neeners – Page 5 – Kain Pinoy

UCC: More than just coffee

Though not a hardcore coffee drinker, I enjoy going to coffee shops mainly for the pastries. I was quite pleased to find out that apart from having good quality coffee, UCC Vienna Cafe also serves sumptous meals and desserts.

Coffee: The perfect drink for those who oversleep.

After tasting UCC’s much lauded coffee (house blend, Sumiyaki and Blue Mountain), we were treated to some of their best selling dishes.

Spicy Seafood Soup Spaghetti. Repeat that 5 times.

First to arrive was the Seafood Soup Spaghetti. Sounds weird? Spaghetti noddles swimming in tomato sauce, with a generous topping of plump shrimps and squid. It was a rainy Tuesday morning, and the hot soup with just a hint of spice was the perfect way to warm up.

Japanese Salad

The Japanese salad served next had a generous serving of greens, deep fried seafood to satisfy those who don’t like veggies, with Japanese mayonnaise as dressing.

Sumiyaki Eel

Next we had the Sumiyaki Eel — eel fillet marinated in a special sauce and lightly fried, then topped on pasta with creamy white sauce. The marinade gave the eel a strong flavor that complimented the cream-based sauce.

Yakiniku!

There was also Yakiniku, serve on top of rice. Yakiniku is thinly sliced beef, marinated and grilled. Like the eel, the meat also had a strong flavor, and goes really well with lots of rice!

Hamburg Curry Rice

Last was the Curry and Hamburg with rice. Japanese Curry, unlike its Indian and Thai counterpart, has the curry flavor, sans the spice (or not as spicy). The hamburger was thick and juicy — how hamburgers are supposed to be.

Of course, it didn’t end there!

There were cakes galore, paired with fresh fruit shakes!

Blueberry-Banana, Mango-Kiwi, Apple-Strawberry, Mango-Orange, Strawberry-Kiwi — Take your pick!

Very moist Tiramisu

Apple pie with HALF an apple!

Chocolate-y Chocolate Cake

Japanese Cheesecake, Caramel flavor

Still not done, we were then presented with UCC’s coffee jelly, and yes, even more coffee!

Coffee Jelly~~~

UCC Vienna Cafe has branches in Thomas Morato (Quezon City), Connecticut Street (Greenhills), The Podium (Ortigas Center), SM Mall of Asia (Pasay), The Block at SM North EDSA (Quezon City), The Clubhouse at Corinthian Hills (Quezon City), Rustan’s (Makati) and SM Pampanga (Pampanga).

UCC Cafe Terraces has branches at the Forbes Town Center in Global City, Paseo Center in Makati, Rockwell Drive in Makati, Westgate Center in Alabang, Robinson’s Midtown in Manila and Trinoma Mall in Quezon City.

UCC Park Cafe is located at the Glorietta Park in Makati.

Getting into the FroYo craze with White Hat

I’ll never forget the first time I tasted yogurt. I was only 8 or 9 years old then. My sisters were planning this family olympics thing for Christmas, I think. The family will be divided into two, and will compete in different contests. There was the usual games: bring me, paper dance, relay race and the yogurt eating contest. While preparing for the main event, I peeked in the refrigerator and saw the four cups of yogurt.

“What’s yogurt?” I asked my sister.

“Basta, it’s like ice cream,” my sister replied.

White Hat Italian Frozen Yogurt Toppings

Just a very small sampling of White Hat’s 21+ toppings

Intrigued and excited by this orange-flavored ice cream, I looked forward to the yogurt eating contest. I insisted that I’d be the first to go, and when my sister shouted “go,” I quickly ran to the yogurts and hungrily put a spoonful of yogurt in my mouth. My eyes widened at the taste, and I spat the vile thing out and went off to wail, amidst the laughter around me.

And that is why I’ll never forget my first yogurt encounter. And why my family would never let me forget it.

More then ten years passed because I came anywhere near a yogurt. I can’t remember how I managed to convince myself to try it again, but I find myself liking the taste. Maybe my taste has matured or maybe yogurts now aren’t as sour as before, but one thing’s for sure: yogurts are no longer my enemy.

My froyo with fresh kiwis, mangoes and yummy ube jelly

Anton brought yogurt back to my conciousness. His quest to find the best frozen yogurt in the Philippines was intriguing, but it was quickly overshadowed by other interests. So when Eric Chao of the White Hat invited me to try out their Italian frozen yogurt, I saw it as my chance see what all the froyo fuss is about.

