Anatomy of a Recipe: Ginataang Halo Halo

I yam what I yam - everything tuber at Columbus's
Saraga International Market on Morse Road

Any typical Christmas, we would be in California with my relatives enjoying a number of treats, most of them of Filipino origin.  With the pandemic short-circuiting travel plans, we spent our first holiday together back here in the Buckeye State, where we figured we might as well use the opportunity to start a few new traditions.  Most of the food we had wasn't Filipino in origin, but we made sure to have a few things around (namely, Toblerone Chocolate Bars, which is considered a spendy sweet treat for the average family, and Polvoron Candies, produced here by local baker Uncle Giant) to remind us of California.

Even with that, I thought about what food item I'd be typically find at my family's meal gathering that 1) I couldn't get easily here and 2) whose taste I missed the most.  After much deliberation, I thought of Ginataang Halo Halo (something my family nicknamed Bol Bol), a sweet dessert stew of coconut milk and assorted tubers and fruit, glutinous rice balls, and sago pearls.  

But unlike the Pandesal I had made last, I did not have a written family recipe to lean on (all the recipe information is embedded in the minds of various relatives.)  Thus, I would need to do my research on the Interwebs and take a swing with one of the recipes I found.

(My nod to folks who just want to get the recipe: scroll to the end of the next few paragraphs to the "More" jump and you'll get to the directions directly.  However, like the pandesal, there were a few things I encountered that you might want to consider in making your own version of this dish.)

Glutinous Rice Flour Balls ready to boil, with
Ube, Langka, and Pandan extracts to add some color

In some ways, Filipino cuisine can be likened to one of those bowl places that are commonplace, where you start with a base and customize the way you want.  The big difference in this case is the customizing is based on what's available in the region - even Adobo (considered by many to the national dish), which has soy sauce, vinegar, bay leaves and peppercorns at its base, can be modified with a number of proteins (pork, chicken, squid, etc.), additional spices (Yellow Adobo involves the very tasty addition of turmeric, for example) or enhancements such as coconut milk.

As it turns out, Ginataang Halo Halo (also known as Ginataang Bilo Bilo and Binignit, among other names) is equally customizable, with a number of tubers (sweet potato or camote, taro, purple yam are common), bananas (typically saba bananas in the Philippines, but various other plantains will work too), jackfruit, and sago pearls as common ingredients. For this first attempt ever, I stayed local and traveled to Saraga International Market to up some purple yams, sweet potatoes, taro, and two different kinds of plantains. My spouse had helped me out earlier by picking up the other needed ingredients (coconut milk, langka, and sago pearls.)

Was going to go with the typical Horn Plantains, but I threw
in some Hawaiian Plantains to mix things up

As I learned on this first-time ever attempt, preparing and cooking this dessert is done in several distinct stages. The tubers and the fruit (save for the langka) were a simple matter of peeling and dicing into medium-sized cubes.  The dough making and then rolling the glutinous rice balls is also relatively simple, but might be the most lengthy process.  Preparing the sago pearls is also very simple, but as you'll find out, this segment offers up a good time to get in a short break before the grand finale.

After much debate, I decided on the Foxy Folksy version of Ginataang Bilo Bilo, but as you will see, I ended up deviating a bit based on the ingredients I bought.

Anatomy of a Recipe: Pandesal

A small snippet of a family recipe

When I have put myself in front of an oven, I've generally been the baker more than the cook.  I can cook, but it's not natural for me (my parents did a lot of the cooking, and due to a big klutz gene I seem to have inherited, I don't do much of the cooking - my spouse isn't too keen on finding my fingertip bits in the spaghetti sauce...but I digress.) 

However, my first recent attempt at Pandesal bread rolls, essentially the national bread of The Philippines, showed me something I had never considered - my experience with baking bread was nil. Sure, I helped my parents roll the dough when I was a kid (and I snuck away with some for just playing around with until it got all dry and crumbly), but I never actually whipped up Pandesal rolls for myself.  For that matter, I had never whipped up any kind of bread ever, not even in the early days of the current pandemic when homemade sourdough was all the rage.

Now before I progress further, let this paragraph be a nod to one of my spouse's pet peeves.  She (along with many) who search for recipes online find it a big pain in the you know what on certain websites to get to the recipe itself. Wading through the backstories of bloggers like me is fine some of the time, but when you're trying to whip up a dish and you only got a short time to do it, all that is a time suck. So thus, my compromise - if you scroll down to the bottom of this post, you'll notice a jump break.  Hit that, and you'll get to the recipe post haste, and I completely understand that you doing that. 

If you do have some time however, I promise some at least mild amusement as I describe this first attempt at Pandesal.

HISTORY

According to Eater, Pandesal rolls are one of the many results of the period of colonial rule in The Philippines, created by the Spanish essentially as an answer to the French baguette.  Since wheat has to be imported from other places (the country has never nor currently grows its own wheat), bakers relied on a more affordable version to use in baking bread.  The roll itself really took off in popularity when the price of American wheat from the Northwest shot lower than rice.  With the emphasis on smaller meals throughout the day, Filipinos have adapted to the roll in a similar fashion, starting often with a plain roll at breakfast dipped in coffee or tea, to merienda (snack) periods where it can be eaten with a piece of protein or a slather of jam.

From my casual search of social media, I've seen creative variations throughout the world emerge, mixing popular flavors like pandan and ube (purple yam) amongst other interesting combos.

First batch of rolls pre-rise, and differently-sized

THE PREPARATION

As it turned out, my review of my family recipes showed I had actually three Pandesal variations to choose from.  Since we have egg allergies to deal with, we chose the one that didn't need any egg in the recipe. The index cards also didn't include detailed preparation instructions either; a lot of that I figure was in-the-head knowledge that my Mom didn't need to put down on the card.

