adobohead

I grew up in Colorado, where it was difficult to find Filipino ingredients. (or any Asian ingredients, for that matter...luckily that changed in the nineties.) My mother used to use the sinigang packets. I guess powdered tamarind is better than none at all. (and better than the commonly substituted lemon juice)

My folks went cruising recently, and said that on the last night of the cruise, one of the Filipino waiters asked them if they were Filipino. They said they were, and he told them that if they had known, they could have served them any Filipino dishes they wanted. (Apparently, the predominantly Filipino kitchen staff on some of these cruises keeps a well-stocked pantry, and you just have to know to ask!)

My first Japan posting, and it's in this topic...oh well. My disdain for ketchup (or better, my wariness of ketchup) has to do with the simple fact that most American food, especially fast food, is uninspired. Growing up in the United States, I encountered many mediocre dishes slathered in ketchup...mediocre hamburgers, mediocre meatloaf. I've seen people put ketchup in macaroni and cheese...jazzing up a mediocre sauce by putting more sauce on it. When I was a kid, I used to put ketchup on just about everything. There were dishes that my mother would make that I didn't even know by name...I just knew that I liked them because I could put ketchup on them. I would refer to such a dish as "the ketchup thing". "What do you want for dinner, adobo or omelet?" "The ketchup thing!" (meaning omelet) I was not alone. Tons of kids my age used to glop ketchup on everything. There was actually a public service announcement that they used to play during Saturday morning cartoons...any of you remember "Don't Drown Your Food?". Sing along, folks... don't drown your food in mayo, salt, ketchup or goo it's no fun to eat what you can't even see so don't drown your food! Anyway, I got over the ketchup thing. I learned to appreciate the flavor and texture of foods with no sauce or a moderate amount of sauce. Very saucy food still freaks me out a little bit...I'd probably have a hard time in France.

funny story about melona bars...when i first moved to LA five years ago, a russian friend was driving me around and when she stopped for gas, she came back to the car with one of those for me. i loved it, and searched for them in all of the (funny part) russian markets in town. three years later, shopping at california market, i found them in the frozen section. now, i have to go for the hodduk. i always wondered what the big deal was about that cart in front of the store...

actually, i misspoke. your problem seems to be that you can find decent Filipino food, just not SPECTACULAR Filipino food, am I right?

Just found this thread...I am so surprised that you are having trouble finding decent Filipino food in Hawaii. I always assumed Hawaii would have tons of great places... Two of the best area Filipino restaurants are within 3 miles of my place in Glendale. And one of them, Barrio Fiesta, has the best (IMHO) crispy pata in town. It may be that the Filipino community in Hawaii is simply not large enough to create the kind of cross-cultural interest in Filipino food that there is in California, even though the concentration of Filipinos in Hawaii may seem higher.

I missed the Thai get-together (I think there may have been two...) but I won't miss this one. I'm in!

Duke's Malibu is a great place to enjoy a meal with gorgeous views of the ocean. Go for their Sunday brunch...it's fun! Malibu.

You can't go wrong with a cold Corona...is it Friday yet?

Porto's in Glendale for sure...and it's right off the 134. Whenever I have guests from out of town, I make sure to schedule a meal at this cheap-as-heck japanese place in Los Feliz. Problem is, I have no idea what it's called. There's no sign. But it is VERY popular and I'm sure someone here can help me out. It's on Vermont, right between Skylight Books and the Los Feliz 3 movie theater. For under 5 bucks, get the Chicken Teriyaki & Tempura combo. They immediately bring you a salad and a bowl of miso soup. Before you've finished that, they've brought a sizzling hot plate of shrimp (1) and vegetable tempura. Then you get a plate of teriyaki chicken and a bowl of rice. It's a LOT of delicious food for less than 5 bucks! If you go around dinner time, expect to wait for one of the (maybe) 12 places to sit in this tiny little place. Philippe's is good, too. And cheap. And close to Olvera Street.

