Coca-Cola and Deep Frying

By Jermaine Beltran

I had my cousins as visitors last week from the United States of America. They are the so called "balikbayans". During lunch, I took the opportunity to ask what were their oddest foods in America? Some of them said a bunch of weird foods that they encountered in Texas and New York.

However, I got interested with Kuya Philip's food trip in Dallas, Texas - Fried Coca-Cola?

What? Now, that is odd enough that I had the urge to do research about Filipino's favorite beverage.

I searched through the Internet and came across the website, WFTV.com, where the website featured the unusual way to drink or eat Coca-Cola, even I got confused.

According to the WFTV.com Food News Story, a certain Abel Gonzalez created the Fried Coke for the State Fair of Texas. The gelatinous cola-infused snack won the "most creative" title at the Texas State Fair in Dallas last month. Since then, the deep-fried phenomenon has spread to North Carolina and Arizona.

The Fried Coke's inventor, concessionaire Abel Gonzales Jr., is a fanatical fryer — last year he sold 20,000 fried peanut butter, jelly and banana sandwiches. Fried Coke appears to be an even bigger hit: He sold 16,000 cups in the first two weeks of the fair, which runs through next week.

And unlike Coca-Cola, Gonzales has also had more success modifying his formula. He reworked the recipe to make the dough more absorbent so it would soak up more of the cola syrup.

For the rest of the story, visit WFTV.com.

If you are interested, try this simple recipe.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups Coca Cola
Oil for deep frying

Topping:
1 cup of any favorite syrup
whipped cream
cherries for décor

Instructions:
1. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour and baking powder.
2. Mix in eggs and Coca Cola and stir until a smooth batter forms.
3. Preheat oil in a skillet or deep fryer.
4. Pour 1/3 cup of batter into a funnel and in a circular motion pour batter into the hot oil.
5. Fry up for about a minute on each side and drain on paper towels.
6. Serve while still warm and top with syrup, whipped cream and a cherry.

I tried this recipe myself and it is quite awkward for me to eat something that traditionally, should be sipped out of a straw. It is gooey and sweet, of course. Just think of it as Coke left on the desert for almost a day. It is just like Coke that have been made into a very soft Tootsiroll.

What would be next? Pepsi cakes and San Miguel omelet? I will leave it to your imagination.

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The Invented Food Series: Tuna Shake Anyone?

By Jermaine Beltran

Recently, I was able to have time to relax just for a few hours, thanks to food, beverage and the company of friends.

One of my favorite beverages are shakes. Any kind of fruit or vegetable shake would be right for me, so long as it is sweet.

Last Saturday, I invited some of my college friends for dinner in Ridgewood Residence. I ordered some beef and a fruit shake. As I was playing the straw in my shake, I said, “Eureka!” and my seatmates were startled. “What if I try a tuna shake?” I got my inspiration through the tuna pizza that we specially ordered at the Baguio Country Club.

So I consulted with the resident chef of Ridgewood and he gave me this simple but healthy shake.

The On-the-Go Tuna Shake

2 cans of chunk white tuna packed in oil
2 tsp of WHITE Worcestershire sauce (Black is the same just that it does not look pleasant)
1/2 clove of garlic
1/4 Sweet Onion
*Optional: White or muscovado sugar if you are not used to seafood shakes.

Place the contents in a blender and set to "puree" for 90-120 seconds.
Pour in a large bowl and allow to chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Add crackers for extra yum and texture.

The Tuna shake tastes like tuna, of course. However, if you want to supplement your diet with a healthy alternative for your usual drinks, this is for you.

I personally like it because I love tuna, either cooked or raw, solid or pureed. It is suitable for those having a workout in the gym because of the fish's high protein content and Omega 3 which makes the body leaner and healthier. I recommend it to everyone who wants to change their lifestyles, from fatty to lean and healthy.

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ANT “BAGOONG”

by Wilna Memorial

I really hate ants, their bite sucks, they make my hairs go up and they go eat and rumble all over my pot of rice. But their perseverance and the way they help each other won’t be denied. Those are the qualities that everyone will admire.
So when I found out that they are collected, cooked and made into “bagoong” I didn’t know if I’ll be happy or not. I’ll be happy because cooking ants and putting them into fire serve as their punishment for biting us, and sad because the population of industrious beings in this world will decrease.

