Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Word of Mouth

I love food shopping. Most weekends you’ll find me cruising supermarket aisles, checking out specialty food shops, perusing organic market offerings or braving the morning crush at Farmer’s Market in Cubao. There’s something strangely soothing and therapeutic about being surrounded by food – whether fresh or canned, poultry, meat or produce. I’m totally addicted.

I also love to keep company with people who have an honest appreciation for food. Not necessarily hardcore foodies, but people who just want to eat well. What’s not to like? They serve good food and I pick up food tips along the way. Perfect.

My favorite in-house food trip partner is hubby Christian. He’s infamous for having solid food aversions (mushrooms, monggo, chocolate…!). But he’s also adventurous when it comes to new food and I like that. Some food finds from hubby:


Oregon Fresh Wasabi-flavored potato chips
This is hubby’s discovery and I’ve grown to love it as well. Now we always have bags in store should visitors pop in. I’m not really into chips – simply because I can’t be trusted to go for portion control . Me + Beer Match Salt & Vinegar + The Buzz on Sundays = slow descent to Dante’s seventh circle of hell. But I must say that Oregon Fresh’s sharp tang of wasabi makes me want to park the whole transfat thing momentarily. Serve it together with BLT and some kani salad. Yumyumyum.



Bulla Yoghurt Delights
Christian likes yoghurt. He actively seeks yoghurt brands to try. And he introduced me to Bulla, which is like the queen of yoghurts in my book. I simply adore their yoghurt mini sticks in Strawberry and Mango. Super Sarap ng Over. Wherever you see a Dippin Dots kiosk, there’s usually some Bulla bars available too. Whole boxes available in Market, Market.

Good pal Jay is also a favorite source of food tips. He’s such a food whore – all I need to do is call him up and next thing I know, we’re headed to Chinatown for some dimsum and dumplings. Now that’s a winner of a friend, in my opinion. Here are some of Jay’s finds:


Frank’s Red Hot Cayenne Pepper Sauce
This was pal Jay’s Christmas gift (rebottled since you can only get it by the gallon in Market Market). Oh wow, what a joy. Fry up some chicken wings in clarified butter, pour the cayenne pepper sauce, stir it up and you’ve got some killer buffalo chicken wings. Chop some celery sticks, add sour cream and you’ve got the big delish.



Bakersfield Choco Fudge
Otherwise known as Anti-Sungit potion, this is exactly what you need after a crap day at work (or a disastrous arranged date). Pour a huge dollop on a banana and you’re set. Add a little bit of milk and it makes for an instant chocolate fondue. I get my stash from Jay (I think his cuz owns the company or something). It’s for export so not sure it’s available retail. But if you do find it in some random shelf, buy immediately.


Kewpie Sesame Dressing
I first encountered this during lunch at my sister-in-law’s. To begin with, Kewpie has a kitschy line, “for ages 1-100”. How cute is that?! But there’s nothing cute about the Kewpie Sesame Dressing. It is quite simply: The Bomb. Slather it on any ordinary salad for an instant boost. I like it with some salad greens, cherry tomatoes and mango slices. I’ve never met anyone who didn’t instantly fall in love with this dressing. Can be found in Japanese groceries along little Tokyo and Milelong makati (COOP, etc). A bit pricey but super worth it.

Got any food finds for me? : )

21 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

giving a way my secrets! :p

to clarify on the clarified butter- fry the chicken first in oil than toss in a mixture of 3 parts clarified butter two parts franks. delizioso!

The chocolate is available through my cousin who imports the stuff under actron industries. he also sells chocolate blocks (dark, white, milk, sugar free) by the kilo.

6:38 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I love Bulla yoghurt ... they have some nice fruit-topped yoghurt in S&R but for a whopping P120 or so for a little container.

9:35 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

can't get enough of that yoghurt

9:50 PM

 
Blogger blair_mitch said...

Wysgal you can get the Bulla bars at Php 40-60 in Dippin Dots stations! : )

9:01 AM

 
Blogger blair_mitch said...

Wysgal you can get the Bulla bars at Php 40-60 in Dippin Dots stations! : )

9:01 AM

 
Blogger becky_boop said...

choco fudge in a jar. how wonderfully convinient! this will surely come in handy when im tamad to make fudge (from scratch) for my cupcakes.

now why didn't i think of just using ready made fudge before? would have helped cut my baking time in half! hehe! so thanks a bunch, you gave me an idea! :)

oh, and your baby is such a cutie pie! :)

xoxo
BakerBecky

11:26 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh that salad dressing was awesome... I think we used up most of your stash during that last dinner ;-)

1:28 AM

 
Blogger Jen Tan said...

4I'd like to share me and my sister's recent food find... QUAKER SOY CRISPS!!!! (Made buy Quaker Oats manufacturer)It's sooooo good and nutritious to boot! With 5.5g of Soy protein with every serving. It comes in white cheddar and bbq flavors. We love them both!!! =)

11:00 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Agree! Sarap talaga ng Bulla.
I will try Oregon Fresh. Saan mo nabili blair?

8:54 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

actually you can buy frank's hot sauce at unimart in bottles, the smallest one is P48.50. thanks for the tip on the frozen yoghurt, i always see it at S and R but have never tried it, will buy some this weekend...

3:31 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Unimart is the haven for imported goodies. Oregon Fresh easily found over there. They even have seaweed flavor.

10:36 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

kewpie makes great mayo too. i like going to coop after sango for cheap japanese goodies.

8:51 AM

 
Blogger russkal said...

I hate wasabi! And red hot cayene sauce!

Come to think of it, i hate everything spicy!

They make me perspire.

I know, I'm a wimp

11:33 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

A friend of mine told me about that salad dressing, swearing by it up down and sideways...I guess it is really that popular!

I like Bulla too but I really prefer natural flavor because I like to put in my own stuff...if you like natural flavor too try Lemnos brand from S&R...it comes in a 2 kilo bucket though...super thick...

I'm getting that salad dressing asap! :)

9:44 PM

 
Blogger christine said...

What happened to blair mitch? We miss your posts!

8:48 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mitch, I bought that dressing (well, a different brand, but same thing; also says "age 1-100") from Sakura, along with my old favorite, the one they use in their Sakura salad. It *is* kind of pricey, considering how small the bottle is. But I don't mind, because it makes eating salad so much more enjoyable! I just love sesame. :-P

But hey, where ARE you? Masyado bang maraming labada? Now that I don't see you at work, your blog's the only way I can check out your new food finds.

2:54 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yoohoo!!!! Mrs. So, where are you??? It's been ages...

6:35 PM

 
Blogger blair_mitch said...

I'm back, I'm back, I'm back!!!

Sorry guys - have been waylaid by work (as always).

I miss blogging, actually...

Mwah!

1:45 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

luuurve frank's hot sauce. wink!

11:56 PM

 
Blogger karabau said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

6:37 PM

 
Blogger karabau said...

Hi Mrs.So!

Try La Ciel yogurt. It's available at the Korean grocery in front of Salcedo Park. But you can read more about it here-- http://bogchinoypi.blogspot.com/2007_07_01_archive.html

Yummy, creamy, not too sweet.

6:38 PM

 

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