OMURAISU BANZAI!!!

Okay my title was too loud.

But I'm proud of this!! See, I was browsing the net for recipes for making onigiri, tamagoyaki, and omelet rice. It was already around 3 in the morning and I was completely obsessed with making one for some reason. Around 5 am, I went to bed and tried to sleep -- unsuccessfully. So I decided to try making an omuraisu. But to my dismay, there weren't any eggs in the refrigerator. But I was itching to cook (and I was kind of hungry, as well) so I decided to make pirafu (the rice on the omuraisu. Just a kind of fried rice). Since there was no chicken as well and squid balls were present, I decided to use that instead of chicken. So here is the recipe I used:

Ingredients for the pirafu:
1 1/2 - 2 cups of rice
half an onion, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon butter/margarine
half a teaspoon vegetable oil (or olive oil)
3 tablespoons ketchup
2 tbsp soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste

First, melt the butter/margarine, then sautee the minced onion and garlic. Toss in the squid balls (or chicken) and cook until the garlic has browned and the onions have become transparent. Put the rice in the pan and pour the ketchup and the soy sauce. Mix together until the condiments have coated the rice entirely. Add in salt and pepper to taste and you will end up with something like this:

Now, as I was on to my third spoon of this, our househelp came downstairs and I realized it was already 6 in the morning. So that means there is the small sari-sari store open already, which means... I CAN BUY EGGS! I decided to buy for eggs and do the omuraisu! I was a bit nervous on how to go about it since I've read from some articles on the net that it was very hard to do, but I got a lot of help from this guy right here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx8YzNfTn7w I swear you HAVE to watch him! He is so funny and cute and I learned a lot from this (so haters, please don't hate. You can't touch this). So, here's what I did:

Ingredients for the egg:
previously made pirafu
4 eggs, beaten
salt and pepper to taste
half a teaspoon of sugar

Procedure:
Beat the eggs, add salt, pepper, and sugar (it is recommended to put in milk as well. But we ran out of milk, so it was out of the option for me) until sugar is dissolved. You can choose to sift the eggs in the sifter for a more presentable look for the egg. I didn't sift mine because the sifter was in the pile of dirty dishes and I was too lazy to clean it. he he. So, put a teaspoon of cooking oil into the pan and spread it around. You have the make sure the pan is properly heated so the egg doesn't stick to it. Once the pan is heated, cook the eggs. Wait until it's almost cooked with just a little raw egg on top, then put the pirafu on top, then fold (this is whar I did, it's not the recommended way though.) Now, transferring it to the plate is the tricky part. You have to be very careful with this 'cause the eggs are very fragile and it can tear at the slightest pressure. So get a wide spatula and very quickly but carefully transfer to the plate. And here is the final product:

Okay, so it's not the cleanest omuraisu, but this was my first time. So, be careful in transferring the omuraise onto the plate lest this happens

On this side it looks bad....

But on this side it looks decent! haha!

Omelet Rice :]

You can put either chicken, strips of meat or turkey, shrimp, or even bits of cheeses into the rice. I just used squid balls 'cause it was the only thing available aside from hotdogs. Also, the soy sauce in the pirafu is not in the usual recipes; it's a personal touch of mine. It tastes pretty good, so you can try it for yourself if you want. You can also refer to this video for further reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTf5EgVY5uU&feature=related  :)

It's now 7 in the morning and the omuraisu is now in my stomach and I am sleepy. I've accomplished what was bugging me to no end, so now, at last, sleep can finally claim me. So, goodnight world and hello dream land. <3

Crepe à la Pizza

I was hungry, so I was rummaging through the refrigerator and the pantry to look for ingredients I can use for something. Since the basic ingredients were present, I decided to make crepes with Nutella. Long story short, it didn't turn out good (the crepe was too.... eggy, I guess) so I decided to scrap it. But then, my conscience got to me and I thought it would be kind of a waste to just throw it away, so I sniffed through the kitchen again for what I can use for maybe a savory crepe. There was tomato sauce, garlic, onion, cheese, no ground beef or pork but there was hotdog, so I decided to make a sort of pizza crepe. It was an experiment, so I didn't really know how it'll turn out. But, to save you the expense, it turned out pretty good, fortunately. So for those of you who are willing to try this crazy food experiment with minimal ingredients, here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 pack tomato sauce
half a small onion, minced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
3 hotdogs, diced
1 teaspoon brown sugar
salt, pepper, and a bit of garlic powder to taste

