Let's Eat April Issue

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LET'S EAT — April 2016

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W H AT ' S I N S I D E

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GUIDE: SLEX FOOD STOPS

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SKETCHBOOK: RYAN VILLAMAEL

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ESSAY: THE GREAT BUKO PIE

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NAGA: LAND OF PILGRIMAGE

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recipes: meals for the road

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GUIDE: NLEX FOOD STOPS

LET'S EAT — April 2016

L E T’ S E AT

THIS wAY IN

oN T H E coV E R DoN JAUcIAN Editor

PATRIcK DIoKNo SPANKY HIzoN ENRIqUEz Writer

GABBY cANTERo Photographer

BERT SANToS

Photographer’s Assistant

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Contibuting Writer

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RAYmoND ANG

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Contibuting Illustrators

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JL JAVIER mANo GoNzALES RAXENNE mANIqUIz RYAN VILLAmAEL

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Art Director

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'm a boring traveler. This is something I discovered during a recent trip to Singapore where I joined a press trip, which doubled as a quick three-day break after I finally left my job of almost three years.

We were billeted in a gorgeous hotel along Orchard Road, a location near a strech of shopping malls and hawker stalls that could easily have been a blackhole for eager travelers. Anyone with sound time management skills would have taken those few precious hours after work to explore the area but being the lazy oaf that I am, only took a few trips to Kinokuniya and Basheer to buy magazines and books. I never really took the time to explore anything else that I could eat or look at, apart from the bleary view outside my hotel window (the bed was too cozy anyway).

Hungry and a bit dizzy after spending almost two hours at a bookstore, I stopped at a nearby Shiraz for a bite of kebab— something that isn't really part of Singapore's staple cuisine. I thought of the hawker stalls I could have eaten at but was too paralyzed by my own laziness. I couldn't even be bothered to walk a few meters away from our hotel to check out what restaurants I could dine in.

Given the range of coverage our writers have bookmarked for their stories in this issue, I am inspired to make the most out of every trip. I hope you do too, as you read our annual travel special.

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LUcIEN DY TIoco

SVP for Sales & Marketing

ANNALYN DELGADo Editorial Assistant

Let’s Eat is published by The Philippine Star 202 Roberto Oca St., Port Area, Manila For inquiries, call 5277901 local 132 or email letseat062013@gmail.com Facebook: facebook.com/LetsEatPhilStar Instagram: letseatph

Cover lustration by

RAXENNE mANIqUIz

LET'S EAT — April 2016 the guide

The Road To Tagaytay Quirino to SLEX Only a quick trip from Manila, Tagaytay has been a staple destination for weary city dwellers. One of the highlights on the way is the abundance of good food on the road that you may not even need to drive all the way up.

Aling Nene’s Barbecue at the corner of Vito Cruz, serving the largest, meatiest, tastiest pork barbecue skewers since 1955.

woRDS BY SPANKY HIzoN ENRIqUEz

SLEX 1st Gas Station after the Skyway is Shell which has many food outlets as most malls, such as Potato Corner, Café France, Hen Lin, Red Ribbon, Jollibee, Pan de Pugon, Cinnabon, Deli 2 Go, and the Shell Select Convenience Store.

Caltex SLEX Petron SLEX Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Pancake House, Chatime, McDo, Starbucks, and San Mig Food Avenue Convenience Store

The most unique destination along SLEX: Sisa’s Secret, a modern turo-turo that replicates the carinderia experience, complete with a classic chicken macaroni for merienda, old school hamburger steak.

Eton Exit to Solenad Mama Lou’s, Banapple, Purple Oven, and Harry’s: the popular Sydney landmark famous for its meat pies opened its first branch and only branch in the Philippines (so far) down South.

Sta. RosaTagaytay Road Rose and Grace for humongous bowls of bulalo. S&R for their giant slices of pizza and extremely tasty and crispy fried chicken.

Silang Mr. Moo for homemade kesong puti and fresh milk. Loumar’s for the best buko tarts in the area and blueberry cheesecake tarts. Good Shepherd’s “Bahay Pastulan” for Baguio favorites ube jam and alfajor.

ILLUSTRATIoNS BY mANo GoNzALES

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LET'S EAT — April 2016

woRDS BY RAYmoND ANG

A Slice of History Remembrances on the road and notes from a lifelong search for the great buko pie

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ILLUSTRATIoN BY JL JAVIER

LET'S EAT — April 2016

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suppose anybody who's been on a road trip against their will knows the feeling.

