—rice rolls, bulgogi, bibimbap, pajeon, chapchae, samgyetang and other Korean stews, etc. The list can goes on and on.

When travelling around the country, one thing I always anticipated were the highway rest stops. They are nothing like the rest stops in America. Each stop is slightly different from the others. They offer wide variety of stuff from different kinds of cooked nuts, corns, rice cakes, barbeques, and the likes, to all types of jarred foods, ginger roots for different ailments, etc. Sometimes there were even freshly picked fruits and vegetables. We always had bags of goodies from each stops every time my husband and I went on road trips. I truly miss those days.

Classic Chicken & Pork Adobo

I think like everybody else who is into culinary or just simply loves to cook, my first dishes were mostly inspired by my love one’s cooking. When I was young, I started copying my mom’s recipes until I finally learned how to gradually change the composition of her dishes and put a little twist into it. One very classic dish I learned from my parents and grandparents were “chicken and pork adobo”—which was basically meat boiled in vinegar and soy sauce until it become tender. Then, on a separate pan, cut potatoes and carrots are fried and set aside. Next is sautéing everything using the same pan used in frying carrots and potatoes. Cook the sliced garlic, onions, and bell pepper. When done, add the meat and the juice/stock that came with it and the fried carrots and potatoes then let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Add salt and black pepper to taste.

Another version of this dish is “Adobo in Vinegar”. So instead of boiling the meat in soy sauce and vinegar, this time the meat is boiled in vinegar and salt. The rest of the cooking process is the same as the Adobo in Soy Sauce unless you wanted to add your own signature to it. That’s exactly what I like about cooking, the recipe doesn’t need to be perfect, you can adjust the dish as you please. Unlike baking, everything needs to be measured correctly which is why I suck at baking. Hahaha..

My Humble Beginning

My childhood was not as playful and carefree like you'd imagine a kid should be. I’m the eldest of four and the only girl in the family. When I was growing up, my parents were not always around, they were both out working to make sure we had food on the table, roof over our heads, and had the means to send us to school. At an early age, I learned to take over our home while my parents were away. Before I could even go outside to play, I had to make sure that I’ve done all choirs and boys were all taken cared of. On top of that, I also had to make sure that I was home by 5pm to wash the dishes on the sink and prepare dinner for everybody.

My mom would give me a budget of about 1-2 dollars every day for our food. The amount varied every time depending on how much money they had left or how much they made the day before. So, each day I had to buy fresh vegetables, meat, and rice. If money was tight and I only got $1 to spend, more often than not I had to opt to canned goods. Even though the cost of food were significantly inexpensive back in those days, it was still tremendously difficult to come up with a balance meal but somehow every so often I managed to do just that.

My selection usually starts with the cheapest vegetable available, and then the meat which was usually fish or chicken. Then I’d buy few kilos of rice for our carbohydrates. Because rice was and still is our staple food, it’s actually advisable to buy a whole sack of rice (50 kilos) than buy a little bit at a time. Although, it’s logical to buy large quantity of rice, not a lot of families could afford that. So, families like us were forced to buy few kilos just enough for a day or two.

One thing that helped us a little bit was we lived next door to my grandparents' house. My grandpa always had chickens roaming around the backyard. Well, technically, it’s really not a backyard; it was just a small space around the property. My grandma sometimes raised pigs—mostly for resale purposes. So, every now and then my grandpa would let us cook one of his chix and collect their freshly laid eggs. If you’re wondering, no, I never killed a chicken! Okay, maybe I tried once.  But I mostly let somebody else do the killing and I’d do the cleaning and chopping. Hey, what can I say? It’s survival of the fittest.

The cooking process was also not as easy as it is today. We didn’t always have a stove or electric cookers. Our options were chopped woods, coal, or woods shavings—shaped like a cylinder with an opening in the middle and little one at the bottom. The pot basically goes on top and you start the fire by lighting it from the bottom. Did that sound primitive or what? Oh yeah, we were allowed to use a lighter or match sticks to start the fire. Yeah, I know, that was a relief, right?
Cooking when I was growing up, I only knew and learned how to use of few spices, the basics like onion, garlic, ginger, salt, pepper, and bay leaves. Now, there’s thyme, rosemary, marjoram, basil, cilantro, coriander, cumin, tarragon, turmeric and the list goes on and on. Sometimes, I can’t even pronounce some of them. I tell you; at times I don’t even know how to correctly incorporate them into my cooking. That’s how confusing they are to me. However, over the years I learned to expand my ingredients/food selection or dishes for that matter. I have truly evolved from my humble beginning. Thanks to the experience, travels, and new discoveries I am a little better every day than the day before.