798 Art District - The Modern Side of Beijing

I enjoyed a quick trip to Beijing with my office mates last week-end and after going to all the must-see-historical-cultural sites -- you know, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, The Great Wall, The Summer Palace ... I was just about up to my eyeballs in tradition and culture.

I wanted a taste of the new and modern Beijing!

So my friend and I broke off from the rest of the pack, hired a car and took off for 798 Art District -- the center for modern art in this part of the world!

798 Art District is located in the Dashanzi area, north of the center of Beijing. It's actually on the way to the airport so it's convenient if you have a few hours to spare before flying out.

The place is quite big -- it's made up of factory buildings originally used for manufacturing but in the early 2000's, the factories were abandoned and the artists started to move in.

Given the industrial look and architectural style of the buildings, it's a perfect setting for the avant garde, the contemporary and the cool!

Today, the factories "manufacture" art.

Artists -- painters, sculptors, installation artists, photographers, graphic designers, fashion designers, artisans, printers, -- call 798 Art Space as home.

There are galleries galore, small shops selling both art and kitsch, cool coffee shops and bars -- a very now place to be!

I call it the Sino Soho!

Paintings like these line factory walls. There is art everywhere you look!

Some of the art depict painful situations. It is meant to enlighten, provoke and inspire.

This interesting piece is actually a trash bin. How cool and smart is that!

Gorgeous graffiti make walls come alive. How to dismantle this and take it home?

Playful sculptures line the streets! But wait, there's something not-so-playful at the base of this mirthful mandarin!

How about a gigantic Venus de Milo done in red lego-like bricks?

I almost missed this row of mute white figures, mouths agape, looking heavenward ... a cry or a call for what?

A sign at the base of this piece reads "No climb" -- it must be so tempting to be the fifth grinning figure and climb to the top!

The streets are lined with young locals and foreigners, like me -- all amazed at the art that surrounds all of us!

A silent figure in an old and rickety wooden canoe -- where is he sailing off to?

A leap of faith! A leap of freedom! It's exhilarating, just looking at this figure in a shop window.

Further down at the end of 798 Art District is a section called D-Park, where there is a steam locomotive and imposing iron towers. The feel is industrial chic -- there is a fashion shoot that seems to be going on.

Our original plan was to spend just an hour at 798 Art Zone. An hour stretched to two then to more than three hours and yet we saw just a fraction of the place.

So many more galleries to go into, exhibits to visit, art to gaze and marvel at ... but never mind, I promised myself that the next time I find myself in Beijing I would definitely come back to this place.

For me, this is the real, dynamic China today!

Thanks to my friend Lyli for the first three photos and the last photo on this post!

Morcon By Memory

For a vegetarian, it's unnatural to be cooking meat dishes but this is for all

the carnivores I live with!

After cooking mechado a few weeks ago, I turned my attention to another one of my father's favorite dishes -- morcon. Although he cooked it only for special occasions like holidays and birthdays, it's a relatively easy dish to prepare.

As with my father's mechado, I have no recipe to follow, I cooked this dish from my memory!

Morcon is actually a version of beef roulade or rolled beef, a dish which you can find in many other countries.

It starts with a good sized cut of beef -- butterfly cut. You can use tapadera (sirloin), kalitiran (blade steak) or camto (flank steak). I buy my morcon meat at Cash and Carry where the butcher does a very good butterfly cut -- the meat is evenly sliced with hardly any cuts or tears at all. This is perfect as the stuffing is kept inside the meat and does not spill out while it is being cooked.

Once you have your beef thawed out, marinate it for at least an hour in some soy sauce and calamansi.

For the stuffing slice chorizos, hard boiled eggs, whole sweet pickles and hotdogs. I also add cheddar cheese strips which melt and add that extra creaminess to each bite. For the sauce, canned whole tomatoes are better than fresh.

Arrange the strips of chorizo, egg, hotdog, pickles and cheese and slowly roll up the beef as you go along.

I use food grade cotton twine to tie up each morcon roll. My husband Jay takes over for this task as he makes very neat knots!

Saute garlic, onions in olive oil and butter (yes, butter). Then add shin and knee bones with a bit of meat for that added beefiness and flavor. Once the bones and meat are lightly browned, put in the morcon rolls and let it cook a bit before adding the canned whole tomatoes and the beef broth.

And after four hours of a slow and steady simmer, here is my morcon, -- for a cut of beef that was slightly less than 2 kilos, I was able to make 3 good sized rolls!

Morcon may be a holiday dish but since it's so easy to make, you can enjoy it more often!

Pizzeria Mozza -- Wickedly Good Pizza

Nothing like having a little "me" time during a business trip. I was in Singapore for a quick meeting and took the chance to see "Wicked" at the Marina Bay Sands. But first, a pre-show dinner at Mario Batali's Pizzeria Mozza!

The last time I watched a play at the MBS, Mozza was fully packed. I ended up at BD -- Daniel Boulud's bistro right next door. This time, the No-Reservation-Walk-In gods were kinder to me and I was able to get a table for one.

