Of Food and Art: February 2010

The EGCC kicked off 2010 with a dinner on January 9 at home. It was a nice exploration of Asian-themed dishes. Abner and I picked the recipes for this dinner making sure we included dishes from back home as well as some time-tested recipes. There are, of course, new recipes as well so that we're always learning something new.

I called it A Taste of the Orient.

The Place Setting

Beautiful woven placemats from Tita Nelie (Made in the Philippines)

The Menu

Materials for the menu and the place cards courtesy of Pontri and Joy

The Amuse Bouche

Orange-Pineapple Shrimp served with Buko-Pandan Gelee and a Shot of Lychee Ice

This spicy-sweet amuse bouche worked perfectly with the refreshing gelee and lychee ice.

The Appetizers

Yudofu

Oh yumm, Trish! This a wonderfully simple dish that bursts with flavor.

Miang Kam

Here's a delicious appetizer prepared by Connie and Doug.
This dish is traditionally served with la lop leaves, but here they served it with both la lop leaves and collard greens. What a great idea!

Here's Connie demo-ing how to put a bite together while Dean and John watch.

Chicken Meatballs on Lemongrass Skewers

John always ends up with the tricky recipe. I swear, I don't do this on purpose, John. Anyway, like a true chef, he rescues the dish and makes it work.

The Soup

Miswa Soup with Patola

Yes, we found patola in the Asian grocery. Abner did a great job with this dish.
Hmmm, this soup reminds me of home.

The Salad

Shrimp and Mango Salad

And the refreshing salad after hot soup - just perfect, Tony!

The Main Dish

Kalbichim with Black Rice

I've been making this Korean dish since the mid-80's when I was still living in the Philippines.

It's a hearty and delicious dish which hits the spot every single time. Thanks, Melanie Aquino (our neighbor in Quezon City), for introducing me to this dish!

The Side Dishes

Kalbichim is not complete without the side dishes, right?

From left to right:

Kimchi by Dean - It stinks, yes, but it's crunchy and spicy. That translates to a 'Yes' vote from me.

Kinpira by Jean - I've never heard of gobo until I had this dish. I just love the texture and the flavor! Thanks for making a HUGE batch, Jean! I enjoyed it for a few more days.

Shiraae by Connie - Can tofu really be a dressing for salads? Yes, it works and, believe me, it's so delicious and different from your regular salad!