Kawan Puff Pastry Block in Manila!

Puff pastry is defined by wikipedia as " a light flaky leavened pastry containing several layers of fat which is in its solid state at 20 degrees.  In raw form, puff pastry is a dough layered with solid fat and repeated folded and rolled out. "  

The cooked product produces a pastry that is  light, flaky and crispy.  Some of the world's best loved bread are made of puff pastry,   Studel, Croissant, Turnovers, Vol au Vent, Sausage rolls, Danish Pastries, and  Beef Wellington are some of its example.

It will be time consuming and difficult to make puff pastry at home, since the fat should be rolled with the flour COLD, and with our summer, that will be virtually impossible. 

Santis Delicatessen has a brand of puff pastry named "Pampas" which costs around 900 plus pesos and packaged at one kilogram.  

Too expensive for me. 

 So imagine my excitement when I saw this Kawan Puff Pastry of Malaysia in Puregold Supermarket.  It costs 180 pesos for a 400 gram pack in the freezer section.  I took it home and tried it out.

I cut it into squares and rolled it with a hotdog for "pig in a blanket" .  Brushed it all around with an egg and milk wash to give it a little color.  Pop it in the oven on 240 degrees 

and....

wa- laah!  I love it! You can never go wrong with it! Fantastic!

I also took some slices of chicken sausage and cheese on a square pastry,

sealed it with egg wash and the tines of a fork.

Pop the whole thing in the oven and ...

Wa- laah! again...I think I am in love with Kawan.  :)

The pastry is light and flaky, buttery and tasty.  PERFECT!  

My kids love it and I love that it is so easy to make at home.  As far as I'm concerned, my sons can have puff pastry everyday for snack. 

 You can put any filling inside.  Peanut butter and jelly, Chicken salad, adobo, corned beef, cheese , fruits, chocolate, even smores ( marshmallow and chocolate).  The possibilities are endless.

love. love.....

http://www.kawanfood.com/kawan/puff.html

http://www.facebook.com/kawanfood

Ramen Cool, Kapitolyo, Pasig

 We are always on the look out for good japanese restaurants that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg.
 So we tried this "cool" joint in Kapitolyo, Pasig named  Ramen Cool .

 The first impression we got upon entering is the well lit interior and the etched glass panels with its cute japanese sakura flower designs.

 Although the place was small, they have good business here because diners keep coming. There's always something interesting to look at like these lighting fixtures which resembled a paper lantern cut out, but  it was made of steel.  Interesting.

There were also Japanese cartoons on frames scattered all over the entrance.  One thing to take note of is the well -Lighted interior.  You could wear a sunglass at night and still see everything.

 We had to have SUKIYAKI (215 pesos) which was quite good.  The broth didn't taste too sweet ( like dessert sweet) which sometimes happens with other restaurants.  Korean glass noodles are perfect for this dish, they don't overcook and become soft on you.

Brian like anything with tofu.  So we ordered  TOFU SPECIAL (170 pesos) with its spicy sauce garnished with red pepper, aubergine, and mushroom bits.  It was good on my rice.  If I can order only one dish with my rice, I would pick this one.

I can't remember how much the gyoza was, it was ok.

I asked if I could photograph their menu, which was a work of art in itself.  You need not ask what's in the dish for they took a picture of each one and printed them all along with the price. Overleaf is a picture of a Japanese girl or man similar to a deck of card.  Cool!

Ramen Cool address :  #25 East Kapitolyo Drive corner West Kapitolyo, Pasig.

telephone number: 636- 0972

Seafood ramen in miso soup

Last night I made seafood ramen for dinner.  My sons have been craving and DEMANDING I cook ramen for the whole week.  But I've been holding out for a new recipe I plan to make- Miso based ramen.

 I've already tried  shoyu (soy sauce) and shio (salt) soup base before, so I like to make it more challenging.  I bought a tub of Korean Doenjang (miso paste), a pack of wakame ( dried seaweed) , a tube of soft tofu and dashi.  

This would be my first time to use miso paste and I'm a little bit apprehensive.  I hope I can make dinner we can actually eat. :} 

So here is my list of ingredients for

Seafood Ramen in Miso Soup

2 Tablespoon Miso Paste

1 handful of dried wakame ( soak in water)

1 tube of soft tofu , cubed

1 Tablespoon of dashi

1/2 Kilo Chicken bones boiled in 3 Cups water, strained, reserve liquid

1/4 Kilo Shrimp, shelled, deveined and blanched

6 pcs Crab ball ( bought from Chinese specialty stores)

1/4 Kilo Squid, sliced into rings and blanched

5 hard boiled eggs, shelled

1/4 cup chopped green onion ( for flavor)

1/4 cup Baguio Petchay

3 packets of unflavored Korean Ramensari (Ottogi brand is good enough)

salt and pepper to taste

Its a long list of ingredients.  But the thing is for Japanese dishes, it probably would be better  to cook this dish if you have some left over uncooked seafood and vegetable scraps.  The tub of miso, dried wakame, ramensari and dashi granules must be always in your pantry for emergency cravings.

Procedure:

Boil chicken stock, add dashi  and dump everything in the pot.  Starting with crab ball, eggs, Baguio petchay and wakame.  In a bowl, put miso paste and dilute with a tablespoon of hot chicken soup.  Add the mixture to the pot. Boil ramensari for 2 minutes in the stock. Do not overcook.  Season with salt and pepper.  

In individual bowls, put soft tofu, blanched seafood, wakame, ramensari, egg, baguio petchay and green onion.  Pour miso soup stock.  Slurp and enjoy!  Warning: It can be addictive.

trivia: Miso or fermented soya paste is japan's secret to longevity.

Sorry, I wasn't able to take a picture of the finished product.  It took all 30 seconds to slurp it all down, I didn't have time to get my camera. :)