My inexperience with baking bread showed in my first attempt.  Worried about shortages I heard about regarding flour supplies, I was all focused in on making sure our all-purpose flour supply made it through okay, and I ended up mixing in a cup of bread flour to make sure we had enough regular flour for other things.  However, my focus was so wrapped up in the flour (and making sure the yeasties were nice and happy) that I forgot one (well, two) very important things in the recipe - the oil and the salt.  

That explained why the dough was awfully hard to knead the first time around, though we didn't know it at the time. My spouse was called from the sideline to try to diagnose the issue and that's when I remembered I had forgotten about those two very important ingredients. We figure then it was too late to rescue the existing batch of dough. 

(As a side note, the yeast that was in the first batch of dough didn't see the problems we did, happily munching away and expanding - we had to keep punching the dough down in the plastic bag we disposed the first batch into to keep the garbage bag we had placed the bag into from overflowing.)

The second batch of dough went pretty much as it should.  One interesting note is that the use of bread flour might have sucked out more moisture than using all AP Flour - we used about one less cup of flour than the recipe called for.  Also, my spouse made an audible and slightly lowered the amount of sugar to two-thirds of a cup. As it turned out, that alteration didn't seem to affect the end sweetness (the bread is supposed to be slightly sweet in the end.)

We let the dough sit for just over a half-hour underneath a clean towel and it rose no problem with the help of a warm stovetop that had already been used to cook some of our Thanksgiving day meal items, then punched it down to roll the rolls.

Traditionally, the dough is rolled out into a log and segments are cut from it; however, our family typically gathered in a group and rolled the dough into balls to be dipped into the bread crumbs.  It took awhile to get the proper sizing (my first ball, once risen, was more the size of a scone), but eventually we found that golf-ball sized balls seemed to work the best for the proper roll size.  Indeed, some of the larger rolls turned out to be, to use Great British Baking Show terminology, "just baked".

Since I was only involved in the rolling process during family baking sessions, I didn't know if a second rise was needed. My spouse hinted strongly that I should, and that turned out to be the right move. 

Risen and about to go into oven - this second batch sported
more even sizing through the rolling process

THE RESULT

We did notice that these rolls were a little bit more lighter and airy than others I've had; I suspect it's the fact we used water instead of milk in the recipe.  If I had to do this recipe over again, I would definitely substitute milk. Both the other recipes and others on the Interwebs also throw in things like butter and eggs into the mix - I imagine if you don't have an issue with either of those, those recipes would be worth a shot for you. And maybe because of the lack of these other ingredients previously mentioned, the rolls turned out to be a little flatter post-bake than what I'm used to.

Still, though, we weren't disappointed in the result.  We consumed quite a few, freshly baked rolls during our Thanksgiving Day eating, and we had plenty of extras for freezing and future munching throughout the next several weeks.

What's Been Good: 10/19/2020

Lazy Sunday...or Pandemic weekday? The past few months
have made it tough to tell

Hi there - you miss me?

Most likely, probably not - my Instagram feed has been going pretty strongly, and the blog...well, when the turmoil that has marked 2020 washed through, I admit I didn't feel much like writing.

There's a lot to say about the year that has been, and I thought about venturing into topics that were never the focus of this blog.  After much consideration, I decided it should stay that way.  There's more than enough places to get the back and forth regarding those subjects, and I've done my share of checking up on things at sources I trust and respect the past several months.

But, with this blog being a food- and travel-centric one, I will say something in relation to the food industry as it had been.  If it wasn't clear how much of a true bargain the old model was for many consumers, it should be apparent now.  The size of the industry somewhat shrouded the very imperfect model of long hours for low-profit margins for a vast majority of establishments, especially the mom-and-pop, locally oriented ones, but the pandemic has fully lifted that cover.

The crisis has also exposed the very much underappreciated and bonus benefits (such as free music entertainment, or the fact that a fairly modest investment (an extra cup of coffee or a dessert plate will give you and your buddies extends your ability to hangout at your brewery/restaurant/bar/cafe of choice for an extra hour or two)) the diner basically took for granted in local restaurants, cafes and breweries during pre-pandemic times. 

Considering those factors, as well as the fact that you essentially are relieved of almost all work related to the dining process when you do, in fact, dine out, I realize now how much of a bargain dining out really was for us the past several years in most cases. And like many in the restaurant industry have stated, the old model needs to be revamped to keep local restaurant scenes thriving post-pandemic.  I don't know about you, but I don't travel around from city to city to prove that a Starbucks Frappuccino tastes the same in Columbus and San Francisco.  

To keep with the comparison, I travel between the two cities to see how the coffees of One Line Coffee and Mission compare to those of Four Barrel and Ritual Roasters.  And, I for one, am willing to pay for that privilege in our future travels, no matter what city we may journey to, if it means thriving and eclectic dining scenes throughout the country.

Whether the public as a whole is willing to do so, well, only time will tell...

Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit of Lumpia: Return Travels to Cincy (Final Chapter)

A bicycle-oriented mural in a neighborhood (Over-the-Rhine) that is
full of creative and colorful murals

Our final Cincinnati trip post includes the third prize in our fun little contest package we won from the Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau as well as some odds and ends that added a nice little tree topper to our quick weekend jaunt to the Queen City.

As mentioned in our original Findlay Market post, the Over-The-Rhine neighborhood is one that is in flux, still transitioning from a neighborhood people tended to avoid to one where the concerns of newcomers and longtime residents clash in the oft-repeated gentrification debate.

Indy In Threes: Oldskool, Old School, and just Plain Old

Silken banners and windsocks made for a colorful display at this
impromptu art exhibit near the Fountain Square area of Indy

Founded in 1820, Indianapolis isn't too much younger than its fellow capital city of Columbus, which was established in 1812. In other words, Indy has its share of the old.

But in this second of four Indianapolis-related blogposts, the meaning of old is stretched out a bit, from the oldskool (a sleek, modern eatery that has earned "Best of" honors) to the old school (a former facility to treat mentally ill patients turned museum) to the just plain ol' old (antiques in an antique building.)