White Hat boasts of being an authentic Italian frozen yogurt. How authentic, you ask? The yogurt ingredients are sourced from Italy, and an Italian gelatero even flew in to help create a froyo that is authentically Italian, yet catering to the tastes of the Filipinos. Apart from the premium frozen yogurt, White Hat customers are also treated to a wide array of toppings that they can add on to their froyos. There are the nuts and cereals (walnut, almond, fruit pebbles, rice crispies), fresh fruits (kiwis, strawberries, cranberries, blueberries, grapes, mangoes, peaches), chocolates (choco balls, white chocolate drops, dark chocolate drops), jellies (ube jelly, green tea jelly) and homemade treats (brownies, cheesecake and the homemade granola).

Eric‘s White Hat with homemade brownies, roasted almonds and white chocolate drops

Taking my first taste of White Hat’s frozen yogurt, the trademark sour/tangy taste filled my mouth. Afterwards, the taste becomes something that my tastebuds craves. Mixed with my topping choices, this yogurt snack became a welcome treat after a week of DSL-hell. My first topping choices were the granola, brownies and white chocolate drops. On my second go, I tried the fresh mango and kiwi with the ube jelly. YUM! The fresh fruits goes really well with the frozen yogurt. The Italian frozen yogurt was actually great on its own. I’d love to try it on a cone ala McDo’s sundae cone (albeit a more expensive yet healthier alternative).

White Hat’s Eric Chao with one of White Hat’s image models

White Hat offers two cup sizes: regular and large. A regular cup costs Php 85, while the large cup costs Php 115. The first topping costs Php 20, while having two toppings cost Php 35, and three toppings costs Php 45.

White Hat Italian Frozen Yogurt
2/F Entertainment Mall
SM Mall of Asia
Pasay City
Location Map: (click to view large)

Do you know how to Shabu Shabu?

The invite for the Healty Shabu Shabu event intrigued me. Not only was it unique (the invite was a mini poster posted on a bamboo mat along with a pair of chopstick), it also asks, “have you been doing it wrong?” How the heck can you go wrong with shabu shabu?

As it turns out, I AM wrong. Shabu Shabu is not just about putting everything in boiling stock and fishing it out when it’s done. I learned that you don’t just dump everything inside the hotpot. First, we were serve individual condiments. There was an egg, chopped garlic, chilis and spring onion, a scoop of sate, and a bowl of sauce. Contrary to what I thought we’d do (dump everything inside the pot), we were asked to put the garlic, chilis and spring onion into the barbeque sauce. Next, we put in half of the sate. After that, we were asked to seperate the egg yolk and the egg white. I was definitely not expecting that! The yolk went into the barbeque sauce, while the egg white became a meat tenderizer for the beef.

Once the sauce was prepared, we were told of the order by which the ingredients should go into the hotpot. First to go are the slice of taro and corn (because it takes long too cook them). Then, we were asked to put the shrimp inside. Of course, shrimps only take a short time to cook, but putting them in first means you’re mixing their flavor into the stock.

No rice was served, but there were two kinds of noodles: vermicelli and egg noodles. Vermicelli cooks in under a minute, so if you’re hungry, it’s best to put it ahead then scoop them out after a minute to quell your hunger. The egg noodles, on the other hand, takes longer to cook, so put them in early and just scoop them out later on.

Healthy Shabu Shabu has generous servings, and despite not having rice with the meal, we were all stuffed. Most of us ordered the combination set, which has meat (your choice of chicken, lamb, pork or beef [angus beef or tenderlion], assorted seafood (shrimp, squid, sea cucumber, fish fillet, and some sort of mollusk), and big platter of veggies (green leafy vegestables, carrot, mushroom) along with noodles (vermicelli and egg noodles), fish cake, squid balls and crab stick.

And the sauce? You dip everything you fish out of the hot pot into the barbeque sauce. I was a bit hesitant about the sauce because it had raw egg in it, but I forgot all about it when I tasted how good the sauce was. The soup stock was also really good. Whereas most meals feature the soup first, in Shabu Shabu, the soup is best served last. Why? Because once you’ve cooked all the meat, seafood and veggies in it, the soup now has all the flavors of all the ingredients. Definitely yummy, and a perfect meal for rainy days!

A big thanks goes out to Candy Hwang for teaching us the way of the Shabu Shabu!

