Sisig and Papaitan = Aysee

There is no better definition for Aysee than equating it to one of, if not the best place for sisig and papaitan.

Sisig served on a smoking sizzling plate with fresh egg is a picture of what doctors would exactly want us to stay away from. Read: Hyptertension AND Cholesterol.

Papaitan is a soup of innards, usually goat or beef, that plays between bitter-sour-gingery tastes.

The original place is in St. Martin street, infront of Ultra in Pasig (Valle Verde 1 area) beside Robinsonland’s new property, Vimana Verde.

Don’t expect anything posh, the place is a true blue carinderia style with a mix of patron ranging from all walks of life– whether you come visit via cadil-lakad (by foot), taxicab, installment car or a luxury vehicle; from famous basketball athletes to students and padyak boys- and yet all these people come back to have a taste of Aysee’s Sisig and/or Papaitan.

The pictures above were taken just a week after my friends and I had our afternoon snacks here. We were then on our way back to Manila from our day tour at Chateau Royale Resorts.

The blueberry pancakes were for my household angels as they were in awe of my description of how it looked like when each of my friends ordered this sweet looking delight a week earlier.

I won’t rave (or rant) on how the food tastes like. The ambiance of this place, for me, is what sells. If you go to Tagaytay, the Bag of Beans is just one of those places you’d make sure to spend sometime before calling it a successful weekend. From buffet breakfast or lunch to snacks of coffee and sweets, the menu suits most types of interests specially their all day breakfasts of pancakes.

You’ll find Bag of Beans at the right side when en route to Batangas and will not miss the swarms of cars looking for parking spaces to buy their coffee beans and breads. Should you be interested to dine in, there are three parking spaces at the side and back of the resto.

Address : 115 Aguinaldo Highway, Mendez Crossing West, Tagaytay City, Philippines

For Reservation, contact #: +63922 873 9686 or +63920 954 6370

Egg’s Nest

This post was inspired by a Facebook status I saw last week by one of my friends, Mackies.

The recently engaged and in love Mackies posted a picture of her first attempt to prepare, whatelse… Chaaaran! Bird’s Nest. And so I thought, “haven’t done this is a long while… Lemme see…”

Well… I’d rather call this Egg’s nest for the reason that the other star in this show is an egg. The other one is the bread.

This is really a simple and easy to prepare breakfast (or meryenda) favorite. Just get 1 piece of egg, 1 piece of bread, a non-stick pan, some oil or butter, seasonings or just salt and pepper.

First step is to create a hole in the middle of bread using a cookie cutter or if not available, just use a small glass or coffee cup and cut around the cup’s edge. Heat pan, spray or drizzle with oil. If using butter, spread some till melted and then put in bread. Crack the egg into the hole of bread. Season with salt and pepper. Wait till egg is done to preference. That’s it. Serve and enjoy.

In the picture above, I put in some freshly ground pepper, salt, and dried basil leaves. I covered the pan to fully cook the egg. I’m not really the oozing-sunny-side-up-egg kind. Another alternative is to toast one side of the bread, flip it over, then put in the egg. In this way, both sides of the bread were toasted.

It tends to be toasty and crumbly that’s why I did not pre-toast one side. But if you like it that way, then do it. If you like to put on grated cheese, why not

It’s been said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And there are ways of making it more interesting in a simple way like preparing egg’s nest.

Suffice to say I prepared this for my afternoon snack, may not be as important than breakfast but it was definitely good with my afternoon coffee.

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“Isda” is a local term for fish. This maybe galunggong, tawilis, tambakol or tulingan. For those who are not so familiar with these fishes, Yellow Fin might ring a bell.

1) Clean and salt fishes or slices of fish.
2) Arrange in a clay pot together with slices of onions (about 2 pcs medium or 1 large piece) and crushed garlic (1 whole piece if Taiwan variety or 3 pcs if local variety).
3) Fill pot with water up to the level of arranged fishes.
4) Add salt and pepper.
5) Add in vinegar, about a cup. After boiling for about 10 mins, vinegar may be added if preferred. For some, placing dried kamias at the bottom (before piling up the fishes) may be used in place of vinegar.
6) Boil for 10 mins then lower down heat to simmer.
7) Usually this is cooked for about 4 hours minimum up to 6-8 hours in Batangas over fire from wood. Hence, there is no worry for consuming so much LPG or electricity. When the fluid has reduced by half, which is now brownish in color, water may be added up to the time it reaches until 4 hours. The term for this is “banto.” Wait till around 1-1.5 cups of fluid had been left after hours simmering. Serve with steamed rice.
9) Enjoy!

Batanguenos eat this with “sabaw kape.” This is when Barako coffee is poured over steamed rice.

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Talk about Chinese food and what comes into my mind is my father. Tatay’s usual pasalubong when I was in college would be siomai and when we eat out, it’s in a Chinese resto.

During our childhood days, Greenhills Shopping Complex is THE place  to be and to be seen. It was like the summation of today’s Fun Ranch, Tiendesitas, Bonifacio High Street, and Greenbelt Cinemas. During the time when Sundays are strictly for attending Mass, eat out in Greenhills, watch GMA Supershow, and then Lovingly Yours Helen while having merienda of turon or banana que.

Yes some 20 or more years ago.

Those lunches at Greenhills were limited to the usual kiddie fastfoods at the time, what else: McDonald’s, Jollibee, AND Tropical Hut. I seldom go to Greenhills now. It’s very stressful to find parking space during Christmas season. Here in the Philippines, this means September till January. In a sense, it tells us that Greenhills has stood the test of time in addressing diverse interest of the national capital’s populace.

But of course, it’s not weekly that we eat out for burgers and chicken. They were reserved for Le Ching Tea House. In a way, Le Ching was like an extension of our dining room at that time as we get older. When we go to Greenhills, we go to Le Ching. It’s automatic.

My Tatay and I are miles away- he in US, I in Manila. So when he had the time last year, we went to Greenhills together with our youngest sibling who grew up in the states. We told her stories of our Le Ching moments. My cousin and I would also visit Le Ching everytime we are in Greenhills. It’s as if something is amiss if we didn’t eat in or take away some food on our visits.

I’d say that aside from the shopping complex, Le Ching has also stood the test of time because of their good food. A lot of restos had mushroomed around the area and are able to probably offer more posh ambiance, more expensive and difficult to read/pronounce menus to prove how they are in the commercial area of the rich and known.

My hair would have that right-out-of-an-old-chinese-resto smell after eating that spareribs rice from a can, chili garlic oil, dimsums, and Mountain Dew. Why would I be bothered if that’s the scent of good memories- home, childhood, parents, and simplicity.