When I was younger, about five or six, I was a regular fixture on my parents' road trips. When I say "regular," I don't know if we're talking about the frequency of those road trips (apparently, they weren't that many; maybe just once a year) or how strongly those trips impressed themselves on the mind of a toddler.

Several of my key childhood memories involve being on some sort of road trip— getting dizzy from the zigzag road up Baguio and infamously vomiting in my father's new car, waking up halfway through a drive to the beach to find one of my grandmothers pinching my cheeks, making a car full of aunts, uncles, and parents endure a mixtape I made of Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls, and Aqua.

When I was seven or eight, I discovered little pockets of consolation that helped me cope with missing Wacky Races because of those road trips.

That part on my mother's James Taylor CD when "Fire & Rain" would play and I would fall asleep. That time I was tall enough to fill up a car's backseat if I lay down, but not tall enough that I hit my head

n o t r i p o f m y f a m i ly was complete for me without being able to eat a slice of buko pie on the way home, licking the pie's filling off my right hand while grappling with the car radio with my other hand.

on the car's compartments.

That time McDonald's introduced the McFlurry and my sister and I would tell my mother we wanted McFlurry by singing "McFlurry, McFlurry, McFlurry" repeatedly in the melody of Geri Halliwell's "Look At Me" (actually, I was 11). Of all the chief comforts I discovered on the road though, buko pie was the one I looked forward to the most.

Buko pie holds a special place in the Philippine road trip experience in that the pastry has become a staple in many a pasalubong stall—whether or not the delicacy is a speciality of the region even. And so no trip to Tagaytay or Laguna is complete without buying several boxes of buko pie (one for the family, one for lola, one for your mother's favorite parent rep in school) and no trip of my family was complete for me without being able to eat a slice of buko pie on the way home, licking the pie's filling off my right hand while grappling with the car radio with my other hand.

I didn't really pay attention to the makers of the buko pies we were eating then, the way you don't really pay attention to anything your parents fed you because they were all "the ube cake mama buys" or "the empanada papa brought home." As I got older, those family road trips became rarer and rarer.

I can't really remember the last time I went on a road trip with my family. Now, when I go on a road trip, it's to go to the beach for a shoot for work, or to go on some weekend getaway with friends. Not everyone shares my reverence for buko pie on those trips. And so, some drives home were not spent eating buko pie at all. Buko pie came fewer and farther between but that's when I started paying attention to the different makers of the pie.

Colette's seems to be the

favorite of most people— the one that comes in a yellowish box with blue typeface shouting "Colette's" in a Comic Sans-like font.

Colette's is okay, but I've always found the crust too sugary and too distracting.

It's almost more about the crust than the shreds of coconut meat inside the pie—which I've always considered the pie's most important part.

There's also Rowena's, which makes little buko pie tarts that are always fun to eat. I like this a little better than Colette's but while the crust is good, it's also a little distracting. It's almost like an apple pie crust on buko pie.

Manila's favorite brunch mecca Wildflour makes a buko pie now actually, except they call it "coconut pie." In a conversation I had with Ana de Ocampo, one of the women behind Wildflour, she said that she's always been a fan of buko pie and wanted to make the ultimate version.

The price is heftier than the buko pies you might get on road trips (one slice costs as much as some whole pies) but you get why—the pie is thick with coconut meat, the crust is sweet and updated for brunch standards but doesn't distract from the filling, it comes with a creme sauce that elevates the whole dish further. This might be the best buko pie, objectively. The Wildflour pie is great for special occasions—a good friend's birthday, a "welcome home" dinner for a balikbayan tita, a celebratory lunch for your college blockmate who finally decided to pursue his dream job—but also feels too fancy for the humble

buko pie.

All of those pies have their merits for me.

Colette's is everywhere on a lot of road trips and is easy to get for pasalubong.

Rowena's tart version gives it some novelty and makes for a nice treat at family reunions. Wildflour's is, like anything that restaurant does, masterful—I can't recommend it enough.

Still, my favorite buko pie is a little quieter, a bit more humble. In Laguna, Letty's has long held the unofficial title as "best buko pie." It's not everywhere in the way that some pies are and it doesn't make its presence felt by adding anything too special to the dish. It's simple. It's back to basics but it's good—really good. It's the classic buko pie recipe done perfectly—a crust that's tasty enough that it's not bland, but not so tasty that it takes attention away from the rest of the pie; a good amount of coconut meat that gives it some heft but not so much that it throws its proportions off balance. It's the kind of buko pie that waits for you, maybe, that doesn't make its presence known through loud declarations or dramatic pronouncements, but through whispers and quiet company.