Ha ha...I think that was me that asked about Filipino restaurants in Irvine. My cousin lives in Irvine and he has to travel quite a distance to find any decent Filipino food. He usually ends up going to Carson...Manila's Lechon Manok, I think. Really good food. We usually go out for Filipino food together, twice a month or so. Glendale has a bunch of restaurants, but there are only two that we go to with any regularity: Barrio Fiesta and Max's of Manila. I like them both. IMHO Barrio Fiesta is good for the stews...awesome kare-kare and sinigang etc...and Max's is good for the fried stuff, esp. the chicken. That chicken rules. And don't forget the chicken chicharrones at Max's either. We often talk about how one day we'll sneak some Max's chicken and chicharrones into Barrio Fiesta so we can have them with the kare-kare, which we suspect would be a devastatingly good combination. Anyway, those three restaurants are the best I've had yet.

When you order CFS for breakfast, it is usually served with sausage gravy...the same one used for biscuits and gravy. I'm not sure what they do when that's not available...is it made with chicken drippings or something?

Yum. If anyone can figure out how to make the salty black Dutch kind. Yummers.

What about Max's of Manila or Carousel (Armenian) in Glendale?

...but they're always hot. All their burgers are made to order. That's why the lines are so long. Worth the wait, though...

Wow. These all sound so good. But none of you do the "parmesan crust on the outside" thing...? (Warning: butter-intensive) Take two slices of sourdough bread. Butter both on one side. Sprinkle buttered sides with parmesan cheese. Toast both slices, buttered side up, in the pan. Flip, place one slice of cheese on each of the now-toasted sides. Remove to a plate when parmesan crust is golden brown. I like to have spicy mustard for dipping on the side.

In-N-Out's Double Double...protein style.

I had something like this that I thought was tofu for a long time but it was fish cake. In a sort of brownish-clear broth. Minus the mushrooms though. Thank goodness for LA's Koreatown...I just buy my panchan at one of the many Korean supermarkets. It's too time-consuming for me to make them when I want two or three to accompany my meal.

How funny...I was just about to start this topic and I see that somebody beat me to it. The scope of the article is not so much exhaustive as exhausting. How many plates of panchan did he have to go through? How many soju hangovers? I'm in awe. I haven't started reading it yet, but I hope Mr. Gold left a little mystery in Koreatown for me. After all, I don't want to know ALL of its secrets...

Boulder Chips, made in Boulder, but actually available in most Wild Oats stores, including the one at Fairfax and Santa Monica here in LA. Flavors: Thai, Sea Salt and Malt Vinegar, Sweet Onion.

I have two...and I haven't read most of the posts in this thread, so if either of these is a repeat, i'm both sorry and amazed. 1. Syrup sandwiches...two pieces of white bread and pancake syrup. Kinda like cold pancakes. With syrup. 2. Cucumber and peanut butter. Satisfying in a cool, crispy way.

My mother gave me my rice cooker when I first moved out. It's the same one she used when I was a kid, and she had it as long as I can remember. (I'm 33.) It's still going strong. I've never checked what brand it is...hold on... ...It's a Mitsubishi. Yr typical round, white rice cooker with a removable metal pot and lid. Much of the paint has worn off and it's pretty scary looking now...so scary in fact that most of my friends tell me, "dude, you need a new rice cooker." "Mine works fine." "Yeah, but look at it." "It's fine." "We're buying you a new one." "I don't need a new one. It's fine." Still makes great rice. If it ever broke down, I think I would cry. Maybe I'll post a picture here sometime.

CFS for breakfast, with two eggs on top, scrambled soft. And a side of hash browns. Which reminds me...I seem to remember having several good CFSs in my time at the ubiquitous Waffle House.

That sounds good...I'll have to order it next time I'm out for Korean.

I put leftover egg whites, or yolks, in my post-workout protein shake. Leftover bananas or cottage cheese go in there sometimes too. Come to think, I put leftover anything in my protein shakes. They taste gross anyway. Can't get much worse.