Bump to baby on the beaten expat track
As I’ve written before, Rising Sun Bar and Restaurant has one of the best iced coffee in town. (I posted last year about a street stall in front of a hang bai that also makes great coffee). They use a Vietnamese drip called a phin and triple brew it. In the evenings, ask for it spiked with Baileys or Kahlua. The Pho at the shop across Rising or at the corner guest house are average, but I was craving the coffee and just couldn’t do an English breakfast so I got a pho.
I’m not a big fan of Rambutan (saw-maw in Khmer), mostly because the woody bark of the seed comes off with the meat (I guess it’s added fiber – see the picture below). But it’s incredible how much of this fruit our son can devour in one sitting. So I came home with 5kgs of it from a friend’s local farm and wouldn’t you know, some kid passed around Hand Foot Mouth at his petri dish pre-school and he broke out in rashes sores and blisters. Rambutans are too acidic for his mouth sores so he can only stare at them :-(
Just a few dunks and babies’ water instincts take over. It was the same with our first when he was a baby. Teaching an infant to swim is fun cuz you see results so quickly. Too bad our older child had many months’ break from the water and developed a fear of it. At this point (he’s 2 1/2) I guess the best way to teach him is to toss him right in..?!
Elections are over. Could it be that’s why the rolling power cuts across the city have started back up? :-(
As with any recipe, there are so many creative ways to have this dessert. It can be a drink or a thick creamy dessert. I first had it at Nathaniel’s Bakeshop on Timog Ave in Manila. (If you are in Manila, you have got to make a stop at this shop to try all manner of Filipino desserts and food. It’s on a foodie strip, so there are other restaurants and chains on the same road).
Again, I haven’t the foggiest clue how to make this since Openg our helper in Manila whipped it up often while I was busy with a newborn. So here again is a recipe straight from Jun-Blog, below. His pictures look more like the creamy dessert than a drink. Check out his range of Filipino food recipes. I think I can spend hours drooling over his pictures. [Click! Add rss feed!]
Buko Pandan Recipe, makes 6 to 8 servings (recipe from Jun Belen)
2 3-ounce packages Alsa green, unflavored gulaman
4 pandan leaves, washed and tied into a simple knot
1 12-ounce jar nata de coco, drained
1 16-ounce bag frozen, shredded young coconut, thawed and drained
1/2 cup Nestlé cream
1/3 cup condensed milkPrepare gulaman according to package instructions. Dissolve gulaman in a pot of water, add pandan leaves, and bring to a boil while stirring constantly. Remove pandan leaves and pour gulaman into two 8×8-inch glass baking pans. Once gulaman has set, cut into 1/2-inch cubes.
Combine gulaman, nata de coco, young coconut, cream, and condensed milk in a large bowl and mix well. Serve chilled.
While in Manila I became a huge fan of these coolers. Depending on the amount of syrup it can be sinfully sweet, but that can be adjusted. It’s refreshing and perfect for those hot Manila days (which was everyday)! Once I found out our incredible friend and helper, Openg, can make them I asked her to make it quite often.
As I have no cooking skills whatsoever, I copy a recipe below in entirety from Jun-blog, a Filipino food blog. You must check out his post on sago and gulaman coolers for great pics. His recipe below looks like what Openg made, with some adjustments. She put pandan leaves in the water when simmering the sago pearls. And she added coconut milk to the drink. The batches are stored in separate containers in the refrigerator, to be mixed fresh for each glass. Fresh coconut milk doesn’t last very long so when it ran out I added regular cow’s milk.
Sago and Gulaman Coolers, makes six to eight servings (recipe from Jun Belen)
For sago pearls
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
6 cups water
1/4 cup sago pearlsFor gulaman [Read more…] about Filipino food: Sago at gulaman
