Warning! Long post ahead!
..But I'll try to keep the captions minimal.
This week's ASEAN Hive Challenge, "My Favorite Foods", is a topic I feel like I won't hold back. So behold, as now it will be told, Chef Straykat's Ultimate Favorite Yums!
I divided it into four categories to keep it organized: Homecooked, Store-bought, Street Food, and Dessert.
☆ HOMECOOKED ☆
● Chicken Macaroni Soup
I still remember my first try on making a chicken macaroni soup and it tasted disastrous. My second try was a success and you can actually check my recipe here: Creamy Chicken Macaroni Soup
But wait! There's still an upgraded version of my Chicken Macaroni Soup. A version that is close to the taste of Jollibee's chicken macaroni soup. The recipe is still the same but add a whole can of cream of mushroom and some cream of corn or corn kernels. I promise you the taste will be very good! Yum!
● Tofu Sisig and Salted Egg Tofu
One of the first few meals that I learned to cook involves tofu. I always cook tofu sisig and salted egg tofu. These meals are easy to make and tastes really good and also a great alternative to meat.
● Cheesy Beef Enoki Rolls
A bit laborious to roll the strips of meat into the enoki mushrooms but this meal is worth the struggle. I have made this the second time with mirin and I can't tell much difference on the taste compared on the first one where I used vinegar.
Recipe: Cheesy Beef Enoki Rolls
● Pork and Beans with Tofu
Another tofu recipe! I like this meal because I get to add vegetables like string beans. Also, I can make lots of servings out of it. Great if you're on a tight budget.
Recipe: Savory Pork and Beans with Tofu
● Tinapa Pasta
Tinapa is a smoked milk fish. This pasta dish is a surprise to my tastebuds. Love it!
● No Bake Cheesecake
I made a no bake cheesecake with blueberry topping twice. I was addicted to it. If only the ingredients weren't expensive then I would make this more often. I've always thought cheesecake has a complicated process to make but it's actually easy!
● No Bake Lasagna
Lasagna, my love! Lasagna will always have a special place in my heart! Homecooked lasagna is the best because you can add as much cheese as you want. Hmm!!
● Buchi or Sesame Balls
I finally learned to make the soft and chewy buchi and I love it!!! This is one my favorite foods although I would only eat it occasionally because this food is very oily.
● Giniling
If you would meet my younger self and ask her what her favorite food is, she would definitely say Giniling. It's savory and really easy to eat. I love Giniling since I've tasted it for the first time during fourth grade.
● Adobo
Who doesn't like Adobo, anyway? My personal favorite is Pork Adobo. I'm not a big fan of Chicken Adobo though.
● Arroz Caldo
Of course, the first meal I learned to cook when my mom can no longer make meals for us. I never forget the recipe my mom told me even if she's sick and confused. Got to love Arroz Caldo. Miss you, mama! I can make delicious arroz caldo now. <3
Recipe: Chicken Arroz Caldo
● Tinola
If you can make arroz caldo then you can definitely cook tinola. This meal is my favorite since I was a little girl. I love to use chicken wings for tinola.
● Swedish Meatballs
This dish is a gem even though frying the meatballs is a challenge. This dish was introduced to me by my sister and it has been among my favorite foods ever since. It's paired with fried potatoes in butter and olive oil with dried rosemary. It tastes so good, I promise!
● Mama's Salmon in Soy Sauce and Butter
Of course, I love all of my mom's cooking and it's always better than mine. However, this salmon in soy sauce and butter was among our top favorites and I really get excited when she makes this dish. She calls the fish salmon but I don't think it is salmon. They seem similar though.
☆ STORE-BOUGHT ☆
● Garlic Parmesan Chicken Wings (Frankie's)
Frankie's garlic parmesan flavored chicken wings is my ultimate favorite chicken wings. It's such a torture that they don't have a branch here in the province. I can only get to eat some when I go to Manila or when my brother goes somewhere with a Frankie's branch in the area. A meal of their chicken wings costs around Php300, more or less $5 USD.
