In any case, I just wanted to post pics of my latest bento box. I found it while my boyfriend and I were browsing one of the many garage sales which surround the building that we live in. It was stuffed under a thick carpet, beside a triangular stainless steel teapot, and on top of a stack of vinyls.

It DOES look quite similar to that other red bento set that I have, except that this one has two layers and is square. This one also doesn’t have a carrier of its own, but I use a piece of purple rope to secure the layers together, and I have to admit that it’s effective and it looks great, too.

Hehe… I can’t help it. I have such a weakness for boxes of this type, and if I only had more space here at our apartment, maybe I’d even consider actively going out to get more of these things. I consider it a good buy, though, since it’s still dirt-cheap, and I do love making a lot of food that I can bring to my parents’ or a friend’s place. Plus, I can always use it as an accessory or trinket box in case I feel that I don’t want to use it for food anymore (though I highly doubt that).

Anyway, here’s something that’s pretty simple.

- Instant pancit canton, sprinkled with plum-flavored furikake (just for an extra kick)
- Tamagoyaki slices (it’s that brown because I added a bit more soy sauce than what most cookbooks would recommend. )
- tomato slices to sort of cancel out the saltiness of the pancit and the tamagoyaki.

Just a couple of more pictures…

And I’m off!! ^___________^

Alright, with that out of the way, here we go with the actual post!

Anyway, last year, I bought a couple of onigiri molds which I immediately decided to experiment with. Of course, the first few batches were either too loose, too wobbly or was a weird blob shape, but I think that I finally managed to get it under control after a while. I was also rather poor at that time (I still am, I think), so instead of using furikake and the like, I had to make do with whatever I had at home which were just things that can be bought at any old, plain grocery.

Anyhoo… the onigiris are:

- (the brown one) tonkatsu sauce, plus basil, and a hotdog center (my boyfriend doesn’t like umeboshi much… ^_^;;;)
- (The pink one) shredded umeboshi, some mayonnaise, a hotdog center
- (star, kuma and heart-shaped) just a tiny bit of salt, mayonnaise and cheese.

The rest of the bento box contains an extra umeboshi for me, chocolate wafer biscuits, and some sweet/sour star candy.

Anyway, considering that I spend the day chasing after jeepneys and cabs, I wasn’t confident that the onigiris would keep their shape throughout the whole, bumpy commute. So, I wrapped each one in some cling wrap, and it worked out okay (as an afterthought, though, just make sure that the rice, as I did in this instance, is at room temp when you wrap it like this. I have a feeling that wrapping it while still warm and while it still produces condensation may cause the rice to spoil…). Another bonus to wrapping it up first is that it was more convenient for my boyfriend to eat as besides just being able to pick it up without getting his fingers sticky, the plastic is there to catch the rice in case the rice ball DOES break apart. Haha!

(More pics here! Because I can’t pick again!)

Anyhoo, one of the things that I learned about making this bento was that the candy stars may not have been in such a good spot. I only figured this out because in the 15-minute trip to the office, the wax paper holding the candies was starting to get moist from the tiny bit of sauce in the stir-fry. If I had to let the bento sit for longer than that, and if my boyfriend and I didn’t end up eating immediately when I got to the office… well, I would have ended up with a weirdly-colored-splotched bunny egg, or worse, tonkatsu flavored candy. Bleh. O_O;;;

Anyway, lesson learned. At least the photos don’t show that I’ve botched it. XD XD

The bento lid was shut with the help of a couple of bands from my other bento boxes, and it was carried to the office in a furoshiki. ^_^;;

(Yes, I couldn’t decide on which shot was better, as they’re both kinda dark. Again.)

Anyhoo, they have this special where they drop the price of the hotpot buffet from 490 pesos to 360 from 11:30 am to 2pm. We got there a bit too early, so we literally had to camp out in front of the restaurant for about an hour, waiting for it to open. Thankfully, Noreen, a Chinese citizen, spoke with the Chinese manager/owner and we were allowed to wait inside the restaurant, and away from the direct heat of the noon, Philippine sun.

