Two of my favorite Filipino dishes: Chicken Arroz Caldo and Tokwa’t Baboy.  I grew up eating these dishes cooked by my mom on rainy days when we’d all stay in at home.  Now that I live here in Sydney, I find comfort in these dishes during cold winter days.

Chicken Arroz Caldo

What you need for cooking:
Chicken breast cut into strips
1 cup of Glutinous Rice
2-3 cups of water
1 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp canola oil
1 whole onion, diced
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 thumb-sized ginger, sliced
3-4 tbsp fish sauce
Pepper and salt (to taste)
Slices of Calamansi or Lemon

What you need for garnish:
6 cloves of garlic, diced and fried til golden brown
Chopped green onions
Boiled eggs, sliced
Chicharon (fried pork rinds), crushed


What you need to do:
1.  Saute onion, garlic and ginger in oil.
2.  Add chicken breast strips and stir til juice oozes from meat.
3.  Throw in the fish sauce, season as you stir.
4.  Add glutinous rice and wait til it turns brown in colour.
5.  While stirring, add chicken stock then water, one cup at a time.
6.  Bring to a boil, cover and let it simmer until grains start to crumble.
7.  Season with salt and pepper. 
8.  Keep stirring once in a while to make sure that the rice won’t stick to the bottom

Once your Chicken Arroz Caldo is finished, serve it in a bowl and add garnishes mentioned above. Squeeze the calamansi or lemon on top of the Chicken Arroz Caldo for more flavour.

Note: You can use other parts of the chicken for this dish: chicken wings, thighs or drumsticks.  Some also add chicken liver.  I choose chicken breast strips so my Arroz Caldo will be less fatty and oily.

Chicken Arroz Caldo

Tokwa’t Baboy (Tofu and Pork)

What you need:
1/4 kilo pork shoulder or pork belly, sliced into little cubes
1/4 kilo firm or extra firm tofu
1 onion, diced
4 tbsp soy sauce
5 tbsp vinegar
2 cups water
1 tsp brown sugar
Pepper and salt (to taste)
Canola oil

What you need to do:
1.  Boil pork in water.  When water runs dry, pour 2 tbsp of Canola oil and fry til golden 
     brown.  Set aside.
2.  Fry tofu til crunchy and golden brown.  Drain the fried tofu in paper towel.  Cut into
     cubes then place in a dish together with the pork
3.  In a saucepan, combine vinegar and soy sauce then bring to a boil.
4.  Add sugar and onions then stir.
5.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6.  Pour the sauce over fried tofu and pork.

Note:  You can also add green pepper or red chili unto the sauce to make it spicy.

Tokwa't Baboy

Bon appetit!

Chicken Arroz Caldo & Tokwa't Baboy

When I moved to Sydney, I became more aware of how to be more earth-friendly.   Thanks to this country’s numerous “green-friendly” advertisements on TV and to my office which has an Eco-Committee, the information I get from them not only made me aware of how we can help save the environment, it also made me a part of taking care of our one and only Earth.
 
I admit that I USED to hoard pretty looking table napkins from restaurants.  But now, not anymore.  I even get upset when the Husband grabs so many table napkins.  I really cringe and remind him to just get a few and if we need some more, we will just grab some again.

A Friendly Reminder From Starbucks


A few weeks back, I saw Starbucks’ great reminder on saving napkins in order to help the environment:

Less napkins.  More plants.  More planet. Less napkins.

So every time you grab those plentiful of napkins, think of the environment too.  Let’s us help each other in preserving our environment–it is the only one we have.


We were given gift certificates to use at Oriental Spa six months ago for a photography gig we did for a friend.  Since we had 3 days off from work this weekend (today being a public holiday in celebration of Labour Day in NSW), we booked an appointment for our Aromatherapy Massage on Saturday.

Oriental Spa is located in Chatswood, a suburb in the north shore of Sydney.  I’ve been here a few times but only to have lunch or shop but have never really explored the place.  There’s a certain homey-and-cool vibe about Chatswood.  They have quite a busy CBD for a Saturday morning with lots of cafes and shops bustling with people. 

Good thing we booked our appointment with Oriental Spa early as the moment we stepped out of Chatswood train station, we found out that there’s a lot of things we can do while we’re here.

