Cabbage, Glass Noodles N Dried Shrimps Stir Fry

Stir-fried cabbage, dried shrimps and mung bean noodles

The only veg left in my fridge was a cabbage. Ah ha. Ran to the nearest grocers and got some mung beans (the beans that grow into bean sprouts) noodles or vermicelli or glass noodles as they call it here. Dug out that bag of dried shrimps. Why is it that the thing I want is always at the bottom of the chiller compartment? Grabbed that container of chopped garlic (thank God for Vero, who makes sure there's always chopped garlic). Everything into the wok, and out came this dish which is commonly served in economy buffet lunches. Sometimes I am surprised by how a 'lowly' dish can be so tasty. The cabbage is sweet and crunchy. There's the fragrance of fried garlic and dried shrimps and the vermicelli is soft and saturated with the flavors of the dried shrimps and garlic. A sprinkle of chili-lime sauce, and I can't stop eating until it's half gone.

I told you. It's no-sweat cooking in my kitchen this week. Nothing creative, just plain old-fashioned dishes that some of you may have forgotten to cook in a long time. Now excuse me while I rush to watch The Little Nyonya, the only TV series from Singapore's Mediacorp that doesn't make me cringe. And best of all, Fan Wong's not in it. I don't have to watch her only two expressions--lips slightly parted and looking blank, indicating surprise or confusion or unhappiness or dejection or sadness (depending on the circumstances, you figure) and lips widely parted, indicating happiness. Six (or more) emotions, two looks.

Cabbage Bean Noodles N Dried Shrimps Stir Fry
1 small cabbage
200 g dried mung bean noodles (fen se/glass noodles/tang hoon)
1/3 cup dried shrimps
1 T chopped garlic
3 T veg oil
1/4 t salt
2-4 t light soy sauce
1 cup water from soaking the shrimps
1/2 t chicken powder

Prep: The proportion of cabbage to the noodles is up to you. We usually prefer more noodles to veg. Cut the cabbage into 2 cm slices. Wash the dried shrimps and soak them in 1 cup of water until softened. Remove the dried shrimps and keep the water. Soak the glass noodles in room temp water for 5 minutes, drain.

1. Heat up the wok, add the oil and throw in the dried shrimps. Stir continuously over medium fire until the shrimps start to turn crispy. Add the garlic and continue to stir fry.

2. When the garlic begins to turn golden, add the cabbage and the salt. Stir, add 1/2 cup of the shrimp water and cover the wok.

3. After 1 minute, remove the cover, stir fry to move the bottom ingredients up, cover and let it cook for about 1/2 minute to 1 minute. Remove the cover, increase the heat and if you like the cabbage crispy and not overcooked, add the noodles and the remaining ingredients including the water now. Cook another minute or more if you like the cabbage softer. If you like more color, add more soy sauce. Taste and season accordingly. Do not cook the noodles for too long or they will start to break up. Add one or two spoonsful of water if the noodles look dry.

Lotus Root Soup

Lotus root soup

Unlike Zurin, I don't have a cat so I may resort to blogging about my toes soon. But I'll try to keep to food as much as I can. This is one of those no-effort-cook week for me, leaving everything to Vero. Just for those of you who never cooked lotus root soup, here's how. I know, I know, just bear with me, not everyone can cook soup. Not even Chinese soups, which are the easiest soups to cook.

When you are feeling a little tired, weak and lifeless, you need a strengthening and nourishing soup like lotus root soup. You can add some peanuts (skin on) to make the soup even richer. All you need are some bones (chicken, pork or beef bones, pork being the traditional choice), dried red dates, dried cuttlefish and lotus root. Make sure the lotus root is fresh and not wrinkled or moldy (told you this post is for those who don't cook--or go marketing). Usually the whole root is put to boil and not sliced but if you are too busy, you can cut it up and chuck all the ingredients to boil in one go. The good thing about cutting the root up is that should it have a bruise or hole on its surface and some mud got in and lined the internal 'tunnels', it can be washed away. Restaurants always cut them up because that way, it is easier to cook and serve. Boiling lotus root whole has its advantage too. You can take the whole root out of the soup after its done and slice them neatly and serve separately, with some soy sauce dip. Just make sure you cut the root into half and flush out the dirt in the holes, if any.