And on a ride home from a work trip, it's bliss. Things get faster when you're 27.

But sometimes—James Taylor on the radio, pie in your hand—you remember the things that mattered when you were seven. I suppose anybody who's been on a road trip knows the feeling.

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LET'S EAT — April 2016

the road ahead

Enjoy a brunch bowl or a Bangkok street food staple while driving down the highway and appreciating the great outdoors recipes and photos by gabby cantero

Salt-Sugar Fruits 10 strawberries A handful of grapes 1/2 pear 2 small indian mangoes Salt and Sugar (Proportions below) Chili flakes (optional) Strawberries: Cut the top of the strawberry and quarter them.

Add 1 teaspoon sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt.

Mix well.

Grapes: Slice lengthwise.

Add 1/2 teaspoon sugar & 1/8 teaspoon salt (or less).

Mix well.

Mangoes: Peel mangoes and cut into cubes.

Mix 1 teaspoon sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt.

Add chilli flakes. (Optional) Mix well.

Pears: Chop pear into cubes.

Mix 1/2 teaspoon sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt.

Add chillies.

Mix well.

Assembly: Place in a spill proof container.

Partition them accordingly.

Store in your cooler to keep freshness.

Have an extra mixture of salt and sugar at hand.

But ter Cinnamon Toast with Vanilla Lemon Cream VANILLA LEMON CREAM 3 tablespoons cream 1-2 teaspoons lemon juice 1 teaspoon sugar 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Keep in spill proof container and chill.

But ter Cinnamon Toast 2 pieces sliced bread 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon Take out the bread crust Spread butter evenly on each toast Sprinkle over sugar-cinnamon mixture over. Be generous.

Toast for 3-5 minutes or to desire doneness.

Slice into 3 pieces per toast.

Serve with Vanilla Lemon Cream.

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LET'S EAT — April 2016 Mexican Chicken Rice Bowl Mexican Chicken 1/4kg ground chicken 3-4 tablespoons of taco mix Freshly cracked pepper If you’re using store bought taco mix, follow the instructions at the back. Lessen water added to get better flavor.

Set aside until assembly.

Mexican Rice 2 cups cooked brown rice 4 tablespoons tomato sauce 1/2 teaspoon taco mix 1 tablespoon chopped garlic Saute garlic in olive oil Add rice Add tomato paste and mix well Add a few tablespoons of water Let simmer Season with salt and pepper to taste Set aside to cool Tomato and Corn SalsA 2 medium tomatoes 2 tablespoons corn kernels A handful of cilantro 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice Dice the tomatoes. Remember to remove the seeds.

Finely chop the cilantro.

Mix together tomatoes, corn, lemon juice and cilantro.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Cucumber Salad 1/2 cucumber Olive oil Salt and pepper Peel cucumber.

Cut into half lengthwise and remove seeds.

Thinly slice horizontally.

Toss in olive oil.

Season with salt and pepper.

Assembly In your container, place 1 cup of rice and flatten down.

Add the mexican chicken on top. It should take up half of the surface area.

Divide the other half between the salsa and the salad.

Tip: If you have a cooler on your trip, bring a small batch of sour cream. Put it on top and mix well!

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LET'S EAT — April 2016

TRAVEL DIARY

The Ateneo Art Award-winning artist draws his choice meals to prepare on his recent residencies in London and Australia

sketchbook: Ryan Villamael S

French toast with mixed berries in yogurt I'm a rice guy but when you're in a place like Australia, rice isn't so easy to come by. This is a good alternative for me because it's easy to make but I think you can still get a somewhat balanced meal from this. Still, you can't beat tapsilog for breakfast.

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Boiled eggs, beans, porkchop, broccoli and cauliflower, fried rice, with orange One of the locals in Liverpool told me that the beans in the UK are particularly good. I retired my trusty pork-n-beans-in-can to try this out. It's a long process, apparently. There's a lot of boiling and waiting involved. But in the end, it was pretty good.

I made the rest of the dish with leftover ingredients from other recipes. That pork chop is leftover pork slab from cooking adobo.

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LET'S EAT — April 2016

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Oil-based pasta with prosciutto, sun-dried tomatoes, feta cheese, and basil This is one of those dishes you make when you're super hungry and you don't really want to wait too long. Cold cuts were on sale in the supermarket so I bought proscuitto and some feta cheese. I made the dish around that. This pasta is particularly easy to make because you don't even have to drain it too well. I just add oil and then tomatoes, cheese, and basil and it's pretty much ready. Preparing it almost feels like putting together a salad. I think I did this under 20 minutes.