No Toying Around: Ho-Toy Restaurant

A big tray of Chow Mein or crispy Orange Chicken historically
wouldn't be out of place at any of my big family gatherings

Chinese-American cuisine has, at least in my household, gained an increasingly important role at the family table over time. I was introduced mainly to the somewhat compact sweet side of the cuisine when my family moved to San Francisco, when boxes full of Custard Tarts or Sesame Balls would occasionally make their way home with my parents and grandparents.  Also memorable were the Haw Flakes, which reminded me of a far tastier rendition of a Communion wafer - my Grandpa would sometimes drive us into Chinatown after a day of fishing at the old Municipal Pier to grab a multi-pack, much to the joy of me and my siblings..

Later on, trays of Chinese-American cuisine standards like Sweet & Sour Pork, Chinese Fried Rice and Chow Mein would make appearances side-by-side by the Filipino standards I grew up with, mainly as a way to ease the cooking load off my elders as well as guaranteeing everyone got more than enough food.  After all, it would be a shame if the foam take-away trays stored conveniently underneath the serving tables ended up unused.

Nowadays, I don't actively seek out Chinese-American restaurants on a regular basis, but I'll get the occasional random craving for it.  However, my move to Columbus revealed that something that I thought I had conquered in the pursuit of tasty treats still needed some work.

Reminds Me Of Home: Kuya Ian's Bistro

A turo-turo (point-point) or buffet style setup that you might see in a
Filipino restaurant or household hosting a big celebration

One of my adjustments in coming to Ohio several years ago was the changed demographics: as I found out at the Asian Festival, the Central Ohio region as a whole had up to 15 times less Filipino-American residents when compared to certain Bay Area cities. The lack of Filipino-oriented businesses of any sort was a little jarring, especially when it came to food: dishes that were both part of growing up and easy to obtain were things I would have to cook myself if I wanted them.

Then Red Velvet Cafe, owned by Krizzia Yanga, came to Downtown Columbus in 2015, with first a modest introduction of Filipino cuisine (sandwiches featuring Filipino-styled meats like lechon and bistek.) Later came the Filipino silog-style breakfasts (featuring an over-easy egg, garlic fried rice, and a Filipino-styled protein), which brought me memories of home and were eagerly consumed by both me and a host of others.  This success led to the opening of Bonifacio, whose modern Filipino fusion menu items as well as more traditional takes into the cuisine (with their region-focused and Boodle/Kamayan events) plus uniquely-styled cocktails have also been well-received by the public

With that said, many people don't know there's a second Filipino option on the northern end of the metro area, and it's an option that reminds me a lot of home for more than one reason.

Let Your Fingers Do The Eating: Bonifacio's APAHM Kamayan

Subo (Su-bo; Tagalog) - Verb

1. sumubo', isubo' (-um:i-) to get into trouble. 

2. to feed or put food into the mouth

Subo - that was a word I was quite familiar with as a child, more so the second meaning than the first. Often times, it was a request from my parents, grandparents, or other adult relatives, who wanted me to feed younger members of the family whose focus was intent on playing, not eating. This was fraught with its own dangers: catching one of my younger siblings or cousins was not unlike grabbing a chicken in its pen at times, and spilled food and liquids on the floor were fairly common.

Another implied meaning of this word for me lay in the method of feeding. For all but the youngest, feeding involved using my fingers to grab just the right-sized morsel to fit inside the target's mouth. Often times, that target would be my own mouth, and this process felt natural and instinctive to me.

Kain Na Tayo! Bonifacio Modern Filipino

Much of the history regarding Bonifacio and my personal relationship to this Filipino restaurant can be found at this prior blogpost, which detailed the experiences of my spouse and I at their July 2016 preview event. At that time, I was eager to for the restaurant's grand opening, but in many ways I wanted to fully digest how Krizzia Yanga's somewhat bold venture into a full-service restaurant, largely spurred on by the success of their Filipino-oriented silog (featuring a fried egg) and panini brunch and lunch offerings at her Downtown Columbus-located Red Velvet Cafe and in a region largely unfamiliar with Filipino cuisine.

Well, almost two years later after the restaurant's opening, and after landing a "Best New Restaurants of 2016" from Columbus Monthly and grabbing national press in media sources like NPR and Southwest: The Magazine, I figured I had more than enough time to take it all in. In some ways, this post is somewhat exemplary of the concept of Filipino Time, a concept not unlike Hawaiian Time where folks (or in this case, this blog post) are known to show up fashionably late to events.

Preview Event: Cocktails & Pulutan - Bonifacio Restaurant

I admit to a little bit of culture shock moving from the Bay Area to Central Ohio when it came to population makeup: I basically moved from an city where nearly 25,000 people were of Filipino heritage to a whole region where there were 2,500 or so scattered around.

Not surprisingly, Filipino food has been a little harder to find in the wild here. I learned shortly after my arrival of a Filipino restaurant near the Columbus/Reynoldsburg border in Chuchay's, but their location wasn't the most convenient to where I was living and the eatery shut down soon afterward. Other encounters have been rare but very welcome: the original Red Velvet Cafe in Reynoldsburg, and two food trucks in the form of Mya's Fried Chicken (courtesy of special pop-up events by owner Mark Tolentino) and, more recently, Asian Persuasion.

Perhaps the most welcome addition for me (and many other area diners) has been the downtown Columbus branch of the previously mentioned Red Velvet Cafe. Owned by Krizzia Yanga, the cafe not only brought the very appealing original cupcake/coffee pairing that fueled the original location for so long, but also brought local diners a taste of Filipino cuisine with their weekend brunch service.

Ice Cream Questing (Year 3): Dog is my Co-Pilot (Shojimoto, Arlington, TX)

"Go ahead, take your time,"  the elderly woman manning the counter behind me advised between chattering in Tagalog (the national language of the Philippines) with a colleague over the cell phone.

With that scene, I was reminded I was on Filipino time, a state where punctuality isn't necessarily expected nor even desired. Indeed, this was a good thing, as I was contemplating an important decision in the flavors of my ice cream selections.

