I'm really starting to hope I'll be sent to the Phillipines. I learned an awful lot about their culture and foods while dating Emmanuel. And he's about as Filipino as they come, living there until he was 8 or 9 and even experiencing a major earthquake. His dad participated in cock fights, his mom has tasted dog, and Em used to buy balut on the streets. He also fished on the beach with a string tied to his toe and climbed trees to catch giant spiders.
Em is on the left :)
I woke up at 8 this morning. Crazy. I guess I'm starting to get used to this 6 am wake up thing. I took Emma to the vet, which turned out to be closed today for some reason. Instead of wasting my morning going back to sleep or doing school work, I decided to take a trip to MT Supermarket and the Phoenicia Bakery. And OH MY GAWD I made the most of my trips. Oh yes. It was a blast from the past.....Let me explain...
I know how to make a few Filipino dishes and bought the stuffs to make two of them.
Giniling- a beef or pork dish that is basically ground meat, garlic, bean sprouts or potatoes (I like to use both), onion and soy sauce all cooked together in to a lovely mess and served over JASMINE rice. No other white rice will do.
Pancit- one of the more popular dishes and one that even my mom likes to make (although Emmanuel says she makes "gringo" version.:) I bought the rice stick and pancit canton noodles at the market, which can be bought in huge bags for super cheap. I like it made simply with chicken, carrots and cabbage, but there are many variations of it which include peas, shrimp and hard boiled eggs.
I also bought stuff to make chicken curry. I used to only order chicken yellow curry anytime I went to a Thai restaurant. But after perfecting the recipe at home, I haven't ordered it at a restaurant. I like to mix yellow and red curry paste for a bit spicier dish and I keep it simple with yellow onions, potatoes, and chicken. Served over the ole rice of course. Oi! I'm so excited to make this!!
I found some Filipino snacks that I've grown a hankerin' for every now and then. Clover chips and dried mangos. At one time we found the Filipino mangoes at Sam's in huge bags. I ate them til I was sick of them.... And had to take a break for a few years from them. Now I love them again.
Ham and Cheese flavored... ha!
Next stop: Phoenicia Bakery. I didn't have anything in mind to buy except for Baklava. I had Baklava in many different varieties while in Eastern Europe and haven't really found a whole lot that I've liked in the States since.
When I spotted the next couple gems on the shelf I nearly peed myself. I immediately called Shaela and sounded like a giddy screaming girl as I told her I had just found STOBI FLIPS!!!!
I then got off the phone, grabbed a few bags and tried to calm myself. But it wasn't long (one aisle later) before I was jumping for joy over HALVA!!!!!
Bah!
These are two things that were super popular in Macedonia and in the supermarkets everywhere. Stobi Flips are strangely light peanuty flavored chip thangs that are highly addictive. And Alva is just plain strange. But good. Stobi Flips are sold in all size bags and there was even a cheaper off brand that wasn't quite as good. Of course these were dirt cheap in Macedonia, but at 99 cents for a lil' bag, I'll have to watch myself. We would sometimes dip these in the Macedonian version of Nutella. Sooooo good.
A while back I found Ajvar, another Macedonian speciality (only they make delicious homemade varieties out the wazzoo) and was psyched about that. Today at the bakery I found a similar eggplant spread that I just tried on toast and it was moy fantastico.
Yarg!!!
I'm so excited about my finds. I'm a like a little kid on Christmas- I want to open everything up and eat it right now.
Off I go to figure out what I want to start with!
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