Sinigang Na Lechon

With the Chrismas season banging in left to right parties, I'm sure the famous local dish lechon (suckling pig) would flood the dinner tables. Inevitable lechon leftovers at the end of the party.  Paksiw na lechon as a recycled lechon  recipe is a cliche' already. Although still the most practical way if you were into storage and saving for the next meal.

But if you're digging for some tasty soup, you may opt to use leftover lechon meat and skin for sinigang (tamarind based meat soup).



I did try cooking "sinigang na lechon" for dinner last night. I worked with hotel's buffet version of the dish. From my own taste memory of those I had from Filipino buffet spread in the hotels. I don't have exact recipe thu'. But turned out okey and delighted my family of  foodies.
I cooked it the way I do my regular pork sinigang. I separated the skin of lechon from the meat cos I remember enjoying a version of it in one hotel with the skin still crunchy over the hot soup. While the veggies and the lechon meat were still cooking, I reheated the lechon skin in the oven hoping to regain the crunch. 97% successful. To plate, I put the soup in a bowl and  topped with the crunchy skin.
I think could be tweak better next time.
Must try.

Filipino Buffet

Everytime bestfriend (based overseas) has her random visits here in P.I., our default dining hubs would be those buffet restos serving filipino dishes. In between shoppings at Glorrieta / Greenbelt (Makati), Dad's Kamayan & Saisaki would always be the most accessible for quick lunch fix.



She would fill-in her cravings for Filipino home grown dishes. .

my first serving

2nd serving

. . and I would indulge on dishes I'm not making at home like sushi (remember Dad's has crossover buffet- Saisaki ), roasted beef, the etc's that aren't homecooked dishes.

Another favorite is the Cabalen's. It's actually very similar to Dad's in the sense that both are serving Filipino and Japanese buffet dishes. Both are also very accessible with branches inside popular malls in the country.






This Cabalen's outlet in Glorrieta, Makati is particularly chic with awesome interior.



Cabalen @ Festival Mall
Try to compare this branch to their other branch in another mall and you would see another feel of ambiance. It just goes to say that ambiance and location  make a lot of difference.

Filipino dishes on parade. .

. . complete with our famous lechon (suckling pig)

Bestfriend concluded that between the two filipino buffet restos, Dad's is better. It has a wider array of buffet spread and foods are warmer and fresher. Ofcourse, Dad's buffet plate is more expensive too than Cabalen's.

Selera Restaurant

At Nongsa Point Marina & Resort in Indonesia, we took our lunch at the Selera Restaurant located at the wing of the hotel lobby.



The restaurant succeeds the white domination theme of the hotel.




For me the focal point of Selera is the picturesque  marina spreads infront of the restaurant. However, that day the rainy weather got in the way. I bet, from this focal angle, on a sunny day the marina would be a sight to behold.

I was pretty excited ( I swear I was! I always try to put on a poker face whenever, haha ) to taste Indo dishes. I might have had some of them in SG and Malaysia, but I couldn't specify at this point..

From this menu, the most I was familiar with was _ "goreng". Only because, back home_  mi goreng instant noodles are staple and would always occupy a big space in our weekly grocery cart.

Bestfriend was quick to order her favorite nasi goreng. I cut my confusion and mirrored her choice. She had it a lot of times here. .case closed, haha



Nasi Gorengkoe. Rice with chicken satay, fried chicken, fried prawns, sliced omelette, local pickles and prawn cracker. It's a chef creation and lemme warn you _ everything in the plate was spicy, yes even the rice... haaaahhh, waterrr please!!!!



Rendang. As usual my brother default dish would be meat!! Specifically something beef. Rendang is a popular Indonesian beef stew. The plate was served with rice, local pickles and prawn crackers.



Here in our country, I could compare this plate to our local tapsilog/tocilog/bangsilog. When you get to visit the Philippines, you try our original version of nasi goreng, okey.