Balot. Penoy Ala Pinoy (Ibaan)

A balut is a fertilized duck embryo that is boiled alive and eaten in the shell.

Popularly believed to be an aprodisiac and considered a high-protein, hearty snack, balut are mostly sold by street vendors in the regions where they are available. It is commonly sold as streetfood in the Philippines.  They are common, everyday food in countries in Southeast Asia, such as Laos, Cambodia (pong tea khon ពងទាកូន in Cambodian) and Vietnam. They are often served with beer.
The Filipino and Malay word balut (balot) means "wrapped" – depending on pronunciation. (wikipedia)

Adobong Kabute

Kabute (mushroom) is usually cooked with only ginger, salt and water. With very plain ingredients, they are only being boiled until soft, This one, however, is cooked the traditional Filipino "adobo" way.

Food Stuffed In Plastic For Only P5.00 At Rosario Night Market

In Rosario Night Market, ready to eat and cooked foods are stuffed in plastics a little bigger than those used in ice candy. Located at the town's plaza, the market serves as the final destination for people looking for "fast foods" before heading back home from work or school. They are sold for only P5.00, good enough one full meal.

JOZA Eatery's Tapsis At Santiago Street

Pansit Canton - Bihon

Ahh, this is the secret for having a longer life. Take a taste of JOZA's creation. With the picture alone, I'm sure you'll crave for this one. By the way, it goes perfectly well with lumpiang gulay.

Crispy Pata Ni JOZA

Crispy Pata. One of those recipes shunned behind every celebrations, But you can't let this one pass. JOZA fries something that is heavenly crispy. And I bet you won't stop gorging this one until it's bone go screaming wild over your plate. And yes, Fundador makes good sense with it. And the sauce? No need to call on the service of Mang Tomas. JOZA's stinging sweet hot soy sauce is all you need for this.

Sisig Ni JOZA

JOZA's Eatery got their own exquisite version of sisig. It makes us of boiled pork meat. The meat are then chopped into dice, mixed with onion, garlic, a pinch of salt, and white mayonnaise. Their version is beautifully crafted with elegant toppings consisting of sliced red tomatoes, cucumber, and quail eggs, not to mention the red hot chilli fingers.

Boiled Native Corn (Nilabong Mais)

Anyone from countryside won't miss this when its season is at bloom.

Korean-Filipino Fused Beef Fried Rice With Kimchi

Korean-Filipino Fused Beef Fried Rice With Kimchi

The invasion of K-pop has gone to the extreme, even invading Filipino kitchens. Traditional fried rice is also being reinvented and twisted for greater taste more satisfying meal experience. Step aside garlic and onions, here comes beef and kimchi ready to dethrone you from your pan empire.

I was invited by a friend one sunny day to have lunch at his place. Arriving late, I was able to catch up with him preparing his own twist and version of fried rice with beef and kimchi. It's still a basic fried rice. But with the infusion of beef and kimchi is something different which I myself could hardly imagine how it would taste.

Kimchi is one of Korea's favorite side dish burning hot with chilli powder. A Filipino version of it makes use of Baguio cabbage which was prepared ahead of time before being used for the fried rice. A fresh Baguio cabbage rinse with lukeworm do the tricks already. Korean chili powder are then poured on them for a blast in one's mouth. They are then cut into threads in order to complement the dried seaweed which also forms part of the said. Dried seaweeds can be bought from super markets.

Beef on the hand we're also pre-cooked before they are used mixed with the fried. And to give more fresh juice and life, green cucumber is also added.

I was dead hungry that day. Much more, I also got excited having the luxury of time to observed how it is being prepared. And as far as the ingredients are concerned, I can say it's a total meal in one. A heavy one. Better than Chowking's chow pan.

So, here's how it goes.

Ingredients
Shredded Kimchi
Pre-cooked beef steak
Bowl of rice
Dried seaweeds.
Sliced green cucumber

The following are photos showing it's preparation.

Sliced green cucumber.

Shredded Baguio cabbage kimchi.

Dried sea weeds.

Diced and sauceless beef steak.

Bowl of rice.

Complete ingredients for a complete meal.

Step 1. Saute kimchi on hot pan. No oil needed.

Step 2. Add the beef steak.

Step 3. Remove kimchi and beef from pan. Leave a handful of them on pan. Then add rice to fry.

Step 4. Have the fried rice on a bowl.

Step 5. Add sliced green cucumber and the pre-mixed kimchi and beef steak on top. Dried seaweeds are also added.

Step 6. Pour in the remaining kimchi juice to give the fried rice a blast on hotness.

Finally, you now have the Korean-Filipino Fused Beef Fried Rice With Kimchi!

Cheese Sticks

Before, lumpiang shanghai tops among the munchers' choice for finger foods in different celebrations. However, due to complexity of its preparation and the expensiveness of its ingredients, it has evolved into much simpler recipe in the form of cheese sticks.

Lumpiang shanghai, as what we've gotten used with, include grind pork meat, mixed with seasonings like salt, minced black pepper, diced carrots, onions, garlic and others. Of course, they'll have to be wrapped. Carelessness would break the wrapper during the process and even during it's frying stage. In the case of cheese stick, just a slice of it, you already have a complete set and in no time ready to dressed with a quarter cut of the wrapper. To put more bite on the stick, a slice of red bell pepper is often included per stick. It doesn't matter if the wrapper goes off the line when frying. Nothing will spill out of it compared to lumpiang shanghai.

A five to ten-minute dive on hot pan, depending on the degree of fire, is all you need to wait until they turn into bit golden brown. Set aside on strainer until they dry down from excess oil before serving. Napkins may also do the trick.

Cheese sticks are best with a mixed mayonnaise and ketchup dip. And goes along well with bottles of beer. 

(Note: We had these during my parents' anniversary last February 7.)