Eating “bagoong” ants is not that easy, you’ll think many times if these insects are really edible to eat or not. Well, it’s edible I’ve tasted and ate it with dried mangoes. It’ really “bagoong” but this is not made of small fishes, rather it’s made of big ants. I ate the dried mangoes with this kind of “bagoong” but only tasted few, because my mind was set in the fact that I was eating the insects that I hate. The insects that make my hairs go up, I was glad my hairs didn’t went up while I was eating the insects.

It’s good to eat odd foods, you’ll experience eating never before imagined foods and enjoy the idea that you are lucky among all other people because you have tasted foods that only few or no one has ever tasted, just like ant “bagoong”. I believe that only few know that ants can be made into “bagoong”. Experience what you haven’t eat and enjoy each moment they’re in your mouth because you may not see or taste it the next time around

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The Invented Food Series: Kapampangan Pork Sisig

By Tiffany Margaux Teofilo





So being a kapampangan, I am expected to make a hell of a sisig. The funny thing is- I think I do. ha! But the thing is it is not what you see being served on fancy restaurants, because this is how I cook when I just feel the craving for sisig. This is kapampangan sisig- tiffany style! The standard way to cook kapampangan sisig is have the pork grilled. But since I'm just a simple student, well, this is how I do it.

ingredients:
1/2 kilo pork
20 pcs. calamansi, squeezed
2 pieces white onion, diced
red chili to taste
fish sauce, to taste
water
cooking oil

Procedure
1. boil the pork in water, put in some fish sauce in the water, and leave until water evaporates.
2. when all water evaporates, pour in cooking oil to fry the pork until cook
3. chop the pork in very small pieces until smaller than bite size
4. mix in the calamansi, add the onions and add more salt if you want to.
5. put in the chili

Voila, it's my very own easy to do grill free sisig!

Note: Photo from Noriesta.com

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Eggplant Pizza

By: Charmaine Dizon and Tiffany Teofilo


Talong (Eggplant) Pizza

There is a restaurant located at the Upper Session Road of Baguio City which offers vegetables with really different presentation which encourage people, even those who do not love vegetables, to have a try of these foods- the O My Gulay.

We, ourselves, went to the place to experience the “magic” their foods have to offer. We decided to try their talong (eggplant) pizza, which seemed to be peculiar to us. The said pizza is made up of eggplant of course, bread, tomatoes, cheese, and pesto. As we were waiting for our order, we were exchanging jokes if we are going to like it. Just imagine eggplants tuned into pizza! What could be the possible outcome?

We have to give an additional point for the O My Gulay for their fast service. We only waited for 5-8 minutes and our order was in front of us. The presentation of the food was really wonderful. It seemed to tell us that we should have a bite of it already because the talong pizza tastes delicious. And we did! The taste was really good that even though we are not much into vegetables particularly in eggplants, we had a good time eating it.

We are surprised that eggplants and cheeze and the other ingredients involved can make up a good combination that leads to a terrific food=)

We believe that you guys should taste this one. You will surely love it!

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Cooking Leddeg (Snails) in an Ilocano Style

By Charmaine Dizon

Ilocanos have this recipe which they call leddeg, an ilocano term for snails. It is called that way basically because the main ingredient for this recipe is the leddegs which can be commonly found in farms or in places with tubig tabang.

This recipe is really affordable because it only needs simple ingredients with cheap price; the leddegs which only amounts P10.00 per sukat (size of a small can of a condensed milk), bagoong, and ginger.

Aside from being affordable, it is also easy to cook; requiring simple steps to follow. First, you only have to boil water with the ginger. Then after that, put the bagoong and let it boil again. The final step is putting the leddegs and cooking it for about three minutes or until it boils. And presto, this Ilocano dish is ready to eat!

I have tried eating these leddegs for many times and I can attest that it really tastes good. And aside from the taste, you will also enjoy sipping it in order for the meat of these leddegs to come out from their shells. But if you are in a hurry, you can use a toothpick to make the task easier for you =). So why don’t you try it? Nagimas as the Ilocanos say! =)

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Kalabasa Chips

by : Tiffany Margaux Teofilo


I've first tasted this kalabasa chips when i was in first year high school, when we were required to do it. At first we were hesitant to make them and eat them but then hey, what the heck, we decided to just get it over with.

