Good food hunting

Post-mortem after a big night out, nothing soothes the regretful soul more than a generously portioned bowl of ramen. I dragged one of my friends to the latest ramen place to pop up in the city.

“The broth is just not deep and textured enough,” my friend said as he carefully studied the steaming bowl of ramen in front of him. He then fished the noodles out of the now-declared-stale ramen broth. “The noodles, however, have that firmness. Very al dente, I must say. And I like how the coddled eggs are cooked. The pork is well seasoned but has a day-old gummy texture.”

I wanted to throw the gently sweetened cupcake (it had salt in the batter to cut the sweetness and bring out the flavor of the chocolate) in my friend’s face. I was hung over and I really just wanted to eat in silence. The pretention added an extra dose of the “shaddapIwannakillyou” feeling boiling in my battered body. Instead, I opted for a less messy cutting remark.

“How can you use al dente to describe a Japanese noodle? And who made you the expert? You were eating ramen from a cup two weeks ago.”

I attacked my ramen bowl, which was now comfortably cooled so that I could slurp those noodles without burning my mouth. My friend was right: the broth was a bit on the bland side. We had gone to three ramen houses in a span of 10 days. Although I could now tell if the ramen was good, I wasn’t about to go all Top Chef on it.

I was going to stick to my guns and keep my opinions to myself.

Manilans are suddenly having their palates spoiled with all the new epicurean trends hitting the city: fro-yo, tonkatsu, designer hamburgers, Mexican food, donuts, homemade ice cream, cupcakes, unique éclairs and lately the overrated cronut.

I’m just glad to have all these choices now. And not just single choices; they are all battling for gold. All these gems are fairly priced and it’s great that we all can now have our cake (or in this case, cupcake) and eat it too. Now, you don’t have to cross the ocean to be able to taste what a foie gras éclair tastes like.  

Is food the new must-have accessory?

The newly crowned cronut is the “it” food du jour. I don’t actually like it that much. I hate these hybrids, like I hate fusion Japanese. I love a good, simply glazed donut. I love a nice buttery and flaky croissant. Both of which are bastardized by this mutant dessert. I haven’t tried the original New York cronut made by Dominique Ansel in New York. Maybe if I have one of those, I’d literally be eating my words. But all the illegitimate siblings of this pastry have not impressed me so far.

Shit. I sound like my friend.

This influx of “it” food is a sign that we’re going up economically, and even if it’s not in a five-star setting, the standards are high. Gotta love a competitive market. I remember when it was even close to impossible to get organic fruit and veggies in the city. You didn’t have to look really far, though. They were found mostly in tiny farms in the province (thanks to CARP, the distribution of these goodies was limited). Now you have the farmers’ markets where tomatoes look like tomatoes and not baseballs. We have choices and nothing educates you more about the world more than food.

I’ve always believed that food is one of the most essential factors in learning about a country. Filipinos for example eat a lot of stews and the more “exotic” animal parts due to their position during the Spanish Era. The stews kept for days and the rich sauce made the dish ride through a longer distance. We need not explain the peasant parts, which by the way are my favorites. Let’s not forget we made a dish out of blood.

The once reviled balut is now having its fashionable 15 seconds by being the new novelty found in omelets and filo pastries. It’s a also served adobo style. I like having it when I’m sauced. It’s the only way I can eat the damn thing, but it does wonders for the morning after. 

My thing now is the very American juice diet. It’s the California girl in me. I started with the Juju Cleanse program, which got me hooked. My friend in New York who is a kick-ass nutritionist has created a program for me. Joy, my governess, is now the champion juicer. She prepares juices for my entire group of friends. We fondly call it Joy Joy juice.

After the fast, I decided to have all these nutritious juices all day save for a nice healthy meal within the day. My skin has never looked this good, my belly is now my friend and I’m always in a good mood. Contrary to popular belief, once you are used to it you actually never feel hungry. My energy levels are cray and I’m actually submitting things way before my deadline. 

We live in a time where a lot of women don’t know how to even boil an egg. I’m glad I’m still a bit old-fashioned and know my way around the kitchen. Most of us live in smaller apartments and the first thing that is compromised is the kitchen. So out we go to our favorite malls in search of the most flavorful tonkatsu or the juiciest DIY burger.

This is the kind of trend I don’t mind. I still remember the Zagu trend. It led to all these glorious foodie trends. Conversations are now more food-centric. It shows that Filipinos are open to such things and it keeps us from the trap of being insular and pompous. It educates us and it raises our standards, which is always a good thing.

With each of these food trends, we get to know what’s going on in the world. One bite at a time.