Padawan this is real Pad Thai

Ahhh! The smell of Pad Thai cooking in the kitchen lab makes me reminiscent of my foodie adventures in Thailand. The reason I travel a lot is because in class I want to teach recipes that are as authentic as possible.

Our lesson was Thai cuisine and one of the dishes the students had to prepare was Pad Thai. It is stir fried rice noodles with shrimps or Pat Tai Gung Sot in Thai.

Authentic Pad Thai is light in color and uses fish sauce which is why I frown upon recipes with the dark color of soy sauce. Fish sauce is a favorite Southeast Asian condiment. It is patis to Filipinos, nuoc cham to the Viets, and it is called nam pla in Thailand.

Pad Thai is street food…so let me take you back to my wandering days in the  streets of Bangkok. I tried to interview a sidewalk vendor on her secrets in making great Pad Thai. She didn’t speak much English so she signaled me to watch instead.

Ingredients:  Fish sauce, palm sugar, tamarind juice,  cilantro, lime or lemon wedges, dried shrimp, fresh shrimp, dried Thai chili,  garlic, chopped roasted peanuts and  flat rice noodles (as seen in left photo)

Procedure:  Scramble an egg and set aside.  Stir-fry in peanut oil  minced garlic, (julienne) red onions, peeled and cleaned fresh shrimp or pre-soaked dried shrimp, and (julienne) carrots. Add tamarind concentrate in a little water, then fish sauce and palm sugar. Let it simmer a little.

Boracay and Solana’s Sunset

Even if I live in the city… I always feel blessed to be a hop and skip away from paradise. So this February I had a chance to sneak off to Boracay.

Boracay is rated as one of the best beaches in the world. No where can you find fine powder white sand and calm waters so clear that you could still see your toes waist deep.

The island offers a wide range of choices for accommodations, restaurants, spa treatments, activities, diving and waters sports. The nightlife makes it such a great place to party! Boracay is fun because there is always something for everyone.

My Boracay Restaurant Guide

Perhaps one of the best places on the island is the Shangri-la Boracay Resort. True to the meaning of the word “Shangri-la”…this place is no imaginary utopia but an existing paradise with the five star works.

The Shangri-la’s Solana bar is a peaceful and secluded hideaway. The cabana arranged for us had a fantastic view of the beach. This was also the best spot to watch the sun disappear into the vast ocean. It was happy hour so we had free flowing Sangria and the bar nibbles kept on coming. Chef S even sent us some wonderful tapas. The place was so romantic! The sunset was perfect. It could have been a dreamy magical moment If only….

Anyway Boracay is known today as the best kite surfing destination in Asia. And after a swim there is nothing like lying on the beach while reading a book and drinking ice cold San Miguel beer!! C’est la vie !

Up up and away in my beautiful balloon

The movie Field of Dreams has a popular (mis)quote “If you build it, they will come”, this is how I would describe the success of the17th Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Clark Air Field Pampanga. The four day event had soo much people!!! The locals and I guess even the organizers must have been overwhelmed with such a turnout. Hopefully next year they will be more organized and improve on crowd control and logistics.

The event was good for the economy of Pampanga. Hotels were fully booked, casinos busy, the restaurants in Clark and Angeles were overflowing with people.

Here are some recommendations for places to eat: Pampanga Restaurants .

Diving Puerto Galera

The dive boat leaves the secluded cove of Encenada beach where I am staying and sails off to Sabang. We pass through a beautiful sea of blue with lush green mountains filled with coconut tress on the back drop. It is a nice sunny day and I am so glad to be out of the city. Today is a great day to dive!

Sabang in Puerto Galera is world famous for its dive sites and  hardcore diving community. I was surprised to see the numerous dive resorts that have mushroomed over the years. From afar the town looks busy and is bustling with tourists.  Our boat cruises slowly to a floating restaurant and picks up two more divers. They hop on board, then we travel to the the Alma Jane wreck  dive site along Small Laguna Beach.

The Alma Jane wreck is a cargo vessel that was purposely sunk to create an artificial reef in 2003.  I have done quite a number of more challenging wrecks, this one is easy with plenty of sunlight and lots of space to maneuver.  Depth is 30 meters and there are a lot of big fishes like snappers and bat-fishes to see.

I was diving with five Germans and was the only Filipina on board.  Jan our dive master from Dolphin Bay resort was giving the briefing in Deutsch. I could not understand so he had to repeat the instructions for me.  I told the group “ After all  you are the tourists here and this is my country!” Then one of them  jokingly replied “No! We live in Puerto Galera and you are from Manila. So you are the tourist here!” I just had to laugh at the new locals

Sitting on the edge of the boat in our complete Scuba gear, we all did a synchronized  back-flip into the ocean. Splash!!! I could feel the adrenaline rush as I was deflating to go deep down with the others. Cancer is home.  Happiness in being back in the water!

How to get to Puerto Galera Mindoro:

STAR-STRUCK! Chefs the new rockstars

Today’s blog is inspired by my failed attempt to stalk Jeremy Renner who is now in Manila filming the fourth installment of the movie Bourne Identity. Jeremy is a Hollywood star  but in the “Culinary Kingdom” the celebrity chefs are our rock stars!

Luckily our country has been visited by some of these famous chefs. And here are some  celebrity chef sightings in the Philippines :

Alumna Michelle Ong with Anthony Bourdain during the filming of No Reservations Philippines

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chef Winnie Wong with Bobby Chinn

My 2012 resolutions

1.  I resolve to take the stairs instead of the elevator
2.  I resolve to avoid cola and drink more fresh fruit juices and water
3.  I resolve to be more generous and leave bigger tips
4.  I resolve to use cash instead of credit cards
5.  I resolve to go to the mall only if I really need to buy something
6.  I resolve to go green…take mass transportation or walk when I can
7.  I resolve to get away from the city every chance possible to travel
8.  I resolve to take time out to catch up with at least one old friend every month
9.  I resolve to be more spontaneous, take risks, try new things, embrace uncertainty and the unfamiliar
10. I resolve to choose my battles and see the good in other people FIRST in any situation
11. I resolve not let traffic affect me

Breaking dawn with Simbang Gabi

Today is the start of a Filipino Christmas tradition called Simbang Gabi. Night mass is held between the hours of four in the morning or before the break of dawn. The devotion  of waking up early for mass is done for nine consecutive days from December 16 until Christmas eve.

During the Spanish time Simbang Gabi masses were celebrated very early in the morning so that the farmers could work on the land by sunrise.  Laborers needed strength to toil the fields and this is probably the reason why Filipino breakfast is heavy. A typical  meal would consist of  cured meat or dried fish served with fried rice and eggs.