Footsteps - Jotaro's Travels: Fruits

Showing posts with label Fruits. Show all posts

Sunday, March 29, 2015

YummY! - Halo-Halo @ Philippines

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YummY!
Jotaro's Food Review

HALO-HALO @ PHILIPPINES

Basco, Batanes & Manila, Philippines - March 2015

Halo-Halo is a favourite dessert in the Philippines, it is found almost anywhere in the Philippines. It is to the Filipinos what Ais Kacang is to the Malaysians.

Walking down a Manila street during a debut visit to the Philippines, I came upon this signage.

"Hello.... what is this thing called Halo-Halo?"

We were on a trip to cycle to at the Batanes, and only stayed on night in Manila and thus I did not have the time to try this Halo-Halo thing. It was only when we were at Batanes that I did get to savour it.

So what is it?

This is the Halo-Halo we had in Batanes. My cycling buddy Ong liked it very much and after the first taste, would almost everyday asked us to go visit the shop again; after all it IS a good, refreshing thirst-quencher after a good cycling ride.

Batanes is a iced dessert of mixed tropical fruits with coconut water and some evaporated milk. Fruits that are used are pineapples, papayas, bananas, sweet potato, coconut shaving, jack-fruit, some sago beads. It is topped up with sprinkling of deep-fried rice and a thick molasses.

The types of fruits used differs from stall to stall but the rice is a must. Also using finely shaved ice makes the dessert smoother and more enjoyable.

This stall also sells Maruya, Filipino-style banana fritters. These are half-sliced bananas deep-fried with a thin layer of batter and served with a sprinkling of sugar while it is still hot.

The shop at Batanes sells their Halo-Halo at 45PHP for the "Special" which has more fruits.

It is located at Basco town on the National road and sits opposite the Ivatan Lodge.

This Halo-Halo from the Raku Hokkaido Ramen shop looks better and tastes better too as they used fresh milk and more finely shaved ice.
The pricing is "better" to at 135PHP each, three times that of the Basco one. The shop is situated at the food court of the Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Top view of Raku's Halo-Halo shows the deep-fried white rice. I especially like this as the are very crispy and crunchy.

Related Blogs :

Cycling Philippines Batanes 2015 : 14th to 21st March 2015

Summary of our 8-day trip to cycle at the beautiful Batanes Islands, Philippines. These islands are like pieces of heaven on earth, like pearls in the sea.

Philippines 2015 : Beautiful Batanes

Batanes is one of the most beautiful spots on earth. It's like a piece of heaven on earth that God in His happiness have dropped these pearls into the Pacific Ocean for us to enjoy.

Philippines Batanes 2015 : Marfel's Lodge

A homely homestay for those looking for good accommodations at the Batanes. Cooking & laundry facilities available - Basco, Batan Island, Batanes, Philippines.

Saturday, April 6, 2013

YummY! - Fresh Nutmeg Juice @ Balik Pulau, Penang

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YummY! Jotaro's Food Review
FRESH NUTMEG JUICE @ BALIK PULAU NEW MARKET

Balik Pulau, Penang, Malaysia - 30th March, 2013

Nutmeg fruits - cut in half, de-seeded and juicing.

I was up in Penang to join some friends for a cyclo-hunt for the elusive kampong Penang Laksa in Balik Pulau (... see more). At the end of the ride, some of use lingered on at the new market there and tasted this unique drink - one that possibly can only be found in Penang - i.e. Fresh Nutmeg Juice.

Making the fresh nutmeg juice is a pain-staking manual process. The fresh fruits are cut into halves and then the seeds removed. When an order comes in, these are blended in a juicer.

And Walah! Out comes a frothy, pale yellow drink. The juice has the tangy bite of the nutmeg with an underlying slight bitter taste. It is really refreshing on a hot day.

The nutmeg juice is sold by Kheng Hoe Cafe at the Balik Pulau new market. The juice they sell was slightly sweet, it would be a good idea when ordering to tell them to pull back on the syrup. They are one of a few coffee stalls that sell fresh nutmeg juice here.

NOTE: The fresh nutmeg juice taste much better than the bottle syrup sold at many shops.

My friend Larry also ordered a plate of Pasembor. It's a salad dish consisting of sliced cucumber, turnips with pieces of fired tofu & fried spicy wheat rolls. Slightly spicy and sweet gravy is poured on top.

It's sold at this stall, nearby to the nutmeg juice stall.

The pasembor and fresh nutmeg juice goes together to form a light, balanced and healthy meal.

