The legacy of Chefoo

Growing up and living in Cavite City is a collection of vivid and colorful memories and experiences that I will cherish and be proud of as a Caviteno. There's the unique Chabacano language; the Tamales peanut paste cooked during the Todos Los Santos and Yuletide season; the Bacalao which is a staple meal during Lent; the 'quesillo' or commonly called 'kesong puti'; the townsfolk's untarnished devotion to the city's patroness, the Nuestra Senora dela Soledad de Porta Vaga; and many more. One of the many cultural images of my hometown that people always look back and always go back to is the Chefoo restaurant.

Chefoo, as it is colloquialy called has the full name of New Chefoo Restaurant. Chefoo started in 1945 as a small pansiteria which serves pansit and fried chicken. It is owned and operated by a Filipino-Chinese family who has served and continuously serve the people of Cavite City for more than half a decade already. When I was young, I used to think of Chefoo as a plain Chinese restaurant, just it. But when I grew up, I realized that it is not just plain Chinese restaurant because they also serve Filipino and American dishes as well. It's more of a melting-pot restaurant for Chinese, Filipino and American dishes. One of the reason I thought was, they serve American dishes maybe because of the proximity of the US Naval bases in Sangley Point to the restaurant.

One of the distinct trait of Chefoo is the menu are predominantly Chinese cuisine-infused, but majority of them have Spanish nametags; example are: Gallina Frita, Menudencia con Kasuy, Comida China, Camaron Rebosado, Dorado con Jamon, Escabeche, Pescado con Tokwa y Tausi to name just a few. As you can see, the retaurant has flourished and infused the different cultures that have thrived and prospered in Cavite City over the past centuries.

My personal favorites here are the Hototay soup, Crab Fooyoong and their Sweet and Sour Pork.

I love the light and clear broth of the Hototay soup. It's a light soup infused with vegetables, shrimps, pork strips, ginger, and raw egg which will cook in the broth as you stir it. It's a great soup for lunch or dinner.

The Crab Fooyoong is also great. It is a simple egg omelette infused with onions and crab meat (not imitation crab meat) and smothered with its own special savory sauce.

The dish that I love the most here is the Sweet and Sour Pork. Their version has a sauce which is brownish than reddish in hue and it is slightly different from the other sweet and sour dishes that I had. The dish has a perfact balance between sweetness and tanginess and the pork nuggets are not too tough or 'makunat'. They all go well with the Shanghai Rice that we used to order.

Their fried chickens are also one of my favorites: both the Gallina Frita and the Fried Chicken. The Gallina Frita is a version of fried chicken that is cooked like that of the Chinese-style fried chicken. Devoid of crispy batter, they are marinated in a soy-based solution, seasoned with spices and then fried to perfection. Another is the plain Fried Chicken. This Fried Chicken is more of the American-style. It is coated in a seasoned batter and then deep-fried. What I love about this dish is the crispiness and the chicken's delicious batter coating. What's perfect for me is devouring both of these chicken dishes with a banana ketchup on the side.

One of the unique specialty of Chefoo is the Pansit Tostado. It is a peculiar item for those people not familiar with it. Basically, this is a noodle dish, similar to Pansit Guisado but served with crispy, toasted noodles on top.
It is not just plain toasted noodles like the Chinese Birthday noodles but it looks more like a one big toasted noodle cookie which was carefully toasted at the bottom of the wok.

My memories of Chefoo includes family reunions and other occasions celebrated here. As you can see, it is a very verstile place for events. I think the one that I haven't done here yet are drinking sessions.

Try this out when you have the chance to visit Cavite City.

Oh, and before I forget, do not forget to have a sip of their home-made Iced tea to accompany your meal. It's very good!

New Chefoo Restaurant

945 P.Burgos Avenue,

San Roque, Cavite City

Japanese 'Torta' experience

After my Hana Takoyaki experience, we then tried it's neighboring izakaya, the Kagura. Kagura's specialty is the Okonomiyaki.