A drive on Texas State Highway 360 through Arlington will give you a good view of the three grandiose attractions (the two stadiums in which the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers play, plus the home of the original Six Flags amusement park) within the borders of this city of roughly 380,000 people.

However, if you wander closer into the downtown portion of the city, the college scene takes over as the campus of UT-Arlington dominates much of the area. For Ohio State Buckeye sports fans who are thinking this college sounds semi-familiar, it was the UT-Arlington Mustangs who broke the 61-game Buckeyes' Men's Basketball team's 61-game home winning streak against non-conference opponents.

Home Bass for Beer: Four String Brewing

Four String Brewing, launched in late 2011, got its name in part from owner
Dan Cochran's background as a bass player with the Columbus music scene

On our recently taken Columbus Brew Adventures Grandview Brewery tour, as detailed in this blog post), we had in fact had visited all three breweries prior. However, unlike Zauber and Smokehouse, where we had logged numerous visits over the years, we had logged only one visit just a mere couple weeks prior to the tour to Four String Brewery, and we figured it would be only appropriate to give them a separate blog post.

Prior to this visit, our lone experience with Four String beers had been out on tap at various restaurants and via six-packs bought at local beer-selling establishments. Our taste of beers like their Brass Knuckle American Pale Ale and Big Star IPA were generally favorable - definitely not knock-your-socks off brews, but solidly in the "keep-a-six-pack-in-the-fridge for-after-work" category. However, we had not actually visited their taproom to try to get a better idea of their offerings after all this time, mainly due to their somewhat hidden location on 6th Avenue behind the Shoppes on 5th strip mall.

We finally got the motivation to get over there through a unique food-related event: the Ajumama Food Truck, well-known in the Columbus area for chef Laura Lee's take on Korean favorites, was hosting a special pop-up featuring Chef Sean's take on Filipino favorites. With our radar constantly on the lookout for that cuisine, we decided to make it a night, and sampling Four String's offerings would be the proverbial bonus sundae cherry to top it all off.

On our first visit, the combo of Ajumama's takes on Filipino favorites
and flights of Four String brews really hit the culinary sweet spot

As it turned out, the Filipino menu that Ajumama offered that night proved with mostly untraditional (exception: the Puto steamed rice cakes were pretty traditional and spot on very good) but really fun takes on staple items such as the Bacon Cheeseburger Lumpia, grilled Adobo Ribs, and the Chicken Afritada Sandwich (perhaps my favorite of the mains, with a taste profile reminding me of my parents' versions of Menudo and Mechado.) '

Meanwhile, the appropriately music-themed Four String taproom provided a dimly lit but otherwise nicely intimate setting to enjoy our eats. We also got a much higher appreciation of their beer offerings in the process, especially with Skeleton Red Rye IPA (the spouse and I are both fans of rye beers in general; this ended up as our second pint for the day) their new Devilock Hazelnut Stout, part of their ongoing Solo Series of limited-quantity releases (this nicely chocolaty, nutty stout was our actual favorite on this visit, but the hot & humid weather made the rye IPA the more appealing choice for a second brew.)

Columbus Brew Adventures helped provide some history to Four String's
emergence in the local craft beer scene, including their "Frankenbrewing"
beer production and their decision to go with canning their brews. 

During that first visit, it was quite noticeable that Four String Brewery's equipment certainly did not look like the traditional-styled brewery vessels we were used to seeing on other brewery and taproom visits. Indeed, on our return visit to Four String during Columbus Brew Adventures' Grandview Brewery tour, our host Jim Ellison as well as our brewery hostess provided us a fascinating history behind owner Dan Cochran's efforts to successfully transform Four String into one of the more prominent players in Columbus' current craft brew scene.

We learned all the equipment still remaining in the 6th Avenue taproom was designed for other purposes; Cochran bought the equipment for pennies on the dollar and with outside assistance adapted those device to brew beer instead. This "Frankenbrewing " method of brewing beer came with its challenges: one particularly revealing visual was their brick-lined boiler (as pictured above.) The heat generated from the brewing process was so intense, it was melting the container's legs off  - the rather clever installation of a rope around the rim provided just enough of an heat escape to tone the heat down without affecting the brewing process.

Other interesting fun facts we learned were the decision to can versus bottle their beers (Cochran found that mobile canning would be the most inexpensive way to get his product to the market, especially with a host of volunteers who would help package the cans in return for pizza and beer) as well as the fate of the 6th Avenue taproom. While Four String is nearing completion on a new larger production facility on the west side of the Columbus metro, the 6th Avenue taproom would still remain open and become the home for the brewery's more limited and experimental brews.

Of course, we tour-goers were treated to samples of their beer, and in a way it was like deja vu all over again from our first visit, as Chef Lee from the Ajumama food truck brought over some tasty spicy pork mini-sandwiches. These little toothpicked bites were welcome as we sampled beers that we had had on our first visit (including the rye IPA and hazelnut stout we so enjoyed) and are sure to have again on some future trip to Four String.

Four String Brewing
985 W. 6th Avenue (Grandview Heights)
Columbus, OH 43212
(614) 725-1282
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First Impressions: Asian Persuasion Food Truck and Companion Bagel

Asian Persuasion offers Filipino and Thai dishes from their food truck

Asian Persuasion: I grew up as a kid with Filipino cuisine as a staple, and I never really had to search too hard or long for it back in the San Francisco Bay Area. Central Ohio has been a whole other story, however, with options few and far between (the Mya's Fried Chicken food truck special Filipino nights and Red Velvet Cafe's Filipino fusion sandwiches being notable exceptions.) So it was only natural to feel excited when I heard a new food truck featuring Filipino staples was launching in the area in the form of Asian Persuasion.

