Top of the Pop

My brother brought home a bag of these interesting chocolate treats. They are called Top of the Pop. They are from Wilsons-Sonoma. It is large popped corn kernels mixed with almond praline and covered with semi-sweet chocolate. The almond praline was not overpowering with sweetness compared to other chocolates. It had a good balance actually. Too bad he only brought home a few pieces. I guess we will have to wait for the coming Christmas season to get another bite of this wonderful delight. If only they are available all year round :D.

Pancit Molo Soup

My grandmother would make this dish on special occasions. My dad would brag that Lola Paz was the best cook ever. I remember as a child, she would constantly be in the kitchen whipping up something for lunch or dinner. Mom said that she was blessed to have learned her technique in making Pancit Molo Soup.

Pancit Molo Soup

The Ingredients:
1/2 kilo ground pork
1/3 cup onions, minced
1/3 cup waterchestnuts (or singkamas), minced
1/3 cup shrimps, shelled, deveined, minced
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons spring onions, minced
1-1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 egg
1 package molo wrapper (around 40 pcs.)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium onions, chopped
1/4 kilo chicken breast, boiled, deboned, and shredded
4 cups chicken stock
salt
white pepper
water
cooking oil
extra garlic, chopped or minced,
toasted

Cooking Procedure:

Boil the chicken in 5 cups of water with a little salt. Cook the meat until it is tender. Reserve the chicken broth and remove the chicken meat. Once cool, shred the meat into strips. Set aside.

Mix the following ingredients together in a bowl: ground pork, minced onions, waterchestnuts, shrimps, 1/3 cup spring onions,soy sauce and an egg. Thoroughly mix the ingredients together. Take a teaspoonful and place on the center of a wanton wrapper. Take the four corners and pinch together, forming a pouch. Repeat this until all of the meat mixture have been wrapped in the wanton wrapper. If there are excess wrappers, tear into strips and set aside.

With a 3/4 tablespoon of cooking oil, saute the chopped garlic and chopped onions until the onion is translucent. Add the chicken strips and saute for a minute or two. Pour in the soup stock and season the liquid with salt and a little pepper. bring the liquid to a boil, then drop the molo dumplings one by one. Make sure that the water is roll-boiling. This will prevent the dumplings from sticking together. Add the remaining stipped molo wrapper. Lower the heat and let the soup simmer for 5-8 minutes. If the liquid is not enough, add more chicken stock or warm water. Season to taste. Simmer for another 5 minutes or until the molo dumplings are done. Turn off the heat. Transfer into a soup bowl or individual serving bowls. Top with minced green onions and toasted garlic.

Buko Pandan with Gulaman

My friends and I decided to visit one of the historical places in the Philippines that is just a stone's throw away from Manila. It was my first time to visit the island of Corregidor and it was a wonderful experience. It gave us a chance to capture history through the remnants, stories from the guide and visual markers. A blast from the past so to speak.

One of the unique things that I have tried is their Buko Pandan with Gulaman. It is unique for me since we barely prepare drinks at home that uses these ingredients and the combination of the tastes were different for me as well. The way it was presented was pretty cool with the green pandan juice is set ontop while the red jello (gulaman) is set on the bottom. It reminded me of the traffic lights. Just add color to the center and there you have it. A cool refreshing traffic light in a glass :).

If you haven't been there or would like to reminisce I would like to share with you just some of the photos I took: http://www.flickr.com/photos/78495325@N00/sets/72157603978976564/. Maybe the next time, I visit we might bump into each other there :D.