Growing up as a little kid and going to L.A. only meant one thing to me… A trip to Disneyland. What did you expect from a young boy?

Fast forward to today and I’ve changed. I became so interested into food and culture so much that I made it a goal to try to experience it all through traveling. The more mature me wanted to revisit Los Angeles and eat my way through it.

This past weekend Rose and I packed up for what would become one refreshing gastronomic adventure. Here’s a small slice of what to expect.

Continue Reading » Eating Our Way Through L.A.

Laguna is known for their abundance of coconuts. It’s not uncommon that Laguna is also home to the best coconut or buko pies in the Philippines. As you drive through Calamba City, you will see numerous buko pie vendors are lined up right next to each other on the side of the road. Various sources claim the best buko pies come from Lety’s, The Original, and Colette’s. Instead of going for what we heard, we decided to explore a smaller bakery to try out their buko pie.

Neneng’s Buko Pie Shop was located by itself with a small crowd outside. We made a quick stop and picked up two pies to try out.

Continue Reading » Laguna’s Buko Pies

This sizzling platter of pork bits is a classic Filipino appetizer or pulutan. You may have seen the episode of No Reservation’s Philippines where Anthony Bourdain made a visit to Aling Lucing’s restaurant. While out on my adventures in the Philippines, I made sure that I was going to stop by Angeles City in Pampanga to try Aling Lucing’s sisig. Aling Lucing is crowned the original sisig queen of the Philippines for inventing the dish. Sisig usually is made by combining pork meat, pig ears, liver, onions, chili peppers, vinegar, and soy sauce. All of the ingredients are served on a hot platter. Hence the name sizzling sisig.

Just writing about this reminds me about the first time I tried sisig. At first I wasn’t aware of what components made sisig. All I knew is that it tasted good. When a cousin told me it was made out of parts of a pig’s head, I didn’t even flinch. Being thirteen and having someone break the news to you like that about one of your favorite foods, can be quite the surprise. By then I reached the point where my young mentality told me, it’s all about flavor, not what it’s made out of. There are so many foods out there that taste delicious, but are made from things that we think are unusual.

I’ve had sisig from many places, but Aling Lucing’s sisig has to be the best sisig I’ve tried. You are getting plenty of pork meat with lots of fatty pieces of pork face and onions to go along. One of the best things about sisig is hearing the sizzling and crackling sounds it emits from the hot platter. There was plenty of that going on here. It’s enough to get your mouth to water.

The flavor combination that Aling Lucing uses for her sisig gives just a bit of sweetness to this savory dish. Having the crunchy and soft textures of the pork, mixed with its robust flavors was very addicting. Our first trip here was so good that we returned back for a second time.

You don’t even have to travel to the Philippines to sample this popular dish. Most Filipino restaurants in your neighborhood will have it on their menus.

While on my trip in the Philippines, I picked fresh ripened star apples from my back yard. This fruit has a texture of a very creamy mango.

You can eat the fruit plain, but I like making a quick refreshment out of it. Just take the flesh from the apple and mix it with ice, milk, and sugar. Simple!