Okonomiyaki is a compound word which derives from two words; ''Okonomi" which means" to one's liking" and "yaki" which means "to grill". It is a popular teppan-fried, batter-based dish. It is served throughout Japan but it is extremely popular in the Kansai region. Okonomiyaki is made from a batter of egg, water, cabbage and flour then grilled in a teppan griddle with an assortment of stuffings like meat, seafood and vegetables. When cooked, it is then brushed with a sweet spicy Okonomi sauce (a brownish sauce similar to Worcestershire sauce), Kewpie mayonnaise and finally dusted with Katsuboshi and Aonori flakes. Okonomiyaki is also commonly called as the "Japanese pancake".

Kagura's Okonomiyaki is cooked right in front of the customer. They have a bar-style arrangement where customers are seated right in fornt of the teppan grills. I find this as a very good style since the customers (specially first timers) can have a first-hand view of how the Okoniyaki is prepared. Aside from that, they also have 3-4 tables where diners can have a privacy. Kagura prepares the okonomiyaki a la 'Kansai-style', which means they grill the
batter together with the stuffings over the hot teppan grill.

We chose to order the Okonomiyaki-mix since it is our first time and that posed as the
one with a little bit of everything. The dish boasted generous amounts of cabbage, pork,
shrimps and squid. It is not over-brushed with the mayonnaise and okonomi sauce that is why it doesn't have a very rich and no 'umay' taste. Well, for me, its more comparable to the Pinoy
'torta' than a pancake since it involves savoury ingredients instead of sweet stuffings like in
pancakes.

Okonomiyaki-mix is a very tasty meal on itself. I think it is a meal on itself since I saw that
several Japanese patrons are eating their okonomiyaki on its own devoid of a cup of gohan.
We chowed our Okonomiyaki-mix with a side dish of their Yakisoba and several rounds of complimentary of Mugi Cha.

The staff is warm and very entertaining. You can have converstions with them as they cook
your order. You can also see that the owner is a huge fan of Hanshin Tigers baseball team
of Japan. Aside from baseball mementos, this cozy restaurant is also adorned with different
Noh masks.

We'll be coming back here to try their other okonomiyaki and their Hanshin Ika as recommended by one of the staff.

Gochisosama Deshita!

Kagura
Little Tokyo,
2277 Chino Roces formerly Pasong Tamo St.,
Makati City
(632) 894-3856

goin' dumplings @ Dong Bei

Dumplings are quite gaining notoriety over Metro Manila recently. Apart from their cheaper prices, they are easier to chow and they are usually marketed together with stir fried noodles and a glass of cold drink. If you are into the dumpling craze, try to visit Dong Bei Dumpling in Binondo.

Dong Bei means 'North East' in Chinese. As said, this type of dumpling originated from Northeastern China. Dong Bei serves authentic Chinese dumplings. Their dumplings can be chosen from the following varieties; pure minced pork or minced pork mixed with chopped kuchay all wrapped in their home made dumpling wrapper.

For your own choice, you can have it steamed or fried. We chose to have the steamed dumpling than the fried since it is less sinful (just kidding!). Their dumpling comes with a dipping sauce made from a concoction of local vingar, soy sauce and minced garlic. For those with spicy tongues, you can ask for their home made chilli oil to make your dipping sauce a bit hotter.

Simple as it may seem, their dumpling is very juicy and tasty. The wrapper is not too soggy nor too chewy after it was cooked. It was steamed perfectly and it suited my palate. A very light and delicious meal to end my day. While dining, you can also view how they make their dumplings.

As the dumplings are a light meal to the tummy, so is it's price tag. It comes for only 100 bucks per 10 piece order.

You can also try their xiao long pao (soup dumpling). This is quite similar to the dumplings mentioned above but with more broth inside the wrap.

Another optional add-on is the Xinjiang Beef which is a savory beef dish made from tenderloin cuts seasoned with spices and sesame oil then served with chopped cucumber.

Both of these meals are great complements to your dumpling meal.

Check it out!