● Creamy Spinach Dip and Creamy Spinach Sushi Bake (Angels Pizza)
These two pizzas from Angel's Pizza were an instant favorite! Add some of their hot sauce for the perfect taste! Their family size pizza (12 inches) on buy one take one promo costs Php 660 or around $11 USD.
● Premium Steak (Amare La Cucina)
To be fair, this is the only steak I've tasted so far but it was so good! Meat is also tender and the roasted garlic is sooo good I want to eat all of it. Lol. The Premium Steak costs Php 1850 or around $32 USD.
● Butao King Ramen (Ramen Nagi)
Out of all the ramen I've tasted Ramen Nagi's Butao King Ramen is still on the top of my best ramen. According online, a bowl of butao king ramen costs Php 520 or around $9 USD. The last time I ate at ramen nagi was in 2018 and butao king ramen only cost around Php350 to 380. It's sad to see everything getting expensive.
● Pancit Palabok (Goring's Pancit Malabon)
When you're in Dagupan City and craving some Pancit Palabok, those who know would certainly suggest you to go to Goring's! They have the best pancit palabok in the city and price is way cheaper than other restaurants. The serving that's good for 10 only costs Php 550 or $9.5 USD.
● All Cakes from Mary Grace
Any cake from Mary Grace is literally my favorite. I've tasted a couple of their cakes and none of it has disappointed me so far.
● Spinach and Cheese Pie (Conti's)
I like their Mango Bravo cake but if there's something I love from their pastries, it would be the Spinach and Cheese Pie. The pie's crust is really good as well. A piece of this pie costs Php 60 or around a dollar.
● Peach Mango Pie (Jollibee)
Speaking of pies, it would be a disgrace not to include Jollibee's Peach Mango Pie. My favorite pie since I was a little girl until this day. A regular size peach mango pie costs Php 48 or around $0.85 USD.
● Salmon Avocado (Hagemu Sushi and Ramen Bar)
My favorite sushi in the city! It has a crunchy texture on top combined with the seemingly melting feel of salmon and avocado. Perfect! One order (8 pieces) of this costs Php 370 or $6.35 USD.
● Steamed Siomai (Siomai House)
This is also one of my favorite snacks or sometimes 8 pieces of it is enough for dinner. Their chili garlic sauce also tastes good which makes their siomai/dumplings taste really good! One order which has four pieces of siomai costs Php 50 or $0.86 USD. I miss the days when it only costs Php 20. Can we go back to late 2000s? Lol.
● Egg Pie (Jech's Restaurant)
I love egg pie! It's like leche flan (creme caramel) but you can hold it because of the crust. The soft, sweet, and creamy flan combined with the flaky crust is so addicting. And if you ask me where to find the best egg pie in the city, Jech's Restaurant wins the title. I can't remember how much a whole egg pie costs but it's definitely less than $10 USD.
● Bread with Coconut Filling from Laoag City
Forget about bagnet and the greasy delicacies of Ilocos. If you bring me to Ilocos Norte, I'm certainly looking for this soft bread with coconut filling. It's addicting and delicious. My brother which used to go to that province would sometimes bring home a box of it. Love it and I miss this bread so much! I'm not sure how much a box of this bread costs but it's not that expensive for sure.
● Ensaymada (Panaderia Antonio)
Probably the best ensaymada in town! It tastes good with generous amount of cheese on top! And it's cheaper than those sold by the giant bakeshops with branches nationwide. This one costs around Php45 or $0.77 USD per piece.
● Dagupan Bangus (Dagupeña Restaurant)
Therere are lots of ways you can cook bangus but one of the best bangus (milk fish) I've tasted was the fried bangus from the Dagupeña Restaurant. The fish is big and has flavorful marination. One that makes it delicious too was the sauce/dip. I'm not sure how much this costs because I don't eat on this restaurant often but most probably less than $10 USD.
