FILIPINO FISH BALL SURPRISE

After months of begging to make my own version of Filipino Fish Ball, I felt deep pity for my husband and so, I finally granted his request last night. “Yeah right!,” this might be Rowel’s reply after reading my opening salvo. I hope not, otherwise, I am going to tell him, “AMALAYER (I’m a liar)?” I just love teasing him because he is the craziest!

Anyway, since most of my readers are always asking me for recipes, I am sharing with you how I made the fishballs I served for my love’s dinner last night:

Ingredients and Cooking Process:

(It’s  just an experiment so, the ingredients I put in were just estimates…)

STEAMED FISH

 Fish Fillets  (preferably Tuna, Salmon, Mackerel Cad, Tilapia)

Coriander

Lemon

Orange Juice

A julienne of Ginger

Salt and Pepper

1. Slice the lemon  in about half an inch thick crosswise. Then, arrange them in a cooking pot.
2.  Season the fish fillets with salt and pepper and put it at the top of the lemon slices.
3. Add the julienned ginger and three big pieces of fresh coriander.
4. Pour about half a cup of orange juice into the pan and cook the fish over medium to high heat.
5.  Once it’s cooked, drain and flake the fish.

 THE BALLS

Flaked fish

spring onion

 medium size onion

 clove Garlic

  Shredded carrot

 Bell Pepper

Celery

flour

yeast

egg

cheddar or cream cheese

1. Except for the fish, flour, yeast and cheese; put all the ingredients in a blender or food chopper/processor to ensure they are minced. 
2. Pour the finely chopped ingredients in a bowl; then, add the flaked fish, flour, egg and yeast. I like my balls kind of under-seasoned, so I don’t normally add more salt – just pepper.
3. Mix everything well.
4. Out of the mixture, form pingpong-size  balls.
5. Insert a small size of cheese inside each ball before frying.

VINEGAR DIPPING

Vinegar

ketchup

onion (finely chopped)

garlic (minced)

sugar

black pepper

Chopped Chili (optional)

1. Simply mix all the ingredients well and adjust according to taste. Whoala! It’s ready!

I don’t have a food chopper and I was kind of lazy to use our blender. Consequently, the ingredients were not minced and the balls turned out to have that big crunchy chunks that I didn’t like.

Tip: Blend or finely chop the ingredients to achieve that smooth-textured balls, so that all you’ll see is just the opaque white color.

The balls were submerged in hot oil…  I got so excited when they started to float!

Here’s the perfectly fried balls… Let’s eat!

And yes, I made my own vinegar dipping! It went perfectly well with the fish balls.

 SEE THE SURPRISE!?!

I wasn’t really satisfied with the result of my experiment, because the fish I used wasn’t that tasty. Nonetheless, my husband and I still had happy tummies! Just a warning though,  never use cream dory fillet for making fish balls or else you will fail.

INDULGENCE

My everyday exhausting routine was interrupted by nine days holiday. Yes, I just got back from a long break! How did I spend it?  INDULGED MYSELF of course!  I did nothing but OVERATE.

Here are some snapshots of our eating sessions…

VIVA! TACO BELL

At last, Taco Bell - the Mexican-American food chain that I love – has a branch now in Corniche Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia.  I’m thrilled that it’s already available in the Kingdom, but I don’t think it’s the best place to dine. There are too many tables and chairs crowding the store which makes it appear smaller and stuffy.  It’s kind of uncomfy! Next time, we’ll just buy a take-out meal from there…

How about the food? If truth be told, Rowel and I were really tempted to try everything as they all looked yummy! However, we decided to leave something for next time to try and so, we just ordered the following:

NACHO BELL GRANDE: Nachos topped with STINGY portions of ground beef, tomatoes, cheese and cream, but LOADED with red beans. It’s good, but I wish they put more cheese and tomatoes rather than beans!

My son could only care less about taste and texture of the food – he loved the NACHO BELL GRANDE!

