Braving the Kitchens+

food, preferences, and the Art of Cooking (an attempt, anyway) 𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚎𓐐

[mangosensei]

Foreword

(c) Ziyi281, Meng Qi Shi Shen, Bilibili

I do not consider myself a cook, but I do know that cooking can be considered a survival skill because obviously food is essential.

And so, as I am in my early 30s... it is rather embarrassing that I find myself nervous of my cluelessness whenever aunts ask me to come help them prepare food in the kitchen during family gatherings.

Therefore, I have decided to attempt to learn the art of cooking!

This secondary blog will henceforth be a reflection of that attempt and the adventures I make herein! :)

That being said, this blog will mostly be about the recipes I have come across and attempted. So more of instructions and simple photos rather than blogging itself, most likely. And lots of quick notes about easy cooking stuff too. But, we'll see how it goes ;)

PS. I also post other related content on my TikTok and Twitter accounts.

PPS. As of January 17, 2024, I will also be posting my favorite chocolates and to-go food options from various restaurant menus. This blog will therefore be known as my personal food blog from here on out! :)

[mangosensei]

Creamy Chicken Pasta with Bacon

I love pasta.

Preferrably, non-red sauce ones!

This recipe from Panlasang Pinoy izz da bomb!

Definitely one of my favorites, I will make some this weekend for my birthday for sure!

[mangosensei]

CHÕCOVIA MILK CHOCOLATE WITH PISTACHIO & KADAIF - DUBAI Style

* The image above was taken from the Chocovia Instagram page.

I have tried another brand of Dubai chocolates before. However, because I'm not a fan of heavy cream so much, I didn't like it :(

Luckily, I gave this one a chance and tried it because it wasn't as creamy and I actually like it! Yay!

🔗 Chocovia Instagram 🔗 Chocovia website

[mangosensei]

Baci® Perugina®

* The image above was taken from the Baci® Perugina® International website.

I think it's a given thing that European chocolates are just the best, and among them, Italian chocolates are probably at the top of that list somewhere.

With this in mind, it is not surprising that I got to try another one that I really liked! Naturally, I looked at the wrapping and google the brand et voilà— it's Italian!

Anyway, in the process of making this post, I got to see that they have other flavors like a milk chocolate one, and a 70% dark one, amongst others!

Now, I definitely want to go and try them all! :)

PS. Here is the link to the official website where you can see all their products!

[mangosensei]

bibigo™ Chicken & Vegetable Steamed Dumplings

I googled this product, and found that it is "exclusively sold at Costco" — at least for US/North America, I suppose?

Anyway, I know this is actually a quick food prep thing— its instructions literally say they were made for the microwave but I steam it anyway lol

I actually haven't tried it via microwave before so I can't comment on how that tastes like, but it has always been my personal preference to either steam-fry (posticker method) or steam dumplings so that is that.

Anyway, with that important note out of the way, I just wanna say that I really like these dumplings! I dunno if it's an acquired taste thing or what, but this is my latest obsession lol I just can't stop eating them!

Btw, here's the TikTok post —

Dumplings 🥢 #dumplings #food #chinesefood

[mangosensei]

J.CO Al Capone donuts 🍩

* The images above were taken from the official J.CO Donuts PH website.

Not exactly a fan of overly sweet donuts. In fact, my go-to order in unknown donut shops would just be the original/glazed donuts.

For J.CO though, my go-to order is definitely the Al Capone donuts!

It is not as sweet as the other flavors, and I really like the almonds on them!

PS. I also posted about this on TikTok 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

#guiltypleasure #cravings #jco #donuts #almonds #almond #alcapone #dessert #pastry #sweets

[mangosensei]

merci® Finest Assortment of European Chocolates

* The image above was taken from this e-bay website.

Ah, where do I begin?

These are arguably my favorite chocolate right now.

They are savory, but aren't as sweet as other brands (exactly how I prefer it). At the same time it is probably has one of the smoothest textures out there (which makes it juuuuust perfect!)

Of the 8 flavors included in this set, there is only one flavor that I do not like. 7 out of 8 is 💯! Very worthwhile!

Care to guess which one flavor that is? lol jk

PS. Check out the TikTok video I made for these chocolates <3 I swear, I really cannot get enough of 'em!

