Sean Akizuki's Personal Blog

Some dishes in Mindanao obviously had their origins from Malaysia and Indonesia. For example, we have satti (satay) and garajilu (lokot lokot or tinagtag) due to the many years of international trade before the colonization. We also have the Madjapahit Empire which once had Mindanao in its territory. Now, it would be interesting to know how an Indonesian dish also has been blended into the Philippines. One dessert (or snack) is known as dadar gulung or as daral to the Filipinos. Dadar gulung meaning rolled pancake is a coconut-based crepe. Coconut milk is used to make the batter and coconut meat is used to make the filling. Filipinos call the filling as bukayo. The dish can be seen in the ARMM regions. The technique involves making the coconut-based pancake as thin as possible. The coconut meat is cooked in muscuvado sugar to make the bukayo. The pancake must be less sweet as to let the right flavors blend. It's like milk tea with leche flan is better off without sugar to give the ...

People in Zamboanga or who have went to Zamboanga may be familiar with the dessert or snack called tinagtag. It's basically fried rice noodles produced by the Muslim communities in Mindanao. Some may call it the Zamboanga Roll. However, like any dish, there's always the tendency to move from one place to another. This would be an interesting thing to deal with when I found this video as well... To no surprise, the tinagtag's origins aren't purely Filipino either. Try taking a look at the video above and you may notice that what's cooked above is really equivalent to what's called tinagtag or lokot-lokot in the Philippines. The method of using rice flour paste with sugar, letting it drip into hot oil in circular motion (some even use their hands in the absence of a strainer), frying it, and then later shaping it is very similar.  For some Filipinos in Mindanao - the dish may have come from Malaysia or Indonesia which are very close to the Philippines. I mean, Zam...

  The story of the biryani is somewhat debatable. Some say that it's an Iranian dish due to the fact it's coming from the word "biryan" which means fried or grilled. It was said to have come from the Mughals though it might be much older. History has proven India became part of the Persian Empire during 550 B.C. Centuries later, India became part of the Mughal Empire in the 1500s. Now, it's time to think that maybe, calling Biryani as Middle Eastern or Indian friend rice may not be the right term for it.  I found this interesting article from India Today called " What's the difference between biryani, pulao and fried rice? " Fried rice is very common in Chinese cooking. Pulao seems to be the Indian dish or a Chinese version of friend rice. Again, both China and India are quite close so getting this and that isn't anything unusual. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if gulab janum and soanpapadi are both Chinese-inspired since they seem to be. In...

NNA Business News Sure, Nutrela's soy chunks are better used over Meat Magic . However, knowing that Nutrela's soy chunks are most likely Chinese-inspired (and some Indian restaurants use it for vegetable meat masala) - I think it'd be better to go for Vegefarm products. Granted, Taiwan has a huge Buddhist population (though said religion actually comes from India) - it's only normal that the demand for meat substitutes can go high due to that! Then again, even for other reasons, vegetarian restaurants can gain a following even among meat eaters like myself. It's because while I do love to eat meat - there are just days that my body craves more vegetables than usual even when I don't have constipation. While Nutrela has its own charm - I think Vegefarm actually tastes better IMHO. Soy chunks do have a meaty taste but Vegefarm has been more innovative. You can think of the various ways Vegefarm has introduced more types of products. Sure, soy chunks can be used i...

I was thinking about how to do business in the Bicol region. There's that whole thing that kept in my mind that if you can't stand Bicol then you can't stand Thai food. I don't like Bicol express and the use of bagoong. I remembered as a child that I was given green mango with bagoong. I preferred to use salt with bagoong. For me, bagoong was one of the stuff that I usually avoid when I can and will only eat it if I'm left without a choice. There are tamarind and pili nuts from Bicol with chili which I also dislike. However, some Indian food use coconut milk. I've heard the Hyderabadi people in India love to use coconut milk in some of their dishes. Chances are I never realized I was actually eating curry with coconut milk or actually enjoyed it. Opening a Hyderabadi-style restaurant in the Bicol region may definitely work much better than most parts of the Philippines. Sure, Filipinos in other regions enjoy it but would actually request a less spicy version.  W...

Mareena's Recipe Collection While I normally go for vegetarian Indian food - it doesn't mean I don't eat their meat dishes if it's from South India. One place in India called Hyderabad is known for its chicken curry. Non vegetarian Indian restaurants would seldom feature chicken dishes cooked, Hyderabadi style. Hyderabad is the capital of the Indian state of Telegana located in the South. It's also the home of many upscale restaurants in shops. One of Hyderabad's trademark is how they make their famous chicken dishes. That's why you get Indian chicken dishes named after Hyderabad such as calling it Hyderabadi-style chicken. Even a restaurant in Cebu City calls itself Hyderabad Dine In due to its pride in Hyderabadi-style cooking.   Gimme Delicious Another variation (though unhealthy as it gets due to the butter) is called butter chicken curry. Though, you may want to use ghee (which is clarified butter) to avoid less fat. The tip is to always eat this in mod...