Dong Bei Dumpling

Yuchengco St. (coming from Binondo Church Ongpin St., turn LEFT at Yuchengco St.)

Binondo, Manila

kama kama kamameshi

"Kamameshi" which directly translates to "kettle rice", is a traditional Japanese rice dish cooked in an iron pot. The rice is cooked with your choice of other savoury ingredients like meat, seafood and assorted vegetables. They are then cooked together in a special sauce and served in its iron pot held by a wooden holderWhat we've had was the Gomoku Kamameshi. Gomoku Kamameshi is the Kamameshi variant with assorted ingredients. Since this is our first time to try Kamameshi, we tried this since it has a little bit of everything among the choices. The Kamameshi was given to us contained in its iron pot with its wooden holder. The dish contained generous amount of japanese short-grain rice smothered with meat and vegetables. It had ground pork, together with julienned carrots and string beans and slices of flavorful shiitake mushrooms. The rice is brownish in color, probably because of the sauce where it was cooked with. I guess the sauce is a soy-based mixture with a hint of mirin and dashi, which are a staple of japanese cooking. At the bottom of the pot is the burnt rice or the "tutong" since the iron pot was cooked directly over fire. The "tutong" tasted well and we compared it to the tutong in the Spanish Paella. After this, we dubbed the Kamameshi as the "Japanese Paella".

The rice dish' flavor is good. It is not too strong in flavor and I find it light and smooth. Japanese Yakimeshi or Chahan fried rice dishes has a much stronger flavor than Kamameshi. For me, I can consume the Kamameshi on its own, devoid of other viands.

We chowed down our Gomoku Kamameshi with a serving of Misoshiru (Miso soup), Tempura, Yakitori and the Backdraft roll. Our Kamameshi encounter is a new and wonderful addition to our Japanese dining experience.
Kamameshi and other delectable Japanese dishes are available at the New Kamameshi House.

Gochisosama Deshita!



New Kamameshi House

Japanese Cuisine
Zobel Roxas, Ave.
Singalong, Manila
02 524 22219

Takoyaki experience

When I was a kid, I used to see a stall in Landmark where the vendor would pour a batter into a hot iron plate with small 'dimples' (i call it that way back then) and put pieces of octopus on it. It will then be cooked and served with a reddish sweet spicy sauce topped with a brownish, fishy powder. It is then packed in a rectangular styro box to be consumed by the customer. This is where I got introduced to Takoyaki.

Takoyaki is a popular Japanese food made with a batter, tempura scraps or tenkasu, a chunk of octopus, Kewpie mayonnaise, katsuoboshi, aonori bits and topped with okonomi sauce, . As named, Takoyaki means 'baked/fried octopus'; 'tako' which is octopus and 'yaki' which means to bake or grill. Takoyaki is a popular street food or snack food.

Right now, I've always come back to my favorite takoyaki stall in Makati. It is the takoyaki stall in Little Tokyo. It's right in front of Hana and is manned by a Japanese named Takumi who hails from Osaka which is the hometown ofTakoyaki. I always go back to his stall since this is the best takoyaki that I have tasted. Over the course of several servings, I've managed to strike some conversations with him and he shared to me his method of cooking his takoyaki. Takumi cooks his takoyaki in the usual way but with a difference. The difference is on his use of the beni shoga or the red pickled ginger. I haven't seen a takoyaki stall here that does the same way of cooking like him. When he cooks his takoyaki, he sprinkles bits of chopped beni shoga into the batter. For me this makes the difference. It has a more 'well-rounded' taste since the ginger has added another balancing flavor to the dish apart from the 'seafood' taste made by the diced octopus and the katsuoboshi powder. His verion of okonomi sauce also suits my taste. This is the most authentic and best-tasting takoyaki that I have tried. It's already great to be eaten on its own but I wouldn't hesitate to have it wolfed-down with a cup of gohan.

The takoyaki is sold in a 6-ball serving for 100Php.

Try it!

HANA RESTAURANT

Little Tokyo, Makati City

Telephone: +63 2 339 3855