Chinita Food Trip

Creamy Squash Soup

2009-11-09T14:18:00.010+08:00

Every time we think of Halloween, the first food that comes out of our mind is a hot bowl of creamy pumpkin soup. It's very popular among the kids in the U.S. during Halloween and is often served in a soup bowl made out of the pumpkin itself. I never tasted one because it's not common in the Philippines so I decided to find a simple recipe for making pumpkin soup and try to see if my family would love it.

Creamy Squash Soup adapted from Nestle Philippines Recipe

Creamy squash soup

Ingredients:

2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp sliced leeks
3 cups cubed squash
2 medium size potatoes, cubed
2 pcs 11g MAGGI Chicken Broth Cube
2 cups water
1 tetra brick 250ml NESTLÉ All Purpose Cream
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

Melt butter. Sauté leeks until limp. Add pumpkin and potatoes. Cook for 2 minutes.
Season with MAGGI Chicken Broth Cube. Pour in water and bring to a boil. Cook until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat and let cool.
When cool enough to handle, transfer on a blender and puree until smooth.
Pass the mixture into a strainer to remove any un-dissolved ingredients. Pour back soup into the soup pan and bring to a simmer. Add NESTLÉ All Purpose Cream and cook for another minute. Serve hot.

Verdict: It took me 1 1/2 hour to prepare and cook the soup because I need to wait for the pumpkin and the potatoes to cool down before I can transfer them into the blender. The soup is indeed very yummy! The consistency is creamy and I love it's light orange color ^_^ Unfortunately, I forgot to prepare some croutons to go with the soup. Next time I'm going to buy a cheap hand-blender that I can use to puree a soup because I really find it difficult to clean the blender (I almost cut my finger with the blade).

Quaker Oat's Oatmeal Cookie

2009-07-08T12:42:00.008+08:00

I just graduated from eating SkyFlakes biscuits every single day as my snack. My most favorite office snack nowadays is the new Quaker Oat's Oatmeal Cookie ^_^ It was my younger sister who first discovered this healthy snack in the supermarket and the moment I took a bite of this cookie I can't help but shout "Delicious!!!" It comes in three variants: Apple and Cinnamon, Honey and Raisin. A 30 gram pack contains three crunchy oatmeal cookies. Furthermore, you can eat it as much as you want minus the guilt because it has 0% trans fat and has no artificial flavors. Since it is made of oat, definitely it is also rich in fiber (an ideal snack for constipated people).

Quaker Oat's Apple and Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies

Dozo Restaurant

2009-03-27T12:48:00.003+08:00

I am a big fan of Japanese cuisine! Everytime my boyfriend and I go to the mall, we usually eat at a Japanese restaurant. During working days, I normally go to the 9th floor of Philam Tower to satisfy my Japanese food cravings via Dozo Japanese Restaurant. Dozo offers authentic Japanese cuisine at affordable price. For my lunch today, I ordered my favorite Gyudon with Egg (Beef Bowl). My meal was served hot with fresh egg yolk on top. What I like the most about Dozo's Gyudon was that the beef was so tender and sliced thinly and it had big chewy black mushrooms. I also loved the sweet-salty flavor of its sauce, not too salty compared to Gyudon served in Japanese fastfood restaurants. The serving was also big for the price of only P100.

Dozo's Gyudon with Egg

Dozo Japanese Restaurant
9th floor, Philam Life Tower
Paseo de Roxas, Makati City

Cocktail Party with Anna's Catering

2009-03-25T10:02:00.002+08:00

Last March 18, we had a company event held in our new office. It was actually an office blessing plus the launching of our new product. Our caterer for the said event was Anna's Catering. Since it was a cocktail party, most of the dishes were finger food. Among the food prepared were Fettucine in White Sauce, Tuna Quesadilla, Potato Chicken Croquette, Assorted Canape, Tender Chicken BBQ, Mexican Nachos and Brownies for dessert.

