Stuff I ate over the weekend

Buns
We heard on the news that this cafe in our area is closing down because of some housing issue (they’re leasing a space in a historic, council-owned building), but what caught our attention was that they allegedly sell Auckland’s best cinnamon buns.

So of course, I bought some for pick-up the next day because it would be a shame that we’re in the vicinity of a much-praised food item and we haven’t even tried it (FOMO much). We’ve never been to the cafe because we’ve never been cafe-going people unless there was a special occasion, or we were in the grip of craving for chicken and chips at the one, not-so-fancy cafe that we do go to, Hollywood Cafe. And we also hate having to share cafe space (not really spacious) with animals and caterwauling kids, so…

The place was packed- I guess people heard the news so they probably came to see what the fuss was all about. The staff were full-on and there were two queues in opposite directions, leading to the tiny space where you placed your orders.

So it was a good decision to just pick up the buns which we had to wait for just five minutes. I had no idea of how big they were and thought that $48 for six was a standard price. But they were huge and had a loose free-form shape that didn’t look like the compact scrolls we’re familiar with (eg. Cinnabon’s).

But were they Auckland’s best? (I’ve honestly hadn’t had anything else from Auckland anyway). Probably Top 5; my sister’s version is better.

But to be fair, it all comes down to preference really. They were a tad too sweet for me; the glaze I initially thought, was condensed milk (why??). The next day I realised that it was actually cream cheese that probably had (a lot of) sugar added. And strangely, they weren’t cinnamony enough- you didn’t even get that whiff of cinnamon even if they were handed to us still quite warm. But I know some people who would adore all of its gooey, one-note sweetness.

Chicharon
I made binagoongang baboy and I took off the skin to make into chicharon- you don’t waste it when you have it! I realised later that I actually didn’t know how to make it into chicharon. Jong makes a big batch of it in their unpredictable oven but I haven’t gotten to asking how he makes it. I ended up cooking it three ways- frying it first (didn’t quite work not to mention the mess of exploding oil); then dumping it into the air-fryer, before I decided to put it finally in the oven on a baking rack, at low temp for about an hour. It didn’t have a lot of fat, and I ended up with something like a measly 200 grams. But look, it’s a luxury and an indulgence- you don’t need a lot of chicharon in your life.

Sunday steak and fries
I don’t eat a lot of red meat, but when I do, I get something nice like Wagyu. I’ve also perfected the method to cook it which isn’t complicated- fry each side for up to 5 minutes (this is for a 250-gram piece) for medium- rare and let rest for 10 minutes. I did a simple soy and butter gravy, made some skinny fries in the air fryer, and as a veggie side, had crisp, peppery water-cress which I just flash fried in butter and olive-oil (Sam had the beans). Done.

Hill House Cafe

Hill House Cafe's cinnamon buns

Chicharon

Good beef

Sunday

We finally took down the Christmas trees, took the mattress that Dylan slept on when he was here back to the garage, re-arranged the plants and cleaned up my desk. The holidays are officially over.

It’s too hot to work from home (we don’t have AC) even if the second floor has plenty of windows and two sliding doors that open to the deck- but what is 26 degrees compared to a summer’s day in Pangasinan or maybe Dubai??

And yet here I am, topless, sipping water every hour and feeling that heat lethargy where half of your brain feels like mush.

And yet I have fallen in love with summer, with sunshine. I read somewhere that a man needs vitamin D to boost testosterone; so maybe I had been feeling the ‘boost’. But I’m still wary of it. A decade ago, people I knew were laughing at my SPF 80 sunscreen but look who’s laughing now. The last three years, the sunscreening has expanded to include my neck and my hands.

They say there’s a hole in the ozone right over New Zealand, so even if a 31 degree day in the scheme of things isn’t really hot, we got it worse.

It’s a bitch to deep fry in the heat, but the easiest meat in the deep freeze to cook are boneless chicken thighs so fried-chicken it is. I have the recipe for ‘popcorn chicken’ down pat which is really all in the batter. I never used to have a measurement for it, hence, the inconsistency but now I do. The ratio of flour to tapioca starch (or cornstarch) should always be one to one with a teaspoon of baking powder. From there, I just make variations on the flavouring. I’ve always been partial to Chinese five-spice or plain salted- this is because I always eat it with rice and a buffalo-ranch style of coating doesn’t really suit.

We bought the viral KMart mini rice cooker and it’s perfect; I don’t eat any more than a cup of rice and it makes enough for dinner and for lunch the next day.

Popcorn chicken

I’ve tried frying a couple of basil leaves and discovered that it’s pointless - they don’t have any flavour at all.

The mini

For the petite rice-eater

For comparison

This is the rice cooker we have at home in Pangasinan; but mind you that my brother and his family live with my mum and he has three growing boys. Like me, my mum limits her rice intake as well.

Sunday extremes

From a chilly 10 degree morning to a sweltering (1) 21 degrees. It was so hot that doing chores felt like swimming through water. This is why I can never live in the tropics again.

What's for dinner? Roast pork loin

I wish it was Doyet’s lechon pork belly but..

A roast is so Western and so ubiquitous that you can buy it like you would lechon manok at a roast shop with all the trimmings like roast potatoes the size of tennis balls and pork-crackling on the side, which is the only thing I buy from a roast-shop if I had the chance. A dollar for a long strip of crackling.

I find it dry most of the time which is why I rarely ever buy it or make it. But this was before I’ve overhauled my cooking habits so when I got a small (about 800grams) pork loin by mistake- the people at the supermarket substituted it for pork belly- I thought this was my chance to cook it correctly.

And I sure succeeded. Just two key things really- cooking time and resting time.

Season

Salt & pepper, lamb seasoning, grated lemon zest, heaps of garlic and olive oil

Roll it

It already actually came rolled. I simply undid the strings to season the meat and then rolled it back and used the same string.

Rest it

Rest it for at least 15 minutes

Sunday 2

If I had a choice, I would have grilled pork belly, steamed shrimps, 'inihaw na bangus' and a salad of steamed okra, tomatoes and seaweed. But this three-egg spinach omelette would have to do.

Sunday and the question of what to do

Weekends or any kind of free day is like my paycheck in my bank account; it's suddenly there and I struggle with what to do with it. 

I think of other people like my siblings and I know that for the most part, their decisions for the day are determined largely by their responsibilities as parents. I only have to be responsible for myself and there lies the conundrum- what to do with oneself? Obviously, I'm good with the 'I take care of myself' bit; I like to believe I have a good grip on my health- it could be better, but there's the part of enjoying life. I always cast the story of my dad's health as a cautionary-tale but when I relieve the memories of family weekends filled with great food and contentment, I pull myself back from thinking that a piece of perfectly cooked pork-belly will end up killing me.

 It will or it may not, but one thing I will never do is to live in fear of it.

But no pork belly today, sadly.