Cleared to launch operations last month, the truck initially put in a few stops in Dayton, but has now set up regularly in the Columbus area the past couple weeks. One of those locations happened to be at the festivities leading up to an event we were attending (the Cleveland Browns Orange-Brown Scrimmage at The Shoe on The Ohio State University campus last Friday.) Obviously, we were both quite happy to see them and couldn't help but stop by to sample their wares.

On this day, Asian Persuasion featured some Thai dishes such as Thai Beef Jerky and a Papaya Salad; however, we were here to test out the Filipino items, which were represented by a select number of basic staples such as Lumpia (egg rolls), Pancit Bihon (the Filipino version of chow mein), and Lechon (spit-roasted pork). While Lechon was also available in an additional "Americano" sandwich form, we went with the more traditional three dishes.

From top left: Asian Persuasion's mascot Lil' Baboy stands guard; chunks
of spit-roasted Lechon, fried Lumpia rolls, Pancit Bihon

For the most part, I'd say these are all well-done and tasty versions of the dishes I grew up with. The Pancit had a nice lightly garlicky flavor and sported a additional vegetables (in the form of chopped bell peppers) along with what I usually expect in the dish such as cabbage, carrots and scallions. The Lumpia was fried up crisp and to the edge of being burnt (the way I prefer it) and sported a very uniquely fine, almost puréed texture with its meat-filling. Meanwhile, the Lechon was for the most part moist and fatty, just like it should be (kinda' wished there was a sarsa dipping sauce to go with it, but the pork by itself was perfectly fine.)

Service was just a touch slow, which seemed to be due to a combo of factors including many diners asking questions about the dishes, the sheer number of diners itself, and a backup of orders for those who went with Pancit (out of the three dishes I had, this one takes the most time to whip up a new batch.)  Also, I imagine that just sheer experience should help the Asian Persuasion crew process their food much more quickly and efficiently in the upcoming months.

Asian Persuasion can be found stationed at various locations and events around the Columbus metro; please consult their Facebook page for the latest updates.

Asian Persuasion Food Truck
614-580-9885
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Companion Bagel is quite happy to be a small local vendor
at the Clintonville Farmers Market

Companion Bagel:  Even in the limited sphere of bagel providers in the Columbus area, bagel bakers can find it tough to break into the local scene, with the presence of local stalwarts like Sammy's and Block's (Toledo-based Barry Bagels has also recently entered the market), and their bigger chain competitors such as Einstein Bros, Panera and  Breugger's. Perhaps Jake and Jess Hollår, brother/sister founders of Companion Bagel, have the right idea by going in something of the opposite direction: stay small, think big (as in a Bagel CSA(!)), and lure the public in with baked goods featuring uniquely novel flavor conversations.

Based on a brief chat with Jake at their stand at the Clintonville Farmers Market, Companion is definitely a labor of love: not many people are willingly rising at 2 AM in the morning to get their baking process going. Jake himself has been involved in numerous other past food-focused efforts, including stints with The Cheesy Truck and Alana's as well as the Gourmet Picnic, a Columbus-area monthly supper club.

Flavor profiles in Companion's Bagels products, from bialy to bagels
to beyond, are both unique and focus on area ingredient providers

The bagels we sampled from Companion may not satisfy the bagel purists from a texture standpoint - they're a bit bready though negligibly so when compared to a similar offering from Einstein Bros. However, those who are seeking unique flavor profiles will be more than satisfied with their creations. From their Serrano and Date combo, to their changing seasonal variety (in our case, it was a Trumpet mushroom baked with Blue Jacket Dairy's wonderful Gretna Cheese) to our favorite of the first three we brought home (the wonderful olive-y Castelvetrano and Cracked Pepper, featuring North Market Spices port-brined smoked peppercorns), we were more than happy to make these typically breakfast-oriented items our dinner for one night.

While the plan is for Companion Bagel to stay small and sustainable, Jake mentioned that growth may be in the works in the form of their Bagel Chips, which he's hoping to have available in a couple of Clintonville-area markets in the near future.

Companion Bagel
Regularly found at the Clintonville and Jefferson Township Farmers Markets
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Fried Chicken Bender (Pt. 1): Mya's Fried Chicken

Mya's Fried Chicken, a mobile vendor staple of Clintonville since
2012, has come back from hiatus to rejoin the Columbus food scene

In Columbus, fried chicken has become something of the new "in" food, with well-regarded recent arrivals like the Short North's Double Comfort and the former Olde Towne East/current North Market vendor Hot Chicken Takeover (their take on Nashville-style chicken earned them a Best New Restaurant nod by readers of Columbus Alive), and a new entry from across the Pacific Ocean creating some initial good impressions (Korean Fried Chicken purveyor Bonchon in Northwest Columbus.)

These places have either made a favorable impression on the spouse and I, or are awaiting visits from us in the very near future. However, all the hubbub over the past year created by these newcomers hasn't made us forget about what now qualifies as relative veteran in this genre, and a veteran that for awhile looked it may have kicked the proverbial chicken bucket.

Mya's Fried Chicken mobile food truck had been a regular fixture in its Clintonville location next to the Super Food Mart convenience store since its opening in the summer of 2012. Owner Mark Tolentino, a professional chef with nearly 17 years of experience in the restaurant and catering scene on the East Coast and Ohio prior to starting Mya's, not only loved southern-style fried chicken, but also found it hard to find it around the Columbus area. This inspiration, in combination with the increasingly burgeoning food truck scene, brought Mya's to life.

Mya's not only offers a tasty selection of Southern Fried
Chicken styled items, but accentuates their menu with
special Filipino cuisine offerings

Along with its very delicious rendition of fried chicken, Mya's also stood out with their occasional delving into Filipino cuisine, another cuisine that is not found much around the Columbus metro. On their Filipino nights, the owners did a good job of introducing locals to some of this cuisine's basic dishes, producing solid renditions of pancit (the Filipino version of lo mein or chow mein), adobo (meat stewed with vinegar and other various spices and sauces), lumpia (a Filipino egg roll) and leche flan, a sweet custard dessert.)

