Paglin Treasured Recipes: Tao Yuan, Resorts World Manila

Paglin Treasured Recipes: Tao Yuan, Resorts World Manila: "The girls met up for lunch at Tao Yuan to welcome the new school year. Even though some of us no longer have sons in XS, we come up with eve..."

Tao Yuan, Resorts World Manila

The girls met up for lunch at Tao Yuan to welcome the new school year. Even though some of us no longer have sons in XS, we come up with every reason just to stay in touch. Cheryl joined us for the first time and she fitted right in with our other XSH1 moms, Lucy, Jane and Jenny.

We came here for the Hainanese Chicken and so we ordered a whole chicken which was good enough for 8 girls. This is definitely the best Hainanese Chicken in town. The chicken was moist and the condiments were perfect. The soy was not too salty, the ginger was not drenched in oil and the chili was not too spicy. Actually, I found the chili quite mild since I acquired the taste of Szechuan cuisine while living in NYC. Next time around, we should tell them to serve the chicken in two platters so that we can easily pick on it from the lazy susan. Also, the order does not include the rice and so we had to order the Hainanese rice separately.

 Myrna suggested that we order the Singapore Mango Lapu-lapu. The fish was crispy and moist. Excellent choice if you like your fish deep fried instead of steamed. This dish will set you back 1,100 pesos.

My son will like the Lechon Macao. It was as though they wrapped it in tons of paper towel to soak up the oil before serving.This dish was crispy and devoid of an oily after taste.

 For our veggie fix, we had the sauteed stringbeans with pork belly and tofu. I usually like my stringbeans crunchy but I'm glad that this was served on the soft side since we already had our crispy fish and crunchy lechon macao. This is another excellent dish.

To end the meal, we were given free mango sago. Did I say that we also got free boiled peanuts at the beginning of our meal? The dishes were good for 8 girls and it cost us 2,995 pesos after Lucy presented her card to avail of a 10% discount. Yup, we never pay full price when we do lunch. Overall, this is one restaurant I would go back to again and again if not for it's distance from my residence. Oops, I really have to return so that I can try their asado tart. It's talked about as much as the Hainanese Chicken and I forgot to order it. Ayayay, senior moments...

Tao Yuan
Resorts World Manila, Newport City

Jozu Kin

Honestly, we will eat our way through the metro using the 50% promos offered in everythinginbudget.blogspot.com. I purchased the Jozu Kin voucher because this restaurant is a stone's throw from my place.

For starters, we were given the Kani salad for free. This was quite good. I wish that I had the nerve to ask for more.

My son had been clamoring for meat sushi since he had it in NYC. So, we couldn't pass up on the beef sushi. This tasted like beef teriyaki on a roll.

I was surprised when my son ordered the Chicken Mushroom Ragout instead of a steak dish. This dish was not visually appealing. I guess that's why they called it a ragout. Kids would like this because no particular flavor or spice stood out.

The mixed tempura was such a let-down. It was very greasy and the squid did not work well with me. It was chewy and difficult to eat without first cutting it with a knife. They didn't have a squid tempura in their menu and so I don't see why they included this in their mixed tempura.

This is the Muscovado Vanilla Creme Brulee. This was not sweet at all which was great. Perfect to remove all the greasy taste from the tempura dish.

I'm a sucker for tempura ice cream but once again this one disappointed only because the one I had in NYC was coated in cornflakes and almonds. The tempura ice cream here in Joku Jin was vanilla ice cream coated in tempura batter, deep fried and drizzled with chocolate syrup. This was not oily at all.

Jozu Kin
Ronac Center
Ortigas Ave., Greenhills

Braised pork with tangy coleslaw

via http://homecookingrocks.com/braised-pork-with-tangy-coleslaw/

Ingredients

• a slab or pork belly (shoulder will work too), about 400 grams
• 2 tbsps. of cooking oil
• 1/4 c. of light soy sauce
• 1/2 c. of rice wine
• 2 to 3 tbsps. of sugar
• 1 star anise
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• 6 peppercorns
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
• a thumb-sized piece of ginger, sliced
• salt, to taste
• For the coleslaw:
• half a head of white cabbage, finely shredded
• 1 large carrot, peeled and julienned
• 2 to 3 tbsps. of mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp. of pickle relish
• 1 tbsp. of lemon juice
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan.
2. Add the pork and sear on all sides.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients except the salt. Bring to the boil, lower the heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour or until the pork is very tender.
4. If the liquid dries up before the pork is done, pour in water, a quarter cup at a time.
5. Halfway through the cooking time, taste the sauce. Add salt, if needed (adding more soy sauce will make the pork too dark and you don’t want that — you want the pork to be a shade of reddish brown).
6. When the pork is done, scoop it out of the sauce. Place on a cutting board and cool for about five minutes before slicing.
7. While waiting for the pork to cool, make the coleslaw. Just dump everything together in a bowl and toss.
8. To serve, arrange the pork slices on a plate. Spoon the coleslaw on the side.

Quick notes

The braising sauce can be strained and served on the side.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s)

Cooking time: about 1 hour(s)

Number of servings (yield): 2 to 3

My notes:

• I added a quarter cup of water to the rest of the braised pork ingredients
• For the coleslaw, I wanted the KFC taste and so I used 3 tbsps of miracle whip instead of mayonnaise and 1 tbsp of tarragon vinegar instead of 1 tbsp of lemon juice.

