Gourmet Food Trucks

 As a Washington D.C. Native (yes, Filipinos live here too… ), growing up with the dirty water hotdog/pizza/ egg roll vendors along Constitution Avenue is a long cry from what we see today riding the streets; the GOURMET FOOD TRUCKS!  You can get everything from Korean Food to New England Lobster Rolls.  In D.C., all of the gourmet food trucks can be found downtown along K Street and the surround area, catering mostly to the D.C. office worker.  But alas, as you’ve seen in previous posts, I work in Georgetown, an exclusive area that is known for their boutique shops and white tablecloth restaurants.  Needless to say, I’ve never been to a gourmet food truck in D.C.

But while attending a wedding celebration in Oakland, CA, I got to experience my very first food truck.  Even better… it was a FILIPINO FUSION FOOD TRUCK!  So let’s get to it!

Firstly, how does one find the food truck of choice?  I mean… it’s a truck… it moves around the city… so how do you know where it is going to be located at any given moment?  In the age of the Internet, specifically Facebook and Twitter, all you have to do is subscribe to your favorite food truck, and the proprietors will let you know via postings on Facebook or Tweets on Twitter.  WHOO HOO!

So, lets get back to my food truck experience.  Señor Sisig (Check out Senior Sisig) is a Filipino Fusion food truck that takes sisig (a Filipino dish made that is usually made from parts of pig's heads and liver, seasoned with calamansi and chili peppers, cooked and served in a cast iron pan) and mixes it with tacos or burritos!  AMAZING!  Ok… the classic version of sisig may not sound good to everyone, but its classically eaten while drinking alcohol… so just about anything is good!  But to please everyone’s palates, Señior Sisig makes a pork version, a chicken version, and a tofu version for you Veg heads!  Man… so good!

So on the night of the Wedding Celebration, Señior Sisig was right out front of the venue.   

PERFECT drinking food!  I walk up to the window and order beef sisig with rice, atchara (pickled unripe papaya) and a fried egg on top (better known in the Filipino community as being siloged).  Needless to say, that lil bit of food got TORN DOWN.  The beef was perfectly cooked, flavorfully seasoned bringing you that hint of umami or savoriness.  The egg was perfectly fried, the broken yolk creating a fatty sauce to cover the rice.  The atchara rounded out the entire meal, giving you the acid to cut the richness of the rest of the plate.  Perfect in my eyes.

You could also get a side of lumpia shanghai, the Filipino style eggrolls with no frills, just meat filled rice paper, deep fried to a precise crispness and dipped in a sweet and spicy sauce.  GOOD GRIEF!  JUST THINKING ABOUT IT JUST MAKES ME WANT SOME RIGHT NOW!

Peep this menu!!!!

I write this for you to explore your local food trucks… you may be pleasantly surprised at what you find.  You can try foods foreign to your palate for cheap and can help you expand your food horizons.

Onward and upwards,

-Vince

Your Local Farmer's Market

I know, I know, I know… this is oh so Californian of me (and for those who know me personally, I do know that I am from Maryland, so SUE ME!  LOL)… but there is something to be said for checking out your local Farmer’s Market.  They can be amazing places: the farmers that bring their produce to the location can give you great recipes to make that include the goods that they have.  You can even find artisan bakers that take pride in bringing you the perfect cheese roll or sourdough bread.  Or even better, merchants that import free trade coffee.

Very recently, my partner and I went to check out the The Greenbelt Farmer's Market.  We hadn’t been to a real farmer’s market since we lived in California, so we were really excited to check out what this one was like.  All kinds of questions entered our head; would the produce be as fresh as we found on the West Coast?  Would the farmers be as informative?  What other kinds of products were going to be offered there?  Well… we decided to explore.

As soon as we walked into the parking lot of the Roosevelt Center in Historical Greenbelt, we were met with the smile of those who enjoy being outside and the fresh smells of produce.  We made one walk around the market to check out what each vendor offered.  We were so surprised to find a plethora of goods; everything from fresh beef, vibrant red and green peppers, spring onions, and baked goods such as croissants and ham rolls.  I can only speak for myself on this one, but as the Filipino Foodie, I was in HEAVEN.  