 I tried their Grilled Stuffed Burrito while Rowel had the Burrito Supreme – Spicy Chicken.

The spicy chicken, flavored rice and other spices weren’t evenly placed inside the Tortilla wrap and the mentioned ingredients couldn’t be tasted  until the last two bites. I actually thought that the Burrito was only stuffed with mashed red beans. It’s unbelievable how generous they are with their beans! Sorry, but I am not really super fond of eating red beans.  

I was really sad, because it wasn’t the kind of Burrito that I expected to taste!

 

Their CHALUPA, GORDITA, CRUNCHY WRAP SUPREME and QUESADILLAS were delicious!

The foods may not be as good as the ones I had in the United States, but I still like them.

Hurray! MAGNUM ICE CREAM 

Since the time that Magnum Ice Cream was extravagantly publicized in the Philippines, I never stopped looking for one here in the Kingdom just so  to satisfy my curious palate. The craze did not reach Saudi Arabia though, so it took some time before it became available in the Arabian market. And currently, only TAMIMI SUPERMARKET, located in Corniche – AL Khobar, Saudi Arabia, is selling it. Needless to say, this frozen delight finally landed my tongue!!

I’ve heard and read a lot of reviews about Magnum – mostly negative. However, among those comments, there’s one thing that I would definitely agree, it is EXPENSIVE! For SR12, I could already buy a pint of other known brands of ice cream and make at least two more people happy!

I tried their  mint-flavored ice cream that is generously coated with luscious chocolate. In my viewpoint, it’s more delectable than Ben & Jerry’s, but no better than Galaxy! They said it’s TOO sweet, but for me, the sweetness isn’t really out of the usual. Perhaps, the only reason that I wouldn’t buy this brand - as often as I can – is the PRICE!

PORK, PORK, PORK – I WANT PORK!

As you know, Saudi Arabia is a Muslim country and for this obvious reason, pork is banned. However, one of our friends  told us that there’s a restaurant here in the Kingdom that serves grilled meat that tastes like pork! Without a second thought, we went to that eating place and true enough, they offered us something that satisfied our longing for oink! oink! We found out later though that it was just grilled LAMB!

The restaurant’s name, address and telephone number

The menu

We ordered their mixed BBQ (spare ribs, kebab, lamb) and biryani rice. Super yummy!!!!

Here are some photos of the excited diners…

BONUS SHOTS: THE LEMON CHALLENGE

Sage’s first ever lemon tasting…

I never thought that my little-big boy would love the taste of lemon! He wouldn’t stop licking it… LOL 

That’s all for now folks…. until our next adventure!!!!

PART II: FELICITY

When I was still a kid, my birthday was one of the events that I looked forward to each year. Dad would easily grant my wishes like a Genie while mom would send me something exciting like a fairy – it happened every 5^th of August usually! The people in our community, even those who weren’t close to me, would greet me whenever they’d see me around as if I was a politician or a celebrity. And as a youngster, there’s no way that the given special attention and fabulous gifts wouldn’t awaken my exuberant spirit. Happiness! But now that I’m old, I prefer to spend it quietly and just let it pass by like an ordinary day. With all honesty - without hypocrisy – it no longer matters whether I’d receive gifts or not. Also, the extreme enthusiasm brought by having parties doesn’t  capture my interest anymore. I would rather reserve that feeling for my son’s birthday bash!

FIRST TIME EVER:

I took a day off from work on my birthday. I never did it in the past and I actually liked the idea of freeing myself from stressful things on my special day. It will definitely happen again in the future! (Boss, please approve my “birthday leave” yearly) Another thing, it was my first time celebrating it now that I’m already a mom. Yes, Sage, as an addition to our small family, surely made a difference!  

AMAZING THINGS HAPPEN WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT THEM:

Like what I mentioned, I did not expect a lot of fuss to happen on august 5. But on the contrary, many marvelous things   came about on that day and I could say it was one of the birthday celebrations I’ve had that’s truly worth reminiscing. 

