Samgyeopsal

(repost from buffetworthy.wordpress.com june 23, 2008)

After shift, I was hungry for Korean food, so I decided to try Bo Ja Jib, a Korean restaurant along Kalayaan Avenue in Quezon City. I ordered my usual ramyeon and tried their Samgyeopsal. It's a popular Korean dish served with thin slices of pork belly flavored in garlic, salt, sesame oil and cooked on a grill much like your regular barbecue. Usually Korean restaurants have table grill for this purpose but I was lazy so I asked them to have mine grilled.

To eat, get a slice of pork and place it inside a lettuce leaf (or any other leafy vegetable which comes with the order for that matter), add some boiled rice and ssamjang (a paste made from a mixture of korean chili paste and bean paste). They also added raw garlic which you can eat as it is or dip it in the ssamjang.

This Korean Restaurant also served banchan (side dishes) which comes free with the order. They served (from top left) radish kimchi, the regular kimchi, sauteed eggplant, spicy fried tofu and macaroni salad.

Here's the full order which cost me about 355 PHP (75 pesos for the ramyeon and 280 pesos for the samgyeopsal):

spicy hot ramyeon

(repost from buffetworthy.wordpress.com june 2, 2008)

I am a Bicolano and we're known to love spicy food. I never liked spicy food when I was still in the province. Tatay cooks Bicol express and would always have crushed siling labuyo in vinegar in every meal as a sauce for everything. I only began to like eating spicy food during my stay in a Korean Mission Center in Quezon City during my college days. Koreans would always have kimchi, breakfast, luch or dinner (sometimes even during mirienda!).

Kimchi is a traditional Korean fermented dish made of vegetables with varied seasonings, most commonly referring to the spicy baechu variety. Kimchi is the most common Korean banchan, or side dish, eaten with rice along with other banchan dishes. Kimchi is also a common ingredient and cooked with other ingredients to make dishes such as kimchi stew (kimchi jjigae) and kimchi fried rice (kimchi bokkeumbap). (from wikipedia)

Aside from Kimchi, I also adore ramyeon (Korean version of Japanese ramen) because of its spice of course, jajangmyeon (wheat noodles in thick black bean paste with diced meat and veggies, boiled eggs and spring onion), kimchi jjigae (kimchi soup with pork and vegetables) and kimbap(like the Japanese sushi).

Yesterday, I was craving for ramyeon so I went to Garden Maru Korean Restaurant in Holy Spirit, Quezon City (in front of Ever Commonwealth). Your marker would be the multicolored flags and their banner of course. I ordered ramyeon (100 pesos) and kimpap (100 pesos). Kimchi comes free with the meal.

Here's the kimbap (the rice was a little bit dry)

and here's the spicy hot ramyeon with egg topped with leek and carrot strips:

After the meal, apple slices and a glass of cinnamon drink, were served free to wash away the spice and the smell of kimchi!

merienda all you can at Nena's

(repost from buffetworthy.wordpress.com may 29, 2008)

I love eating kakanin. One of my fondest childhood memories was waking up to the sound of a kakanin peddler selling kutsinta. I love the feel of eating fresh kutsinta and puto in the morning with fresh coconut meat gratings.

This love for kakanin was the reason why I love eating at Nena's Special Bibingka and Restaurant. For only 75 pesos (tax included, no leftover price) per person, I get to indulge on the following (thanks to Ivan about town for the Philippine street food dictionary):

1. kutsinta - steamed boiled rice with lye and brown sugar; has a gelatinous consistency. Their kutsinta has just the right consistency and it's not too sweet.
2. puto - stemead rice cake. This is great with their dinuguan.
   
3. maja blanca
   
4. ube cake
5. nilupak - mashed banana with brown sugar and served with butter or margarine
6. cassava cake
7. bukayo ricecake
8. sapin - sapin - layered glutinous rice and coconut milk cake usually topped with grated coconut and latik [residue from coconut oil extraction]; different flavor per layer such as ube (purple yam), macapuno (young coconut), kutsinta and langka (jackfruit)
9. biko - glutinous rice cake with grated coconut topping
10. kalamay - glutinous rice cake
11. suman - glutinous rice snack steamed in banana or coconut leaves
12. and of course their special bibingka - glutinous rice flour pancakes grilled with charcoal above and below in a special clay pot

Aside from these, they also have pancit, lumpiang sariwa (fresh spring rolls), tokwa't baboy and okoy regulary. Some dishes which are not offered all time are dinuguan (pork meat and intestines cook in pork's blood and coconut milk), La Paz Batchoy (miki noodle soup garnished with pork innards, chicken breast, vegetables and topped with a raw egg), Goto (rice porridge or congee cooked with beef tripe) and Lomi (noodle soup made with thick fresh egg noodles).

My favorites are kutsinta, puto at dinuguan, La Paz batchoy, and the nilupak.

Aside from the food, what I like about eating at Nena's is the place. It has a very relaxed atmosphere and you can enjoy your food. The place is located near Araneta Center Cubao, Quezon City beside Puregold Cubao. You won't miss it since they have their eat-all-you-can banner unrolled at 2 pm but the merienda buffet is open from 3pm to 6pm.