Mad about FOOD

Flavors around the world #5: China

I knew that my husband was a Chinese food freak even before we wed. What I didn't know was that I was marrying into an entire family of Chinese food lovers. Almost every milestone or special occasion in the family is punctuated by a celebration in a Chinese restaurant: my parents-in-law's golden wedding anniversary was held in Rennaisance Makati City Hotel's Emperor Court (for me, the best Cantonese restaurant in the metro); Dad and Mom's 80th and 75th birthday parties, respectively, were held at Hai Shin Lou on Arnaiz Avenue (formerly Pasay Road); we had my Bea's dedication reception at Golden Tea House in the Subic Freeport and another one at ToHo Restaurant Antigua in BF-Paranaque; my husband and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary last year with a quiet lunch at the Shang Palace of the Makati Shangri-la; and fairly recently, Mom's 76th birthday was held at the 2nd floor of Luk Foo Cantonese Kitchen in Sucat.

         
                         Roasting platter from Luk Foo Cantonese Kitchen

Apart from the special days, we also go to Chinese restaurants on regular days when we happen to be with my husband on our trips to the malls. The list of our favorite places includes Flavours of China (my Bea's choice because they serve free prawn crackers as an appetizer), Mongkok Dimsum & Noodles, Hap Chan, Mr. Choi Kitchen, Mann Yann (love the tausi clams), Super Bowl of China (yummy kung pao chicken),  Gloria Maris, North Park, Wan Chai, Luk Yuen and Jade Garden. In Subic, I always rave about the food at the Museum Chinese Restaurant inside the Legenda Hotel.

         
                                    Szechuan shrimps from Luk Foo

So you see, our family just can't get enough of Chinese cuisine. And I can understand why. The dishes not only look appetizing, but they are rich in flavors that are not only sweet or sour or salty or spicy--it is the blending of these tastes that makes the food savory.

We always start our meals in these restaurants with soup, and Chinese soups are so good I actually cannot decide which one is my favorite. There is the bird's nest (or nido) soup, the hot and sour soup, fish lips soup, spinach and seafood soup, wintermelon soup, chicken and sweet corn soup, hototay, the sumptuous sharksfin soup,and several other variations that are equally pleasing to the taste and soothing to the senses.

         
                          My personal favorite--salt and pepper spareribs

We also usually have some dimsum, dumplings, noodles, pickled vegetables, century eggs or seaweeds before we even enjoy the main dishes. In ToHo Restaurant Antigua, one of the 2 oldest restaurants in the country (established in 1896), we always order the bituka (pork intestines) as an appetizer, but it's also great with rice. It may qualify as a bizarre food on Andrew Zimmern's travel/food show, but for us it is a treat that we all love, especially with its very tasty sauce. Ummmm.... deadly, but delicious!

         
                                  Bituka from Toho Restaurant Antigua

And what is Chinese cooking without fried rice? Yang chow, Shanghai, Fujian, salted fish & minced chicken--they make our dining experience even more colorful and flavorful. They go so well with our other staples like my favorite salt and pepper spareribs, Bea's favorite salt and pepper squid (or cuttlefish), eggplant hotpot, beef with broccoli in oyster sauce, scallops with asparagus, fish fillet in tausi sauce, Szechuan shrimps or prawns and pata tim.

         
                                Yang chow fried rice from Mr. Choi Kitchen

Due to the vastness of China, its cuisine is also categorized into 8 different "schools" of cooking, each named after the region from where it originated. The most popular of which is the Cantonese-style, from the province of Guangdong. It is characterized by the multifariousness of the ingredients used and the various methods of cooking them--stir-frying, braising, steaming, among others.

         
                                Bea's favorite--salt and pepper squid

Chinese cooking is all about flavors, colors, sensations, traditions--a celebration of life and pleasurable eating. I used to make faces every time dear husband would be hankering for Chinese food, but now, almost 4 years into our marriage, I am learning to appreciate the cuisine more and more. If only I could learn a Chinese phrase or two for every time we dine in a Chinese restaurant, then I'd probably be fluent by now.

Goin' bananas!

If I have yet another eating quirk, it is that I don't eat bananas unless they are fried and/or sweetened. I don't know why but I've never really liked the texture of plain bananas, which to me is similar to that of an okra. My mother used to "force" me to eat bananas as a little girl, and I remember gagging on it after one bite. Yuck.

But if I were to live my last day in this world, I'd probably gorge myself with banana cue (this is how i prefer to spell it, not banana-Q), among my other favorite foods. Back when I was younger, I used to think that all a guy really needed to do to score a date with me was to dangle the word "banana cue." I mean, after all, I was more interested in the conversation rather than the food when going out on a date, but that was ages ago (FYI, I married a man who isn't crazy about banana cue but he's crazy about me *teehee*).

         

I like to cook my banana cue myself because I prefer it heavily coated with brown sugar (sweet tooth alert!). That is the reason why I slice the saba bananas either in half or in quarters so they get maximum sugar coverage. Mmmm...sweet as candy! I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I can finish off 5 or 6 bananas in a matter of minutes. Sometimes, I even eat them like french fries--I simply pop them into my mouth with my bare hands. Yumyumyum.

         

Aside from banana cue, I'm also very fond of turon, also called banana spring rolls or banana fritters. Instead of the usual turon with langka (jackfruit) strips, I recommend the turron con tsokolate (P28/order) from any Nana Meng Tsokolate kiosk in the malls. The fritters are deep-fried on the spot and so you get them hot and very crispy. In lieu of sugar, sweeten your turon with Nana Meng's special chocolate dip. They're a perfect match! One order of the fritters will not suffice. In fact, my little Bea ate 3 out of the 5 tiny rolls. The tsokolate is lusciously thick and delightful, I licked the remaining dip after we've eaten up the turon . 

As I said before, even simple things give me great pleasure. Banana cue and turon are just two of my favorite things that I'll never tire of eating.