The unexpected gifts: 

A night before my birthday, Rowel surprised me with this awesome present. I almost cried, because I wasn’t really expecting for anything! And guess what? Someone else was more excited for mommy’s new toy. At least, I wasn’t the only one who’s happy! 

I’ve got a new bag! Thank you Ate Rossette and Kuya Roi Pallones. You guys are just so awesome.

Thank you for this fabulous slippers Vang! You so know my needs. I can’t wait to wear them on October!  

Dhay Roselyn, thank you for being so thoughtful! I love the shirt.

A fabulous gift from an equally fab friend, FRANCE!!!

The Birthday Dinner Date

A few days before my natal day, my hubby already told me that we would eat dinner in one of the Mexican Restaurants in Al Khobar. Rowel and I are pretty adventurous when it comes to food and I always trust his preference. Oh well, it has no difference with my own! To continue, when the day came, we went out of our apartment at around six in the evening and reached  LA FONDA  30 minutes after.  As soon as I saw the sign, I was so thrilled . So, I hurriedly hopped out of the taxi when it stopped and entered the restaurant without delay. However, when I saw the interior of the place, my excitement was soon gone. It looked creepy and untidy. Nobody was there except us and the sloppy waiter. We checked the menu though. The food looked yummy, but I wasn’t really comfortable with the place. And so we decided to leave…

We were looking for Applebees and Taco Bell as alternatives. But the thought of “the usual food” bothered us. Good thing, as we headed to Applebees, we found this fascinating Italian eating place that we’d always wanted to try since I was pregnant with Sage. Without hesitation, we entered the LA GONDOLA restaurant. The elegant ambiance, presentable waiters and friendly manager, the sumptuous menu and the romantic music on the background made us fell in love with the place right away! We were told that it’s the number one Italian Restaurant in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, and it even impressed us when we learned that their chef is an Italian. We couldn’t really question the authenticity of the taste. No wonder, there’s a lot of people who dined there. It was a bit pricey, but each bite was worth every penny! 

WHAT WE HAD FOR DINNER??? 

BUON APPETITO!!!!!

Complimentary: The sauces which perfectly matched the herb bread really pleased us! Even if the night was already over, Rowel still kept on saying how delicious the bread was!

Because we didn’t know how to pronounce what’s written on the menu, we just pointed to the waiter the food that we wanted to order. hahahaha

Zuppa Alla Boscaiola “V”: Rowel said, “It’s the best mushroom soup that I’ve ever tasted thus far.” And I couldn’t agree more! 

And here’s hubby enjoying his soup! 

Another happy guy!

Mezzelune di Ricotta e Spinaci “V”: The pasta was cooked al dente and the spinach filling complimented the not-so-creamy tomato sauce. Superb!

Fresco Di Mare Doni Del Mare: We didn’t know how they did it, but every food they served was excellent. These grilled sea foods were just so good! I love how the white sauce balanced the saltiness and distinctive taste of the sprinkled herbs. Very satisfying!

Greek Salad: Rowel’s choice of side dish

Gelato Misto: What’s the best way to end a meal? Eating Italian Ice cream of course!  

It made the birthday girl extremely happy!

Our drinks:

I couldn’t understand, why Italy’s sparkling water is too expensive?  

Cheers!

I should not forget to thank the wonderful waiters who were kind enough to carry Sage while we were savoring our dinner. I was so glad that my son entertained them, so it wasn’t a burden for them to do so. 

I’m really grateful to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with another wondrous year. I hope and pray that my life will be lengthened, so that I could still enjoy the company of my beloved family and friends.

To all those who greeted me, thank you, mahalo, salamat, shukran….  I felt loved!

More than the lavish food and marvelous presents, it is the thought of spending my birthday exclusively with my two invaluable gifts - my lovies – that made it super special.  

Felicity indeed!