For the sauce:
In a sauce pan, fry the minced onion and garlic with a bit of vegetable oil (or extra virgin olive oil if you have) till you can really smell the aroma wafting through the air. Then add the hotdogs and fry till cooked. After about a minute, add the tomato sauce with the salt, pepper, and garlic powder and stir. Add a bit of sugar to thin out the sharp taste of the tomato sauce. Simmer for a bit and it's ready!



Crepe a la pizza:
Spread the sauce onto the crepe, add some cheese, (you can add some pineapple tidbits but this is optional), wrap the crepe around, and put it in the microwave or oven toaster to melt the cheese (poke some holes in the wrap). Take it out, and enjoy!

tried to put in a little bit of presentation. FAIL.

FYI, I also call this the "Evil Genius" crepes since I wasted nothing and invented something very, very edible all on my own with a food-scrap and very few ingredients. mwa ha ha ha! (yes, I'm exaggerating)

Also, you can add or substitute some ingredients in this recipe. I don't think you can substitute the tomato sauce, though. But you can add certain ingredients like mushrooms, parmesan, mozarrella, pepperoni, green pepper -- basically anything you would normally put on a pizza. Or just about anything you can think of. You can be inventive with this, go ahead! The ingredients I used in this recipe just calls for a hungry stomach and good old recession. ;)

Fooooood, glorious food!

Last week, my dad and I went to the Department of Foreign Affairs to get me a passport. Yes, I am nineteen and I just had my passport last week. There was such a long line and when I got to the counter so they could process the papers I had, the lady told me that my birth certificate wasn't acceptable because there were a lot of erasures and such. She said that if we could provide a clearer birth certificate then we could go straight to the counter and not wait in the long line, so my dad decided to drive all the way back home (which is such a long way away) to get the needed papers. I decided to stay behind and just wait. It took all of 3 hours I think and all I did was sit and wait and listen to the music and play some games on my phone. Finally, dad came back. When we went to the counter, the lady didn't even keep it. She just took a glance at it! WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THE CLEARER BIRTH CERTIFICATE IF YOU WERE JUST GOING TO GLANCE AT IT AND NOT EVEN KEEP IT FOR RECORD'S SAKE??

Whew.

Anyway, at least we were able to finish it. After that we went into the nearest place with restaurants and I picked  a cozy-looking Japanese restaurant. "Yasheba" was the name of the resto, I think (I can't remember. drats! >.<)

When we went inside, no one -- absolutely NO ONE (except the staff) were inside. It was a nice-looking restaurant, not exactly shabby, so I was wondering why there was no one. Maybe the food or the service wasn't too good? Well, I was about to find out. For sure though, the airconditioner wasn't turned on when we got inside. Maybe it was because there was no customer. Good thing they turned it on for us.

Didn't take a picture of the menu, but here is what I ordered. he he he

Gigantor Omu-rice! mwa ha ha ha ha! 

But seriously though, it was SO huge, even for my standards! But it was y u m m y. <3

My dad ordered a Bento Special for him. I forgot what was on it, but I do remember there were croquettes. They were okay. :) Ordered some California Maki and Tamago Sushi as well. I've never tasted Tamago Sushi before, and now they are my FAVORITE. (aside from the california maki. hihi)

About 20 minutes into the meal, I was still just only halfway through. That was unprecedented for me, but maybe it was because, hm. How can I put it? Let's just say the tank was too full and needed some good...releasing first. LOL. 

So in the end I couldn't eat it all and had it wrapped so I could bring it home. All in all it was a good eat. The service was good, and it wasn't hot in the place. So, I'd give this place maybe a 3 or 3.5. If I go back there again I will be sure to catch the name of the shop. ^.^v

Can I Just Share?

I really hate feeling inadequate.