The fun thing about eating boiled lotus root is that when you take a bite and pull the root apart, it 'strings'. And it's tasty and has a unique bite that can be floury and crunchy at the same time. When I'm low on energy and appetite, I like to pour hot lotus root soup over my rice and that's a meal. This soup is especially nice when the weather's cool. Like now, when the clouds are dark and angry and the aroma of the soup fills every room. Lotus root soup on a rainy night like tonight is like a hearty bean soup on a cold wintry night. Super yum and comforting.

This soup tastes even better if you cook it early and let it sit and develop the flavor. Re-heat when ready to eat.


Lotus Root Soup
800g lotus root
700-800 g pork or beef or chicken bones or meat, or combination of
1 small piece (20 g) dried cuttle fish
1 small handful dried red dates

Prep: Scrape the skin off the lotus root, cut off the hard ends and half each root. Wash well to remove any dirt inside the root tunnels. Boil some hot water and pour over the bones or meat until they turn white. Pour away the water. This will remove any unpleasant smell. Soak the red dates, wash & drain. Use a pair of tongs and hold the cuttle fish over a fire until it curls and chars at the edges. Do toast it well or it won't give the soup enough flavor. You can also toast it in the oven. Wash & pick off the burnt parts of the toasted cuttle fish.

1. Put everything in your stock pot, add enough water to cover with about 2 cm of water above the ingredients. If you like the soup to be richer and sweeter, the water should just cover the ingredients. Cover the pot and crank the dial to high. When the soup comes to a boil, reduce heat to medium low and boil for 2 hours. Unless a lot of water has been lost, there's no need to top up the water.

2. Season soup with some white pepper and salt if like. Take the lotus root out and when cool, slice into 1/2 cm slices. You can put the lotus slices back into the soup or serve them separately with a flavored soy sauce like Maggi. Serve the soup hot.

Fried Three Strips

The literal translation of a common Shanghainese stir fry dish called chow san shxi (am not sure about the pin yin spelling for that last syllable) means 'fried three strips' which really means frying three kinds of finely julienned ingredients. The ingredients can be fresh bamboo, dried chinese mushrooms, hard beancurd, salted greens and pork although beef is fine too. My chow san shxi today was whatever I could find in the kitchen--pork, salted Sichuan veg and bamboo. I wanted to add dried mushrooms for more flavor but that would be chow si shxi, and that's unheard of. One of my favorite chow san shxi is pork, dried mushrooms and yellow chives but yellow chives are delicate and bruise easily so they aren't imported anymore.

A simple dish like this takes even more stir frying skill than you think. You mustn't have too much ingredients or there won't be enough heat to give that slightly smoky flavor, and each ingredient has to be fried according to its texture so that the result is a mixture of ingredients that is pleasing to the eye, tongue and taste buds. This means the pork should be marinaded ahead to give it flavor besides tenderizing it, the mushrooms must be fragrant and not tough and the salted greens not too salty, and everything should not be too bland or too salty. The control of the heat and time to add or dish out the fried ingredients is also important. Shanghainese stir-fries, unlike Cantonese, are usually not saucy with corn flour solution.

Chow san shxi is best eaten with a bowl of plain boiled rice and a good soup. For variation, you can change the ingredients but remember to balance them by color and texture and taste. Any left over chow san shxi can be used as topping over a bowl of wheat noodles, which can be served as is or with chicken stock to turn it into a bowl of soup noodles.


Chow San Shxi (for 4-5 ppl)
200 g canned bamboo, in thin julienne strips
200 g pork (shoulder is best) or beef or chicken, in thin julienne strips
140 g salted Sichuan veg/ja chai (those in small packets), comes already cut in strips
marinade for meat:
... 1 t sesame oil
...1/4 t salt
...shake of white pepper
...1 T water
...1/2 T corn flour

2 T shao xin wine
1/2 T light soy sauce
1/2 t chicken stock powder
pinch each of salt n sugar
veg oil for frying
extra corn flour

Preparation: marinade the meat strips with the sesame oil, salt and pepper, corn flour and water for at least 1/2 hour. If you like the pork more tender, add a large pinch of bicarb of soda.

If fresh spring or winter bamboo is available, remove the outer layers and hard stem, then cut into half and boil them in plenty of water for 10 minutes. Cut into very fine julienne strips when cool.

