Local Street Food Goes Up a Notch

Hong Kong-style Noodles

My apologies for the blurry picture, but I was in a tearing hurry to get at this treat.

These are Hong Kong-style noodles, the new treat that is fast becoming the nosh of choice for people on the go.  It’s a very simple dish: noodles cooked on a griddle with bean sprouts and spring onions.  These are left plain or topped with your siomai of choice (beef or pork).  That said, it’s a good snack for both vegetarians and carnivores alike.

This is also a dish that you can personalize, seeing how it goes unseasoned.   A small condiments bar is on hand and is stocked with soy sauce with calamansi juice, peanut sauce, oyster sauce, teriyaki sauce, and a mixture of chilies and garlic in oil.  There’s just no end to the flavorful possibilities!  (A mix of peanut and teriyaki sauces is, in my opinion at least, a super combo.)

It’s also quite cheap: PhP 20.00 sans siomai, PhP 26.00 for a cup with two dumplings, and PhP 52.00 for a double order with four dumplings.  Not bad, ne?

Noon at Cafe Breton

Un Galette Breton

“What’s the difference between a crepe and a galette?” Mr. W asked me as we pored over the menu at Cafe Breton. “I mean, a pancake is a pancake, right?”

Well, yes and no. Both crepes and galettes are pancakes. In a technical sense, however, the former refers to pancakes made with white flour and stuffed with sweet things. The latter is made with buckwheat flour and is normally stuffed with savory fillings.

To make the whole deal more confusing, “galette” also refers to any number of round, flat, and crusty cakes made with butter. The headily fragrant disc of pastry and marzipan known as galette des Rois served in France on Epiphany and Nigella Lawson’s blackberry galette are prime examples in this case, but I digress…

Apple Muffins: Sweet and Wholesome

Spiced Apple Muffins

If chocolate desserts are sinful little demons and those made with peaches, mangoes, and strawberries are a hedonist’s delight, then desserts and other baked goods made with apples are the culinary equivalent of the sweet-tempered and wholesome girl next door.  I don’t know why this is so, considering how apples have long been considered a symbol of fertility.  Based on my experience, however, there is really something very comforting about apple pie, hot apple cider, and my most recent discovery: spiced apple muffins.

A Delicate Floral Confection

Nabisco Sofrea Sakura

Here’s a rather unusual treat for all you fans of Japanese snacks: Nabisco Sofrea Cakes flavored with sakura (cherry blossom) extract.  I found these going for PhP 39.00 per box of six at The Landmark – TriNoMa.

Do the Loco Moco with Me!

Loco Moco from Ohana

Salisbury [burger] steak fanatics who want a little twist to their favorite would probably want to try this Hawaiian classic: the Loco Moco. To put it rather bluntly, it’s a couple of burger patties smothered in a buttery brown gravy, topped with a fried egg (sunny-side-up and not over-easy), and served with rice and a scoop of macaroni salad.