But first, we had to be in Zen mode at Oriental Spa.  I missed having spas, it’s been ages since I’ve had a massage. 

Oriental Spa

The statue of Quan Yin can be seen as soon you enter the lobby of Oriental Spa.  She is the goddess of compassion, mercy and healing. 

DOriental Spa

The staff welcomed us with Ginger and Lemon Tea.
Oriental Spa

I love little details.

Oriental Spa

This was outside our room.

Oriental Spa

We had the Aromatherapy Massage.  For one hour, our body were treated with long stroke massage techniques combined with aromatherapy oils.  It was soothing and relaxing to the body.  We totally enjoyed it.

Oriental Spa

After our massage, we went straight to Westfield Chatswood and had lunch at Soban The Grill. 

Soban

Soban The Grill is a Korean restaurant that specializes in skewers and fresh-from-the-grill dishes.  There’s another Soban restaurant in Level 6 of Westfield Chatswood that serve traditional Korean dishes.

The Husband taking a photo of me…

Soban

..while I take a photo of the restaurant.

Soban

They served garlic bread while we waited for our food.

Soban

The Husband’s Pork Skewers with rice, green salad and mashed potatoes.  Mild barbeque flavor of the pork, not as tasty as it looked.  But their mashed potato tasted great.  We wanted more of it.

Soban

My Chicken Cordon Bleu with rice and green salad.  Chicken was crispy outside but tender inside.  I loved that they used asparagus and sundried tomato as fillings for the chicken.

Soban

The next time we visit, maybe we’ll try the other Soban on Level 6.

Too full from lunch, we went around Westfield for a bit then moved on to Chatswood Chase (the other mall a few blocks away) and checked out the Apple Store there. 

Before we went home, we had dessert at Hello Happy, a Korean cafe and bakeshop.  We got intrigued by the name of the cafe (it sounded very positive!) and we wanted to try an authentic Korean cake.

Hello Happy

Hello Happy

Fresh and packed breads available for customers wanting to take home their products.

Hello Happy

Their cakes looked yummy.

Hello Happy

Little cakes for just one serve.
Hello Happy

Hello Happy

Hello Happy

We just had hot chocolate drinks and a slice of their Strawberry cake.

Hello Happy

Hello Happy

It was delicious.  It’s the kind of cake that I want: light, not too sweet and the icing not too overwhelming.

We decided to buy a Mocha Roll to bring to a party we attended that night.  The guests loved it too! 

Mocha Roll from Hello Happy

Mocha Roll from Hello Happy

A reminder from Hello Happy…
Hello Happy

…and just because I love almost everything Korean….
Hello Happy

Saturday was such a great day and exploring a new suburb is so much fun.  Because of this experience, we plan of going to suburbs that will catch our fancy once in a while. 


Oriental Spa – http://orientalspa.com.au

Soban Korean Restaurant – http://www.soban.com.au/

Hello Happy – http://www.hellohappy.com.au/
Chatswood branch: 345 Victoria Ave, Chatswood NSW 2067
Strathfield branch: 22 The Boulevarde, Strathfield NSW

This was the first food store I saw the moment we walked out of our hotel in Melbourne.  When I saw the photograph of Churros, I knew that this would be the first dessert we will have on our trip.  I’ve never been more glad to have picked where we stayed at—truly a blessing, location-wise and food-wise.

As we walked out of la citta, I almost skipped with glee with the thought that in a few minutes I will finally have a taste of Churros as I haven’t eaten them in a long while.  I was that excited!

Spanish Doughnuts is a small food store along Elizabeth Street, Melbourne.  This is more of a take-away shop with only two tables on the sidewalk available for those wanting to sit down and savour their Churros while people and cars pass by.

Spanish Doughnuts (Melbourne, Australia)


Their window display will show you a range of their Churros:

Original Churros –  Fresh golden brown outside with a delicate, light and fluffy centre. Rolled in traditional cinnamon sugar or icing sugar.

Bombon Churros – A designer Churro encased in a delicate shell of white, milk or dark chocolate for the ultimate Chocolate Churro experience.

Savoury Churros – Churro filled with savoury cream cheese, sundried tomatoes, peanut butter or cheesybite vegemite filling

Hot Jam Churros – Churro filled with melt-in-your-mouth-fillings such as custard, chocolate, caramel, and strawberry.