The ja chai comes cut in strips that aren't very fine so you can cut them thinner if like (but I don't bother). Do not wash because the ja chai in packets are seasoned and ready to eat, unlike the loose ja chai sold in wet markets.

1. Put 3 T veg oil in a heated wok. Add the meat, spreading it out in a thin layer. When the edges turn white, turn over and let fry a couple of seconds. You may have to rotate the wok around to get all the meat cooked. Stir and toss for a minute and dish it out. The meat should be almost cooked.

2. Add the bamboo (there should still be a coating of oil on the wok so the bamboo will not stick. If not, add a drizzle of oil) and stir fry, adding a pinch of salt and about 1/4 t of sugar. Lower the heat and let the bamboo fry for 1 minute.

3. Add the ja chai, stir well to mix the two ingredients. Now add the meat increase the heat, and stir quickly to mix. Add the wine, soy sauce and chicken powder, stir -frying all the time. If and only if the mixture looks too dry, mix 1 t corn flour with 1 T water and add to the mixture, stir-frying all the time until the corn flour water thickens and coats the mixture. Add an extra teaspoon of sesame oil, stir quickly and dish onto a plate. Some small strips of chili added will brighten the dish.

Manila Day 3

Update: I am told again by LR that there's lots to see and do in Intramuros--art shops, Spanish cafes, little churches, gardens, handicraft shops etc. I believe her. Too bad we got caught in a storm.

Woke up to a dark drizzly morning. A friend had sent me a message: MUST go to Intramuros. Checked guide book which recommended Fort Santiago in Intramuros too. Took a 1/2 hour taxi ride to Intramuros, the old capital of The Philippines. Paid the entrance fee of P200/RM15/US$4, and heavy rain started to pour right after we entered. Sheltered in one of the souvenir shops. Guy lent us umbrellas. Walked into the rain and wind. Wind flipped umbrella upwards, then back, totally drenching me so I ditched the umbrella. La la la ella ella eh eh eh ella.



Wind 'walked' me along. It was funny. We laughed and giggled for no reason, Hub shook head. Unspoken words were: why did we wake up at 7 am, come out here, in the rain and wind, to see a lousy old fort?



A few cannons, small stretches of walls and a nondescript fort. Nothing you can't get in Malacca. That LR, I'm going to get her for this.



I found this on the ground. Flavor was pleasant, like soursop. Saw them in the supermarkets. too. Had fuzzy skin just like peaches.



Checked out the Manila Cathedral. Nice stained glass and sombre atmosphere. Miss that and the Our Fathers and Hail Marys. Too much babababadededebaba in charismatic churches sometimes. Headed back to Manila. This doesn't happen in Makati but anywhere outside of the posh district: people knocking on your taxi window when the lights are red, trying to sell you things.



The poor little girl was standing in the rain, knocking on Yi's window. She indicated P10 but Yi gave her P20/RM1.50/US$0.40 and in return got 5 beautiful strands of jasmine buds, some of which we gave our cabbie to hang.

Fell asleep. Tap on shoulder. Looked out, saw this:



And this:



And some boys playing happily in the flood but camera shutter lagged. Don't know how long we were stuck in the flooded road, but from the time I woke up until we got into Makati (where the road suddenly turned dry) was 15 to 20 minutes. I got anxious. What if we had to wade through the water? I bet Yi'll enjoy it (and me too) but I'd die worrying about the diseases I'd get. But lucky for us, not a single car stalled in the flood. What engines do they use?

Took 1 1/2 hours to get back to Makati because of the flood and traffic. Decided to head for Clark at noon although our flight was at 6 pm. Just in case the flood got worse you see.

Airline counter not opened. No taxis in Clark, only private-owned cars. Guy wanted P315/RM23 /US$7.50 for a 10 minute ride to the nearest mall. Robber. Clark and surrounding very green and beautiful. Wondered why people rush to Manila when they can live in Clark. Saw many old white men with teenage Filipino girls. Cabbie said Clark is a favorite destination for Italians and Australians because there are 100 bars with 4000 bar girls, poor and hungry. "You've got what I want, I've got what you need." Is that exploitation or is that a ticket to a better life?

Mall food again. Picked Gerry's Grill because Hub wanted meat. Ordered enough for 5, lots of pesos left.