Healthy Shabu Shabu is a fun, safe, healthy and interactive way of dining that utilizes state-of-the dining facilities and equipment. Healthy Shabu Shabu has branches at Powerplant Mall (Tel. No 898.3979/895.6300., The Podium (Tel. Nos. 914.1028-29), SM Mall of Asia (Tel. Nos. 556.0354-55), Robinsons Galleria (Tel. Nos. 633.1979/632.1634), SM North The Block (Tel. Nos. 442.0036-37), Alabang Town Center (Tel Nos. 850.6633/850.6976), Robinsons Midtown (Tel. Nos. 526.2981/529.3983) and Shangri La Plaza Mall (Tel Nos. 910.3272/632.7532).

What's in your dream kitchen?

I remember back in college, I had a conversation with one of my classmates about our dream kichens. I said I wanted a country-style kitchen, because it looks so homey. She, on the otherhand, wanted a white kitchen with stainless steel appliances. I said stainless looks cold and sterile. However, several years later, I finally realize how sexy stainless steel can be, specially in the kitchen.

Who wouldn’t want to cook here? It has a gridle and a grill too!

You can just imagine how excited I was stepping inside GE Monogram’s showroom in Serendra. There was a mock kitchen set up with granite countertops, glass-ceramic induction stovetops, sleek side-by-side refrigerators that was chilling bottled water that was filtered through GE Merlin.

The Php 300,000 ref. The price of a compact car, and has that new car smell too!

GE Merlin is GE’s latest and biggest innovation. A high capacity water purifier that uses Reverse Osmosis (RO). Merlin uses a new, patented membrane element technology that provides flow rates up to five times greater than standard reverse osmosis membranes. The best bit? It hardly takes up any space. Since GE Merlin is a continuous flow reverse osmosis water filtration system, it does not require a tank to store water.

Ryan, the delusional chef, checking out the trivection oven

Another thing that amazed us was the Monogram Trivection wall oven. At first look, it does look like an oven, but upon closer inspection, we were surprised to see that it also have microwave functions. The trivection oven uses thermal, convection and microwave cooking that allows you to bake, broil, roast and warm foods up to five times faster than a conventional oven.

Sounds very impressive no? I think I’m pretty certain which items will grace my dream kitchen. Now to work on getting my own kitchen…

For more information, visit the GE Monogram Experience Center in Serendra (856-2518) or the GE and Ariston Showroom, 4th level Shangri-La Plaza Mall (631-8282). You may also visit their website at www.cyaindustries.com or www.monogram.com.

Chef Joey's Chocolate Mousse to die for

A month ago, members of the new and traditional media were invited to be a Chef for a Day at the Culinary Institute of Aristocrat. There, we met sibling chefs Joey and Gabby Prats. Chef Gabby taught us how to cook some French dishes, while Chef Joey shared a simple, yet rich dessert: Chocolate Mousse that he swears is to die for.

Chef Joey gave his consent to post the recipe in our blogs, to share with our readers.

Chef Joey’s Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:

For the Mousse:
500 grams bittersweet chocolate couverture
300 grams heavy whipping cream
5 grams instant coffee powder dissolved in 10 grams hot water
800 grams heavy whipping cream, chilled

For the Assembly:
500 grams whipping cream, chilled
50 grams confectioner’s sugar, sifted
Bittersweet chocolate couverture shavings

Chef Joey stirring the chocolate and hot cream mixture

Procedure:

For the Mousse:
1. Chop the bittersweet chocolate couverture and place in a large bowl.
2. Combine heavy whipping cream and coffee solution in a heavy saucepan and bring to boiling point over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
3. Pour hot cream mixture over chopped chocolate in a bowl. Allow to stand for a minute or two, then stir mixture until smooth and glossy. Cool to room temperature.
4. Place chilled heavy whipping cream in a mixer bowl. Using the wire whip attachment, whip cream to medium peak stage.
5. Gentle fold whipped cream into chocolate mixture
6. Spoon approximately 100 grams of mousse into each of sixteen dessert goblets. Chill for at least 4 hours to set the mousse.

Piping whipped cream on the Chocolate Mousse

For the Assembly:
1. Combine chilled heavy whipping cream and sifted confectioner’s sugar in mixer bowl. Using the wire whip attachment, whip mixture to stiff peak stage. Do not overwhip.
2. Transfer sweetened whipped cream to a pastry bag fitted with a large open star tip. Pipe a large rosette on each goblet of mousse and decorate with bittersweet chocolate couverture shavings.

Yield: Serves sixteen

“The perfect dessert is a sensual experience that catapults you to a state of sheer pleasure, where mind, body and soul merge into paralyzing ectasy” — Chef Joey Prats

This recipe is copyrighted to the Culinary Institute of Aristocrat, and is intended for personal use. For more information about CIA, inquire at any branch of Aristocrat Restaurant or email culinaryinstituteofaristocrat@yahoo.com. The CIA is located at MH del Pilar cor. San Andres sts, in front of Remedios Church, Malate, Manila (right behind the huge Aristocrat restaurant along Roxas Boulevard).