We've heard of banana chips, camote chips and corn chips, but not much of kalabasa chips. maybe because 1)pumpkins are really hard which makes it really hard to cut them and 2) nobody really likes pumpkins that much except of course during Halloween- but then again there are plastic pumpkins sold at department stores already so why bother. At this point I'm calling my mom to ask her if pumpkin and squash are the same. she says it's sorta the same lang so let's use the term pumpkin.

So there we were, a group of not-so-much pumpkin lovers, making pumpkin chips.

The steps in making pumpkin chips:
1. peel the skin of the pumpkin (the hardest part- pumpkins have really stubborn skin)
2. slice the pumpkin into pieces and ground them (like crazy)
3. add in some sugar and mix them together (ok, so this part got a little confusing so we put in lots of sugar. big mistake
4. place the ground pumpkin and sugar in a flat surface then flatten (the most enjoyable part if you ask me)
5. deep fry until crispy
6. make sure it's cool.
7. voila! our very own kalabasa chips!

After all the cooking and waiting was finished, we had to taste our final product. and it was... and it was..... well, not that bad i suppose, the hardest thing was imagining it tasting so bad. it sort of tasted like banana chips actually, because of all the sugar. We added more pumpkin to our remaining uncooked chips an "fixed" the recipe. It was actually good. and healthy.


Note: Photo from Flickr

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The Rules of Chocolate: Humor

This humorous article came from a website that caught our eye. We though to post this just to break the ice. It is about chocolate and how to eat it. If you wanna see more, More Food Humor

* If you've got melted chocolate all over your hands, you're eating it too slowly.

* Chocolate covered raisins, cherries, orange slices and strawberries all count as fruit, so eat as many as you want.

* The problem: How to get two pounds of chocolate home from the store in a hot car.
The solution: Eat it in the parking lot.

* Diet tip: Eat a chocolate bar before each meal. It'll take the edge off your appetite, and you'll eat less.

* If calories are an issue, store your chocolate on top of the fridge. Calories are afraid of heights, and they will jump out of the chocolate to protect themselves.

* If I eat equal amounts of dark chocolate and white chocolate, is that a balanced diet? Don't they actually counteract each other?

* Money talks. Chocolate sings. Beautifully.

* Chocolate has many preservatives. Preservatives make you look younger. Therefore, you need to eat more chocolate.

* Put "eat chocolate" at the top of your list of things to do today.
That way, at least you'll get one thing done.

* A nice box of chocolates can provide your total daily intake of calories in one place. Now, isn't that handy?

* If you can't eat all your chocolate, it will keep in the freezer.
But if you can't eat all your chocolate, what's wrong with you?

* If not for chocolate, there would be no need for control top pantyhose. An entire garment industry would be devastated. You can't let that happen, can you?

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The (to be) Invented Food Series: Pancit Sinigang

By Charise C. Bautista

If I were to invent a food it would be Pancit Sinigang. I'm not sure if it's a brand new recipe but I sure haven't tried it. I guess I just like the idea of merging two of my favorites into one dish. It will be like the original pork sinigang but with pancit noodles in it. It's not that weird, I think. Sotanghon is like pancit noodles in a soup. It's the same principle but with the delicious sour flavor of sinigang.

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SANTOL SISIG

By Paola Zinnia T. Sager

Sisig is a Philippine dish made from parts of pig’s head and intestines and usually seasoned with kalamansi or chili peppers. But have you actually heard of sisig which is made from santol?

I first tasted santol sisig when my friend cooked one for our lunch. That was after our church service last month. At a first glance, it looks like just an ordinary sisig with chili peppers and onions. But when I tasted it, the sour and spicy taste left my mouth asking for more!

I was amazed when she revealed that the sisig was made from santol. It is out of the ordinary cooking, but it tastes really great! The sour taste of the santol together with the spice of chili peppers made me drool! I even ate it without rice.

I asked her how she made it. She said it was just the ordinary cooking of sisig, only that you will replace the meat with santol. You better try it!
Paola Zinnia T. Sager