  While I normally go for Indian vegetarian dishes - I also do eat Indian meat dishes though I don't have an interest in seafood masala. Dosa in itself is a vegetable pancake made from beans and rice. Mongo can be used as a substitute for lentils resulting in green dosa. Since dosa is from South India - it would probably be better to get one that's meaty. Sure, I've enjoyed dosa with potato filling (mashed potato preferably) but I ended up enjoying chicken curry dosa instead.  Why I'd recommend a chicken curry dosa over a vegetable dosa? For starters, I think North Indian usually cooks vegetables better than South India. I think South Indian usually cooks meat better than vegetables. Though I've tried some South Indian vegetable dishes (such as their version of chole battura) - North India takes the score. Meanwhile, South Indian prepares better chicken curry for me and North Indian doesn't. So knowing what kind of Indian food an Indian restaurant serves is vit...

I remembered watching Shining Inheritance last 2009 and that's when I started getting into Korean beef soup. Unlike the beef soup that I usually drink - Korean beef soups can have that cloudy look. The one in Shining Inheritance is a cloudy beef soup made from ox leg bones. Just had my thought that I wanted to punch Jung and Hwan for calling it "embarrassing" and could understand why Grandma Jang had her passion for it. I thought about the whole factory setting and the whole scene where Grandma says, "Boil it for another hour." It really requires that much effort! Image Source However, seollongtang is NOT gomtang. Yes, the two are similar yet different. I always thought of how I enjoyed gomtang and seollongtang. There are differences that are pointed out by Gwangju News ' article " Know Which Is Which: Seollangtang and Gomtang ": Before we get down to the real tang business, there is an interesting fact to learn about beef in Korea. There is no oth...

Mutton biryani in a pot? This is a rather unusual way to prepare biryani. Try to notice the use of banana leaves and some hot charcoal on top of the banana leaves. Notice that banana leaves are used in many Asian cuisines to add flavor to their dishes. In this one, this unusual way of preparing biryani by adding banana leaves on top and smoking them with hot charcoal just is something I'd want to try.  Just remember out of courtesy - please don't ask for beef because Hinduism considers cows to be sacred animals, okay?

There are two similar yet different candies in Asia. I remembered tasting both of them on different times. Both of them are very similar yet different.  This is the treat called khong th'ng which means pounded sugar. Malaysians and Indonesians call it kacang tumbuk. If you compare Tagalog to Malaysian and Indonesian - you may discover similar words. Kacang means peanut and tumbuk means pounded in all three languages. The Chinese delicacy is full of crushed peanuts. Filipinos may have tasted this delicacy made in the Philippines by their countrymen of Chinese ancestry. I think the dishes were also brought to Malaysia and Indonesia by ethnic Chinese. It's also called barley peanut candy.  Meanwhile, there's also soanpapadi. Soanpapadi is an Indian delicacy said to have originated in Maharashtra, Western India. The dessert itself can be found where Indian communities can be found. Filipinos may have been able to taste it where there are Filipino-Indians. The dess...

Well, looks like I've got something to give to people any time soon! Hehehehehehe! Plus, Rhian proves that somehow interbreeding can produce better results!

I may be fond of Indian food (especially North Indian vegetarian dishes) though I haven't been too fond of the desserts. Then one dessert caught my attention namely soan papdi. I wanted to taste it because I heard it's got that cotton candy texture and some taste. Surprisingly, it was good for me. I tried the Indian halo-halo known as falooda and didn't find it too appealing. I'd rather eat the Taiwanese or Filipino version of halo-halo than the Indian version. I tasted gulab janum and it's just okay. Soan papdi had that unusual texture which can be explained by its preparation methods. Here's a sample preparation of soan papdi. You need chickpea flour, high gluten flour, and lots of sugar (and I'd prefer muscovado sugar). Making the batter and making the caramel can be very difficult. The caramel needs the patience to create it. Then you start mixing the batter with the caramel which requires lots of folding until it breaks into floss-like piece...

Picture courtesy of Spruce Eats Ever realized how it's typical in the Philippines for Filipinos to say, "It's so hot -- let's grab some sago from Zagu!" to one's peers? Well it's sort of like using Kodak or Xerox as verbs like "Magpakodak ka muna!" or "Get a Kodak first!" or "Let's Xerox it!" Xerox is a brand of photocopying -- the correct word is to photocopy. The same happens with sago which is not what Zagu serves. Rather, Zagu serves tapioca balls and not sago. Sure, sago has been a favorite of Filipinos such as sago't gulaman but it should never be confused with the obviously different tapioca ball. Filipinos may have found some ways of using tapioca balls but why call it sago? They could just call it as tapioca balls which they may want some of it to put in the delicious Filipino dessert called benignit if they please. They may want to make their own Pinoy bubble tea (and I suggest doing it with salabat) an...