The place was jumping with people at the early hour of 6:15 pm. This restaurant is so popular, it's almost impossible to get in during mealtimes unless you have a reservation or you're willing to sit at the bar.

Pizzeria Mozza serves antipasti, salads, some choice meat dishes but the pizzas are what bring the crowds in.

Mario Batali has a Filipina chef in the kitchen -- Karla Mendoza used to work for him in the US and he brought her to Singapore to head this new venture.

Aside from the chef, most of the waitstaff are young, friendly and very efficient Filipinas.

My server says the wait for my pizza will be at least 30 minutes but assures me that I will have time to eat it before the show.

Meanwhile, she leaves me with a small paper packet of cheese triangles that helps dull the pangs of hunger while I sit, people watch and wait.

And here is my funghi misti, fontina, taleggio and thyme pizza. It looked and smelled terrific the minute it was placed before me. And when I cut off a small bit of the golden crust for my first bite - I nearly swooned with delight.

Such a golden good crust this pizza has!

The thick cut, almost meaty mushrooms were a combination of portobello and shiitake.

The Italian cheeses fontina and taleggio were strongly flavored and quite salty, just the way I like my cheese.

It was best pizza I had ever had ... in a long, long time.

But alas -- it was too big for me to finish and sad to say, I had to say goodbye to a third of it.

There were just a few minutes left to spare after dinner before the show started. Thankfully, Pizzeria Mozza is strategically located, right across the MBS Theaters.

After that delicious pizza, it's now time for a dose of deliciously wicked wit.

The show is about to start -- time to put my trusty camera phone away!

Mechado and memories of my father's recipes

This blog has been mainly about eating out and traveling -- my readers (yes, all 4 of them) might think that all I do is go some place and eat.

Surprise!

I can cook. I love to cook. I just don't have the time to do so.

My father was the great cook in the family -- my mother didn't even know how to cook rice. Although she was terrific at teaching someone from a recipe -- but that's a story for another time.

Ever since I could remember, my father ruled our kitchen. He cooked from ouido -- by taste, by feel, by look, by gut.

No recipes for him. If I wanted to learn how to cook something, all I had to do was stay in the kitchen and watch.

He had his favorite dishes and his "most requested" foods. These were the ones I picked up and learned -- nothing was ever written down... the ingredients, the process, the tastes -- they're all part of my memories.

Thus, I can cook morcon, embotido, a unique meatball or bola bola recipe that I have yet to find anywhere else plus the other stand bys ... sinigang, pochero, asado, humba, menudo, afritada ...

So much meat!

But daddy also loved fish and seafood so I can also cook paksiw na kitang, sinigang na kanduli, pesang dalag, adobong hito and tocho with tahure.

In my mind, he "invented" lumpiang bangus, which we were eating long before I saw it on any restaurant menu. I spent many afternoons deboning the steamed bangus -- which would be mixed with gisantes, minced fried potatoes, plump raisins and then sauteed, rolled up in lumpia wrappers and fried -- a typical meatless Friday dish!

From him, I also learned to make adobong alimango, made only with the freshest and fattest female crabs from his hometown, Orani Bataan.

But for now, this post is about mechado, cooked the way my father used to do it.

My son had been badgering me to make this dish -- one of my father's favorites.

So I hied off to Cash and Carry supermarket where they can insert a whole, uncut length of pork taba or lard in the center of a roll of beef.

This is the "mitsa" or wick -- hence the name mechado.

A lot of people think mechado is just beef stew with beef chunks but daddy never used anything but this roll of beef with the "mitsa" of pork lard in the center.

After cooking and simmering this more than 2 kilo cut of mechado beef for over 4 hours, it's tender and flavorful, having soaked up the goodness from the tomatoes, onions, chorizos, carrots and potatoes, not to mention, the beef stock made from scratch using beef shin bones.

The "mitsa" of pork lard in the center which extends throughout the beef roll -- helps makes each slice just a bit more juicy and savory.

I serve the mechado sliced with some of the sauce, the potatoes, carrots, chorizos and the beef shins which yield a good amount of sinful yet utterly delicious beef marrow.

Scoop out the marrow and put it on top of rice for the total mechado experience!

My father sure knew how to eat!

See that small piece of pork lard or "mitsa" at the center of the beef slice -- daddy and I used to enjoy that as the last melt-in-your-mouthful treat ... truly a great finish to another memorable meal!

Back to Bacolod! Manokan Country and Calea - proletarian dinner, premium desserts.

Bacolod .... I'm back!!! This was my 3rd visit in 6 months.

Why do I love Bacolod so much?

Maybe because Bacolod has terrific cuisine, inspiring heritage and cultural sights and a relaxed and happy vibe.

But since this was my third time around, I had to do something different and eat somewhere I missed the last time I was here.

Manokan Country is a must go to in Bacolod. I had not been to this new site near the reclamation area so it was definitely worth a stop. It looks much fancier now than the old Manokan area many years ago. This "strip mall" structure is home to more than a dozen restaurants -- all serving chicken inasal.

Bambi, my good friend and Bacolod's best tour guide, said that Aida's was the place for the best chicken inasal. We got there just as dusk was settling -- the deluge of dinnertime patrons had not yet arrived.

