Manila (food) trip: Oh my Yoshinoya beef bowl!

This was probably my most unforgettable food trip when I dropped by Manila last weekend. How can I forget it if I had my daily servings of their gyudon for three straight days! It is how I love their beef bowl.

The first time I had this beef bowl years ago, I instantly loved it. Those thinly sliced beef cooked in simple concoction eaten with soy sauce (Kikkoman -nothing else) and their signature 7 spices ... now Im getting hungry. It's always a large beef bowl for me and nothing else. I think I can eat two bowls in just one seating maybe even three! It's an addiction I never wanted to be "cured" - lol.

A closer look at their gyudon reveals how thinly sliced they are and almost seem like boiled bacon. I often finish my bowl of Yoshinoya gyudon with still half of the beef remaining then I savour every last bite of it.

Here's my first first beef bowl last week when I had an unplanned early dinner at SM North EDSA. I was looking for the Starbucks branch where I was supposed to meet a former colleague when I saw this Japanese fastfood. It was no turning back by then. A large beef bowl with their apple iced tea!

The next day, I reminisced my first beef bowl when I had lunch getting the same order when I visited Yoshinoya for the first time. Yup, I trooped to SM Megamall and order a large beef bowl with green iced tea. It seemed liked only yesterday ...

And finally hours before my flight back to Iloilo, I was "based" at SM Mall of Asia. I had to go around the humongous mall looking for the branch when it was actually right up front. Again another large beef bowl but this time red iced tea. I was in a dilemma then whether to bring some 2-3 orders of just beef (sans the rice) but knowing the long hours of travel would affect the taste, I sadly said goodbye to the idea. So sad that I made up for it by ordering an extra rice for my remaining beef - lol.

So next time, I'll be back in the big city, it'll be another Yoshinoya beef bowl adventure. Maybe this time, 3 bowls in a day! Oh my Yoshinoya!

Ultimate Ilonggo Favorite: KBL Kadyos, Baboy, Langka

K.B.L. or Kadyos, Baboy, Langka is the ultimate favorite dish of most Ilonggos. It is also one of the most missed native dishes as kadyos and the souring ingredient, batwan , are hard to find when outside of the Ilonggo region. Basically, it is boiled/stewed pork dish owing its "deliciousness" to the combination of the soft and tender pork, the tamed sourness of batwan and the malinamnam na sabaw . One of the "secrets" of the malinamnamn na sabaw , is the fact that the pork, whether just the plain meat or pata (hocks) are first grilled or broiled. This gives the broth a rather smoky taste that makes it more appetizing.. Learn how to make the Ilonggo dish KBL (Kadyos, Baboy, at Langka) with the recipe below. Ingredients 1 kilo Pata (pork hocks) or pork cubes, GRILLED and sliced into bite size pieces 1 unripe Jack fruit, cubed 2 cups pigeon pea (kadyos) 6-8 pieces batwan fruit (or tamarind powder) 1 piece por...

Easy Century Tuna Recipes

If you're looking for simple, easy and delicious Century Tuna recipes online, congratulations, you've found it right here! How about spicy tuna sisig or tuna sinigang ? Maybe stir fried tuna with pickles or just yang chow fried rice . I love Century Tuna from its flakes in oil variety, the spicier the better, but when I discovered the versatility of its solid variant, it became an obsession. At first I was just into the usual tested recipes; pasta and sandwich filling, but then it got simpler – I just eat it straight from the can! Usually with a piece of bread or an apple. I just add a few drops of vinegar to spice it up a bit. Then came the experiments. Yup I got tired of that habit that one day, I decided to test my skills in the kitchen. Serendipity, you might call it yet most of them turned into good recipes that I have shared now and then. Satisfying my Palabok cravings had me experiment on this recipe on the spot. With Century Tuna in lieu of the us...

An Ilonggo favorite - Valenciana

Found in almost all occasions like fiesta, birthdays, reunions and others, Ilonggos really love valenciana because most if not all have grown accustomed of having it in special gatherings at home. A complete " go, grow and glow " dish because it has the carbohydrates, protein and vitamins and minerals in just one spoonful, Valenciana is really an " occasional dish ". Here's the recipe for Valenciana

Batwan

Ilonggos know batwan or batuan by heart as the fruit is almost endemic to the Western Visayas. Its scientific name is Garcinia binucao, derived from the Tagalog name for the fruit, binukaw. It is a large green fruit with large seeds and its a favorite souring ingredient in most Ilonggo dishes especially KBL or kadyos, baboy, langka and the Ilonggo-style paksiw known as "pinamalhan". It is characterized by a tamed sourness compared to tamarind and kamias . The fruit is sold by pieces or kilo in wet markets and even big grocery stores. Batwan is the preferred souring ingredients for the Ilonggo favorite- KBL. The photo shows boiled batwan with skin and without skin (right) A favorite riddle when we were young - "Among the many fruits in the forest, but one (batuan) is the best. What is it?"

Takway

The gabi (taro) is just one of those plants which is edible from "roots to tops". The most popular of which is the tuber part which is used in a variety of dishes and mostly in combination with coconut milk. Its leaves, of course, is the main ingredient of a Bicol specialty, laing . It is dried then chopped and sauteed with other ingredients including, again, coconut milk. Then there is takway . The local term for its tendrils/runner, that part which is torn between being a stem or a root for it neither grows upwards nor downwards - it grows sideways . Scraped off of its outer skin, takway is often a key ingredient in vegetable dishes like laswa and the gabi tuber with coconut milk and local snails know as bago-ngon . It is also popular when cooked adobo style with guinamos , the local bago-ong . It is very popular in the region that even big supermarkets sell takway in style - cleaned and plastic wrapped in styro with some additions to make it easier to prepare. ...

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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