How to Truss a Chicken by Chef Gabby

Chef Gabby Prats of the Culinary Institute of Aristocrat shows us how to truss a chicken for baking.

Chef Gabby Prats is the assistant vice president of the Culinary Institute of Aristocrat (CIA). For more information about CIA, inquire at any branch of Aristocrat Restaurant or email culinaryinstituteofaristocrat@yahoo.com. The CIA is located at MH del Pilar cor. San Andres sts, in front of Remedios Church, Malate, Manila (right behind the huge Aristocrat restaurant along Roxas Boulevard).

Hi, I'm Nina. I'm a writer, web designer and cookie baker

That’s not exactly how I introduce myself, but I that’s what I wrote under Occupation in my Friendster profile five years ago. You see, I used to bake cookies for a living (well, shopping money). Back in college, someone taught me how to bake cookies. After countless trials, I managed to make decent looking and fantastic tasting cookies. One of my classes required us to sell something and my group mates decided to sell the cookies I baked.

Part of the challenge of selling what you create is sourcing the raw materials and costing. Thanks to friends who are also into baking, we found where to buy good quality ingredients that doesn’t cost as much. And, thanks to my course, we were able to sell the cookies at a price that enabled us to break even and even earn after the course.

After college, in between job interviews, I baked and sold cookies so I’d have money to go out with my friends. It’s a great sideline, plus, I already have someone selling them for me: my sister. For some reason, her officemates are crazy over the cookies, and come Christmas, each one order as much as 20 boxes of 10 cookies. It was a fairly easy way to earn extra money, provided that you have the equipment, time and energy. The great thing about this is that you don’t really need a full blown bakeshop to make baked goodies like cookies.

Chef Gabby Prats of the Culinary Institute of Aristocrat

Chef Gabby of the Culinary Institute of Aristocrat basting a bell pepper for roasting. This was taken during the Chef for a Day event at the CIA.

The Culinary Institute of Aristocrat is offering short courses for young professionals, housewives, hobbyists, and students, to further hone their craft and build their own business. One such course is the Home Bakeshop: From Concept to Operation. This course covers a wide range of topics including an introduction to the home bakeshop industry, legal aspects of home bakeshop operations, marketing, product-costing and profit analysis, food safety and sanitation, basic principles of baking, ingredients and equipment identification, as well as various types of baked goods.

For more information about CIA, inquire at any branch of Aristocrat Restaurant, call 524-7671 or email culinaryinstituteofaristocrat@yahoo.com. The Culinary Institute of Aristocrat is located at del Pilar cor. San Andres sts, in front of Remedios Church, Malate, Manila (right behind the huge Aristocrat restaurant along Roxas Boulevard).

The dawning of the African Sunrise

We’ve had a sip of the African Sunrise back in April. Since then, we’ve all been eagerly waiting for June, the approximate date when the African Sunrise Tea will be available in Manila. June passed and July set in, and still no new teas were being offered at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Then finally, that invite to get a sneak preview of the tea we’ve all been waiting for.

Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf African Sunrise Tea leaves

The African Sunrise tea they had us try before was the simple brewed tea — no sugar, no milk. This time, we were able to try the Brewed, Iced and the Latte version of the African Sunrise. First, the brewed. As soon as the cups was set down on the table, the tantilizing aroma of the tea wafted up to our noses. Right then and there, we knew it was a definite winner, even without tasting. The African Sunrise Brewed Tea is a heady mix of African honeybush, orange peel, and mallow flowers — each with its own unique flavor and scent that blends perfectly together.

Next came the Iced Tea variant. Unlike the hot brewed tea, the Iced Tea had added sugar, to cater to the Filipino taste. One sip and I’ve forgotten all the other Iced Teas I’ve tried before. The African Sunrise Iced tea was refreshing, and would be the beverage of choice, after a long walk out in the sun. The hot nor the iced tea prepared me for the African Sunrise Tea Latte, though. I’m not much of a latte drinker, but this variant made me a convert. Mixed with Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf’s signature Vanilla powder, the African Sunrise is transformed once again into a great coffee alternative. The vanilla further enhances the tea’s natural flavor, while infusing its own distinct taste.

Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf African Sunrise Tea and Honey Bran Muffin

Each beverage was paired with Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf’s yummy food offerings. The brewed tea was paired with Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf’s Chicago Cheesecake, the iced tea with the Chef’s Tuna Sandwich, and the tea latte with the Honey Bran Muffin. Each pairing was a perfect match, and further affirms my belief that CBTL has the best coffee shop food.