Everything seemed to be operating as normal when on an early weekend in September 2014, a post on Mya's Facebook page reported food truck problems and a closure over the weekend to get them fixed. The hiatus lasted well beyond that weekend, however, with an October Facebook post from Mark stating that his food truck was going on hiatus but that the ultimate aim was to reopen in the near future.

And then, nothing. I had originally written and initially finished this blog post on Mya's a day or so prior to the first post reporting the truck issues in September. This post, like the truck, stood in hiatus as every check back on their Facebook page came up with no new updates as to the food truck's fate, I wondered if both this blog post and the tasty fried chicken & biscuit sliders would be my last mementos from this mobile vendor.

Finally, a source in the know indicated that Mya's may be stirring to life soon, and a Facebook post from owner Mark confirmed the good news: they were gearing up for a comeback. There were a combination of factors for the hiatus mentioned in the post, but in reality, the fact that they were coming back was by far the most important detail.

Mya's re-opening day in May, in a new location in Clintonville at
North High and North Broadway, saw enthusiastic
crowds, a grateful owner and that delicious fried chicken

We dropped by on Mya's reopening day of May 14th at their new location just a little farther up North High Street but still smack dab in Clintonville. The first thing we noticed was the space was a lot more roomy than their previous convenience store location, with more spots to park and a couple tables set up in front of the nearby office building for those who wanted to dine there. The second thing we noticed was the enthusiastic crowd, all seemingly long-time fans happy and ready to welcome an old friend was back in the neighborhood again.

And the food? The fried chicken was as crispy and juicy as we had remembered it; along with a collection of solid sides (our favorite is their Mac and Cheese), it made for a terrific dinner.

Mark himself came out of the truck to give a heartfelt thank you to everyone who was waiting for their orders, and during my brief chat with him, he promised Mya's would eventually go back to similar operating hours before the hiatus as well as more special Filipino cuisine nights. But for the time being, Mya's will be sticking with limited dinner hours (Thursday thru Saturday 4:30 PM - 7:30 PM.)

Mya's Fried Chicken
3400 N High St (Clintonville)
Columbus, OH 43202
(614) 464-9999
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Aurora Appetizers: The Donut House/Sunburst Grill/Coffee Place Cafe

Driving through the very suburban city of Aurora, Colorado, the word "diversity" would not normally pop into your mind. The housing developments (sans the mountain ridges in the distance) aren't too dissimilar to those in the outer burbs in this area such as Gahanna, Reynoldsburg or even Dublin.

However, this outside facade hides the fact that this city of just under 350,000 is one of the more diverse populations in the state. As noted in this Denver Post article, Aurora is the first major city in the state of Colorado to be minority-majority in population, according to the latest Census figures. The City of Aurora is trying to use this fact to its advantage in various ways, including the culinary diversity found within its limits. Prior to our visit last month, I located a fairly comprehensive ethnic eateries guide produced by and located on the website of the city highlighting this very fact.

Indeed, our culinary encounters within the city displayed this diversity to full effect in that they were all the products of immigrants to this country trying to make good, a tale oft told but never seems to get old.

The front of what is arguably Aurora's favorite donut shop

The Donut House - The story of the Dieyleh family will sound awfully familiar to fans of Columbus donut institution Buckeye Donuts. Similar to Buckeye Donuts owner Jimmy Barouxis' tale, Moe Dieyleh currently holds the head baker position of The Donut House, a business his father Omar opened in 2009. Omar, who still is very much involved with daily operations, immigrated from Jordan to Colorado over 30 years ago, integrated and established ties with the surrounding community, and learned the craft by working several years at a local Winchell's Donuts prior to opening up his store. Those ties the Dieyleh family built up over the years, as well as Omar's incredibly welcoming and friendly personality, have helped transform the store into a locally beloved institution.

The Donut House sorts a simple and cheery interior, with a basic focus
of donuts and coffee (plus other assorted goodies)

There's nothing fancy about The Donut House, from its non-descript exterior to its simple but cheerfully painted interior. While there are some unique items you can find here (such as some pre-packaged Middle-Eastern sweets such as baklava and namoura, a cake made from semolina with rose and orange blossom water) the main focus here lies in that revered combo of donuts and coffee.

We stopped here twice for quick bites on the go. Our first time, we had a small sampling of their donuts: texture-wise, while their cake donut was nice enough, the true standout is their standard donuts. These fulfilling creations reminded me of a slightly toothier version of the big airy constructs that Columbus' Destination Donuts puts out.

The Donut House has looked to upgrade their coffee, and has taken steps to upgrade their beans (they now source local coffee roaster Shiva) and their equipment with the addition of an espresso machine. Can't vouch for prior, but the coffee we received was a notch above diner-level coffee.

The donuts were excellent, but the fritters might be even better

On this first visit, we noticed some delectable-looking fritters that we couldn't justify based on our schedule that day. We rectified this on the day we left town when we grabbed a couple fritters and coffee to take on the road. As good as the donuts were, we discovered that the fritters might actually be just a little bit better.

Donut House
3124 S Parker Rd
Aurora, CO 80014
(303) 337-2771
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Behind these doors lies a menu of Filpino standards

Sunburst Grill - While there were many places that my spouse and I would've loved to have visited during our stay, my brother-in-law's family kept both of us very well fed. Still, we did have one day to ourselves, and some childhood bias crept in here as we decided to have dinner at Aurora's lone Filipino restaurant, which started operations in 2008.

Though the home cooking almost always won out, I was blessed to have numerous Filipino restaurants nearby and within the cities where I resided in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sunburst Grill really isn't all too different from many of those restaurants, lying in a non-descript strip mall and sporting touches of the Philippines within its interior. Unlike those restaurants, however, Sunburst Grill is more in the traditional sit down and order style restaurant versus the more common "turo turo" (literally, "point point") buffet style of eatery I was used to.

Sunburst Grill sported a quaint interior and a basic menu of Filipino standards.

