Author: Khursten Santos

Keeping warm with Tantanmen

| Khursten Santos

When it rains like this, I say, it’s about time I talk about noodles, again.

See, nothing else warms me up on a really cold and damp day other than a hot bowl of noodles. And it’s not just hot noodles. It’s got to be the soupy kind. The kind where the broth lines your throat with its yummy goodness and it’s got more than just its temperature to keep you warm. So it’s not just the heat we’re talking here. It’s also about the spiciness. And when spice is concerned, currently, I’m dreaming of nothing but Maruchan’s Tantanmen.

Served with a thick spicy pork broth, tantanmen is smothered in chili and sesame oil with some ground beef, maybe spring onions and egg on top. I’m honestly drooling by just narrating those ingredients down and I think my stomach is protesting on why I’m not eating this noodle dish right now ((Honestly, I’m just lazy)).

The flavor is close to curry because of the intense flavor and spiciness of the broth. But I know as much that it’s not exactly like curry because it doesn’t have curry in it. At most, the flavor of the pork broth melding with the beef, noodles, and spring onions is divine. There’s a balance in the heat and the spiciness and the noodles serves as a perfect medium to take in all those flavors in a bite or a slurp.

It’s perfect for this kind of weather. The kind of comfort food that warms your gut and even helps you break a sweat.

Tantanmen costs around Php260 in Maruchan ramen. And now that the weather seems to settle a little more, I think I’ll grab my keys and get myself another bowl of tantanmen. Maybe even add menma to my noodles. I’m sure that bowl will keep me warm for an entire night.

Restaurant Tip

Maruchan Dining
2282 Chino Roces, Makati City
Just across Makati Cinema Square and Little Tokyo.

Morning Taho

| Khursten Santos

I was a little more than amused today. Getting my body clock right on track (trust me, it hasn’t been easy lately) got me to hear that familiar call from my childhood.

“TAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~~~”

It’s been a while since I’ve heard this. And just like the time when I was a kid, I ran downstairs, grabbed a mug and asked the guy to fill up my mug with some nice warm taho. I must admit that I always find it mouthwatering and exciting to see the taho guy fill up the cup with taho to the cup’s rim, sprinkle some sago and douse the white globs with rich caramel sauce. The most fun part is asking for the dagdag for the sago and the caramel.

It’s been a while, but I say, having taho in the morning is awesome.

Another approach to the noble tilapia

| Khursten Santos

I’ve always been fond of Tilapia. It’s not exactly the poor man’s fish but it is a versatile fish for dishes.

You can fry it crisp, grill it, cook it in coconut milk, and in this case, steam it.

Steaming tilapia was something we do in case we get tired of eating our fish fried. It is a healthier alternative and the flavor of the fish is heightened by the ingredients in it. I for one love cooking it like this because it’s nice to suck the juices out of the tilapia head. And the beans add a bit of biting saltiness that matches quite well with the rice. More to that, prep time and cooking time takes less than 20 minutes. Beat that Rachel Ray! >w<)v

Anyway, on to the recipe!
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Re-make of Korean Beef Stew

| Khursten Santos


Hee hee hee!! I think the curiosity for cooking Korean Beef Stew at home was when a friend and I were driving home on a hungry night and I found myself drooling over the thought of eating a nice warm broth of Korean Beef Stew.

Now, I got one of these cookbooks compiled by Good Housekeeping and saw a recipe for Korean Beef Stew. I’m never a beef buyer because I can never seem to cook it right. I go as far as ground beef and sirloin or breakfast strips. More than that… nu. But today, the flavor of spicy broth on a sweltering afternoon compelled to get some beef shanks and cook at a nice slow pace while I read some Kundera.

See, there was this fast food stall in Landmark named Kimchi

Not exactly a ‘Clammy’ Afternoon

| Khursten Santos

When I was a kid, I used to hate our local clam, halaan, WITH A PASSION. I can never understand its taste. It’s slightly tart, gingery, salty, sometimes grainy (especially if it wasn’t cleaned well) and gummy. My folks always prepared it the same way, boiling it in hot water with some ginger. UGH! It was such a dreadful fare that I often excused myself from the table and went back to bed. No bland clams please, kthx.

It wasn’t until, again, one of my aunts who worked in Italy came home and showed me how to enjoy these clams with pasta. Known to them as Pasta con Vongole, this sweet yet briny dish completely changed my opinion of halaan/vongole forever.

Last weekend’s trip to the market brought me back to my aunt’s pasta. A little inspired by the freshness of clams, I thought I’d give it a shot in cooking one of my favorite pasta dishes. This is a very simple and easy dish, stripping the flavors to its barest essentials.

What I love about Pasta con Vongole is it’s a dish that doesn’t overcook the seafood nor do the other flavors compete with the taste of the clams. In fact, if your seafood is fresh, this is one of the best dishes to taste the freshness of the clams. If you can get your clams fresh, then this is the perfect dish for it!

One of the simplest and tastiest pasta dishes I’ve come across

In the Mood for Crabs

| Khursten Santos

Happy New Year, folks! I hope you guys had a great new year. Mine was relatively quiet, matched with a glass of champagne.

Anyway, I’m here to share with you one of the things that I love about the year that has passed, Emerald Garden’s Sesame crabs. The crabs was introduced to me by a friend a couple of years back and I’ve been longing to eat it ever since.

The crab is cooked simply, seasoned only with some salt and sesame oil. What I love about it is how the shell has this lingering saltiness that permeates to the flesh inside. I love how even my fingers taste like the crab when I give it a lick. My favorite part is the crab fat under the shell. It’s fried to a crisp and it’s strangely light to taste buds. So far, I haven’t felt my heart wrenching after eating the crab.

It’s such an amazing crab that I long to eat it every time I’m in Emerald Garden. It’s a little costly, costing around 800/crab, but the crab is big enough to feed a group of 4.

Next time you pop by Emerald Garden along Roxas Boulevard, make sure to order some Sesame Crabs!

Restaurant Tip

Emerald Garden
1170 Roxas Boulevard, Manila.
Just across the US Embassy.

7100 tastes at Bistro Filipino

| Khursten Santos

Lapulapu and prawns in coco-lambanog sauce

This season’s a great time to experiment with different kinds of cuisine, but a recent experience in Bistro Filipino taught me that if you have 7100 islands to get different flavors to get from, wouldn’t it be best to experiment with our local cuisine?

At Bistro Filipino, chefs Rolando Laudico, Myrna Segismundo, and Jill Sandique showed us the 7100 different flavors that we can taste.

See the 7100 flavors the chefs have prepared for us!