The world’s best rice?

We are not in a position to confirm that, but the latest variety of rice to hit the market is something that homemakers would love to serve to their families. We chanced upon it in a supermarket while looking for whole grain rice and we were hooked! When we went to get jumbo eggs from our suki Ruben at his RAS store in the BF wet market, he proudly announced that his store is the area distributor of Jasponica  rice under the label Doña Maria. That’s it!

The rice variety is developed and sold by SL Agritech corporation whose owner, Henry Lim Bon Liong, brought to the country Chinese technology to successfully produce the hybrid, a blend of the aromatic but not quite soft  Thai Jasmine rice and the round, soft and glutinous Japanese variety. This is one success story of a Filipino who now looks forward to exporting his harvest. And we have the pleasure of enjoying rice of 5-star hotel quality, right on our own dining table.

Jasponica comes in 2-kilo, 5-kilo and 25-kilo bags. Yes, it costs more than the ordinary whole/long grain variety (from P30 a kilo). The flyer we got said a bag of 25 kilos can cost about P955; we are getting it at P50 a kilo. One pays for quality. They are also producing brown Jasponica rice which might already be in stores. Lim said this would be for those who are more conscious of the nutritional value of what they eat.

One mid-morning we motored all the way to Tiendesitas and found the place practically deserted. A lot of stores have closed down or are for sale, while the rest of the tenants were still preparing for a mid-day opening. Thus we failed to get the bottled balut, did not manage to see the latest in their garments shops and didn’t get to have lunch at any of their food stalls. We found Lily Sevilla who sells premium fruits. Mangoes have gone up in price, the season being nearly at its end, from P70 to P90 a kilo depending on the state of the fruit. She had  lychees, sweet according to her, at P120 with mangosteen at P120, a big discount from what we paid at Market! Market! (P250), which could have been a foreign variety (Bangkok).Locally. We were told the Davao harvest is always much better. While in Market! Market! we dropped by Obi-Bun roasted siopao in the middle of the cooked food section and found  their latest filling, chicken and mushrooms.

Two restaurants we recently discovered: Mr. Rockefeller on the second level of Greenbelt 2 where MYLK used to be and Recipes on the second level of Ayala Town Center, by the main entrance. Needless to say the former has fresh oysters flown in daily from Iloilo, done in a variety of ways, as the  main item in the menu. To start the meal, we were served Martha’s Caesar Salad with oyster tempura, shrimps and coated bits of fish with honey-mustard sauce. For main courses, while the rest had their fill of more oysters, we enjoyed the other dishes that our hostess had  pre-ordered. A dish called Mrs. Rockefeller, Pasta ala Olio with anchovies and capers (P230); Alaskan sole fillet (P295) with garlic pasta; and the very tender pork spareribs. The word for premium steak these days is no longer  Kobe, but Wagyu, which actually is from cattle also raised in Kobe. If one wants to splurge, then get the striploin (P1,200) and be pleasantly surprised when the staff bursts into a welcome song when it is served. That’s new. The place is old-world US with the walls decorated with what else but oyster shells?.

Recipes by Café Metro at the Alabang Town Center has this crispy fried tilapia with a soy and onion dip. We thought the chef could have done a much stronger seasoning or more innovative dip for this fish. However, they offer very good dinuguan, saucy general’s chicken (couldn’t find out why the name), creamy gising-gising and garlic rice. With their moderately-priced food (from P145 to P295 a serving, good for three small eaters), diners can expect to pay more or  less P400 each, minus dessert and coffee.

Our attention was called by a friend to a news clip shown on GMA-7 recently of a group of people eating a half-alive fish, as the camera zoomed in on the fish that had its mouth quivering and half its body wriggling while the heartless diners laughed and dug into it. That’s definitely cruelty to animals!  We apologize if this spoils your lunch, but we thought such news should not be aired, and sentiments of viewers should be respected.                         

 E-mail comments and questions to: [email protected]