(L-R) Nacho Filling, Sausages, Chicken BBQ & Potato Croquette

My most favorite was the Potato Chicken Croquette because I simply love mashed potatoes. It had big chunks of chicken as its filling and was deep-fried to perfection. I also loved the bite-sized Assorted Canape. The canape was topped with cheese, tomato, sweet ham, sardine and lettuce. It was indeed a great appetizer!

Assorted Canape with different toppings

I didn't like though their Fettucine in White Sauce because the sauce was not creamy enough and the taste was quite bland. Meanwhile, the brownies were just fine, nothing special.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff of Anna's Catering for being so courteous to us and to our visitors. If you want to get their catering service , here is there contact information.

Anna's Catering Inc.
232 Lt. Artiaga St. San Juan
Tel. No.: 724-7508, 725-4002

Pics Credit:
Mr. Jay and Ms. Donna (my officemates)

Kenny Roger's Philly Cheese Steak & Chocolate Mousse

2009-01-25T12:26:00.002+08:00

Last January 24, my boyfriend and I had our movie date at SM San Lazaro Cinema. We watched the comedy movie Bride Wars starring Anne Hathaw ay and Kate Hudson. But before we watched the said movie, we had our lunch first at Kenny Roger's Roasters. We decided to try one of their gourmet sandwiches which was the Philly Cheese Steak served with big French fries (P169). At first I thought that it was just similar to one of the plain sandwiches I tasted before but I was completely wrong. It was actually a love at first bite! The strips of steak were very tender and not oily because they were grilled so it's an ideal sandwich for those who are health-conscious. What I loved the most with this sandwich was that it had generous amount of cheese and sweet white onions (yummy). Overall, Philly Cheese Steak sandwich was a very satisfying sandwich, it was so heavy in the stomach that it was enough for a lunch. Aside from the gourmet sandwich, we had also ordered Chocolate Mousse (P40) as our dessert. Unfortunately, Kenny Roger's Chocolate Mousse was not that impressive because I preferred a mousse with thick crust at the bottom.

Kenny Roger's Philly Cheese Steak served w/ French fries

Kenny Roger's Chocolate Mousse

Nacho Treat

2008-12-22T02:03:00.000+08:00

Between my younger sister and I, she is a better cook. In fact, she inherited her amazing cooking skills from our mom. I mentioned to her one time that I was craving for the traditional Mexican nachos. So my younger sister decided to do her own version of Mexican nachos and I will be the food taster.

Here is her recipe for making Mexican nachos which is good for three persons.

My little sister's version of Mexican Nachos

Ingredients:

1/4 kilo of ground pork
1 cup of chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup of finely chopped onions
1 tsp. oil
1 pack of McCormick Taco Seasoning Mix (it's spicy)
1 pack of nachos (available in the supermarket)
1 cup of grated quick-melt cheese

Procedure:

1. Saute the ground pork,chopped tomatoes and onions in oil until the pork is light brown in color.
2. Put the McCormick Taco Seasoning Mix and mix for 2 more minutes. Drain the excess oil.
3. Arrange the nachos in a microwave plate and pour into it the nacho mixture. Spread the grated quick-melt cheese on top.
4. Cook in the microwave oven for 3 minutes or until the cheese melts.

Verdict:

My younger sister's version of the Mexican nachos is really delicious! It's spicyness is just enough to sting my tongue. The taste is very addicting. We ate it while watching DVD at home (yeah, it's a good alternative to popcorns).

First Blog Post

2008-12-12T02:02:00.000+08:00

I am half-Filipino and half-Chinese which means I'm exposed to two different cultures and two different cuisines. I both love Chinese and Filipino foods. In fact, I enjoy eating Pinoy dishes cooked by my mom and I really can't resist Chinese fried rice and dumplings.

This blog will chronicle my food cravings and visits to various restaurants and fast-foods inside and outside Metro Manila. My food trip will not be limited to Filipino and Chinese foods. Since I'm a disaster when it comes to cooking, I might as well include in this blog my journey to becoming a great cook just like my mom :)

Welcome to my humble blog and enjoy reading!

2008-11-23T14:03:00.003+08:00

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