A new favorite ✨ #merci #chocolate

[mangosensei]

Ribs

* Photo by Sean Stone on Unsplash

For the nth time lol— for record purposes re: how I like my ribs!

Airfryer 10 minutes, flip halfway

As for the taste, I like it salt-rubbed, with this recipe by seriouseats.com!

Tried it with both pork, and with beef (on separate occasions)! :)

[mangosensei]

Orange Juice

* Photo by Rae Wallis on Unsplash

Again, for record purposes but this time— a personal note on how I make orange juice!

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1:1 orange:sugar ratio

2 Oranges 2 tbsp sugar 1 cup water + ice

[mangosensei]

Bacon

* Photo by James Trenda on Unsplash

Just a personal note on how I like my bacon for record purposes! lol

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Oven 350 F 18 min

[mangosensei]

Honey Walnut Shrimp

* The images above were taken from the official Panda Express website.

Honey Walnut Shrimp is my go-to food in any Chinese restaurant I come across to in the Bay Area.

It is just so good! (And I don't even have that sweet of a tooth... at least compared to other people lol)

🔗 Panda Express 🔗 Chowking

[mangosensei]

Little Caesars

* The images above were taken from the official Little Caesars website.

A childhood favorite of mine, Little Caesars is probably one of the main reasons why I love bread!

🔗 Little Caesars

[mangosensei]

Gong cha

* Images were taken from the official Gong Cha website.

MILK TEA aka Boba.

I'm sure at some point in your life, there's a chance that you've gone through a milk tea obsession of boba craze of sorts.

Naturally, I did too!

For skeptics, I understand. Milk tea is an acquired taste.

But once you have acquired, that's it. Game over. lol

Anyway. Among the milk teas I've tried, my favorite is probably Gong Cha because the tapioca pearls are so soft, and the milk tea itself is not that sweet (even at 100% sweetness)!

PS. My go-to drink is Pearl Milk Tea 50% Sugar. Basic! : )

🔗 Gong Cha

[mangosensei]

Frozen Pizza

* Photo by Catia Climovich on Unsplash

I'm sure almost everyone has bought frozen pizza before.

I certainly have.

Which is why I felt like I need to make a post about this just in case I forget the instructions because you never know! lol

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Cooking Instructions

Oven 400 F 20 min

[mangosensei]

Mozzarella Sticks

* Photo by gladys arivia on Unsplash

...who doesn't like mozzarella sticks?

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Reheating Instructions

Air Fry 390 F 5 to 7 min, flip halfway

[mangosensei]

King Eggroll

* The image above was taken from the official King Eggroll website.

So it is like common knowledge in the Bay Area that King Eggroll is good. And I mean, good!

Naturally, it is one of my favorites!

🔗 King Eggroll

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Reheating Instructions (frozen)

Air fry 12 min Flip halfway

[mangosensei]

CBTL Vanilla Ice Blended® Drink

Hello, it's been a while! But, hey!

Let me introduce you to my growing coffee addiction obsession love for coffee. Let's put it that way lol

Anyway, one of the key factors why I ended up liking coffee is because of Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf aka CBTL.

I was introduced to this drink (and coffee place) sometime around late 2013, and it remains to be one of my favorite cafes to visit whenever I get the chance to.

My go-to order is : Original Vanilla Ice Blended, large, no whipped cream! (My mom probably likes this drink more than I, and she orders it with whipped cream lol)

Anyway, to finish it off. One of my fondest memories of CBTL would be getting takeouts of this particular drink for my 91-year-old grandpa to drink (he had no diabetes, his blood work up was great, and the drink had been cleared with his cardio perhaps because of his old age).

It had become quite the routine for my mom and I as we go to the city to run errands to take home some of this for him. He really enjoyed it, and would often ask for us to bring him some home along with his never-ending supply of popcorn.

Sadly, he passed away towards the end of 2014; and so CBTL will always remain to be a place of fond memories for me.

Nowadays, I've moved to Northern California and there is no CBTL here. Boo.

BUT! At least, my mom gets to enjoy CBTL and their original vanilla ice blended back home. (Lucky!)

🔗 Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf 🔗 Vanilla Ice Blended