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Maruya, or banana fritters, is native merienda item that's popular in the provinces. Well, that was way back when I was a kid. Come to think of it, I haven't had maruya in those days when we'd go to Batangas or Laguna for mountain climbing.  Well, I just might be able to see some again when we go back for vacation.

For this recipe, my wife asked me to cut the bananas into strips. It might be because some of the bananas still needed a bit of ripening and cutting them this way will make sure it gets cooked all the way through (we've had the cooking bananas in our water heater room waiting for it to ripen up but it was taking its sweet time. I decided to cook it after 3 weeks' waiting) . But really, the best way to have this is to just have it sliced lengthwise. I like cutting out three pieces out of one banana.

Ingredients :

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
5 ripe saba (banana plantain), sliced lengthwise into 3 pieces
Cooking oil
sugar for sprinkling

Procedure:

In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt, followed by the milk and egg. Beat until smooth. Heat up enough oil in a frying pan to submerge halfway the banana pieces. Use medium heat.

Roll the banana slices in the batter, letting the excess batter drip back into the bowl before placing into the hot oil to fry. Do not crowd up the pan as the batter will spread a bit and stick to each other if if the pieces are too close.

Fry both sides until golden brown.
Drain on paper towels. Place on serving dish and sprinkle sugar on top. Or you may also roll each piece onto sugar before serving.

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So what do you do with all those egg whites after making Leche Flan?  It would be such a waste to throw it all away.  If you're thinking meringue, yup that's the way to go.  But why not bring the level up a notch and make Pavlova instead?

Pavlova is a New Zealand concoction (although it is also heavily contested by Australia) that was made in the 1920s to commemmorate the Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova's visit to the country, and the light and fluffy desert was named after her.  It's a meringue-based desert that's crumbly on the outside and soft on the inside (hmmm... reminds me of a certain chocolate brand).  This meringue base can then be topped with cream and fruit.  Pavlova is usually served on special occasions, such as Christmas.

Again, many thanks to Myra for welcoming my wife Tina in her kitchen for the cooking session.

Ingredients:
3 egg whites
1 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vinegar
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tsp vanilla

Procedure:
Beat the egg whites until it forms peaks and holds on its own.  An electric beater will help heaps in achieving this.

Gradually add the sugar, about a tablespoon per batch, and at each time mix well.  When all the sugar has been incorporated, beat for 10 minutes more.  Add the vinegar, cornflour, and vanilla and beat until well blended.

Preheat oven to 150C.  Place baking paper on a baking tray.  A bit of water between the baking paper and the tin will help keep the paper in place.  Put the mixture onto the baking paper and mould into a cylindrical shape.

Place pavlova in oven and abruptly reduce heat to 125C and leave for one hour.  Then turn off oven and leave the pavlova in it until it cools off.  Overnight is ideal.

To serve, top with whipped cream and fruit (such as berries or kiwifruit).

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Yum Char literally means "drink tea", and tea you must have because it goes very well with this Chinese style of restaurant dining. Simply put, Yum Cha (also an accepted form of spelling as the letter r is silent) involves choosing from a wide variety of dimsum, dumplings, sweets, and other tasty morsels in steam baskets carried around by the waiters.

Although I haven't had the chance to try it yet, I do believe we also have this in Binondo (the Philippines' Chinatown). But instead of waiters carrying the steam baskets, they use food trolleys instead. Hmmm... if I know this fact then I just might have tried this before already, and I'm having a senior moment right now. Yeah, that must be it.

This striking green delight is a spinach dumpling.  Yum.

We had our Yum Char lunch at the Regal located at Courtenay Place here in Wellington. Good thing we had reservations (thanks Glen and Cory!) or else we'd have kept the waitlisted some company! The place is quite popular and it was jampacked on that Saturday lunchtime.

We were promptly given a pot of tea and the waiters started including our table in their rounds. The variety was just amazing! Most notably, we had chicken feet which I haven't had for two years now.

I think I was stuffing myself silly because the food just kept coming and coming and coming. But I learned to just sit and enjoy the food after four dishes. The good thing is, the waiters would tell you what the dish is and then you can ask them for a basket or two, or none at all which is also fine. We learned a bit late though that if a desert basket passes your table just take one. Or two. Even if it's not yet desert time. Because deserts disappear as fast as you say "no, thank you."

And the tea was just the right thing to have in between dishes. It's refreshing and cleanses your palate for the next chomp.

With all that food and happiness (I love food!) I'd have thought that it will cost us. But no. It was only about $16 a head. Amazing.  I hope we can do it again some time. And if you're in the area, try having Yum Char at the Regal. Friendly waiters, great family atmosphere, excellent variety of food.

That tea experience actually had a profound effect on me. I'm now on the lookout for a good teapot and nice tea to brew at home.

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Ah, another testament to the Filipino's sweet tooth. Leche flan can be eaten as desert, or as the final topping on halo-halo that makes it extra special. This is usually served on special occasions such as Christmas.  Indeed, when I see leche flan it gives me the warm feeling that I get during the yuletide season.

We've had a couple of friends have a taste and they loved it. However, they also suggested adding some lemon zest to give it more flavour so I added that ingredient here.

Many thanks to Myra for this recipe! She invited my wife over to their house to cook some leche flan and Pavlova and when my wife phoned me about it at the office, I asked if we can share the recipe here.  This cooking session was for a party (enough for around 10 moulds) but if you don't need that much, you can just use half of all the ingredients to make a smaller batch. You will also need a steamer and moulds. Thanks again!

Ingredients:

20 egg yolks
2 cans (395g each) condensed milk
2 cans (375ml each) cream
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp lemon zest (optional)
2 cups sugar
1 cup water

You will also need containers to mould the leche flan in. The traditional ones are oblong-shaped aluminum containers called llanera.

Procedure:

For the caramel topping: mix the sugar and water in a pan over medium heat. Swirl around (do not mix) and reduce the heat when it starts to boil. Swirl until the sugar caramelizes. A light brown colour is desired, any darker and it will be bitter. Distribute this into the moulds.

In a bowl, mix thoroughly the cream, condensed milk, egg yolks, vanilla and zest. Then use a strainer (cheesecloth is good) to remove any solid particles. Then pour this mixture into the moulds, about an inch thick will do nicely.

Cover with aluminum foil, then steam for about 45 minutes or until a knife inserted into the flan comes out clean.

Set aside to cool, then refrigerate.

To serve the leche flan: slide a thin knife inside the perimeter of the mould to loosen the leche flan. Then place a plate on top of it, then invert. The leche flan will then be dislodged onto the plate with the caramel on top, some of it oozing at the sides.

It's Christmas time!

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