So we made our decisions and left one vendor with a bag full of peppers, onions, summer squash and zucchini, and a pint of tomatoes.   

We walked around again and hit the baked goods vendor.  We left there with a bag with 2 blueberry scones and 2 cheese rolls.  The smell of the baked goods was DIVINE.  

 As we exited, we noticed the fruit vendor, who had the most ridiculous summer peaches that Maryland had to offer.

There is one thing to remember about Farmer’s Markets.  Most farmers that sell their produce at these markets sell ORGANIC goods.  This means that the produce is not treated with pesticides and growth hormones that most grocery store grade produce is treated with.  So don’t expect “perfect” produce… its going to have some dents and things in it.  But it’s ALL NATURAL!  So it’s just better to go that route!  Just think, everything that is put on the produce to make it “perfect” goes right into your body.

So grab your reusable bag… and get to your local farmer’s market!  Support your local farmers… it’s worth it.

Festival Foods… The Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Washington D.C. is a great spot for festivals.  You can have anything from your common traveling carnival to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.  The Folklife Festival is a yearly event that exhibits different cultures from around the world.  So, along with learning how Columbians weave baskets or how the Peace Corp goes to developing countries to teach their people to “make something out of nothing”; essentially using the things around them like bicycles to charge cell phones, there is GREAT food to be had!

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival 

This year’s Folklife festival featured different types of foods; from Columbian, American Barbecue, and Southeast Asian Food.  Of course, my partner and I came to the festival with our stomachs ready to try some different foods.  With the heat blaring, we headed over to the Southeast Asian tent.  

 Menu for the Southeast Asian Food

After perusing the menu of what was being offered, E and I settled on a couple of different dishes.  He went with a chicken marinated in Lemon Grass with some fluffy Jasmine Rice, while I went with the pad thai, a Thai noodle dish that incorporates fresh vegetables, rice noodles, and tofu.  The food was great and had us prepared to take on the rest of the festival.

 Pad Thai Noodles

 Minced Chicken

Festivals like this are important and fun… they allow you to try a variety of foods for fairly cheap.  They also showcase different cultures that you would not normally be in contact with.  Check out how the Columbians smoke meats!

 Smoking Meats

In the case of the Folklife festival, a portion of the proceeds support the Smithsonian Institution.  When there’s a festival in town… check it out!

Onward and Upwards,

-Vince

Differences in "same" foods...

I was talking to my mother a few days ago and we got to discussing the differences in adobo (Filipino Stewed Chicken... recipe to come in another post) dependent on what region of the Philippines you are from.  Some people go very basic, incorporating the simple flavors of soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, and peppercorns, while some folk add onions and coconut milk.  But why is everyone's adobo so different?  I mean, really, does it just depend on where you live or what you grew up with?

This is my theory.  As someone who cooks on a regular basis, how one makes certain dishes is a matter of taste.  Growing up, my mother NEVER put bay leaves and onions in her adobo, while I put both!  There is something to be said for that hint of bay in the background.  I've also come in to contact with folk who like their adobo really dry, while people like me don't think its adobo without the salty and sour sauce that goes on top of the rice.

What about the controversy of using Velveeta in Mac and Cheese?  Do you use Velveeta?  How much do you use?  When I first started making Mac and Cheese, I never thought it was ok to add Velveeta to the cheese sauce.  But as I started to perfect my recipe, I started using Velveeta.  It adds a great texture.  Yeah... make fun of me if you want... I know I'm the Filipino Foodie and all... but DUDE!  VELVEETA HAS ITS PLACE!  lol...

I write this blog to say... just because your Mom made things a certain way... or that the "family recipe" says to use real parmeasan cheese versus the green bottle stuff... do what works best for you.  That's the beauty of cooking; not everyone has to do things the exact same way.  Experiment... make mistakes... and just have a good time in the kitchen.

Onward and upward,

-Vince

I am such a SLACKER...

But I'm back!  Things were so busy with school, work, dance, attempting to work out, birthday parties and just life in general.  But like I said, I'm back and raring to go.  So what am I going to talk about today?  Let's talk about the importance of having GOOD food at family functions.