Gerry's crispy pata/pork knuckle is what made the chain restaurant famous. I found it disappointing-- sticky and chewy and not at all crispy. We bagged the leftovers and brought it home for Wey who ate all the skin and licked the bones. P415/RM31/US$8.


Inihaw na pusit is grilled cuttlefish P305/RM23/US$6. I had to eat most of this because the others disliked the sugary taste. This is a complaint most non-Filipinos make about Filipino food--the addition of sugar to most savory dishes.


Inahaw na liempo P135/RM13.50/US$3.60 was just grilled pork belly with no special flavor. Again, a bit too sweetish for us. I ate a bowl of rice with the liempo because of the chili lime dip--so like what we get at home.


Bangus ala pobre P220/RM16/US$4 was the dish we most enjoyed. The bangus/milkfish was tender, fresh, flavorful and sweet. How do they remove the millions of bones?


Okay so it's chain restaurant desserts but we loved it. Leche flan P56/RM4/US$1.10 and buko pandan P35/RM2.60/US$0.60

Overall, Gerry's food was not bad when we were eating it but when we were done, we felt a little uncomfortable because it truly was a very greasy meal. Yi said that if we had eaten at Gerry's instead of Mangan on the first day, we would've had a better impression of Filipino food. I agree but then you can't go wrong with grilled food, ya?


Chicharon, crispy pork rinds , is a very popular snack. They eat chicharon with a vinegar and chili dip which was quite okay especially if you like the flavor of pork fat. I didn't find it very tasty and in fact after 3 pieces, my mouth and throat were parched, leaving me gasping for water. The home-made chicharons in clear plastic are way better than the fancy packaged ones because their rinds are fluffy-crisp while those packaged for the supermarkets are hard.

Flight back was terrible because of turbulence. I was strapped to my seat and gripped the armrests for the duration of the 1 1/2 hour flight. Hub slept like a baby all the way home.

Next day, papers said Manila was shut down (public holiday declared) at 8 am the last day we were there (when we were prancing in the fort) because of Typhoon Isang which whipped the northern part of The Philippines. We went through a storm and didn't know it. And that's all folks, on my Manila trip.

Note: We should've got a local guide. I think that makes a lot of difference especially food-wise. Then again a guide wouldn't be able to change the weather. And therein lies the sad fact about the beautiful islands of The Philippines: They are plagued by typhoons, earthquakes, bad management and corrupted politicians. But who am I to say that when we have our share of unnatural disasters too.

Manila Day 2

There are reasons why people don't go to Manila. The food is not great, the traffic is hell, the shopping is mediocre (I could think of worse adjectives but I shouldn't be too harsh; they need the tourists) and there's only the Ayala Museum to dive into if you want something cultural. Then there's the weather. Of the 3 days we were there, two were rainy days due to a typhoon called Isang. I'll tell you about Isang tomorrow.

It's not easy to find a place to eat in Makati in the morning but if you are adventurous, there are lots of mobile stalls like this:



The weather on the first day was fine but we went shopping. All day. The second day, we woke up to rain and huge traffic jams but that was okay because we lived only 5 minutes from the Greenbelts. Since we had done the Greenbelts the first day, we decided to go further, to Rockwell Power Plant Mall. I don't know why it's called power plant because it looked like a regular mall to me. I like Rockwell Mall. It is small, elegant and pleasant. It has top designers shops like Ferragamo and brands like Zara but just as in KL and Singapore, the labels are there but the selection is very limited. I think branded goods are slightly cheaper in Manila than in Hong Kong.

We were lost again when it came to lunch. What can you eat in a mall? It was either Filipino-American fusion or fast food. I was thinking of trying California Pizza but the others wouldn't touch Italian after last night. The only food we all agreed on was Japanese shabu shabu, again something we didn't expect to eat in Manila.

We are true Chinese to the core, because we felt so good eating Japanese shabu shabu, which is like a poor man's version of the Cantonese steam boat. The soup and the lack of oil were refreshing and blandness was welcome when your taste buds are tired.


I liked the wheat noodles the most. Chewy and smooth.


Shabu shabu + halo halo = happy happy.