Nutmeg Juice @ Balik Pulau New Market Location Map (Google Map Link)

GPS : 5.351919, 100.241082

Related Blogs :

Penang Laksa Hunt Ride - Balik Pulau 30th March 2013

Hunting for good Penang Laksa at a village in Balik Pulau, with an interesting en-route 2 km. up-hill push to the Hakka Village.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

YummY! - Nom Pang (Cambodian Baguette) @ Street Side, Phnom Penh

You are at - Jotaro's Blog / FootSteps / YummY! / Cambodian & Thai Food / Nom Pang (Cambodian Baguette)
YummY! Jotaro's Food Review
NOM PANG (CAMBODIAN BAGUETTE) STREET FARE

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

On my third night of my business trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia I was wandering the streets looking for something to eat when I noticed some well-patronized street stalls at a junction of Monivong Boulevard.

There were three stalls there, from right - a stall selling Nom Pang (Cambodian Baguette), second one was selling fried noodles, whilst the third one was selling blended fruit juices. Very often, in major Cambodian cities, one will find the combination of these three types of stall at street corners, or at the least the Nom Pang and fruit juice stalls.

These stalls were comparatively clean by Cambodian standards. The operators and servers even had orange T-shirts uniforms. The servers were friendly and chatty. And I was able to converse with them in my limited Cambodian, and they in their limited English.

I started off with the Nom Pang stall. Mai the operator was had a charming smile, and explained to me the way to order. Either a set or ala carte.

Nom Pang basically is a baguette sandwich, filled with minced pork lathered with the Cambodian version of kaya (coconut/egg jam) and served with pickles, fresh salad and slices of ham, and luncheon meat (Cambodian flavored, of course).

I ordered the standard set, and Mai was quick in whipping it up.

To go with the food, I went over to the juice stall to get some drinks. They had a wide array of fruits to choose from. A couple of blenders were there for alternate blending to provide faster service. There is even a gizmos to seal the caps onto the plastic cups for take-aways.

The fruits available were surprisingly many - durians, mangos, egg-plants, cikus, yam, honey-dews, papayas, jack-fruits, longans, oranges, apples, avocados, etc. What fruit to add to the mix is up to one's selection and individual taste. These are blended with ice and milk. I went for a mix of nangka, cikus and yam.

The Nom Pang set came, it was half a baguette, served with a few slices of meat, some fresh salad & pickles. The salad consisst of cucumber strips, spring onion and tomato slices. The pickles were a few mini cucumbers and shredded radish & carrot.

Underneath the Nom Pang, were four slices of meat - a slice of processed ham, one slice of meat cake and two slices of luncheon meat. They were a bit tough and fairly tasteless, I think that some flour were mixed in when making them.

I peeled opened the Nom Pang proper, inside were a fair helping of minced pork buttered up with the kaya. The minced pork was salty and together with the sweet kaya made the combination what Asians would refer to as "1/2 salty - 1/2 sweet taste". The baguette itself was nice, soft on the inside with a thin layer of crispy crust.

The blended juice came in a medium-tall glass. The taste of the nangka (jack-fruit) and cikus (Manilkara zapota) were strong, and I could taste a hint of the yam. The yam however made the mix consistency thicker. Overall a superb drink!

Finishing the first set, I was still hungry. The amount of food from the set was more like a quantity for snacks or for tea-time repast. I ordered a couple more of the Nom Pangs - just the sandwiches without the extras.

Even after wolfing down three Nom Pangs, I was still slightly hungry. So I popped over to the noodles stall to see what they have to offer. They have fried noodles, this would be a bit to heavy for me as a top-up meal. Fortunately, they also sell sell pork broth. Not the normal pork, but what aficionados will term spare parts pork - broth with large intestines, etc. This is one of my favorites, so I ordered a bowl.

The broth came & it looks YummY! Inside were some deep-fried soy-seasoned large pig's intestines, cubes of cooked coagulated pig's blood and slices of black Chinese mushrooms. Fried garlic and spring onion garnished the dish. I asked for more garlic and powdered pepper as I like my broth peppery hot. A delicious dish to complete my meal.

Prices :
- Nom Pang Set : 3,000 riels
- Nom Pang (x2) : 4,000 riels
- Pork Broth : 6,000 riels
- Blended Juice : 3,500 riels
Total : 16,500 riels or USD 4-10 (at exchange rate 1USD = 4,000 riels)

Nom Pang Baquette Sandwiches Location Map (Google Map Link)

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