Haru Maki: Spring Rolls with a Japanese Accent

Haru Maki from Kitaro

Spring rolls are the sort of dish that seems to be intrinsic to the cuisines of several Asian nations.  Chinese traders over the span of centuries took them to their ports of call.  The locals liked them so much that numerous variations have been built on the basic theme of meat and veg wrapped in rice paper.

Vietnam has its goi cuon, those refreshing summer rolls stuffed with chopped bean vermicelli.  A similar dish, albeit deep-fried, is served in neighboring Thailand.  Singapore has its popiah and the Philippines has both lumpiang gulay (a deep-fried roll filled with a savory mix of mung bean sprouts, slivered green beans, and tofu) and lumpiang ubod (similar to popiah but filled with slivered hearts-of-palm), as well as the meat-filled lumpiang Shanghai.

The Japanese, however, do not seem to have jumped onto the spring roll bandwagon.  Indeed, whenever we speak of Japanese maki, we automatically think of the nori-wrapped rice roll stuffed with raw fish.  This is why I was surprised to encounter haru maki over at Kitaro quite recently.

Haru maki – literally spring [haru] roll in Japanese – can be found on Kitaro’s appetizer menu and is actually worth trying though it does seem incongruous on the sampler of goodies.  These rolls are filled with what appears to be a dry-ish sukiyaki mix: wood-ear mushrooms, bits of shiitake and beef, bean vermicelli, carrots, bits of shrimp, and nori. The appearance of the fried rolls may make you think that these will probably taste like an ersatz version of goi cuon, but when the hint of soy and seaweed hits you, you just know you’re in for an unusual treat.

These are great as an appetizer, particularly when dipped in the chili-spiked soy dip that goes on the side.  It’s also good as a main course; just get a bowl of miso soup and another of rice and you’re all set. 

Torikatsu Kare-don: A Different Approach to Curry Rice

You all know that I’ve been a sucker for Japanese-style curry for the longest time; it’s a dish that I prepare at home quite often.  Strangely enough, though, it’s something I don’t usually order at Japanese restaurants.  I am not sure why this is so, but whenever I do order Japanese curry outside the house, it’s always a toss-up between the curry rice at JiPan or the torikatsu kare-don over at Bento Box shown here.

The torikatsu kare-don is a literal translation of its Japanese name: a breaded and deep-fried chicken cutlet (a thigh fillet in this case) on top of a bowl of fluffy white rice; a sweetish brown curry sauce is poured on top with extra sauce on the side.

If you’re a fan of Thai-style sweet chili sauce or even the sweetish tang of Mang Tomas’s Sarsa ng Litson (commercially available bottled liver sauce for lechon), the sweet curry at Bento Box will suit your tastebuds just fine.  While it does have the usual nuances intrinsic to Japanese curry – hints of cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, and nutmeg – it has a sweetish counterpoint that helps it go down with rice – and a lot of rice, if I may add!  I have an inkling that the sweetness comes from a blend of apples, honey (or possibly brown sugar), and carrots.

The chicken cutlet comes beautifully crisp and is certainly not greasy.  The crunch is a pleasant contrast to the softness of the rice and the gooey texture of the sauce.  At Bento Box, this dish comes garnished with crisp takuan (sweet pickled daikon radish) which adds an element of tart-ish sharpness to one’s meal.

Quick Post: Unagi in a Box

Unagi bento

Unagi kabayaki – Japanese-style grilled eel – is one of my all-time favorite dishes and one that I consider a real treat whenever I feel really good about something.  There’s just something about this sweetly savory, rather smoky bit of seafood, this meltingly tender morsel, that conjures up good vibes for me.

Quite recently, I made a pretty good meal of a beautifully cooked eel fillet served up with a number of other Oriental goodies over at Sushi-ya.  This particular o-bento consisted of a goodly portion of grilled eel, some agedashi dofu, Sushi-ya’s yummy California maki (the only California maki I actually enjoy), rice, coleslaw, and miso soup.  Definitely satisfying; definitely a celebratory treat. 

