Food Trip "Around the World" at SM City Iloilo Food Court

After our gastronomic adventures at the new SM City Iloilo Food Hall, the following week we invaded the its older sibling - the SM FoodCourt. Opened since the mall opened in 1999, the foodcourt has always been, and until now, a magnet for the Ilonggos to satisfy their hunger and not to mention the preferred meeting place.

With an interesting mix of stalls and food outlets, you'll surely have a favorite one or a discovery that can satisfy your cravings. Be it local or international dishes and specialties, a few steps in and around the food court will give a taste of home or a food tour around the world.

Let's start with the latter, as we salivate on this Mixed Maki and Sushi platter from Yakushii. But one can order a few pieces for his own consumption but a platter is perfect for those who really dig in these delicious Japanese specialties. With many variations to choose from, its Japanese on-the-go at the comfort of the foodcourt.

Still in Japan, how about some delicious takoyaki from Takuyaki? As defined, these are ball-shaped Japanese snacks made of a wheat flour-based batter and cooked in a special moulded pan. It is typically filled with minced or diced octopus, tempura scraps, pickled ginger, and green onion. But at Takuyaki, one can get variants such as bacon, crab and ham for the more discriminating tastebuds. They also have some meatballs and deep-fried battered eggs!

Completing our Japan food trip were Tempura and Chicken Teriyaki from Wild Bamboo. As both are among the most popular offerings when talking about Japanese cuisine, Wild Bamboo offers a modern take on these specialties. Perfect for a quick munch or complete meals, you'll have plenty of choices.

From a foodie destination to another one, let's talk about Italy!

Ofcourse, there will always be pizza. One of the most popular Italian export, pizza can be found anywhere in the world and with variations that are as diverse as it can be. So here are two pizza specialties from Pizza Hut - Three Cheese & Bacon (above) and Hawaiian with all those pineapple slices and ham.

But Italy will always be pasta country. Spaghetti, lasagna, fettucini, linguine... and the list goes on.

Spaghetti Cravings brings you a mix and match of these pasta creations - from Original to Cheesy-Meaty Macaroni to Creamy Herb & Garlic Shrimp and Creamy Pesto with Chicken among others, there's one that will surely tickle your palate. And there more when you get there...

Back to Asia, specifically Korea, Mr. Kimbob brings Korean health food to Iloilo and the rest of the country. Before Koreans, specially the South have invaded the Philippines in the past decade or so, Mr. Kimbob already has brought in their cuisine way ahead than the K-Pop and K-Dramas.

So what do we have here? Above is the tukboki, a Korean snack made from rice and fish cakes and served on a hot plate. Garnished with vegetables, it is smothered with sweet red spicy sauce. A perfect taste introduction of what's to come.

There's gimbap/kimbap which is the Korean version of a maki. It is made from steamed white rice, various other ingredients such as fish, rolled in gim (dried seaweed sheets) and served in bite-size slices. How many can you finish off?

And the specialty is Bibimbob, a wordplay on the Korean dish bibimbap. Wikipedia says that is literally translated as "mixed rice". Bibimbap is served as a bowl of warm white rice topped with namul (sautéed and seasoned vegetables) and gochujang (chili pepper paste), soy sauce, or doenjang, a fermented soybean paste. A raw or fried egg and sliced meat are common additions. The hot dish is stirred together thoroughly just before eating. What's you meat - beef, pork or chicken?

Finally back to Europe - France! But to say that France's most popular contribution to world cuisine is this boxful of fried potatoes sticks - I hear another French Revolution in the works. But what Potato Corner did to our well-loved fries created another revolution and a delicious one. And I really love the Sour Cream flavour and I can finish a GIGA serving all by myself! They also have BBQ, Sweetcorn, Wasabi and Cheese as regular and special flavours.

This is only Part 1 of our Food Trip at SM City Iloilo Foodcourt, Part 2 will tackle restaurants and food that are closer to home and more familiar in taste...

Ready-to-cook Pancit Molo balls

It was only today that I remembered buying a pack of ready-to-cook pancit Molo. Locals are fortunate to buy them at groceries here saving them time, money and effort in the tedious preparation of pancit Molo. Anyway every pack of the RTC pancit Molo has the balls and the lang-lang . Its the balls that entice the buyers and the lang lang that "dictates" the price and weight. For this blog entry, I opted for the AR brand (150 grams for PhP 21) since they had the more photogenic combination at that time though I'm more partial to the Cares brand. Separating the contents makes you realize that what you actually bought but for that price, it's already a bargain, can be cooked in many ways and can serve 2-3 people. It is then up to you what you can make out from a pack or more. For this preparation, I used 2 chicken broth cubes and just estimated the amount of water. Upon taste test I added a pinch of salt, a dash of pepper and few drops of soy sauce. I boiled the lang

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 pork broth cube (

A new flavour for the Dinagyang 2011 Food Festival

Aside from the dances, drums and colorful costumes, Dinagyang also means food and Iloilo City has a lot to offer during this 3-day event. The festival brings them to the streets with the much awaited Dinagyang Food Festiva l . For four days, major streets in the city are lined with food stalls and kiosks that everywhere one turns it all about food. As this article states, major streets in Iloilo City will have a food festival there will be plenty of places to indulge in during D inagyang 2011 . ILOILO City's world-famous Dinagyang Festival will turn the spotlight on Ilonggo cuisine this year. Tourists are encouraged to try chicken barbecue the Ilonggo way and other tasty local dishes during the festival. There are also the world-famous Ilonggo delicacies and other concoctions to bring home after enjoying the Dinagyang ati-atihan and Kasadyahan competitions. Not only that. The 1s t Iloilo Convention and Visitors Bureau (ICVB) International Food Festival 2011 will attempt t

Valenciana

A close relative of paella, this dish originated in Valencia, Spain and probably brought by the Spaniards when they colonized the country. Always a staple in family gatherings, this yellow rice is a complete meal in itself, with pork, chicken, liver, chorizo, shrimps, bellpeppers, peas and raisins to name its basic ingredients. RECIPE Saute your choice meats and vegetables. Cook malagkit rice with turmeric and broth cubes then mix sauted meat and vegetables when almost done. Garnish with hardboiled eggs and onion leaves.

SIDRO: Iloilo's very own gourmet doughnuts

Just listening to Isidro Panizales Jr. animatedly talking about his life before and after being a “doughnut-preneur”, is like the different flavors of Sidro Doughnuts . Each variant seems to reflect different aspects of his almost three decades of living in America. From his work in corporate America for more than 10 years to that one little spark of deciding leaving work to pursue his delicious passion – life is like a box of doughnuts! IN A DOUGHNUT HOLE Sidro is an offshoot from the name Isidro but as Sid says, it’s a tribute to his father. The first Sidro Doughnuts came out of the kitchen and delivered to one lucky doughnut-phile on Dec. 18 last year. It comes in two sizes – Junior Doughnuts which at 30 grams each are perfect for parties and occasions. But if you can’t enough, there are the Regular Doughnuts which is more than 3x at 100 grams and comes with more toppings and flavours. Choose among nine specially concocted creations - Bugnay Berry, Calamansi, Dulce

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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