Sunburst Grill's menu has a very select inventory of Filipino dishes, including standards such as lumpia and pancit along with a couple items I had not encountered before. I knew I must have been too long starved for the cuisine when I decided, despite my distinct indifference to seafood in general, ordered their Inihaw na Tilapia, a grilled tilapia fish stuffed with tomatoes and onions, along with a swath of other items which we figured would be a probably a bit too much food but easily transportable for later consumption.

Clockwise from Top Left: Lechon Kawali with Adobo Kangkong, Lumpia
Grilled Tilapia, Pancit Canton, and Leche Flan

Of these items, the Lechon Kawali (fried pork belly) and Lumpiang Shanghai (Filipino egg rolls) by far were our favorites. The former was fried up perfectly the perfect crispy exterior and a fatty, juicy interior; it came accompanied by a tasty lechon sarsa (a liver-based sauce) and a side of Adobo Kangkong (one of the items I was unfamiliar with), essentially vegetables cooked Filipino adobo style. The latter proved to be a huge portion of lumpia, more suitable for a party of four, but that didn't stop us from chowing them all down.

The tilapia reminded me why this fish is something I never cared for much, due to its rather bland taste. Coupled with the presence of numerous pin bones, it would be a hard sell for most non-Filipino customers. Still, it was like being at home and I got into the simple fish preparation as the meal went on. The Pancit Canton, which is essentially a variation of Chinese Chow Mein, also reminded me of something you would find in an American-styled Chinese Restaurant versus what I was used to growing up. I'm sure most people would find it perfectly tasty, though.

Service was earnest to the point of almost being TOO helpful at times; there were several visits to our table to confirm the details or give an up-to-the-minute status of our order. I think I got the hint why this might be standard procedure as we got through our meal; a couple of groups of diners who came after us who weren't too familiar with Filipino cuisine were given detailed explanations and occasional reassurances when menu items were explained.

We could not NOT leave this place without some Filipino dessert; since the halo halo (what looked to be a towering version came out for a neighboring table while we were there) was not really an option, we went with their Leche Flan to take back to my brother-in-law's place for later consumption. This version was nicely thick, with a sweet carmelly sauce that brought some fond memories of my mom's version from when I was a child.

Sunburst Grill
2295 S Chambers Rd
Aurora, CO 80014
(303) 752-6389
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Coffee Place Cafe - This was meant as a quick stop over for some iced coffee caffeination the day after a St. Patrick's Day party, but based on my brief experience here, I think more exploration is in order on a return trip. The business' simple name and somewhat hidden location, camouflaged inside a modern-styled strip mall along a major north-south highway with numerous such commercial developments, doesn't exactly scream promising at first glance, but I quickly saw that initial impressions can be deceiving.

If you can locate Coffee Place's location, you can treat yourself to
car-oriented artwork, European-styled pastries, and a Silan-flavored latte

The first thing that caught my eye was the eraser board touting "Fresh Bureks", a big hint that this wasn't quite the usual run-of-the-mill cafe. Thse cheese-filled bureks are the creation of chef Katerina Larden, a Latvian native who immigrated to the U.S. via Tel Aviv along with her husband Nisso and children. These bureks along with other European-styled baked goodies provide the backbone of Coffee Place's food menu, along with a selection of soups and paninis sandwiches for lunch.

The next thing that caught my eye was the iced coffee flavors - along with the usual Torani-syrup variations like vanilla and hazelnut, an intriguing option appeared at the very end of the list. Silan, or date honey,consists basically of boiled down dates and is a common Middle East condiment used in all manner of food preparations. I most certainly had never seen it as a coffee flavoring option.

I passed (regrettably) on the bureks and stuck with the iced latte drinks, one with silan and the other maple flavored. My spouse found the date honey a bit too strong for her tastes and opted for the maple iced latte, which turned out nicely reminiscent of Cafe Brioso's similar creation. On the other hand, I enjoyed the unique flavor profile that the silan had provided; the date syrup had turned the surrounding iced latte closer to mocha colored as it slowly absorbed into the surrounding liquid.

Coffee Place Cafe
2295 S Chambers Rd
Aurora, CO 80014
(303) 752-6389
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Kain Na Tayo! Manila Flavours (Niagara Falls, ON)

The one thing I miss the most in my move out here to the Buckeye State is my family, and more specifically, the proximity to my family. Throughout most of my life, my immediate family has been at worse only a few hours drive away. Nowadays, it's more like several hours away by way of airplane, making getting together in person more of a rare occurrence.

This is why I was especially thrilled when my parents were able to travel here for their first visit ever to this region. Along with the in-laws meeting each other for the first time ever (which went swimmingly well, like my spouse and I thought it would), we acted as erstwhile tour guide for them during their stay. This included a little road trip to both the American and Canadian sides of the Niagara Falls area.

Food has always played an important role at family gatherings big and small in both our families. My side of the family naturally puts a Filipino flair into this equation, and it seemed natural to try to capture that during this trip if at all possible. Luckily, I was able to scout out Manila Flavours, a gem of an eatery operating on the outskirts of the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.

Located in what seems to be a smallish and otherwise unremarkable strip mall, a pretty expansive area greeted us as we walked through Manila Flavours' distinctive red door entrance on a weekday night. The space reminded me of other similar-type Filipino restaurants I was familiar with back in Northern California: there was enough space to easily handle large gatherings, a stage for a live band, and the equipment for karaoke festivities (in fact, a few off-duty workers dropped by during our stay to warble out some tunes.)

From top left (counterclockwise): Sisig, Pancit, Bistek,
the bar area and some wall decor

While Manila Flavours also has Vietnamese standards on their menu, we were here for the Filipino dishes this night. It didn't hurt that the restaurant owners were from Pampanga, one of the regions in the Philippines renowned for its cuisine. We took our time with the menu; it would be easy to over-order here, with the menu containing numerous dishes we were familiar with. In the end, we whittled it down to an appetizer, a plate of white rice, and three of their mains.