I finally found a perfect roast pork recipe!

Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes

Serves 2

Recipe by Mario Batali

Photograph by Tom Schierlitz

Bon Appetit May 2011 issue

Ingredients

• 4 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 8 oz. Sun Gold or cherry tomatoes
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• Kosher salt
• 6 oz. capellini, spaghetti, or bucatini
• 3/4 cup finely grated Pecorino or Parmesan
• 8 medium fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces
• Toasted breadcrumbs (for garnish; optional) 

Preparation

• Heat 3 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add tomatoes, garlic, and red pepper flakes, season with salt, and cook, covered slightly and swirling pan often, until tomatoes blister and burst, 10-12 minutes. Press down on tomatoes to release their juices. Remove pan from heat and set aside.
• 
  
  Meanwhile, bring water to a boil in a pot. Season with salt; add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until about 2 minutes before tender. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking water.
• 
  
  Transfer pasta to skillet with tomatoes; set over high heat. Add 1/2 cup pasta water. Cook, stirring and tossing often, until sauce thickens and begins to coat the pasta, about 1 minute. Stir in remaining oil, cheese, and half the basil and toss until sauce coats pasta and pasta is al dente. (Add more pasta water if sauce seems dry.) Add remaining basil, season with salt, and serve with breadcrumbs, if desired.

My notes:
I normally allot 70g of uncooked pasta per person. Make sure that you remove the pasta 2 min. before the recommended cooking time because this will continue to cook in the skillet.


The original recipe called for sun gold tomatoes but I used cherry tomatoes and I added left over cooked bacon which I had in my fridge. I don't think that it enhanced the flavor of the dish but it added texture to it. I also used 3 Tbsp of olive oil and stirred in 1 tbsp butter instead of 1 tbsp oil at the end.


I didn't use as much cheese to lessen my calories intake but I served grated parmesan cheese on the side. 


Renan loved this dish and Rance said that it was good.


Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes, Anchovies and Arugula

I played around with the above recipe but used 3 tbsp olive oil,4 cloves of sliced garlic, 8 anchovy fillets, 1/2 heaping tsp red pepper flakes and a whole pack of arugula. I then added 1 tbsp butter to finish the dish.


This was a cinch to prepare and quite healthy too.

Lechon Kawali (Crispy Roast Pork)

Ingredients:
1-1 1/2 bulbs of garlic (10 cloves or more)
1 tbsp coarse salt (you can lessen this to 2 tsps. if you want to control your salt intake)
1 tbsp peppercorns
1 onion, quartered (optional)
lemongrass, pounded (optional)
1 tbsp fish sauce (patis)
pork liempo (pork belly)

Procedure:
1. Put all ingredients in a pot except fish sauce and fill with water to cover. Once boiling, lower heat to simmer. Cover. Let it simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until tender.
2. Brush meat with 1 tbsp fish sauce. Bake in a wire rack in the oven at 250F/120C/1/2 gas mark for 30 min.. This will ensure that the pork will be crispy. (This is optional if you intend to refrigerate your cooked meat overnight).
3. Remove from oven and air dry until you are about ready to serve.
4. Put in turbo oven at 425F/230C for 15-20 min. or until you see the pork covered with blisters all over.
5. Serve with chopped garlic/vinegar dipping sauce or lechon sauce.

My notes:
I don't feel as guilty eating lechon kawali when I cook it this way. One sees tons of oil on the baking dish when baking it in the oven. Before I put the meat in the turbo oven, I sometimes separate the skin with the fat and cook it for about 15 min. This will drain more fat from the meat. Then, I put the meat in the turbo oven and put the skin on top of it for about 5 min. This will be about as healthy as it can get!!!

The Establishment, The Fort, Taguig

My family ate at the Establishment using the Deal Grocer coupon.We were seated at the Crystal Room which was bright and airy. The food was excellent and the service staff was very accommodating. We would definitely do a return visit.

 We started with the mung bean soup which was creamy. Unfortunately, the soup was not piping hot when served. Nonetheless, this was good.

My husband loved the Oriental Chicken Salad and kept going back for seconds. My son, the carnivore, kept looking for the chicken pieces which was not abundant in this dish. I've always thought of the Oriental Chicken Salad with crispy mung bean threads but sadly, it was missing in this one. The crunch would have added another dimension here. Overall, this was still a good dish.

The service staff was nice enough to serve to us hot and piping plated dishes instead of us walking back and forth to the buffet table. We had the beef tortilla and Jamon Serrano on crostinis. I had the Jamon Serrano previously which was served with wasabi sauce and reduced balsamic. Today, I was looking for that wasabi bite which was missing. I guess, the chef forgot to add it. My boys liked these dishes.

These are the reasons why we would go back to The Establishment. The Salmon miso zuke and Beef lychee were excellent. The salmon and beef were cooked to perfection. The red and yellow capsicums were crunchy and the okra added a nice finish to these dishes. My husband said that the salmon was a tad sweet but he still liked it. My son ate all the beef that was served. We also ate this with risotto curry which I think was better than the teppanyaki rice we had previously.

Finally, the sweet ending...Deconstructed Kitkat. This was so good. My son had 5 of this or was it 7, I had 3 and my husband had 2. Actually, it tasted more like Reeses with a wafer layer. I can't decide whether I prefer this to their Mango Panacotta.