Thrilla in Manila Pop-Up Dinner

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Filipinos boast the 4^th highest foreign-born population in the Seattle area but oddly few Filipino restaurants exist.

That’s probably why Hershell Taghap, line cook at Tom Douglas’ Cuoco, threw a one night only Thrilla in Manila Pop Up Dinner. It showcased Filipino classics such as Kare-kare (Peanut butter and oxtail stew), Sinigang na hipon (sour soup with whole shrimp), Lumpia (Filipino eggrolls), Pancit canton (noodles), a whole roasted pig and much more. The food was served "cotillion style" out of foil containers that we all helped ourselves to.

Not only did Hershell cook, host and organize the one night event, he was also the DJ, storyteller and entertainer. He was a hospitable host who seemed to be everywhere at once, whether it was in the kitchen, at the DJ stand, or mingling and talking with people in the dining room. He told stories and gave credit to the family and friends behind each dish such as “dad’s secret everything sauce” or “Uncle June’s Ordonez Family Fried Rice”. Hershell was even a bit of stand up comedian joking how he never had a girlfriend because he was always working at his family’s Filipino grocery store while growing up.

There's a joke on how all Filipinos know each other and in this case, it's true. It turns out that Hershell and I went to college together back at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois! 

Click on Hershell's photo to find his blogs and twitter information

As for me, I ate two full plates of Hershell’s outstanding Filipino meal while mingling with people at my community table. I was the only Filipino seated around me and I spent a lot of time happily answering questions about Filipino cuisine.  I even showed a couple how to rip the heads off of the shrimp and suck all the flavorful juices down. I was quite proud of the couple, for they were brave and mirrored my eagerness to suck out that shrimp head goodness.

I also shared some of my eating experiences while traveling the Philippines. As people pigged out on their platefuls of sisig (crispy bits of pig head, red bell pepper, lime, and sugar cane vinegar) I explained how sisig is a very popular ‘pulutan’ or bar food that Filipinos often eat while drinking San Miguel beer.

From someone who doesn’t eat and cook nearly as much Filipino food as I should, I’m glad I was able to buy tickets to this great event. Over the last few years, I’ve favored French, Italian, and Vietnamese cooking while more or less abandoning my Filipino foodie upbringing. Wednesday night’s dinner was just what I needed to jump start my appetite for Filipino cooking. You can take that as a hint for things to come.

Maraming Salamat, Hershell! 

Read more about Thrilla in Manila Pop up Dinner at the Tom Douglas Blog and Newsletter.  

Hershell himself wrote about the great event from his perspective. 

And Lilian of Tossed Salads and Scrambled Eggs also wrote a blog entry on Hershell's great event. 

Discovering ‘Authentic’ Thai Food at Columbia City Farmer’s Market

When I’m ordering Thai or Indian food, please don’t give me a 1 to 5 spiciness scale.  Authenticity in ethnic foods would dictate that meals are served the way the chef and origin of a dish intended it to taste like. For this reason, along with a boatload of mediocre ketchupy pad thai dishes and under or over spiced curries, I’ve been disenchanted with the Seattle Thai restaurant scene. I know that this may warrant a bit of controversy; many people want their food the way they like it and the word authentic, in regards to ethnic foods, can be a dangerous word. 

That’s why I was surprised to say that I was transported to the streets of Thailand from the unlikeliest of places, from a food vendor in the middle of a neighborhood farmer’s market. It was my nose that led me to a sign displaying Shophouse manned by chef and owner Wiley Frank. 

Shophouse brings “food off the path” dishes devoted to the craft of traditional Thai cuisine. Wiley Frank and his wife Poncharee Kounpungchart lived in Thailand experiencing food, culture and family for over a year. Lucky for us, Wiley and Poncharee share their acquired wisdom and knowledge with hungry customers at Columbia City Farmer’s Market on Wednesday afternoons. 

I was lucky enough to have their mini curried loki salmon cakes featuring fish from Loki Fish Co and minced pork sautéed with gra pao basil, chiles, and garlic. The salmon cakes were loaded with Thai flavors and had a pretty visual appeal with the garnish of fried basil. The pork reminded me how well the Thai can employ the full spectrum of salty, sweet, sour and spicy in one or two dishes. 

Shophouse was also a pop-up restaurant that made an appearance every Monday night at Licorous on Capitol Hill. Pop-up restaurants provide many of the same opportunities that food trucks offer to young chefs; It’s a way to test new dishes, let off some creative steam, expand their brand to new neighborhoods and otherwise take risks without the hefty upfront investment required for a traditional restaurant. 

Unfortunately, Licorous permanently closed its doors last Monday along with Shophouse’s Monday night pop-up. Wiley hopes to grow on the concept of Shophouse and one day hopefully start a brick and mortar restaurant.

