After many years in Vancouver, Chef Sandy Daza is back in Manila and recently opened a new restaurant along Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City. Named the Wooden Spoon, it basically serves Filipino food as interpreted by Sandy. And Chef Sandy seems to be influenced by anything and everything that he tastes and sees—which I heartily approve of. I do love chefs and cooks who like experimenting.
The pechay (pak choi) stuffed with lean ground pork and tinapa (smoked fish) and cooked in a spicy coconut sauce is easily one of my favorites. According to Chef Sandy, this dish came straight out of his imagination.
The breaded fish fillet may look like any perfectly fried fish fillet anywhere in the world, but it is the dipping sauce that makes this one unusual.
Lechon kawali is a common dish in the Philippines since it is just pork belly that's boiled then fried. That doesn't mean that all lechon kawali is the same though; quite the opposite, in fact. If not done well, the meat can be chewy and the skin tough enough to break teeth. I think that the Wooden Spoon has achieved perfection with theirs. Everything—every bite, every morsel, every millimeter of the skin—is crunchy. Aside from the regular liver sauce for dipping, it is also served with sweet chili sauce, and ginger sauce.
The dipping sauce for the breaded fish fillet is based on wansoy (cilantro). It can easily overpower the delicate taste of the fish, as I discovered when I literally dipped the fish in the sauce; two or three drops placed on a bite-size piece is enough. Of the three sauces for the lechon kawali, I liked the ginger and green onion sauce best.
19 comments:
Hmmm the meal looks delicious, mainly the first dish!
Enjoy!
Léia
Muy apetitoso. ummmmm yammmyyyy
These dishes look really tasty! I have seen quite a few Filipino restaurants around here in Toronto, but haven't tried one yet. Think I'll have to change that! :)
PS: We couldn't grow tulips in Jackson either - too hot - so I was also excited to try my hand at them here in Canada. The squirrels ate a lot of the bulbs and then some that did pop up, they bit the heads off. It seems they like the pink blooms the best. They hardly touched the red and yellow ones. Strange. :)
Experimentation and fusion of the food, ingredients and seasonings of different cuisines is a refreshing alternative to the chain restaurants.
Looks so good!
that fish looks delicious, and i can imagine that the coriander dipping sauce would compliment it well. small quantities, as you say!
I would say you have found a world-class chef ... all these dishes look wonderful.
And I took your advice and checked out Frank's blog...very funny post. What horses?
We're going on hiatus for awhile. Have a great summer.
Thank you for visiting my blog and your kind comment, Hilda. Your photos are wonderful and the food looks yummy!
Everything looks as delicious as you say it was. This looks like a wonderful Sunday feast.
That all looks incredibly good! All of it!
I don't know Philippino food at all so it something to explore one day but doubt it will be in a nice restaurant like yours
yummy. looks really good. i'm sure the entire menu is inspired.
Yum!
«Louis» wishes he could sample this in person. He is wondering if you could e-mail some to him...
The dipping sauce should always compliment the meat or fish. I like a sauce that adds to the flavor. Cilantro can be so overpowering. The fried fish looks delicious. What kinds of fish are common?
you have made me SO hungry - - -yum!
i especially would love to try the Lechon Kawali. :-)
thanks for the post
I apologize for disappearing for a month again. We went on a long road trip and I didn't have time to create scheduled posts. We got home a week ago to discover that we have no land line or internet connection, and, despite following up everyday (sometimes twice a day) no service crew has yet come to our house. :(
Glad to read that you're okay, Hilda! Are you going to tell us about your road trip when you get reconnected? I would've thought there's enough competition among ISPs for service to have gotten better in Manila!
Thanks for stopping by, Hilda. Sorry to hear about your internet problems, though. That is no fun at all. Hopefully, things have been resolved!
I personally don't eat pork, but those dishes look delicious!
I've noticed a lot of Filipino restos here in Toronto. I think I'll have to try one sometime. :)
PS: Sorry to hear about your internet woes. I know how that is, we didn't get an internet connection until 6 weeks after moving to Canada. I had severe withdrawals as well! :)
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