And to Cap Off 2009...

I will be sharing with you some wonderful new discoveries.

First is this crispy toasted seaweed. Sorry for the blurred picture. A pack of 6 I think costs P75 in SM Makati. This is fun to eat. You can cover a roll of rice and eat it sushi style. I used regular rice but of course, Japanese rice is the best. I like that this is pre-cut nori and so it's easier to use it as a wrapper. I also like the fact that there are only a few pieces in each foil pack making it economical. MB doesn't really like nori and so I'm left to deal with the leftovers. Leftover nori doesn't taste good anymore for me.

Next, my favorite of the lot is this canned pacific saury. I've read about this awesome sardines/canned fish in Japan and have been on the lookout ever since. I finally found one at Landmark Makati's Asian Section. It's a bit pricey for P91.85 a can but you can find a whole  folded saury inside. I believe pacific saury is an autumn fish in Japan so dishes made with it are seasonal. In Japan, people eat based on the season. They take advantage of the food that's in season. It's traditional. I wish we could be like that here as well. Hmmm... That gives me an idea..

Anyway, the sauce is wonderful. It's made of soy sauce, cornstarch, mirin, etc. There might be some sake too. It's exactly the flavor I was looking for, for quite some time now. I love those imported tomato-based sardines back in my childhood. They changed the flavors and so I stopped eating. Maybe I'll find one soon. But this, the texture was exactly like that. I really love this (obvious, ba?). I bought 3 cans after tasting the first. The texture is great. There are no annoying bones to get rid of. I don't like eating the bones in our local sardines.

It's also very convenient for days when we're too tired (or too lazy) to cook. I just open a can and open a pack of nori and voila, we have dinner.

Here's another nori brand. Some of the English words on the package, "Smile & Health" followed by Okazunori. Maybe that's the brand?

I thought this will be like the first one but I was really surprised when I bit into it. It's sweet! I've never tasted sweet nori before. This costs P149.05 for a pack of 8 at the Landmark Supermarket. It's also pre-cut and very convenient to eat. Like the first pack of nori, it also comes with individual silica gel to ensure the freshness of the nori. Love it!

And lastly, some cream puffs from French Baker.

Yep, it's been around for some time now but you have to understand that I don't like cream puffs. They're just too sweet for me. The only cream puffs that I liked were the ones served to me during my stay in Makati Med. And even that became too sweet after some time. I was attracted to the tray of these puffs yesterday at French Baker and lacking the variety of breads and pastries to choose from, I decided to give this a try. And I'm sure glad I did! I put this in the ref when I got home and had this for breakfast. The cream inside was cold  and a bit hardened that it tasted like ice cream! It was like eating a pastry filled with ice cream! Yum! I was in love...

The cream puffs are the right size for me. If you're used to sweet cream puffs, I advise you to stay away from this. The reason why I love this is because it's not too sweet. The chocolate swirls on top are the ones that give this a hint of sweetness. For only P130 per pack of six, I'm buying this again.

Without flash

I have 2 more discoveries but they're limited to the Christmas season. They're also from French Baker. I will write about them soon.

Happy New Year to all my dear, faithful readers. Join me again in 2010 for great discoveries! God bless us all!