Mark your calendars: the African Sunrise will hit the stores on Monday, July 28th. Which variant will you order?

What the other bloggers are saying about African Sunrise:
Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf’s African Sunrise Tea
Coffee Bean’s African Sunrise tea offering and the Wisdom of Crowds
African Sunrise Tea from The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf on July 28
July 28. The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf African Sunrise. MMMMM.
African Sunrise soon in Manila
Travel and Tourism News

New things to try at Dong Bei

We all know how much I love Dong Bei’s dumplings. I love it so much that after discovering how to go back there, I’ve been back three more times AND going back again tomorrow. It’s easy to see why I love this hole in the wall dumpling place: their fresh dumplings are simply the best I’ve ever tasted. I love it so much that I almost never order anything else. Good thing that I brought over friends who wanted to try new things.

Discovery #1: Fried Tofu
I wouldn’t have known about this hadn’t Ming wanted to try something fried. We also ordered the fried eggplant along with this, but the eggplant soaked all the oil and it wasn’t as pleasant as the tofu. The tofu sandwiched flavorful ground pork, fried then slathered with yummy sauce. One order has about 10 pieces of ‘tofu sandwich’ and costs Php100.

Discovery #2: Wong LoKat Herbal Tea
I saw the boxes of Wong LoKat stacked in a corner during previous visits, but never bothered to ask about it. Last Saturday, when we went back, our server offered us this herbal tea, saying it’s like C2 iced tea. We decided to try it, and we were presented with this red cans of tea, glistening with moisture since it cam straight out of the refrigerator. The ice cold tea was very refreshing and was quite tasty. Juned says it tastes like it had Chrysanthemum, while Melo and I agreed it tasted faintly like it has arnibal, the syrup used for making sago’t gulaman. Chrysanthemum or arnibal, I love this tea!

Discovery #3: Seafood noodles
Due to Arpee’s dietary restrictions, he wasn’t able to taste the fried tofu. To compensate, he ordered the Seafood Noodles. The broth has this subtle flavor bordering on bland. It’s perfect because you can taste the ingredients. The noodles are fresh (as always), and the shrimp does taste fresh. Another winner!

A Poppin' Bloggin' dinner at Nestle Creamery

Ice cream plays a big role in the Filipino household. It’s always present in any celebration, and it’s one of the best way to cool down on a hot and humid day in the Philippines. With all the ice cream variants in the market, how else can you entice customers who are already spoilt for choice? By giving them a whole new product, of course!

Chocolate chip morsels? No, it’s Nestlé POPS

After extensive market research, the people at Nestlé found out that snacking is a vital part in any Filipino’s day. Be it the mid morning snack, the afternoon merienda or the guilt-inducing midnight snack, Filipinos snack as if there’s no tomorrow, and we do it in groups. With this in mind, Nestlé came up with the perfect ice cream snack that can be eaten on the go and shared with friends: Nestlé POPS.

Flick ’em Nestlé POPS into the mouths of the rock stars and win an XBOX 360!

Nestlé POPS are chocolate coated vanilla ice cream that looks like chocolate chip morsels. Except frozen. And cold. If you eat it straight out of the freezer, it’s like a hard candy and you have to suck on it till the outer chocolate shell melts and the creamy vanilla ice cream ooze out. A minute out from the fridge, and you can bite into the crunchy chocolate and into the cold ice cream. Either way, it’s a fun way of eating ice cream.

The lucky ~~bastard~~ blogger who on the Lomo Pop 9 camera.

Nestlé POPS have been out in the market for months now, but it was only last night that it was formally launched to a gathering of bloggers and friends. Nestlé has clearly studied the trends, and in keeping up with the Pinoy’s penchant for anything online, they also launched the Nestlé POPS website, www.GetYourPopOn.ph. The highlight of the website is the Get Poppin’ game, wherein you have to flick Nestlé POPS into the mouths of the rock stars performing on stage. Unlike other online games wherein you only get the bragging rights when you hit the high score, you get a chance to win cool prizes. Fancy watching IMAX for free? How about a karaoke dinner, a bowling party or a trip to Enchanted Kingdom for the whole barkada? Or how about an XBOX 360 console with the Rock Band set? Log on to www.GetYourPopOn.ph, and try your luck! (I did and only got 45. Booo.)

A big thanks to Nestlé, Proximity Philippines and Mad Crowd Media for the fun, poppin’ night!