Keeping an eye on the young stars of the culinary world is like watching local bands play at small clubs. It’s one thing to watch a highly established, or even celebrity chef, start a restaurant with highly anticipated fanfare. It’s even more rewarding to discover humble young and up and coming chefs start small, gain some traction and become culinary rock stars. 

Vietnamese Cuisine: Beef Stir-Fried with Chinese Celery

 

If there’s one person I know that operates without a filter on their mouth, it’s my mother.

When my parents came out on their first visit to Seattle, we went to a small Vietnamese restaurant called Thanh Vi in the U-District. While thinking about what to order, our waitress told us how she lived in the Philippines as a refugee fleeing from Vietnam. She delighted my mom with stories of the Philippines and even spoke a bit of broken Tagalog with my parents.

After taking our orders, she hesitantly leaned in to my mom and told her how she was hoping to find a Filipino husband.

My mom’s face lit up like it was Christmas morning as she sprung out of her seat. She frantically waved her hands in front of her as she proclaimed to all the Pho slurping diners in the restaurant “My son! My son! My son is available!”

And that’s the story of how a wonderful romance began, not with the charming waitress, but with Vietnamese cuisine. 

Vietnamese eateries are considered by many to be the darling of Asian cuisines here in Seattle. Humble hole-in-the wall places like Thanh Vi, and hidden gems like Tamarind Tree and Green Leaf offer up steamy bowls of pho, bargain baguette banh mi sandwiches, rice vermicelli dishes and a wide assortment of grilled meats and seafood.

I’ve been learning more and more about Vietnamese while cooking here in my own kitchen. Andrea Nguyen’s Into The Vietnamese Kitchen has become a favorite cookbook of mine with it’s stunning food photography and easy to follow recipes.

Seattle Times food writer, Nancy Leson, talks about Nguyen’s book at All You Can Eat while Jessamyn at Food on the Brain recently tweeted how she is slowly cooking her way through the cookbook.

With both colonial French and Asian influences, Vietnamese cooks prepare their food in a way that brings out and compliments fresh ingredients rather than completely overpowering them.

The following Beef Stir-Fried with Chinese Celery is a perfect example of Vietnamese flavor. The thinly cut strips of beef flank are dressed in a uniquely Vietnamese beef marinade, while the Chinese celery adds a wild freshness, color, and crisp to the dish.

If there’s anything you should come away with from this dish, it’s the marinade and how it can be applied to thin strips of beef. I prepared beef this way and served it alone at a recent games night at our apartment, and it was gone before any dice were even rolled. I’m looking forward to exploring more ways to use the marinade, especially on the grill as the weather warms up. 

Francis Foodie’s notes on this recipe

• When cutting the strips of beef, cut perpendicular to the muscle threads of the flank steak
• I will almost always end up burning the onions and garlic so I usually remove it after cooking until their fragrant just before I fry the beef, only to add it as the beef finishes cooking
• Chinese celery can usually be found in the produce section at most Asian markets.
• Feel free to experiment stir frying this with other vegetables, but I found that using green pepper and onion was too overpowering and took away from the savory beef marinade

Beef Stir-Fry Marinade (Enough for 3/4 pound of beef)
Adapted from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen by Andrea Nguyen

1 teaspoon cornstarch

3/4 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2.5 teaspoon fish sauce

1.5 teaspoons light (regular) soy sauce

In a shallow bowl, combine the cornstarch, sugar, pepper, fish sauce, and soy sauce and stir to mix. Add the beef called for in the recipe, turn to coat the meat evenly, and set aside to marinate while you ready the remaining ingredients for the stir fry.

Beef Stir-Fried with Chinese Celery

Adapted from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen by Andrea Nguyen

Beef Stir-Fry Marinade

3/4 pound flank steak, cut across the grain into strips about 3 inches long,

3/4 inch wide, and a scant 1/4 inch stick

1 pound (about 2 bunches) Chinese celery

2 tablespoons canola or other neutral oil

1/2 small yellow onion, sliced lengthwise 1/2 inch thick

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Black pepper

In a wok or large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over the medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the onion and stir-fry for about 30 seconds, or until fragrant. Add the garlic and stir-fry for about 15 seconds, or until aromatic. To prvent the onion and garlic from getting stuck under the beef and charring, bank them on one side of the pan. Increase the heat to high and add the beef, spreading it out into a single layer. Let it cook, undisturbed for about 1 minute. When the beef begins to brown, use a spatula to flip and stir-fry it, incorporating the onion and garlic for another 1 to 2 minutes, or until the beef is still slightly rare. Transfer to a plate

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan. When it is hot, add the celery and stir-fry for about 3 minutes or until the celery has softened and collapsed to about one-third of its original volume. Return the beef, onion, and garlic, along with any juices, to the pan and stir-fry quickly to combine. Continue stir-frying to heat and finish cooking the beef. When the beef no longer shows signs of rareness, after about 1minute, it is done.

Sprinkle with pepper and serve immediately over rice.