The waiter looked quite offended when I asked if they had anything other than chicken.

Silly me, it's called Manokan Country after all.

But -- each and every restaurant had an oyster vendor sitting outside, with huge baskets of fresh oysters. Perhaps oysters and chicken are a perfect match?

I ordered a plate -- along with rice, this would be my dinner.

Everyone else ordered their favorite inasal piece -- pecho for the white meat fans, paa for those who prefer dark meat and pecho-pak or pecho with pakpak for those who like a bit of both.

We also ordered isol or chicken ass which came in such huge meaty chunks, plus the ever popular chicken baticolon or gizzard and chicken atay.

Such an unpretentious, simple yet delicious dinner.

And so affordable!

Chicken for 8 people plus those chicken parts ala carte, plus my 2 plates (yes, I had 2) of fresh oysters, two liters of Coke and 9 plates of rice -- the whole meal came to just P740!

The best meals are certainly not the most expensive -- foodie finds are where the locals really eat!

After that very proletarian meal, we needed dessert!

Time to head to Calea, Bacolod's premier cake shop -- located just across the L Fisher Hotel. We had coffee with Calea's famous chocolate cake -- so rich and sinful plus a slice of Cathedral cake, creamy with mosaic pieces of multi colored gelatin jewels on top of a graham cracker crust.

I love profiteroles and cannot resist them! Calea's profiteroles capped off a night of food and fun with family and friends.

And this is why I love Bacolod! I'll be back!

24 hour Sushi at Sushizanmai in Tokyo

Do you wake up in the middle of the night from a dream about food, so vivid that you have an intense craving to eat it?

I have sushi dreams!

If I lived in Tokyo, I could run out at 2 am and actually fulfill my sushi dreams at Sushizanmai, a popular sashimi and sushi chain that's open all day and night.

24 hour sushi! I know I've died and gone to nigiri heaven!

The lighted menu board outside this branch near the Shimbashi station is an education in itself. I want to go inside and order each and every kind!

Since we go during off hours, we find a nice quiet table.

Don't go during rush hour though as the queue can take up to 30 minutes!

For starters, we indulge in a nice big bowl of chirashi sushi topped with my all-time favorites -- grilled unagi, fresh ebi, salmon roe, saba, ika, tamago, kani, and different cuts of maguro!

We follow that up with a plate of mixed sashimi... just to change the pace.

Then, because we're not yet content, we order this special plate of all maguro sushi.

There's minced tuna maki, ultra smooth and fatty toro, which is served two ways, raw and lightly seared.

The slightly grilled toro is so addictively yummy, we have two more pieces for the road!

It's midnight and I am sushi-sated. A glass of cold cold Asahi beer will ensure deep slumber ... until the next sushi dream!

Lining up for Tempura at Sansada in Asakusa

Tokyo is a city of innovation and modernity. It is also a city of tradition. Wherever you go, you find iconic images of Japanese heritage and culture.

Asakusa is one such place that typifies old Tokyo -- with its temple, its shopping street of Japanese arts and crafts called Nakamise dori and its many small and old restaurants that have been there for years and years.

This famous gate, Kaminarimon leads to the Senso-ji temple. It is also my marker for a traditional and typical tempura restaurant that is acclaimed in the Asakusa area.

You cannot miss Sansada as it's just to the right of the Kaminarimon -- and you'll see the queue that starts to form even before the restaurant opens at 11:30 am.

Once you enter the door, you see the glassed in kitchen where the food is prepared. The seating areas are on the second and third floors.

We arrive before 12 noon but the western style dining room is already full. So, we wait in line and peer in, silently wishing these people would just hurry up and finish their meal!

We don't have too long to wait and are finally ushered in to our table.

But not before shedding our shoes and leaving them outside in the racks provided for them. The waitresses are grandmotherly and do not speak eigo but they know enough to bring an english menu for us.

I can't make up my mind on the dozens of tempura, tendon and lunch sets available. Meanwhile, someone lined up outside is probably wishing I would hurry up and order!

The dining room is full of both locals and foreigners. This is the western seating area where you sit on low chairs. The other rooms are tatami style but I cannot sit on the floor and enjoy my meal at the same time.

Tsukemono or pickles that go with the meal are always a delightful treat, you never know what kind you will get but they are indubitably crunchy, cold and delicious.

Of course, I order a bottle of my favorite Asahi beer.

Jay ordered the tendon with 4 prawns and a slice of eggplant tempura. A bowl of hot miso soup with small mushrooms is a perfect accompaniment to this meal.

I opt for a mix of prawn tempura and kakiage with squid, clam valves and scallops. It comes steaming hot on a bed of rice inside a red lacquer box.

Sansada has definitely perfected the art of light, non greasy tempura!

After that extremely good lunch, it's time to put our shoes back on and trudge downstairs, completely full and satisfied.

Sansada is a very good and affordable choice for lunch when you're in the Asakusa area.

Aside from the terrific food, you also become part of more than 150 years of the culinary tradition of tempura!