Food for Functions: The Pancake House Special

Pancake House has long been known for really good food for the whole family.  Aside from the griddle cakes from whence it got its name, it also offers sandwiches (the chicken asparagus, in my personal opinion, is the nicest), pasta, grilled meats, and a variety of blue plate specials.  That said, it’s not surprising that people actually call Pancake House to supply them with lip-smacking / rib-sticking meals to liven up even the corniest corporate events.

We just had a contract signing last week and such an event usually calls for Delifrance tarts and canapes.  However, the technical partners for this particular signing are the “plain folks” sort who specifically asked that the food be as plain and as wholesome as can be.

Jeez, why can’t we get tech partners like this all the time?! 

Anyway, since they wanted us to keep things simple and wholesome, the organizing committee did the right thing by ordering boxed lunches from Pancake House.  Participants had a choice between the Spaghetti Club Special Set (spaghetti Bolognese and half a clubhouse sandwich) and the House Special Set shown above.  The House Special features three of Pancake House’s non-flapjack best-sellers: spaghetti Bolognese, Pan Chicken, and what they proudly refer to as the Best Taco in Town.  (Seriously: it’s what’s written in their menu!) 

The taco is good – very good, as a matter of fact.  I can’t exactly call it the best in town (there are a number of really great Mexican restaurants here these days), but it sure doesn’t skimp on the beef and the salsa is deliciously tangy.

The Pan Chicken is, essentially, batter-coated fried chicken.  In this case, the chicken was nicely colored: the proper golden brown sort.  The batter-coated skin – the best part of many a dish of fried chicken, in my opinion – crackled when I bit into it and the crunch was made more appealing by the salty-peppery flavor.  The chicken within was a surprise: I got a wing part – and I got rather iffy at first because I’m not really a fan of white meat.  To my surprise, the meat was moist, juicy even, and beautifully flavored.  I recommend at this point, however, skipping the gravy that comes with it; it tasted like Knorr Liquid Seasoning, go figure…

The spaghetti is, well, spaghetti: meaty, savory, with a slight sweetness that makes it appealing to Filipinos of all ages.  Not bad, quite good, but not exactly something to write home about.

On Binalot: Meals Wrapped for Convenience

Open me up!

Say this about the cuisines of Asia: each nation on the continent has its own way of toting about their lunches.  There are metal tiffin boxes on the Indian subcontinent and Japan has its o-bento.  Southeast Asians – particularly those in the Malayan Peninsula and the Philippines are known to wrap cooked rice and viands in layers of banana leaves so as to make meals conveniently portable long before the Americans introduced the concepts of Tupperware and lunch boxes.

Remove the paper wrap to reveal the banan leaf bundle within

In some parts of the Philippines, specifically the provinces of Laguna and Batangas in Southern Luzon, these bundles of goodness are called minaluto and are usually toted along by families for summer excursions.  In these modern times, they are known simply as binalot – a rather obvious way of saying that the food has been wrapped (Tagalog: binalot).

Here's the food: Pork Sisig on Rice

Numerous food court stalls, stand-alone diners, and neighborhood carinderias have been serving binalot meals for quite some time now as they are popular, being both tasty and cheap.  For as low as P 65.00 (about US$ 1.38), diners can enjoy a variety of foods served on top of freshly-steamed rice.

Pork and chicken adobo served with a salted duck egg and a fresh tomato is a popular choice, as is sisig, that decadent, highly savory mixture of finely chopped porkloin, pigs’ ears, and cheeks.  Binagoongang baboy, chunks of pork stewed with the classic shrimp paste, is another popular meal.  Beef fanciers, of course, are not ignored by binalot makers as both bistek (beef cutlets cooked with soy, onions, and kalamansi juice) and salpicao (beef tenderloin cooked with garlic) are also available.

Whichever bundle you choose, it’s definitely one that you’ll find satisfying.