I also like grilled bangus. Any grilled bangus sold in Dagupan City and in my town Calasiao tastes good though I have my favorite area where I buy it from. A grilled bangus costs Php 130 or $2.24 USD.
● Liempo Sisig (Gino's Sisig)
My favorite pork sisig is from Gino's Sisig because instead of pork innards, they use the liempo part (pork belly). It also has generous serving of onions. Simply the perfect pork sisig for me!
● Classic Hamon (Mamalol's Restaurant)
Our favorite Christmas ham is from Mamalol's restaurant. It tastes better than the ones sold in groceries. The meat is much tender and flavorful. We buy it every Christmas season since 2016. They sell the hams in different weights. 800 grams costs Php 1,065 or $18.31 USD.
● Shawarma (Magboul Shawarma)
The best shawarma wrap and shawarma rice for me is from this local store in Dagupan City. It's cheaper but the serving is generous. What I love is their soft and thick shawarma wrap and the taste of their sauces. It only has one store at Tapuac Dagupan near schools and has been operating since the 2000s. I just wonder why they never branched out or expanded their store. Their shawarmas are a hit to students. The shawarma wrap costs around Php 85 or $1.46 USD while the shawarma rice costs around Php 120 or $2.07 USD.
● Ninja Wraps (Tokyo Tokyo)
And speaking of wraps, one that my siblings and I love back in mid 2000s was Tokyo Tokyo's Ninja Wraps. It's like shawarma but with a different sauce. The taste is really good and it's affordable which is why this was our favorite food to buy from this restaurant. It's best paired with their red iced tea. I can't remember the price and it's sad that this food was discountinued after a couple of years.
● Nacho Cheese(Nacho King)
Image source: Nacho King
The best nachos in town but they no longer have branches here, sadly. It's my favorite nacho since I was 5 or 6 years old. Yeah, that young! We used to do groceries daily back in the day, usually after they fetch me from school, and I would always drag my mama to buy me nachos before we go out from thr grocery. I usually have the cheese sauce only but sometimes I can convince my mom to have some beef and mushroom add-ons. The cheese sauce from Nacho King is really good.
☆ STREET FOOD ☆
● Kwek-Kwek
Kwek-kwek my most favorite street food forever and ever! These are quail's egg coated with orange batter. It goes perfectly with the sweet brown street food sauce. I'm not sure how much it costs now. The last time I ate a kwek-kwek it costs Php 2.50 or $0.043 USD per piece.
☆ DESSERT ☆
● Matcha Ice Cream (Tsujiri)
I still haven't tried out matcha ice creams from other authentic Japanese ice cream shops so right now my favorite authentic matcha ice cream is from Tsujiri. I love matcha in all forms, you know, but let's stick with ice cream. This matcha sundae I had from Tsujiri costs around Php 300 or $ 5.16 USD. Their hot matcha latte also tastes really good! I miss Tsujiri! Haha!
● Any Avocado Ice Cream from Avocadoria
Aside from matcha, I also love avocado. And what's a delicious way to eat avocados? Ice cream for sure! And the best avocado ice cream I've tasted so far is from Avocadoria. A cup of it with nuts and avocado slices costs from Php135 to 145 or $2.32 to 2.50 USD.
● Halo-Halo (Chowking)
One of my favorite desserts especially during warm weather is the ever popular Halo-Halo. And chowking still wins the best halo-halo for me. Their halo-halo costs Php 82 or $1.41 USD.
● Jelly Cake
Of course, I would include jelly cake on my list! Jelly cake has among my favorite cakes since I started making it. Aside from it's dainty floral design, it's a healthier choice of cake because it's rich in protein, fiber, and other vitamins and minerals. It's also good for those wanting to lose weight because it makes you feel full for a long time. Gelatin also helps in hair, nails, and skin health. My round jelly cakes starts at Php910 or $15.66.
Whew! This post made me hungry. I don't know which food I'm craving now! But thanks to this challenge I got to curate my favorite foods. I hope this helps people out there which foods to try next!
Thanks for reading! 💚