~~**MyMy's Munchies**~~

Sunday, 15 June 2014

~My BALUT Experience~

Hi all! I hope all is well today :)

Yesterday, I attended the Filipino Barrio Fiesta in Newcastle, which is an annual festival for Filipinos living in the UK. These fiestas are very popular and many attend to mingle with other Filipinos, watch the entertainment (which usually consists of local Pinoy talent) and of course, to take advantage of the food stalls serving amazing Filipino "ulam" (which is accompanied with rice) and desserts (hello, Halo Halo!).

Of course, when it came to the food, I wanted to take full advantage of what was on offer at the stalls. I ummed and aaahed at all of the delicious food, such as "Adobo" (chicken in soy sauce and vinegar sauce), "Bistek" (find my version of this in one of my earlier posts :)) and "Pinakbet"(pork pieces with aubergine, okra and other veggies) and then I came across a sign: "BALUT - £1.50 EACH".

Balut. Firstly, some things to know about Balut...

It is a regular in the top 10 of the most gruesome foods in the world (very often coming in at the #1 spot).
It is not for the faint-hearted.
You need to have a strong stomach.

Balut is a very popular street food in the Philippines (and other parts of Asia), and it consists of a developing duck embryo that is boiled alive and eaten in its shell. The young chick inside the shell is nearly fully formed, which means it has the bones, beak and feathers intact when eaten. For those who are wondering - yes, you do eat the entire contents of the egg (apart from the shell).

I hadn't had Balut for very many years, not even when I visited the Philippines earlier on this year, so I forgot if I even liked it or not. Granted, I can see why it wouldn't appeal to many people, but my brother, as well as thousands of Filipinos, absolutely love it, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Here is a photo of what the inside of the Balut looked like:

As you can see, it is hasn't got the most appetizing appearance. Here are my reactions (the guy on the right is my Balut-loving brother) when I was cracking the egg open...

Overall verdict - looks unappealing but it actually tasted OK. I think a lot of people would avoid it mainly because they know what it is and knowing they are eating a nearly-developed chick (beak and feathers and all...) is a put off in itself, but if they blind-tasted this, I don't think they would be so grossed out about it. I certainly wasn't and I would quite happily eat this again.

What is the most unusual food that you've ever eaten?

Saturday, 14 June 2014

~* Healthy Breakfast/Post Work-Out Smoothie*~

Good day, all! I hope you are well!

Today, I am going to share with you a very simple smoothie recipe which is not only incredibly healthy, it is low fat and super filling too!
I have just recently joined the local gym and I am keen to make it a habit to go and work out at least 3 times a week, one of those times being Saturday morning, before breakfast (around 8:30am). This means that after my work out, I have plenty of time to prepare a nutritious breakfast without having to rush for work and usually, when I have the flexibility to do so, I tend to make fruity juices and smoothies.

I specifically chose the ingredients for this smoothie because of the health benefits each has. For example, I would be getting my Vitamin C from the lemon, Potassium from my banana and Calcium from the yoghurt and milk, and mixed together, not only is it super tasty, it is very filling and prepares me for a long day ahead perfectly.

I hope you enjoy this smoothie as much as I do! :):)

NOTE!! You will need a blender or a juicer for this recipe.

INGREDIENTS

1 Banana
3.5 tablespoons of Natural Yoghurt
1 cup of Milk (I used Skimmed Milk for mine as it is low in fat)
A handful of Spinach
A handful of mixed Summer Berries
1/2 Lemon

RECIPE

Chop the banana into small pieces and put into blending jug / juicing cup.
Add the natural yoghurt on top of the banana, then on top of this, a handful of green spinach.

Add 1/2 a cup of milk to the mixture and blend/juice. Your smoothie should now be a green colour.

Take a handful of mixed summer berries and place into the green smoothie.
Take your 1/2 a lemon and chop off a small slice (leaving the rind on, as that is where all the nutrients are), put it into the smoothie and squeeze the juice of the rest of the lemon. Add the lemon juice into the smoothie and blend/juice.

And that's it! The smoothie should now be a brownish colour.
ENJOY!!

Monday, 2 June 2014

~* Healthy Breakfast Idea: Avocado & Poached Eggs on Toast*~

This is fast becoming one of my favourite breakfasts.

