Perchance to Eat
Perchance to Eat
I ingest recipes and then imagine cooking them in my head. And then I forget about them.
Because I eat out – we eat out – a lot. And those recipes lose their allure to gastronomic treats in restaurants with ambiance that is well worth the money. And I do not have to clean up (look, ma, no dirty hands!).
It is because of experiential eating. And when I say experiential eating, I mean Sonya’s Garden, which entered my reality more than ten years ago. Because of that one fine afternoon when we got lost looking for what would be our wedding reception venue, I found out that eating should not just be about good food. It should also be about having a great experience – a meal amidst a lush garden, fine bone china, rose petals in the salad, sheer white gauze in the windows, dew on the flowers, a singing dog (believe me) and a goddess in a flowing chiffon gown… And since then, we have been on the search for “the dining experience”. And the Manila restaurant scene did not disappoint – there is Antonio’s (Tagaytay), Ugu Bigyan (Quezon Province), Bale Dutung (Pampanga), Abe’s Farm (Pampanga) and the other places that have been getting acclaim – the so-called best-kept secrets.
I digress.
Now that I have a self-imposed prohibition not to eat out for two weeks, those recipes were given the opportunity to come out of my head – to be real.
One that I have obsessed about making since last year is Abe’s Crispy Tadyang (Crispy Beef Ribs). But I was wary of cooking it because I thought it impossible and cumbersome, and couldn’t I just order it at Abe’s? But I stumbled upon the recipe in a magazine and then I had these self-imposed frugal nights so it was a foregone conclusion. I had to cook it. So I did.
Would you believe it? Crispy Tadyang.
Crispy Tadyang (Crispy Beef Ribs)
Ingredients
1.5 kilos beef ribs
1/4 cup diced celery
3/4 cup diced carrots
1 1/4 cups diced onions
2 tsp crushed peppercorns
2 tbsp rock salt
enough water to cover the meat
6 cups corn oil
1/4 cup patis (fish sauce)
13 pieces or about 1/3 cup calamansi
Procedure
1. Cut up the ribs into 2-inch portions. Wash and place in a large casserole. Add the celery, carrots, onion, pepper and salt. Pour in the water and let boil until meat is tender (4 hours) and the meat slides off the bone easily. Drain the meat and set aside. (stock can be used to make gravy)
2. Heat the oil. Season the ribs with patis (fish sauce) and calamansi. Deep fry the meat until very crisp.
3. You can also make a dipping sauce with vinegar, chopped onions, garlic and labuyo (red hot chili pepper).
I replaced the suggested cut of the beef (ribs) with cubes and Bulgogi (Korean beef barbeque cut). I also slow-cooked it for 3 ½ hours instead of 4 (after all, this is supposed to be a frugal night). But I also had to dash to the grocery to get the celery. I had to use car so okay not so frugal (have to plan better next time).
Mom-turned-mad-cook is also inspiring daughter to mix things. One night – and the next two – were gelatin nights until she could not look at gelatin anymore. Another night was for boiling water, sugar and pandan leaves for some sugar syrup – which she used for her fruit shakes. She has since ventured to making scrambled eggs and baking oatmeal cookies.
A confession. I did not know the kitchen could be an enchanting place and that my head could cook up these delightful dishes with the help of my hands.
Here’s to frugal but special nights.
Article by Issa. Art and Photo by D. Copyright 2010.
website: www.YouWantToBeRich.com
email: issa@youwanttoberich.com
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I’ve had a two week eating out hiatus because I was on house arrest for two weeks! Hmmm oh hindi pala ako 100% did not eat out. there was delivery! hay. Magawa nga yan on of these days…after Dodong finishes his vacay
@Didi I have to tell you – it was really hard not to just drive up somewhere and bring out the credit card… It’s good that there’s the new baby and he kind of made us stay at home. Welcome home to Dodong! 🙂
masubukan nga ‘to. the time and effort of cooking lang is tiring after work especially when you just want to kick back and relax. i can imagine the enormous savings from not eating out. even buying groceries for a couple of meals at rustan’s will be cheaper compared to eating out at nice restaurants. 🙂
@Enuh I think that’s the reason why I also did not cook – too tired and I go home too late most of the time. But the savings really add up. When I think of the money I spent at Sofitel in one of our meals there – pang grocery na for two weeks! To us working girls, maybe weekends are our best bet (and then hopefully we will like cooking, really like it, to do it on a daily basis). Good luck to us, mare! 🙂
Congratulations, anak! That’s a start. Let me know if you want the recipes for some of the things I cook, although they usually are for home consumption only, nothing really special. You can also ask Ren, he’s turning out to be a really good cook, for a guy. (Oh, chefs usually are guys, sorry.)
Keep it up, even if during the weekends only.
@Mommy Hahaha… Thank you, Mom. I want the recipe pala for stuffed crab and lumpiang ubod. From Ren, chicken teriyaki and Jen’s kare-kare. But maternity leave’s almost done, hopefully, I can still cook 🙂
I spent a year as an exchange student in Kyoto Japan, and I have to say I probably wouldnt have survived if it werent for a delicious dinner of udon a couple of times a week! There is even one shop where you can eat for free if you do 30 minutes of washing after, but I cant say I was ever that poor! Anyway, I found a load more tasty looking ideas at this udon recipe site.