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Pan-fried herb salmon with asparagus, potatoes, carrots, garlic sour dip, and inadobong kale I made this dish because it's Holy Week and the teenage altar boy version of me is still somewhere in me.

The salmon was on sale in the market of the town I'm taking my residency in, about an hour outside of Melbourne.

This is usually how most of my meals come together. I buy whatever's on sale and then try to figure out what I can do from there. The morning I made this, I accidentally overcooked the rice so I had to get a little creative.

I decided to boil potatoes as my rice substitute and then gave myself a treat by using kale as a substitute in my adobo recipe. It's funny, I went inside the grocery just to buy Violet Crumble but ended up leaving with four bags of ingredients.

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Spicy beef curry with cream, yogurt and coconut milk with cardamom, bread, and greens I was told by locals that the Indian food in the UK is really good. British Indians, after all, are the largest ethno-national group in London. I made sure to try the cuisine while I was there. I bought spices and other ingredients from the Indian store and brought them back to Liverpool, where my residency was. This was one of the meals I put together.

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LET'S EAT — April 2016

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LET'S EAT — April 2016

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land of the pilgrimage words by spanky hizon enriquez

ILLUSTRATION BY JL JAVIER

By bus, Naga is a gruelling 400-kilometer journey to the center of Bicol peninsula. But once you're roaming its fabled streets, it is home to some of the most exciting culinary finds in the country—from sili ice cream to "kinalas', the Bicolano version of pho

he Robredos, the late Sec. Jesse and current Vice Presidential candidate Leni, first captured the nation’s affection via their completely surprising—for a political family—routine of taking the red-eye public bus home to their native Naga every Friday night. The journey's neither easy nor short. I’ve taken the very same 400 km trip many times, and the 8-hour ride can easily stretch to 10 or 12 hours, depending on the road conditions in Quezon Province.

I go on that commute every couple of years, and I can only imagine the wear and tear of a weekly back and forth.

It’s a sacrifice, but I know that coming home to Camarines Sur is well worth it. Naga is one of my favorite cities in the Philippines. It's small but overflowing with Bicolano history, lots of good cheer, and so much great food.

“kinalas” is a must. It’s the city’s specialty noodle soup, a more opulent version of mami, made decadent with fatty bits from both cow’s and pig’s heads, boiled until they fall off the bone, hence the name. It’s topped with thick orange gravy, similar to that on a pansit palabok, and finished with squeezes of fresh calamansi. And of course, lots of chopped up chili. It’s the unforgettable Bicolano version of pho.

The first restaurant I go to every time I’m in Naga is Red Platter. Hot food in a cool, refined setting, and yes, by cool, I mean the air conditioner on high to offset the spiciness of their specialties, including a Bicolano Pizza topped with creamy laing and a shower of chopped up chilies.

Afterwards, it’s a five minute cab ride to SM City Naga for pasalubong shopping. My favorite ube hopia in

For first time visitors,“kinalas” is a must.

It’s the city’s specialty noodle soup: more opulent version of mami, made decadent with fatty bits from both cow’s and pig’s heads, boiled until they fall off the bonE.

If you’re not careful, it’s absurdly easy to gain five pounds during a three-day visit to Naga, and even more poundage if one chooses to drive two hours further down to Legazpi in Albay to marvel at the perfection of Mayon. The cuisine of Bicol is characterized by two ingredients: siling labuyo and gatang kaka. The mouthwatering fiery spice combined with the richness brought about by thick first press coconut milk, omnipresent in most of the region’s signature dishes: laing, pinangat, ginataang manok, and Bicol Express; demands that multiple bowls of steaming white rice be consumed with every meal. And since dessert will most likely be a bowl of caramelcoated pili nuts, the struggle to keep weight gain minimal while in Bicol is real.

There are several restaurants and pasalubong stops that I never fail to visit whenever I’m in Naga, but for first time visitors, seeking out

the country can be found in Baker’s Plaza by Graceland. It has a coarse, almost gritty texture, just the right sweetness, and unlike the overprocessed versions in Manila, it’s replete with tiny chunks that will remind you that ube is, indeed, a root crop.

Next up, the Colonial Grill, where sili ice cream was invented. It now offers their frozen treat in three levels of taste bud-boggling heat. For dinner, it’s always a difficult choice.