Today, I am sharing with you a very simple, super healthy breakfast idea which consists of toast topped with avocado and poached eggs. It is super quick to make, full of nutritious goodness and very filling!

Here is what you need...

INGREDIENTS

1 slice of thick wholemeal bread (toasted)
1/2 of an avocado
2 poached eggs
You can serve this with "sides" too - I served mine with ham, but you can have cheese, baby tomatoes...anything you fancy :)

All you need to do is spread the avocado on the toast (you don't need to butter this first), then top with the poached eggs - simples! You can also season with a bit of salt and pepper if you so wish.

Have a great breakfast!! :)

Tuesday, 20 May 2014

~* What I had for Dinner...*~ (19th May, 2014)

Hi all,

Just wanted to share this pic of yesterday's super healthy dinner :)

I am trying to live healthily at the moment and part of doing this is by having a nutritious diet with a variety of lovely food.

This particular dish consists of a spinach salad with cucumber and tomato (I was going to put avocado in but I forgot!), a small portion of spaghetti pasta with reduced-fat cream cheese and baked salmon on top.

Yummy and healthy!!!

Sunday, 11 May 2014

~* Easy Filipino Style Beef Steak (Bistek) Recipe*~

Hi everyone! I hope you are well!

Today I would like to share a very simple recipe for a popular Filipino dish called "Bistek".

Bistek is made up of thinly sliced beef, which has been marinated in soy sauce, citrus juice (lemon, lime or calamansi), pepper and a little bit of water, and is served hot with onions and rice.

I was inspired to make this after watching Benji Travis (of benjimantv on YouTube, the husband of Judy of itsjudyslife) cook this with his Filipino mother-in-law, and since I was really craving Filipino food (as I do every day!) and had bought some good beef from the bargain section of the local supermarket, I thought "why not?" :)
I hope you enjoy this dish as much as I do!

INGREDIENTS

1 lb thinly sliced beef
1/4 cup Soy Sauce (preferably the light sort)
Juice of 1 Lemon / 1 Lime / 4 Calamansi (I used lemon for mine)
Black Pepper
Water
1 onion (red or white), sliced

HOW TO COOK...

1. Take the thinly sliced beef and place into a bowl.

2. Put the soy sauce into the bowl so that it covers the majority of the meat. 3. Take your citrus fruit (in this case, I used lemon), cut in half and squeeze the juice over the meat and soy sauce. You will need the juice of the whole fruit.

4. Put a little bit of water into the bowl in order to slightly dilute the soy sauce - I used about a tablespoon and a half of water.

5. Grind some pepper onto the meat, then mix everything together so that all of the beef is covered in the soy/citrus juice marinade.

6. Cover the bowl and allow the meat to marinate for 2-3 hours (the longer the better).

7. Once you are ready to cook the meat, heat a little bit of oil (enough for a shallow fry) in a frying pan.

8. Place the beef and a little bit of the marinade into the pan and allow to cook on medium heat. Leave for 1-2 minutes. Flip the meat and cook the other side, again for 1-2 minutes.

9. Now for the onions! Put the sliced onions on top of the beef and lower the heat, cooking for a further 1 minute. The intention is for the heat from the beef to cook the onions, so they should not go really soft.

10. Switch off the heat, and serve the Bistek with hot rice. Make sure you save the juices from the pan, as it tastes really good with the rice!

ENJOY!!!

Wednesday, 23 April 2014

~The Philippines!!~

Good day, folks! I hope you are well today :)

Some of you will know that I have just recently returned from an amazing trip in the Philippines and Singapore. During my time there, I spent quality time with family (especially my cousins, who I had not seen for 12 years so many of them had grown up a lot since the last time I saw them!), shopping and of course, enjoying the wonderful cuisine and looking through food markets.

It was a trip I really needed to get "refreshed" and spend time away from everyday life and stresses in the UK. I had the most amazing time and it was a great opportunity to rediscover the Filipino in me - to live the life, see the family, try crossing the roads without being killed (a difficult one!), taking full advantage of the shopping, and EAT the food. And boy, did I eat!!

In this post, I would like to share with you some foodie photos which I took during my trip in the Philippines. Unfortunately, I didn't capture much from Singapore, but that was because we ate Filipino food (JOLLIBEE!) anyway :)