Spanish Doughnuts (Melbourne, Australia)

You don’t want a Churro?  They also have Cones with creamy fillings.

Spanish Doughnuts (Melbourne, Australia)

While we were there, they served a box of their savoury Churros to passersby.  It was hot and crunchy.  I liked it!

Spanish Doughnuts (Melbourne, Australia)

Caught on cam!  The Husband’s good timing captured me getting my second piece hehe.  It was that good.  I enjoyed my free savoury Churros while I chatted with the Spanish Doughnuts staff (they were so friendly).
Spanish Doughnuts (Melbourne, Australia)

We ordered a 3-pack Original Churros with Milk Chocolate Dipping for and two pieces of Bombons: one was the Nuts Gourmet Bombon filled with caramel and Triple Chocolate Bombon (not sure about the name–we forgot already). 

The moment the Bombons were handed to us, the Husband started eating the Nuts Gourmet Bombon right away (no time to photograph!).  It was delicious.  With my Husband being a chocoholic, it was gone even before we went back to the hotel.  As he was about to start on the Chocolate Bombon, I told him to save it until we’re back at the hotel.  The moment I took a of photo of it, it was quickly gone (such a chocolate fiend this Husband of mine! hehe).  The Bombons were a lovely dessert but could be too sweet for someone like me who doesn’t like sweet stuff all the time.

Spanish Doughnuts (Melbourne, Australia)

The 3-pack Churros were perfect.  It was freshly-cooked when handed over to me so it was crunchy.  Their milk chocolate dip was a winner for me as well.  Not too sweet, just the right partner to their Churros. 

Spanish Doughnuts (Melbourne, Australia)

Spanish Doughnuts (Melbourne, Australia)


I would have bought their Original Churros everyday while we were there but I had to control my Churros and milk chocolate dipping intake.  I made sure though that I bought another 3-pack on our last night and savoured it to the last bite.


Spanish Doughnuts

 
Flinders Street Station
Open 24 hours a day
Shop 2, Flinders Street Station
Cnr Flinders and Swanston Sts
Opposite Federation Square
Melbourne VIC 3000

 

Elizabeth Street Store
Open 7am-10pm
Elizabeth Street
Melbourne, VIC 3000
Ph: (03) 9654 5577

The newest restaurant in Degraves Street was where we had our first meal in the city of Melbourne.  Its cozy ambiance and familiar European menu (we were craving for pasta!) charmed us as we eased ourselves slowly into our short getaway.  An hour after arrival at the airport and checking in of our hotel, we wanted something friendly, relaxed and delicious for lunch.  la citta did not disappoint.

la citta (Melbourne, Australia)


I love their chandelier–dainty, pretty and pinkish red!

la citta (Melbourne, Australia)

As if we were fated to eat here, la citta offers lunch special everyday.  A bowl of pasta and a glass of wine for only AUD$18.50.  They had two kinds of pasta to choose from so my Husband and I tried both.

la citta (Melbourne, Australia)

They have a whole range of wines but my Husband and I just had a glass of white.  It was a great way to celebrate being in Melbourne once again.  “Cheers to being here!”, was what we said when our drinks arrived.

la citta (Melbourne, Australia)

We had heavy breakfast that morning so we weren’t really hungry yet.  We didn’t order any entrees anymore as I would like some room for dessert later.

I had the Fusili in Mussels, Tomato, Garlic and Chili.  Mussels were exquisitely cooked and tasted fresh. 

la citta (Melbourne, Australia)

The Husband had the simpler dish, Linguini in Tomato, Garlic and Chili.  This had big chunks of garlic which I like.

Spanish Doughnuts (Melbourne, Australia)


Both dishes were good.  The pasta were perfectly cooked and flavourful and not too hot (there was chili). I liked the portion of their serving–European indeed!–just enough to keep you full and satisfied.

A Wife’s Charmed Life visited la citta as an anonymous guest on 15 September 2010.

la citta
11 Degraves St
Melbourne, VIC 3000
Ph:
(03) 9014 8824
Fax:
(03) 9014 8825
Email:
lacitta@lacitta.net.au

Up next, find out about Melbourne’s most delicious Churros.