Balut Oddity

Indigenous Filipino foods have quickly become the thing of the past and that's what intrigues me. Luckily, there are people who are are working to preserve the local food culture which allows me to taste some of the more unusual native treats that I heard so much about. One of the most popular snack foods sold on street corners all over the Philippines is BALUT! A tasty morsel that's firmly rooted in Pan-Asian traditions and made it as our own national dish. A balut is a fertilized duck embryo that's steamed and served in the shell. It's about 18 days old and basically a hard boiled egg with a beak, feathers and feet. That's what makes balut the most terrifying food in the world. It was introduced to the Philippines by Chinese traders in 1800. For them , it was a delicacy. But because balut is cheap to produce, easy to make and packed with protein. It quickly became an important part of the Filipino diet. If you're going to try it for the first time I suggest you put a blind fold on so you won't get to see the unsightly parts of it. I haven't tried eating balut because I feel like there's a big lump in my throat just by looking at it and its soup has that funky smell. What I tried was eating 'penoy' which is still a duck egg and typically sold by balut vendors at night. It's like you're eating an ordinary hard boiled chicken egg but the white part is crusty instead of a jelly-like texture.

Curried Banana Heart Recipe

When I was a little girl my mom used to cook banana heart(also known as banana blossom) with rice vermicelli or what we call 'bihon' in the Philippines. As time goes by, we got bored eating the same recipe. One day, our neighbor gave us this recipe which introduced us to a new idea about cooking banana heart.

Why don't you try this recipe and have a hearty meal with your family?!

TIP: You may also add chicken or pork meat and chunky string beans to this recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 banana heart
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 head garlic, crushed
• 3 heads of onions, finely sliced
• 1 1/2 cups coconut milk
• 2 tbsp homemade spicy mango chutney, preferred brand
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tbsp oatmeal
• 1 cup horse radish 

Procedure: 

1. Slice banana heart very thinly. Rub in salt.
2. In a pan, fry garlic until light brown. Then saute the onions.
3. Add banana heart, coconut milk, mango chutney, curry powder and oatmeal. Cook for 10 minutes.
4. Add horse radish and serve immediately with wild rice.

Eggplant Salad with Worms @ The Alternative Restaurant in El Nido, Palawan

Is it okay to eat and pay for a meal with WORMS? On the 15th of July, I had my dinner at The Alternative Restaurant in El Nido. It was raining that night, I got there around 8PM and I was ushered to a table near the bar. As I was browsing the Menu, I noticed several black ants crawling on my arms and chest. So, I asked the waiter if I could transfer at the bar which the bar tender hesitantly agreed.  

I simply ordered an Eggplant Salad and a softdrink. Unfortunately, it took almost 20 minutes for my order to arrive! After I made a follow-up, my order has finally arrived! The serving was plentiful and the eggplant was covered in chopped tomatoes. I noticed that the eggplant was grilled which sounds good to me because I prefer it grilled rather than steamed. There were eggplant and tomato seeds scattered around the plate and I was too hungry to check if there's anything weird floating on my food. 

I suddenly noticed a WORM floating on the soy sauce. Using my fork, I immediately checked the remaining food on my plate. Then I saw another WORM which prompted me to complain to the waiter. She confirmed that it was indeed a WORM which made me wonder how many worms existed on that plate! Both the waiter and the bar tender never bothered to remove the plate as if they weren't concerned. They just provided me with their stupid alibis, said they had experienced eating eggplant worms before and that it's 'unavoidable' since eggplants are normally infested with WORMS! Ain't that ridiculous?!  

When preparing an eggplant salad, whether it's grilled or steamed, you have to be extra cautious to make sure that the vegetable is not infested by worms. I've prepared the salad several times before yet I never failed to distinguish a cooked seed from a cooked WORM! I'll immediately throw it the moment I see a single worm. Which made me wonder how the chef at The Alternative Inn & Restaurant failed to notice it!

It's not cheap to dine @ The Alternative Restaurant, so why can't the owner afford to buy the chef an eyeglass if he's having a problem with his eyesight or maybe the owner is frugal enough to buy new light bulb for a dimly lit kitchen. Before I paid my P189 crappy meal, I threatened the waiter and the bar tender that I'll get back at them if something bad will happen to me while on the road. Lucky for them that I didn't have time to argue because I was running out of time after it took them so long to serve a single order and I was about to leave El Nido that night.  

**Foodstagram**

     I understand how frightening it is when you first go to somewhere even like China. It’s really intimidating to even feed yourself. The moment when you finally overcome that, when you summon the will to walk into a place filled with people who don’t speak your language, stare at you when you come in, you’re going to be awkward, you’re going to order food and you don’t know what it is, you’re going to do things wrong.

     Once you’re able to successfully order breakfast for yourself, it’s a really, deeply a satisfying moment. Being lost and disoriented is good. Learning little things. That first random act of kindness from a stranger offering you food or showing you where to go or telling you about a really great bar, those have been the most wonderful moments of my journey.


  my first breakfast in Beijing. The only restaurant that serves coffee.

  my lunch at Yuyuan Garden, xiaolongbao. Long wait to order but very delicious!

a plate of Quanjude pecking duck for my poor neglected stomach
                           I wish we have this back home

                    Beijing's BBQ, delicious!

   @Yonghe King, one of Shanghai's recommended food chain

   very yummy blueberry cupcake w/ green iced tea @ Costa Coffee

                                last order of dimsum : (