So, because of that, we ended up being seated at a prime table (a.k.a., right beside the buffet table), plus we were allowed to start eating at 11am instead of 11:30. So yeah, we had a head start, and we ate heartily since we were, you know… STARVING. Oh, and we ate DOUBLY heartily because Enrico (guy in the gray shirt) paid for our drinks and half of our food since he wanted to celebrate his upcoming college graduation.

As we ate, we were completely overwhelmed with the sheer amount of food available. There were so many types of fish, shellfish and meat available, that I couldn’t make up my mind. We didn’t even bother to ask for rice since we were all intent on gorging ourselves with the items from the buffet (though I was intent on stuffing myself with all the yummy shrimp I could eat).

Anyway, enough with the talk. You have to see it to believe it.

The entrance to the restaurant. Notice the blazingly-hot, high-noon sun…

So, when Noreen finally managed to get the restaurant owner to let us wait inside, I was pleasantly surprised to find such a neat table set-up. I’m a sucker for things like that.

But then, what intrigued me the most was the individual silver pots that were snugly contained in holes in the marble table. Then, I noticed the stove knobs.

This being THE FIRST TIME I’VE EVER EATEN AT A HOTPOT RESTAURANT, it was then explained to me by Noreen that the pots were later going to contain broth which we could boil our food in. It was then that I noticed that ALL marble tables were decked with the same pots… Silly me.

When we first seated ourselves, the buffet table was completely empty, and it wasn’t until later that it started filling up with trays upon trays of raw or half-cooked food. As we watched the restaurant crew placing the stainless steel trays into their spots, one of the waiters finally approached us, and asked us to pick one of 4 different types of broth. I picked the chicken broth (I don’t remember what the other three were since they had sort of weird names), and when the waiter poured the broth into my own pot, we were all happy again as we knew that we can finally EAT!! XD XD

See? We were overjoyed. Those stack of plates on the side are for everyone to place their raw ingredients on.

And the glorious buffet of ingredients. Meat, fish and shell fish on the left; veggies, more seafod, cold cuts and I-don’t-know-what-else on the right. HEAVEN!!

Must. Stop. Taking. Pictures. In. Happiness.

This is Max.

We have the same idea when he said that we should stuff ourselves with food that we can’t afford on an everyday basis. So, he went for the baby octopi. And he named this one “Cthulhu”.

On top of the food itself, though, there’s the small table containing the condiments and spices. From here, you can help yourself to soy sauce, hoisin sauce, minced garlic, red onions and ginger, chopped up chilies, etc etc. Then, you can either use these for dipping your food in, or you can toss it into your broth.

And this is Noreen and Enrico attacking the buffet table. (Yes, that’s just half of the buffet table.)

Eventually, we made it back to our table and started cooking on the hot plate in the middle. To cook everything, the waiter also provided us with a small bowl containing chunks of butter. This bowl-o-butter was also continually refilled by the attentive staff. We were actually beginning to wonder if the staff was planning to cook US afterwards, and they were just fattening us up…

It is unbelievably fun to go to a hotpot with friends. Not only does everyone’s nuances, and quirks with food come out (we discovered that someone likes their bacon half-burnt), but it’s just plain fun playing with your food with your friends around. The casual air is also nice, and I’d recommend this place for someone who wants to take someone out on a date. It’s fun, AND you get to stuff your face with food that you like, and food that you cooked, just the way you like it.

KITCHEN STADIUM, COOK OFF! ALLEZ CUISINE!!

Remember Cthulhu? Well there it is now.

More photos of us eating!! Hehehe…

This is a photo of Noreen as she wonders where the heck Enrico kept all of the food that he ate. This guy downed a couple of platters of meat, and he said that he was just getting started! Well, yeah, he and Max are guys, so that may count for something…

Help yourself! (Just stay offa’ my squid rings!)