For an appetizer, we ordered the Shanghai Lumpia pork eggrolls (15 for $8.95; all prices in Canadian Dollars); these tasty finger food items were happily devoured by everyone prior to our main dishes to arrive.

The two heartier dishes, the Sisig (fried bits of pork parts in chilies, served sizzling in an iron pan; $10.95) and the Bistek Pinoy (thinly sliced strips steak fried up with onions, garlic, soy sauce and lemon or (typically) calamansi juice: $11.95), were quite delectable and universally enjoyed by everyone.

The third dish, the Pancit Guisado (essentially a Filipino chow mein; $11.95) ended up on the bland side. However, a couple squeezes of the provided lemon slices (something that would pretty common regardless) and the judicious addition of soy sauce fixed that issue easily.

Our hosts were quite gracious, appreciative that we had traveled from so far to seek out their restaurant. Take out is also available; several customers came in throughout the night to pickup their phone-in orders.

As we ended up discovering, the Ontario side of Niagara Falls has a number of eateries overpriced for the quality of food provided, especially as you get the closer you get to the falls itself. Based on our experience, Manila Flavours does a fine job with producing tasty Filipino cuisine standards and is worth seeking out by locals living in and visitors to this border town.

2017 Update: All indications (Google, Facebook, etc.) are that Manila Flavours has closed permanently.

Manila Flavours
McLeod Plaza
7000 McLeod Rd (Google Maps)
Niagara Falls, ON L2G7K3
(289) 296-4418

Memorial Day Musings (Part 1) - The Angry Baker and The Columbus Asian Festival

Before I start my catching up posts, it's time to go Tarantino on you all and shift to the present.

This Memorial Day weekend was something of a first for me.  Back in California, Asian-themed festivals were somewhat common throughout the year, and many ethnic groups were well represented enough in the region to have their own annual festivals based on various cultural traditions.  The one closest to my home, the Vallejo Pista Sa Nayon, is centered around Filipino independence from Spain and draws close to 40,000 people in one day.

In Columbus, this mass representation of one single ethnic group doesn't really exist, but there are enough people from the Asian continent living here to make the Asian Festival one of the bigger festivals of the year.  Numerous countries are represented at this gathering, which was celebrating its 20th anniversary at its Franklin Park Conservatory just west of Bexley on Broad Street.

Before we hit the festival, my spouse and I stopped by one of the first places I made a point to visit after arriving here in Columbus.  The Olde Towne East neighborhood has been the focus for redevelopment efforts, and The Angry Baker had just established foothold in the community during my first visit in 2012.  I had grabbed only a scone and coffee back then, but was always interested in coming back to see how they evolved.

On this return visit, the space looked a bit more spiffy, but more or less maintained the old brick house, home interior that I had encountered during my first visit.  Behind the glass panes, lots of awfully tasty-looking morsels greeted our eyes and the employees stood plying their baking craft.

Like my first visit we were here to grab a quick bite, so the more hearty additions to the menu that they listed on their chalkboard such as the French Toast Sandwich would have to wait for another visit.  But our selections (the ham, swiss and dijon kolache, and the vegan bourbon-peach donut - we split our selections, as is tradition) along with their coffee from Cafe Brioso provided a tasty start to the day.

From there, we proceeded down to the Asian Festival.  We would only have a couple hours to spend here as we had travels up to northwest Ohio to visit relatives planned, so we wanted to pack as much bang we could in that short time period.

We first wandered over to the food court to see what we might want for lunch.  Along with the festival-specific vendors, a few of the notable Columbus Asian restaurants were represented, including San-Su (Korean), Siem Riep (Cambodian) and Yaourt (excellent frozen yogurt based in Dublin.)  While watching some of the performances, we snacked on a papaya salad from the booth for Erawan Thai, a restaurant located in southeast Columbus.  The salad, packed in ice, had that right combo of tang, spiciness and fishy flavor to satisfy on what was quickly becoming a very warm day.

There aren't too many Filipinos in Central Ohio (according to one of the festival's exhibits, about 2,500 were calculated in the census year 2010), but I was lucky to catch a performance from a Filipino dance group based out of Dayton.  The Pamana Dance Group gave a very spirited performance of Philippine traditional folk dances, including the Tinikling, a favorite of mine.  Here, two people pound and slide bamboo poles in rhythm while the dancers step and whirl about in and out of the space created from the pole movements.  Considering they had only 20 minutes to perform, leaving little to breaks between the four dances, the group did a fine job.

Eventually, lunch time came around.  Both of us were not terribly hungry still between the pastries at the Angry Baker plus the papaya salad, so we decided to grab some snacks from one of the fair-centric vendors (in this case, an Ohio-based Filipino organization.)  With the hot day, we decided halo halo (Tagalog for "mix-mix"), a Filipino shaved ice dessert made of evaporated milk and an assortment of tropical-based fruits, and a couple of lumpia, essentially the Filipino edition of the egg roll, would do the trick.

Both of the varieties of lumpia we sampled (veggie and pork) had very minor issues - the pork was a little bit salty, and the veggie could've used a little more filling - but all in all they were good.  The rendition of halo-halo was heavy on the nata de coco (three different colors of what is essentially coconut water gel cubes), with sweetened kidney beans, ube (purple yam), strips of langka fruit and plantains, and a dash of pinipig (pounded toasted rice kernels.)

The one big thing that seemed to be missing - something of a cardinal sin in my book - was the lack of macapuno, or young coconut sport.  This, along with langka, would be the minimum must-haves for any version I made up as a young child.  Still, we were satisfied with what we had, as the money was going to a good cause and shaved ice desserts are hard to be beat on a warm, sunny day.

The Angry Baker

891 Oak St (Olde Towne East - Google Maps)

Columbus, OH 43205

Phone:(614) 947-0976

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Columbus Asian Festival 

(Held every Memorial Day Weekend)

Franklin Park Conservatory

1777 E. Broad Street,

Columbus, OH  43203

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