Filipino | Chopsticks and Marrow | Page 2

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by Joe DiStefano

02/05/16 8:10am

Skip the Guac; Give the Super Bowl a Global Flair via Queens

by Joe DiStefano

Super Bowl 50 is almost upon us, and as usual, I’m only just learning which teams will face off Sunday evening. Such is my interest, or lack thereof, in football. Despite my apathy for team sports, I do hope all who watch the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers have a great time. Thus as a public service C+M presents a list of global snacks and goodies all of which are available in in Queens and will give your Super Bowl party much more flavor than guacamole and onion dip.

1. Mee krob (Thai)
The name of this popular Thai snack literally translates to crispy noodles. It’s no mere salty indulgence, though. Like so many of my other favorite Southeast Asian snacks, the tangle of noodles and fried bits of egg is salty, sweet, spicy, and sour. Tamarind and chili combined with a chewy sweetness make mee krob eat like a Thai Rice Krispy treat. Find it at the counter at Elmhurst’s Sugar Club. Sugar Club, 81-18 Broadway, Elmhurst, 718-865-9018

2. Fried jeffrox fish (Filipino)
Find this pescatarian answer to potato chips at Phil-Am Market, a paradise of Filipino groceries and snacks located in Woodside’s Little Manila. The translucent sheets of fried dried fish are available on Thursday through Sunday. The crunchy critters come with a sidecar of seasoned vinegar and make for excellent, if somewhat odiferous, snacking. Phil-Am Market, 40-03 70th St, Woodside 718-899-1797 (more…)

Dhaulagiri Kitchen, Elmhurst, Filipino, fish, Indian, Jackson Heights, Kurkure, Mexican, Nepalese, noodles, Patel Bros., Phil-Am Market, potato chips, snacks, Sugar Club, Super Bowl Fifty, Thai, Woodside

Dish O' The Day

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by Joe DiStefano

02/02/16 10:01am

HOI’s Sisilog: Breakfast of Champions for Offal Lovers

by Joe DiStefano

INASAL

Sisilog is an offal lover’s dream breakfast. Photo: Sherri Tiesi

There’s nothing quite as satisfying as good breakfast, whether kari laksa or straight up all-American eggs and bacon. Filipino breakfast though, with its catalogue of silogs takes the morning meal game to a whole new level. Silog is a portmanteau of sinagang (fried rice) and itlog (egg). Thus longsilog is sweet pork longanisa sausage and eggs and dasilog, stars dried mikfish. The latter was my favorite until I discovered sisilog, which takes the porky offal extravaganza that is sizzling sisig and turns it into breakfast.

“Breakfast Served All Day!” exclaims the menu at Woodside’s House of Inasal. Scanning the list I immediately knew I was going to order the sisilog ($15.95). After all, why settle for pork sausage and eggs when you can have a fry-up of pork belly, liver, onions, and green chilies? (more…)

breakfast, Filipino, House of Inasal, Little Manila, offal, pork, sisig, Woodside

Sandwich Wednesday

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by Joe DiStefano

08/19/15 10:02am

Our Four Favorite NYC Ice Cream Sandwiches

by Joe DiStefano

With summer coming to a fiery close, I thought it would be a good idea for Sandwich Wednesday to get its last licks in with a list of four of our favorite ice cream sandwiches in New York City.

1. Redd Foxx at Mikey Likes It
It’s probably a good thing that Mikey Likes It Ice Cream, the hiphop themed scoop shop in the East Village is a good 45-minute subway ride from me, otherwise I’d be in here every day scarfing down a Redd Foxx. Named for the salacious comedian it’s a freshly made red velvet waffle encasing a scoop of ice cream. Mikey Likes It Ice Cream, 199 Avenue A, 646-896-1836

2. Pandi Ice Cream at House of Inasal
The pandi-ice cream ($5.50) at House of Inasal is surely the most elaborate pair of ice cream sandwiches to ever be served under the 7 train. It’s a duo of ube ice cream sandwiches topped with halaya, coconut, and pinipig. Young coconut and pinipig, a crunchy beaten rice, top each scoop of purple yam ice cream. The warm slightly sweet eggy buns are smeared with halaya, a rich spread made from ube, or purple yam. Pandi-ice cream is the best most purple ice cream sandwich in Queens. House of Inasal, 65-14 Roosevelt Ave., Woodside, 718-429-0709 (more…)

Amorino Gelato, Chelsea, closed, East Village, Elmhurst, Filipino, gelato, House of Insasal, ice cream, Italian, Mikey Likes It, red velvet, Sugar Club, Thai, Woodside

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by Joe DiStefano

08/07/15 11:52am

What’s Your Favorite Thing to Eat at Smorgasburg Queens?

by Joe DiStefano

Keizo Shimamoto's Ramen Shack, one of my Smorgasburg Queens favorites.

Keizo Shimamoto’s Ramen Shack, one of my Smorgasburg Queens favorites.

PLEASE NOTE THIS VENUE IS CLOSED

Curating Smorgasburg Queens with its melting pot of international vendors ranging from The Arepa Lady and Celebes Bakar Indonesian Grill to luxe offerings like the lobster rolls from Brine by Danny Brown has been a real hoot. What’s even more fun for me though is eating there.

One Saturday I went full on Andrew Zimmern: balut from Papa’s Kitchen for starters, papaya salad with black crab from Qi, Snowy Durian from my friends at KULU Desserts. While I’m partial to the hallacas—sweet and savory Ecuadorean tamales—from Son Foods, my favorite eating experience at Smorgasburg Queens has to be Keizo Shimamoto’s Ramen Shack.

To step behind the curtain and take a seat at Keizo’s counter is to enter another world, somewhat more serene than the rest of the market, but no less delicious. Both of the hot soups I have tried have been most excellent, but my top pick might be the seafood broth based cold noodles. So, tell me, what’s your favorite thing to eat at Smorgasburg Queens?