See that? Each crab is about the size of my whole palm (without the legs). The best part is that the crab has already been cut in half, and its legs have been separated so that you just have to toss the whole crab into your broth without worrying about having to chop the whole thing and messing up your table. The waiters also provide nutcrackers so that you can get all the meat out from the crab legs. Mmmm…

Sitting at a table right beside the ingredients help, too.

And yes, all that made us incredibly happy…

So, after all that bottolmess food (until 2pm anyway), then comes the bottomless dessert. And for that, the restaurant has got all the watermelons and pineapples you could eat, as well as all the halo-halo, and all the ice cream you can eat (comes in orange, chocolate and strawberry). Yes, I ate from all three offerings…
(If you’re not sure what halo-halo is, and what those colorful things in bowls are, then check this link for a general description of the dessert.)

My friends helped themselves out, too, of course.

And this is us after we’ve paid the bill, wondering where the heck to get a taxi, as well as if we’ll ever be allowed back in next time, what with the way we cleaned out the menu…

It was really a shame that my boyfriend, Ian, wasn’t able to join us as he had work, but I promised him that I’ll take him to the hotpot restaurant some time soon, so that we can both gorge again (because we just love food!). ^____________^

Lolz. Actually, I’d use any excuse to go back. XD

(If you’re in Manila and you’re wondering where this restaurant is, it’s right beside the GSIS building, behind the World Trade Center, and close to Mall of Asia. I think the place is called… um… Hobby World? Hobby Store? Hobby Crafts…?? O_O;;)

Besides being a sort-of-namesake for me, descriptions of the dish also make it sound like it’s pretty easy to make. According to Japan Travel Guide:

The Tanuki Udon mainly consists of deep-fried and sliced fish sausages known as Naruto. These deep fried Narutos are then placed on the boiled Udon with slivers of leek for added color and flavor. Vegetables can also be sliced and placed atop the Udon for a more healthy variety.

I like the sounds of it since I’m pretty fond of naruto anyway, and I’m pretty sure that anyone who has seen my past entries will see this. Lol. Mmm… fried naruto…

Then, there’s the other description which includes the nice, crispy bits left from your tempura dish (again stuff that I love):

Ingredients for Tanuki Udon:

* Naruto
* Tenkatsu: crispy pieces that are left when deep frying tenpura. If not available, you can cut some leek, mix it with tenpura batter and deep fry it.
* Leek or green onion

As for how it’s supposed to look like (according to various sources…)
According to Yamada Udon…

According to a soba-udon site…

And according to a blog that’s written in a language that I unfortunately cannot understand…

Looks simple enough doesn’t it? Now if I only knew how to make the most important part of it all: the broth! Lol. I have no idea about the type/brand of sauce that you have to use when making udon. Now I really should get myself a Nintendo DS and a copy of Cooking Mama so that I can find out! XD

Anyway, on a closing note, googling for pictures of the tanuki udon has also brought me this adorable thing from Yamacon…

Needless to say, it tickles me pink. XD

As the title suggests, the star of this bento is actually the sorry-looking mashed potatoes. Hehehe… I’ve actually tried making mashed potatoes before, but the VERY first attempt ended up being potato SOUP because I placed too much milk in the whole thing. ^^;;; I’m also loathe with the idea of buying those mix-in-hot-water types of instant mashed potatoes at the grocery so I insist on making my own, stubborn oaf that I am.

Anyway, the bento is composed of tamagoyaki, hotdogs, yet another of K’s vegetable-with-cinammon stirfrys, and then, mashed potatoes with cheese. No gravy. Just quickmelt cheese.

The container below shows servings for two people. My boyfriend and I ate from the same bento that day since I got to join him for lunch. ^_^

Meanwhile, a single serving which I had for dinner that day, looked like this:

Messy-looking as it is, I’m actually proud of the potatoes since the consistency came out just right.