I really can't help but admit that somehow -- vegetarian cooking (if well-prepared) is really one of my favorites. My favorite vegetarian cuisines usually go with North Indian food, Chinese food (but not so much) and some Italian cuisines taste better without meat. I just love vegetarian food and I think that vegetarian meat (soy chunks or gluten) taste better than animal meat. But why would I say I can't go vegetarian? Some of my favorite foods are in fact meat-based. I for one happen to be a beef person (and I don't like pork that much) -- I love steaks, beef burrito, pochero, beef quesadillas, Chinese beef noodles, balbacua and grilled beef. I also love to go for Korean barbecue. Just imagine how much of my favorites I'd give up if I'd go vegetarian. I could really say that I've just desired less meat but never wanted to completely give up on it!

I remembered the time I actually started tasting Meat Magic last decade. What was my impression? It had a certain taste which made me give up on it. Years later, I discovered something that would actually be a good meat substitute for a vegetarian diet even when I'm no vegetarian. Soya chunks is used in several kinds of cooking -- though I've tasted the ones used in Indian vegetarian cooking . At first, I expected some fried tofu since some Indian restaurants do admit that they practice fusion cooking. The use of soya was most likely from Chinese influence. Cultural exchanges brought something on both sides so it's only natural Indians have used tofu in their cooking. I mean, you've seen various cultures innovate on tofu, right? These are dehydrated chunks of tofu. They are usually boiled for a certain amount of time in order to get them hydrated for preparing various dishes. They are boiled in water and added some salt to taste. They are later cooled down on c...

American-Chinese video blogger Mike Chen (who carries on a channel called Strictly Dumpling) now shows off his love for Filipino food around February to March 2018. Yup, it's a pretty good experience of him having eaten the delicious foods of the Philippines. I was thinking I would probably start watching all those videos with how this American-Chinese guy gets to taste some of the best Filipino foods.  You could do yourself a favor by trying to watch these videos. Whoever says that tourism is automatically bad for the economy is just dreaming. 

Wok With Yan featured Stephen Yan -- a Canadian-Chinese cooking show host. I could remember watching him with his rather awkward English considering that he was born and raised in Hong Kong before he became a Canadian. Sometimes, I wish that he ended up becoming Filipino instead of Canadian because of the popularity of his show in the Philippines. Speaking of Canadians, I remembered the time when there was the Chinese immigration to Canada during the 80s because Hong Kong was soon to be turned over from British control to Chinese control. I don't blame them for doing so even if China during that time was already starting to enjoy Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms -- yet no one can deny China is still a dictatorship. So I guess that's how a lot of Chinese ended up having other nationalities as a result, right? For me, I don't find the whole way Chinese were portrayed in some American cartoons to be racist with their accent. I mean, it's true that early Chi...

It's the 15th day of the first Lunar Month and it's the first full moon of the Lunar Year. This is the final celebration of the Chinese New Year but it's not a holiday in some places.  One legend has it that a crane landed on a village in China. The villagers hunted it down without realizing it belonged to the Jade Emperor -- the highest Elder God. He wanted to crush the village but one of his daughters devised a plan. The elder goddess decided to suggest the village to hang red lanterns and blow up fireworks. This somewhat appeased the Jade Emperor and decided not to rain down the judgment of the Elder Gods for his favorite crane. Hmmm... the Elder Gods can be so petty can't they?  Another story involves Hong Jun Lao Zu or the Ancestor of the Great Balance. If I'm not wrong his birthday falls down on the 9th day of the 9th Lunar Month -- or Senior Citizen's Day in China. The creature known as Nian was terrorizing the village. By having red colored cl...

I remembered one of the most shocking moments I learned in my College days was that fugu could be eaten. If it did shock me to learn that cassava can turn poisonous and deadly then it also shocked me to learn that blowfish (called fugu in Japan) can be eaten if it's prepared properly.  What I could remember is the preparing the blowfish is no walk in the park. If you puncture the liver or any of the internal organs then that blowfish can't be eaten anymore. The risk is that blowfish contains a lot more poison called tetradoxin in the internal organs. Throwing away the toxic waste requires special waste management because the poison is more potent than cyanide. Preparation isn't easy so it justifies why the price is so expensive. Speaking of which, I remembered that episode in Dragon Ball where a young Goku got punished for slacking off - then I thought Master Roshi and Krillin were going to get poisoned from eating blowfish. But years later, the real problem is...

One of my favorite craze for today is Indian cooking. I thought I'd actually write about my adventure with eating dosa which the batter takes some time to make but it's worth the wait.  Above is a video of how to make dosa batter at home. It's not an easy process to let the batter ferment overnight and mass producing it isn't easy. There may be a lot of new technology available to help but you can't rush perfection with making this delicious treat. The result comes out as a delicious type of non-dessert pancake. It appears to be thin as paper but the making process isn't easy. Although some restaurants may serve it without stuffing but I prefer to have the stuffing. It's usually served alongside with a spicy soup called sambar. It would be great to have ginger tea along with it.  Some of my favorite stuffing for dosa would be mashed potato curry, paneer (cottage cheese), tofu, and chicken. I may enjoy meat dishes but when it comes to Indi...