An Artist in Le Petit Artisan

| Khursten Santos

Nothing entices my nose more than the smell of something really fragrant. Usually I’m drawn by the scent of broths or grilled meat but this time I’m drawn by the warm scent of bread baking inside an oven. Usually I’d get these cravings when I pass by old pandesal shops in our area. Hence, I found it strange that I was drifting towards a little outside the row of restaurants in Greenbelt 5. The shop’s name was Le Petit Artisan, a humble yet proud name for some of the best French breads in Manila.

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Toshikoshi Soba and a still memorable new year

| Khursten Santos

This may be a month too late but it’s still a very fond memory to me. I started my new year the same time as the Japanese and this year, in the spirit of my love for noodles, I had my first Toshikoshi Soba. 年 越し蕎麦 (toshi koshi soba) may look just like your regular soba dish but it actually represents the ending of the year and the start of the new. Japanese would usually have a bowl of soba the minute midnight strikes. It’s similar to how Filipinos should have pancit. The toshikoshi soba’s a symbol of longevity that we may endure the coming year.

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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