Seafood

TO: MA’AM NANCY REYES – LUMEN
Publisher/Editor in Chief, COOK MAGAZINE

AND /OR: SIR EDWIN AGUILAR
EDITOR

RE: WHERE IS BEST …….. SEAFOOD
( the best places to eat them!)

SEAFOOD. When some people hear “Let’s have/eat seafood,” many would say “ Wow mahal ‘yan!” (Wow that is expensive!). How would you rate this statement here in the Philippines?

Well, I’m not a seafood buff but I came to love seafood when I had these vacations in Caramoan (my mothers origin); ‘the early years of my life. I remember way back in the 60’s and the 70’s when the motorboat and small boats had docked along seashore, the passengers would go to small cottages to eat lunch. The small cottages were simple and clean and the canteen/ “carinderia owners” let us feel comfortable in the humble and so native and remote place where we also belong. “Away in the boonies,” some people would say, “sa bundok.”

We had the freshest “cocido” (fish in sweet and sour soup with “limon”). We had “malasugi,” from the tuna family, grilled and seasoned with calamansi (small lemon). And so the passengers’ choice of simple but sumptuous lunch for a very cheap price. Of course, in the house we ate choice-de-luxe shrimps and Dungeness crabs (small crabs from the pacific). And then we had “lato,” seaweeds sprinkled with calamansi.

Later, I found out during my married life that Batangas waters produce fresh seafood delicacies like “tulingan, dulong, and tambakol.” “Sinaing na tulingan” comes best only from Batangas which is cooked hours to drain possible poisonous substance out the fish. “Dulong” are small fishes cooked tender for omelet; and the tambakol is best as “sinaing sa kamyas.”

Let us find the freshest and the highest quality seafood available:

1.Via Mare in Greenbelt offers excellent oysters and crabs. Their seafood go with a wine list served to complete a healthy meal.

Seafood curry with shrimps, squid, clams, more shells and “tanigue” are best in Peoples Palace in Makati.

Experience at Fisherman’s Wharf their pomelo salad with shrimps.


And of course, for me Dampa is still the cheapest of the fresh seafood. You can buy around the market and have your seafood cooked with a choice recipe for only 120 - 180 pesos per kilo.

SPO1 Rey Jimenez
Makati Warrant

2. Catch a cozy dinner which highlights a fusion of seafood cuisine at Dragon Gate seafood restaurant along Roxas Boulevard. Live shrimps, steamed lapu-lapu, and seafood noodle with talaba, shrimp, and fish fillet are the best offers.

“Try by yourself, you will like it,” asserts Mr. and Mrs. Domingo

“We also like at Shabu Shabu the seafood set – talaba and more seafood in Korean cooking.”

Domingo and Ester Tengco
Garments Owner

3. “Tokyo Tokyo gives varieties of dim sum crafted daily in affordable prices for students and young professionals like us. Traditional tempura and tender seafood meats are yummy - in simple but cool setting.”

Wenzi Jeanne and Riza Martinez
Young Professionals

4.“My family and I normally go out to dinner on Sundays . We eat Japanese food among others, and for starters we usually get the sushis or sashimis before the main course which consists of sukiyaki's, sobas, teppanyakis or the simple tempuras. Most Japanese restaurants here in Makati are very good.”

Lui Magpayo
Businesswwoan


5. Seafood like shrimps with broccoli are best at Luk Foo in Paranaque. I also like their chile crab and spicy squid.

“The best seafood paella is in Alba’s.”

Sergs R. Alarkon
Law Graduate

6. “Bulungan” in Paranaque if buying seafood in big quantities. Freshest catch in the market around 2am and dawn. The seafood can stay in the freezer for long, but not so long. It should be stored in airtight containers. Just imagine cooking/planning for school affairs that fits a budget.

Fr. Bong Patiag, RCJ


7.“Palawan is a fresh seafood country,” I heard from my friends about the finest selection of seafood at Ka Lui’s in Puerto Princesa.

Manong Ed Ducay
Fish, Meat, and VeggieTrader

8. Green mango with fresh sweetened bagoong, fried calamari, and baked tahong with cheese at Dampa. You can even cook on your own and prepare with the resto owner. “Yum yum.”

Don Flores
Criminologist
9. At Maru, a Japanese Restaurant in Hobbies of Asia come innovative food and mouthwatering seafood specials. Food was good!

Benedict Licayan
Bureau of Census

10. Fisherman’s Wharf. A great view over the harbor – lovely, light and airy. Dungeness crab, and grilled fish go, especially for a memorable dinner with family and close friends. Live crab, abalone, lobsters are cooked to order from their tanks.

Evalyn Roxas
Young Doctor

And so the gift of our Philippine waters, our finest seafood around, and the diverse satisfying recipes that make us Filipinos healthy and wise. Truly, foreigners adore our historic waterfront and delicious seafood delicacies. Have you tried our eels? Our oysters? And our snails, too?

posted, 12.30.09 at http://ishalleatandcook.blogspot.com

For COOK MAGAZINE, 2009