Coming from a Filipino family, food is what binds the family together.  When you enter a Filipino's house, the first thing they may do is offer you food.  May that food be merienda (a snack) or a full blown meal, it is something that you are going to remember.  But that memory is something serious, something that jogs certain remembrances, whether they be good, bad or ugly.

Having good food at functions is so important to me, not just because I am the Filipino Foodie, but because I don't want to be the family member that is talked about for having the wack dishes.  How many times have you gone to some function and there was that one dish that just makes your stomach turn inside out?  Or, how many times have you gone to that one family member's house that just has no skills in the kitchen?  I think we've been there at one time or another.


So how do you get around being the family member that can't cook?  Well... here's a hint.  Ask for help!  I don't know about you, but I'm sure you know at least ONE person that can cook.  In my family, there are SOOOOO many people that can throw down, that every family function is a collage of different cuisines, different flavors, and different textures.  It's amazing how all of these foods go together!  You can have everything from Pancit (a Filipino noodle dish), collard greens, and burgers and dogs... ALL IN ONE SITTING.

I write this to say, if you don't know your way around the kitchen, just ask someone for help... that's all you have to do...

Onward and upwards...

-Vince

Let's talk about food, baby... let's talk about...

How food, cooking, and eating makes us feels. 

A really good friend and I were talking about how food, cooking and eating makes us feel.  For myself, cooking is not only a way to save money and get fed, but it also brings about a sense of accomplishment.  It never really matters for me how long the meal took or how basic it is, it always makes me feel accomplished.  Spending time in the kitchen with a cutting board and a well-sharpened knife always makes me feel like I'm moving on to bigger and better things.  That sense of accomplishment comes when you see the finished product, with its beautiful flavors, textures, and aromas.  I love it when I've spent a couple of hours in the kitchen, and I come out with a beautiful pot of marinara sauce, a pair of beautiful cooked eggs over-easy, or a simple salad with the vegetables perfectly julienned. It always makes me feel so good!

Now we get to the eating part.  It's not very often (not to toot my own horn) when I make a meal and it completely sucks.  Every meal I prepare always has the flavors that my partner and I like, with textures and mouth-feels that send us overboard.  And as I've said in earlier posts, eating brings me back to a familiar place, a place with family and friends, catching up on our lives and sharing our past experiences. 

Let's remember.  For some, cooking is a chore that has to be done.  For me... it is a pleasure.

Onward and upward,

-Vince

Aqua Terra of Annapolis

Aqua Terra of Annapolis is located, guess where?  Annapolis, Maryland.  It's a great little spot in the heart of Old Town Annapolis. It's smaller, and just not your normal restaurant (in a GREAT way).  I've never actually been to a place like this, a place that does a tapas-style (for those of you who don't know what tapas are, think small plates for a group to share) meal with Asian influences.  I really love this spot, the owners are so accommodating, and are really about the service.  And let's also let it be known, the food is good!  If you aren't into small plates, you can also get full blown meals, whole-fried fish, crab cakes that are bigger than my fist... I mean the list goes on and on.  When I go for dinner, I usually do 3 small plates, to myself.  (Screw that, I'm not sharing!).  So down the hatch goes the Noodles (Udon noodles in a spicy broth with Asian Vegetables and your choice of chicken or beef),  More Potstickers (pulled duck, goat cheese, and green onion in a deep fried won-ton skin) and of course, the More Tuna (Seared Ahi Tuna with Asian slaw and unagi sauce.)  Sounds like a lot of food, right?  Trust me, it is.  But dag nabit, it so dang good!

What's also cool about this spot is that they also do a great brunch, with everything from a 4 egg omelet to a Eggs Benedict, Your way... I mean... it doesn't get any better than this.

And you know what else pulls me here?  It has to be the wine list.  I've been to a few restaurants in my day, but its not often that you come across a restaurant that carries an Aquinas Wine, STRAIGHT OUT OF THE NAPA VALLEY.  I mean... can you say, FALLING IN LOVE????

Trust me... I've already fallen in love with this spot.  Ken and Di... (owners and chefs) will definitely take care of your palates...

Check them out!

Aqua Terra of Annapolis

Onward and upward,

-Vince