More Than Kimchi - Bulgogi Brothers Davao Review

When one hears Korea - we immediately think of KPop that has invaded the country faster than you can say   "anyeonghaseyo". Davao City has also welcomed many Korean nationals either for study/business or plain leisure. 

Personally, I associate this country with that Korean novela I religiously followed on TV - Jewel in the Palace and of course, Kimchi. The former showed Korean cuisine and the painstaking process which goes into preparing even the simplest of dishes that it has become more of an art. So when invitations were sent to try the dishes at Bulgogi Brothers Davao, I knew it was going to be an experience I can't afford to pass. Ina-Tay along with three other Davao bloggers Jonas, Quims and Sarah sampled a mix of new and iconic dishes. Bulgogi by the way literally means "fire meat" and is most commonly translated as Korean barbecue. These are thin slices of beef, pork or chicken specially marinated in a combination of Korean sauce and other seasonings to enhance flavor and tenderness. 

Your personality in a cookie

My current companion is a title from one of my favorite motivational speakers Francis J. Kong. The Early Bird Catches the Worm But the Second Mouse Gets the Cheese - Stories that Make You Think, Stories that Make You Laugh and Stories that Make You Love (whew!). In a gist, his new book is about teaching readers that life is a matter of perspective, it's not what happens to you - it's how you look at it and how you take it.

Anyway, here's a personality test based on how you eat an Oreo cookie. I just want to share it with all of you, for fun of course. There are just days when I wish knowing a person can be as easy as this (sigh)... 

Image from the web

Practice-makes-perfect Banana Loaf

I love to bake. I didn't have formal training but I started early courtesy of my Auntie Binky. My earliest baking memories were of me greasing her baking pans when I was seven years old. Until now I'm still using some of her pans that she left with me when she got married.

The recipe for the perfect banana loaf seem to have eluded me. The ones I tried before were either to dense, too heavy or just didn't sit perfectly on my taste buds. I kept experimenting and just last week, I FINALLY baked what for me is the perfect banana bread recipe. 

The recipe is actually for banana cake but most people bake this in loaf pans and they come out like breads hence the name. But it was moist, with just the right sweetness and it didn't use butter or milk so less calories for the figure conscious. It was also not a fussy recipe so even beginners will find the directions very easy to follow. With much pride and joy, I'm sharing with you my practice makes perfect banana loaf recipe. 

I remember Camembert!

I'm not really a food blogger. I eat in vast consumptions but I don't actually see myself a food critic. I guess it's because of the fact that I don't have a very adventurous palate. Each time there's a new restaurant in town, it would take a loooong time for me to try it out. I tend to stick to familiar flavors and places. I look for food that will speak to me and the taste to leave an unforgettable flavor in my mouth I have no choice but to have it again. It will have to be an epiphany, a learning experience that will shatter my food prejudices.

Bread pudding Ina-Tay style

Two of my favorite TV chefs are Ina Garten and Giada de Laurentiis. I like their relaxed approach to cooking even if you are preparing a full course meal for guests. For those who are scared of the kitchen, their recipes are fairly easy to follow. Nothing fancy, just good homestyle cooking.

I noticed the other day that we had a lot of bread from the previous weekend. When you're eating the same old fare every morning you tend to tire of it after say two days. So I decided to turn the dry ensaymada (brioche if you want to be fancy about it) to bread pudding using Giada's recipe for Panettone Bread Pudding. No worries if you don't have Panettone (a type of Italian bread). I just tweaked it a little bit and it turned out yummmmmyyyy!!! It was not too "egg-y" since I used only six eggs so there was still some texture to it. Meaning, you can still chew on the pudding. This will now be my official "gift" to friends for Christmas! I'm sharing the recipe with all of you before your stale bread becomes moldy. I promise this is very easy and you don't have to slave for like a whole day in the kitchen. You can use any bread you have as long as it doesn't have a filling. From experience, I noticed that the drier or staler the bread, the better the result. Please take note, I said stale, not moldy. If you see dark green or black spots in your bread throw it away!

Big BURP for Php 100 - flat



Dencio's Pares 2: Grilled delights for 100 pesos flat.

After a looooong hiatus, I recently went back to blogging. This time I'm no longer Drama Queen but a happy Ina-Tay. 

On the Davao Bloggers FB page, Ria Jose (Kusina Maria) posted an invitation to the bloggers  to write about our 100-peso Davao gastronomic experience. Hmmm... this sounded like a good practice ground for me given that I've been out of the blogging scene since 2008. Quite frankly, I think I'm now a little rusty. It's Kadayawan  time in Davao so I was confident I would find lots of good material for this topic. Unknowingly, I didn't have to go far...

Menudo ala Ina-Tay

Menudo ala Ina-Tay

I started cooking even before I learned how to cook rice. I remember the many times I've undercooked and overcooked rice but surprisingly, cooking main dishes was easier for me. Being in the kitchen has been a stress-reliever but was put on the side when I became a career woman. Modesty aside, I consider my cooking skills a gift which I try to pass on to whoever wants to learn how to cook. They say all cooks have their own styles, if you ask about mine I wouldn't be able to give you a straight answer. I cook what I feel like eating; I cook my food according to hunch which most often than out turns out to be palatable. hehehe Taking inspiration from my favorite TV Chef Ina Garten aka Barefoot Contessa, I decided to share my tried and tested recipes to all of you with the hope that you won't mind the chopping and occassional oil splats to come up with a dish you can serve to your family. My first recipe would be one of my all-time comfort food - Menudo.