Nathaniel's @ Molito Alabang

 After a grocery date ( yeah, that's the kind of bonding activity stayhomemoms do ;)) ( and please ignore the crown toy I was wearing, haha) with my gfs, I spotted a newly opened outlet of Nathaniel's (from Pampanga), at Molito, Alabang.



Nathaniel's with all the glory and fame of their buco pandan salad has just arrived at the South ! ( this was last month and the store had just opened 3 days ago then) Yeheey!!! Finally I would be able to have the famous buco pandan from Pampanga. Yeah, I hadn't yet then.
And I had to wait to get home to have that buco pandan salad cos there were too many others to try first. I took home a half gallon  for my girls and me ofcourse.



Came from a small hometown myself, I always find it nostalgic to eat in a food outlet which root came all the way from a province too. You know, the familiar snack house dishes like siopao, halohalo, siomai, pancit, etc.



The first thing we ordered were these heavenly bottles of  buco pandan juice. Ahhh.. super thirst quencher. The best I ever had. With hundreds of  buco juice/shakes store carts mushrooming allover the country, this buco pandan juice definitely stands out. It's meaty and tastes like fresh from a coconut shell with perfect mix of pandan. Very filling too as it is in a 500ml bottle. I won't recommend it as a side drink for a meal thu'. It can easily fill you up and will take a huge space of your tummy and leave a little for the main dishes. But if you're dieting, well go gulp down the whole bottle before a meal, haha!

We also had their rice meal like the beef caldereta (* as expected, homecooked goodness) for me, forgot what my one gf got# haha, lumpiang sariwa (*nothing special),

lasagna (* creamy+meaty goodness, generous serving too, to come back for)



siopao asado

putopao

Those two pao-s  are pretty much taste alike with the same asado filling. I bought packages of them for take home. My girls love the siopao and didn't stay long in our fridge.

Then finally it was time for buco pandan salad at home. The thick but young and soft coconut meat cut in squares - perfect. The gelatin is pandan-ed tasty with a hint of gooey-ness adds an interesting partnership with the coconut. It's creamy and I'd say it's not just the usual all purpose cream we use at home but I'm quite sure a great deal of icecream is the secret ingredient. The sweetness is controlled which make it easier to finish in one sitting. Yah, we did it in one sitting. Half gallon = 3 of us!!! Done.

After three days from that first visit, my girls had to drag me for a repeat visit. I suspect my face hadn't left the waiter's memory yet cos he looked at me like he knew me, haha

We kindah had the same dishes ( and the same mistake of having bottles of buco pandan juice on the side that made us not finish our plates) except for the following :

porkchop steak. my o.daughter's. I tasted it and quite salty for me.

pancit palabok. daughters loved it, better than Razon's they said.

I took home some Nathaniel's goodies too.

from the sea to my kitchen

Fresh catches from the sea_ of my hometown G.Q.

6 hours drive from Manila, here are my rewards! Fresh,prime quality and cost 50% cheaper from Manila markets.







Taking them home to my urban kitchen I try to be a lil' creative, add some colors and texture to these gifts from mother ocean.






- greens for this sea food soup

- saute' everything ( crabs,prawns & squid) in garlic,onion & ginger. submerge them in broth and sprinkle with chopped greens. salt & pepper to taste.

















-turns the blue-ness of these crabs to orange-ness

- steam the crabs











- and pair with my own vinegar dip concoction














- out of the shell and a cake creation

- crab cake recipe * see in my Sept. archive_ posted as "Crab Cake"












- lace the prawns with white sotanghon thread in a piping hot soup
- submerge the prawns in a sea food broth. add in sotanghon noodles and petchay.













- balance the sea saltiness of the shrimp with the sourness of the tamarind in an all time pinoy favorite sinigang soup

- create sinigang broth with natural fresh tamarind or use prepared powdered pack. add in the veggies and last in the shrimps.











- all in now_ Fiesta Palabok

- see recipe in Oct. archive_posted as "Pancit Palabok"






Serve to and enjoy by my family of voracious eaters. Prepare and cook by a frustrated chef of the family=> meeh!!!

Stormy Pancit Palabok

At last I was able to cook pancit palabok at home. One look in my freezer and I saw squid,prawns and crabs. I opened the lower door of the fridge and found leftover porksteak, spam, egg and some chicken. The vegetable drawer was cooperative too, it offered some green leaves,carrot, and spring onion.

Wella, well, what else were missing? The noodles, tinapa (smoked fish) and coloring for the sauce!

I ran quickly to a nearby store and found everything I needed. Even the tinapa! The store was at the entrance of our village and there was a dried fish vendor infont. Lucky me! Since, this was a first time, I let an expert help me with this, I bought Mama Sita's powdered pancit palabok mix.

The noodles cooked easy. The toppings were quite tedious : I fried the leftover porksteak to dry and sliced thinly. I sauteed the prawns,squid and crab meat. I heated the spam to crunchy and chicken. Cut the veggies and sliced the eggs.

The sauce was a bit challenging: I figured, a pack of the prepared mixed sauce was not enough. I thought I wouldn't be needing any colorant for the sauce because of the Mama Sita's. Improvision was the answer. I added more shrimp-water (shrimp head & skin's juice) than told by the pack, then added more tinapa flakes, dropped a dash of food color ( found in my fridge door_Mccormic, red&yellow), thicken the sauce by cornstarch_ voila! It was perfect!



When my voracious family smelled what I was cooking, everyone found his nose in the kitchen and rushed me to serve the dish. That expalained the "rush look" of my pancit palabok.

Ps: It was a success thu'. They loved it! Worth the effort and love :)