Bob Marlin, a clever reggae-themed restaurant that serves the best Crispy Pata in the city, or my newest favorite in Naga, Que Pasa.

It’s a unique concept. A Spanish “toro-toro” grill, where diners literally point at their choice of barbecue— pork, chicken, tuna, or baby back ribs—then point to their choice of sides: Bicol express, pinangat, chorizo potatoes or even mac & cheese. And finally, a selection of rice: plain, pimento garlic, or even laing rice.

It’s a Bicolano-Hispanic “turo-turo” in a most amazing high-ceilinged setting that looks like the ruins of an old fortress. Young local artists have painted the interiors with Instagramworthy magical realism murals, and the fact that Que Pasa lies directly across the Our Lady of Peñafrancia Shrine only adds to the drama of it all.

I often wish that these restaurants open branches in Manila, but then again, I’d rather they don’t. I love them for what they are, and for where they are. I rather enjoy the fact that they serve as impetus for me to return to Naga, again and again. Jesse and Leni, I really wish I were more like you, but next time? I’ll have to take the plane.

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LET'S EAT — April 2016 the guide

Half a Thousand Kilometers to the Solid North Here are several reasons to take the long road north and eat your heart out at every possible stop: an experience which amounts to several cities worth of culture and culinary tradition woRDS BY SPANKY HIzoN ENRIqUEz

a

road trip to Ilocos used to take the better part of the day; Vigan was at least a ten-hour slog through the endless tricycle-choked kilometers of Tarlac, the inevitable traffic jams in Urdaneta, Pangasinan, the brief respite through the winding roads of La Union, and then another long, long stretch to Ilocos Sur, and from there, the final leg, another couple of hours to Laoag in Ilocos Norte.

The world-class improvements in NLEX, leading to a seamless merge with the SCTEX, and now, a smooth transition to the TPLEX, has cut down the trip by at least two hours.

Under optimal road conditions, driving at night, it can be an even easier trip: point to point, Balintawak to Vigan, in only 7 hours.

But if you’re not trying to break any land speed records, it’s best to take full advantage of the drive by taking the time to break the monotony by making stops in some of the most beloved restaurants along four provinces on the northern route.

1st Stop: Binulo in Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga

3rd Stop: VFW Post 9892 in Bauang, La Union

You can’t go up north without a taste of Capampangan cuisine. Binulo’s is the best bet inside Clark, and it’s got all the manyaman classics: an order of sizzling sisig is mandatory, along with crisp fried catfish served with the traditional sides: homemade buro (fermented rice), eggplant, ampalaya, and mustard leaves. Paco (fiddle fern) salad to assuage one’s guilt before the must order Pitian, Pampanga’s freshlyfried chicharon, back fat and all, served with sweet-sourspicy atchara.

The U.S. Air Force used to have a facility in La Union: Wallace Air Station. VFW stands for “Veterans of Foreign Wars”, and the Post actually has a twofold purpose: a gathering place for servicemen who used to be based in Wallace, and a restaurant that serves AllAmerican fare. Just like Post 2485 in Angeles, the VFW in Bauang is open to the public, and serves some of the best chili con carne in the country, along with a military mess hall staple: the affectionately nicknamed “S.O.S.”, a peppery milk-based gravy poured over ground beef on a bed of toasted bread.

4th Stop: Irene’s Empanada in Vigan, Ilocos Sur

2nd Stop: Matutina’s in Urdaneta, Pangasinan

After all those hours on the road, the reward is Irene’s, home of the award-winning empanada, considered by locals and tourists alike as the best version ever of the Ilocano comfort food.

Order the “Jumbo Special”: two eggs, a double serving of ground up garlicky Vigan longganisa, grated green papaya, all in the distinct orange-hued dough. Shower it with sukang Iloko, take a bite, and shout “Naimas iti!”

The first restaurant right after the TPLEX exit. And since there are still no gas stations on the new highway, Matutina’s has become a compulsory and convenient stop to stretch one’s legs and walk right in for the best Kilawin Bangus in the country. Pangasinan’s pride is its milkfish, in particular, those from Bonuan, and Matutina’s specializes in preparing that in all its glory. Bangus belly, with that irresistible layer of black gold, that glistening oily fat, fried or grilled. Eat as much as you want. It’s good for you!

ILLUSTRATIoN BY mANo GoNzALES

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d ow n l oad Issue s of l et’ s eat f or fr ee on bu Q o

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L E T ' S E AT y our guIde to the c I ty’s b es t food s p ot s every la s t s unda y of the m ont h