Smorgasburg Queens, 43-29 Crescent St., Long Island City

Andrew Zimmern, Brine by Danny Brown, Celebes Bakar Indonesian Grill, closed, Colombian, Ecuadorean, Filipino, Indonesian, Japanese, Keizo Shimamoto, Kulu Desserts, Long Island City, Papa’s Kitchen, ramen, Ramen Shack, Smorgasburg Queens, Son Foods, The Arepa Lady

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by Joe DiStefano

09/08/14 11:46am

Manny’s Halo Halo Makes for One Cool Breakfast

by Joe DiStefano

HALO2

Flan and ube ice cream make it extra special.

My love of Filipino breakfast—garlic fried rice, eggs, a buttery toasted pan de sal, and any of several proteins, including dried milkfish—is no secret to readers of this blog. I am especially fond of getting my log on at Manny’s Bake Shop. That’s because the good ladies at Manny’s serve the most important meal of the day with a slice of cake for dessert. One day it might be purple ube cake and the next it might be an exquisite slice of brazo de Mercedes.

About a month ago I noticed a sign on the door advertising halo halo, the psychedelic Filipino snow cone. I couldn’t possibly have the mixture of shaved ice, young coconut, jackfruit, palm fruit, and ruby and emerald cubes of gelatin for breakfast. Or could I? (more…)

breakfast, dessert, Filipino, flan, ice cream, Manny’s Bake Shop

Dish O' The Day

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by Joe DiStefano

04/21/14 12:10pm

Manny’s Serves the Heartiest Filipino Chicken Soup in Queens

by Joe DiStefano

MANOK2

This tinalong manok rocks.

During this year’s never ending winter I’ve turned often to soup as both comfort and cure. Last week it was tingalong manok, at Manny’s Bake Shop, one of my favorite Filipino restaurants in Queens. The gingery chicken soup always manages to clear my head and lift my spirits. And Manny’s tinalong manok is quite special indeed. For one thing it’s a ginormous serving that’s best shared, or enjoyed by one food writer trying to kick a cold. (more…)

chicken soup, Filipino, soup

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by Joe DiStefano

03/25/14 10:14am

Lily’s is the Best Natural Peanut Butter Ever

by Joe DiStefano

LILYS

The peanutty pride of the Philippines Meycauayan City.

When my Filipina pal Stella sang the praises of Lily’s Peanut Butter to me a year or so ago I remember thinking, “Wow, it’s just peanut butter, how good can it be?” Recently while checking out Phil-Am Market in Woodside’s Little Manila, I found myself in the spread aisle. There next to the Kraft Cheese Spread and Star Chocolate margarine were rows upon row of green and white labeled Lily’s. One word on the label struck me, “Natural.” It conjured up images of oil slicks and sand, or at the very least grittiness. (more…)

Filipino, Little Manila, natural, Woodside

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by Joe DiStefano

03/14/14 9:23am

Brazo de Mercedes is the Perfect Filipino Breakfast Dessert

by Joe DiStefano

mercedes

It’s like eating a cloud wrapped around sugary sunshine.

Filipino breakfast—dasilog, tocilog, and the like—is a festive affair at Manny’s, complete with slice of cake for dessert. Quite often it’s purple ube cake complete with purple frosting. Purple birthday cake should be a part of every complete breakfast! The other morning as I finished an up an order of longsilog—fatty pork sausage with two eggs and garlic rice—I prepared to attack the day’s dessert. It appeared to be meringue rolled around some sort of custard. (more…)

breakfast, dessert, Filipino, Flushing

Seven Questions For . . .

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by Joe DiStefano

02/03/14 12:02pm

Globetrotter Elyse Pasquale Hates Cake and Food Dudes, Digs Balut

by Joe DiStefano

ELYSE

Elyse Pasquale digs into a Filipino balut in Woodside.

I’ve gone on record before as saying that I’m not a fan of the word foodie, preferring such designations as “good eater” and even the pejorative “glutton.” All that said there is one person who for whom my hatred of the F-Word does not apply, my good friend, Elyse Pasquale, aka Foodie International. She was kind enough to take time out of her busy schedule, which includes everything from eating reindeer hearts and scorpions to harvesting her own olive oil and slaughtering pigs, to answer Seven Questions.

Where did you learn to use chopsticks?
In my bedroom, in high school. I grew up on a horse farm outside of Philadelphia. There wasn’t much diversity in the area when it came to food. In high school, a take-out Chinese joint opened in the same strip mall as our grocery store. Let’s just call it the year of Lo Mein . . . I was determined to perfect my chopsticks skills, so I followed the directions printed on the wrapper and practiced in my room. I think my execution might be a little unorthodox, but I can hold my own in any Tokyo ramen shop. For the record, I also tie my shoes counterintuitively, but my bows still turn out looking like bows. (more…)

balut, Chinese, extreme eats, Filipino, foodies, Helsinki, Olo, pie, travel

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by Joe DiStefano

12/31/13 2:13pm

Big Puto and Balut at Krystal’s in Woodside

by Joe DiStefano

balutbox

On a wintry night Filipino balut double as hand warmers.

By the time we got to the balut man on the corner of 69th Street and Roosevelt Avenue we’d trekked across two continents and eaten through four countries all without ever leaving the shadow of the 7 train. “No holds barred means balut,” I tweeted to my pal Elyse Pasquale, aka Foodie International, the impetus for this impromptu Queens food tour, several hours earlier. I am not sure of the balut vendor’s hours so I was quite glad he was there. I hate to disappoint a lady, especially when fertilized Filipino duck eggs are involved. (more…)

duck, eggs, Filipino, Little Manila, Woodside

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