Qwek Qwek

Filipino beef tomato-based stew with liver spread. Sarap!

(Chicago) – I never like ordering food or microwaving frozen stuffs for dinners. After a long day of hard and stressful work, all I want is a home-cooked meal to bring me back to sanity. But the primary enemy is time. There’s …

(Chicago) – I am familiar with the dish “pochero” (or “puchero”) ever since I was a kid but I never really understood and appreciated the dish…

(Chicago) – Does it ring a bell? All Pinoys recognize this acronym. For those who are not aware, this stands for Tap-a (dried/cured beef), Si-nangag (fried rice) and it-Log (egg). Perfect breakfast; maybe lunch or dinner. Whenever you want it…

(Chicago) – One of my favorites in Jollibee is their burger steak. The mushroom gravy is just soooo good with rice. Since there is no Jollibee in Chicago, I’m stuck to making my own version. This is an easy, quick and inexpensive dish to make. It surely brought back memories of coutnless moments when I [...]

(Chicago) – Labor Day has passed and the grilling season is supposed to have ended as well.  But as long as the outside temperature permits, we can still fire up the grill and enjoy some meaty barbecue goodness. So I will not put my grill in complete hibernation, yet; perhaps until the first snow drops. [...]

(Chicago) – Just a little background, “fajita” is the diminutive form of Spanish word “faja” which mean belt or griddle. In Filipino, we call it similarly but with different spelling, “paha”. Nowadays, fajita is referred to as a Mexican dish composed of any grilled meat with onion, bell pepper on tortilla. For obvious reasons, skirt [...]

(Singapore) – My husband, Vergel, prepared a surprise Mother’s Day party for me this year, and invited some of our closest friends here in Singapore. He cooked 2 dishes from Cook’s Bible as part of his cookbook challenge – Beef Bourguignon and Shepherd’s Pie. As Filipino parties won’t be complete without fish or any seafood [...]

(Chicago) – I knew little about Julia Child and her food until after I watched the movie “Julie and Julia”.  The movie is very inspiring and provides the push that I need to pursue food blogging and explore complex recipes outside my comfort zone. Julia Child’s recipes are not easy to make. The procedures are [...]

(Chicago) -  My first taste of salpicado was in Chateau Verde in University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman when I was still in college.  Their version of this dish was extra-ordinary.  Every cube of beef was oozing with buttery juice while the meat just melted in my mouth.  I clearly remember that I finished 3 cups [...]

(Chicago) – Do I need to describe how bad the economy is now? It’s all over the news and it’s scaring the s**t out of everyone especially if you have a mortgage to pay. I have a few friends who got laid off from work, some friends’ vacation days got slashed and my salary increase [...]