Rockwell is small and isolated so we took a taxi back to Glorietta and went to the supermarket for fruits. We asked a lady where to get the best lechon, and she asked what lechon we wanted, chicken or pork. I thought lechon was roasted pork. Same thing happened when we asked a taxi driver, who wanted to know if we wanted lechon baboy (pork) or lechon manok (chicken). I've since found out that lechon in Spain is suckling pig but in The Philippines, lechon refers to the roasting method of cooking. So when in Spain, ask for lechon but when in The Philippines, ask for lechon manok or lechon baboy or lechon baka (beef). But to confuse matters, lechon kawali is pork fried in a kuali (wok) so I think the word is pretty much misused.

Anyway, the lady directed us to Lydia's Lechon located in the basement of Landmark. There were lots of other places for lechon but we'd have to go out of Makati. We went to Landmark's food court in the basement but couldn't find Lydia's, which was unfortunate because I've since found out that the lechon in Lydia's Lechon chain of restaurants is the most well-known in Metro Manila. We settled for the Baliwag lechon, but they were out of lechon baboy so we had the lechon kawali, which like I said earlier is not roasted but deep-fried.


Little pockets of well-manicured gardens that connect the shopping and office buildings of the Greenbelts. Metro Manila is very green, with lots of nice medium-sized trees lining their streets.


Baliwag's Lechon kawali was tasty, tender, lean but not dry. The skin though was thin and hard-crispy, probably because it was deep-fried. I doubt it was a suckling pig because there was too much meat. P165/RM12/US$3.15 plus a bowl of rice and a plum sauce dip.

My only regret about the trip now is that we didn't go to La Loma in Quezon City where rows of lechon baboy are displayed outside the restaurants. We thought we could eat lechon baboy anywhere in Makati but everytime we asked, it was sold out or unavailable but lechon kawali was always on the menu. I think that's because lechon kawali is just pork belly which can be fried to order anytime while lechon baboy is cut from a whole roasted pig. We never got to eat lechon baboy.

The next place we went was to satisfy my daughter. We were told that for cheap clothes and shoes, we should try Greenhills. The locals, such as the lady we spoke to and the cab drivers, insisted we shouldn't go there but Yi was curious and she loves cheap bargains so we took a cab out to Greenhills. Taxi rides are very cheap. A half-hour ride costs about P100/RM7/US$1.90 and all taxis are metered. But never sit in front. I did once and couldn't wait to get out. Most of the roads are not marked and a 5 lane road can fit in 8 lanes of cars, each one 1/2 foot apart and racing at 80 kmph in heavy traffic. Coming from small town KK, taxi rides in Manila are terror rides. I wouldn't recommend jeepneys either. Their drivers are either crazy or seeking reincarnation.

What can I say about Greenhill? It was a waste of time for me, but Yi picked up a couple of P130/RM10 T-shirts.

Dinner was in Greenbelt again. Hub wanted to treat us to a good dinner since he was happy that after 2 days, we still had half the P26000/RM2000/US$540 we brought with us. I got the feeling that I've made the stupidest decision to shop in Manila and not Hong Kong this year. In the end I didn't buy a single thing except for dried mangoes and chicharon (crispy pork rinds). Dang.

Zuni Restaurant & Wine Bar was rated Manila's top restaurant by The Philippine Tatler magazine, a fact that was printed, framed and placed at the door. The restaurant did look very elegant, and it was full with expatriates dining al fresco next to a beautiful strip of garden.


Two doors from Zuni was a Japanese restaurant which was packed earlier. Love the garden.


Hub had the US Top Blade P615/RM46 /US$12.50 before tax and service. It was quite flavorful.


My choice of BBQ pork ribs was drowned in too much sauce to really taste the meat. P600/RM44/US$12


Yi's Surf N Turf was the best. P680/RM50/US$13.50

My prawn and dried tomato bisque was too tomato-ey while the soup of the day, mushroom soup, was the usual creamy stuff. With a moreau rouge from France, the meal was P2690/RM199/US$54 which was not bad considering the high rating of the restaurant. Maybe because the ribs and prawn bisque disappointed me so I rate this place 7/10. We skipped the desserts which were all western cakes and saved our stomachs for Manila's famous ice cream and leche flan and planned to listen to the lounge music at Shangri-la Hotel, which was nearby. However, both Yi and I could only manage one block before our legs gave way. We'd been walking from 10 am until 11 pm, with only meal breaks in between. I love it when my thighs quiver from fatique. No pain no loss.