The potato recipe
Anyway, it’s made of a batch of marble potatoes (the tiny ones). I chose those since they cook a lot quicker and more evenly. I was afraid that I’d be boiling the potato for an hour and I’d STILL end up with a raw core in the end, if I used one of those big potatoes…

Anyway, I washed each tiny potato carefully, then boiled it in water which was some salt and a laurel leaf. Once it’s cooked, I mashed it all up (yup, with the skin on), seasoned with salt and pepper and added a small amount of milk to make it creamy. On a whim though, I took about 4 tablespoons of water and placed some crushed rosemary in it. Then I heated the water in the microwave and ended up with rosemary tea. I let it cool as I mashed and mixed the potatoes, then when the the rosemary has steeped enough, I poured it into the mashed potatoes (I used a sieve to get the rosemary bits out, of course). Then, top with cheese!^__^ I thought it was actually pretty nice, despite realizing much later, that I should have had gravy and butter somewhere in the recipe. XD

For size reference…

I particularly want the sushi book because it’s got all these sushi combinations and recipes which I’ve never heard of, like Cream Cheese sushi. HOW CAN I NOT WANT IT??????????

It’s just a plain one:
- salted rice and tomatoes
- tofu and vegetable stir-fry with oyster sauce and cinnamon (the dash of cinnamon powder did the trick)
- flower marshmallows and cheese cubes for dessert

All good for three, as usual. ^^

Now, both those things are special to me if only because during the times when I was still too shy whenever I entered a J-grocery (well… I was always afraid that I’ll look like another trying-hard baka-gaijin-otaku to the Japanese folks who frequented the same grocery), those were the first two things which I dared to try out. I was afraid because I thought I looked like a baka-gaijin-otaku, because these things are a lot more expensive than the usual stuff I pick up from the grocery, and because I was afraid that I’d waste my hard-earned money on something that tasted awful.

Anyway, I ended up buying it, taking it home, and then ultimately loving the darn things.

Now, my kitchen doesn’t seem to be complete without tonkatsu sauce around (although it doesn’t necessarily have to be the Bulldog brand), in much the same way that it isn’t complete if I had no salt handy. I use it on a lot of things. Besides using it for dip for fried things and some veggies, I’ve discovered that it also makes a tasty substitute for Oyster sauce in some dishes. I’ve also used it as dressing once, and I’ve even used it on pasta and I’ve also made plenty of tonkatsu-flavored onigiri.

The curry, however is a different story.

At first, I got accustomed to buying the pre-cooked, ready-to-serve variety which already had bits of meat and potato in it. All I had to do was heat some water in a bowl, then soak the curry packet in the hot bath for a couple of minutes before I could tear off the top and start eating.

I later heard that Golden Curry was a good brand preferred by most, so I decided to try it. UNFORTUNATELY, when I opened the box, I found two foil-sealed plastic trays which I honestly thought was also filled with the ready-to-eat variety which I got used to. So, I opened the corners of the trays and soaked them in hot water.

Lo and behold, after the requisite three minutes, I was surprised that the curry inside the trays was still NOT in the slushy state that they were supposed to be. I took off the foil completely and was dumbfounded to find BLOCKS of dehydrated (?) curry whose sides were only a tiny bit soft to the touch.

Since I had to serve it soon, I panicked, and it was only then that it occurred to me to dump the stuff in a pot and add water. Here, I made two bad mistakes:

- since I was caught off-guard, I didn’t have any fresh meat and vegetables around. Some potatoes, some carrots, and an onion would have been nice…

- I placed BOTH blocks of curry in the pot. I found out later that unless you’re planning to feed about four or five people, ONE should have been enough.

So, I ended up with way too much bland curry which I and my boyfriend then had to bear with for two days. @_@

Thankfully, the curry was yummy, even by itself, but I couldn’t help but feel absolutely silly about my botched cooking session. I still do, actually…

At least, I now know that by next time, I WILL have meat and vegetables ready. And some milk to serve with it. :p