Fish Bistek and Slow Cooked Pork & Beans: Healthy Recipe Sharing

Fishtek and Slow Cooked Pork & Beans

Cold Weather Indulgence: Healthy Recipe Sharing 

With the temperature dipping to as low as 17^oC

in a tropical place like Naga City, we always wake

 up late in the morning,  craving for our comfort food,

…and what could be more better than a hot

bowl of thick Slow Cooked Pork and Beans,

…that melts in you mouth when you eat it?

 

I have blogged about this dish in the past 

and just click the link below for the recipe.

Penafrancia Fiesta  
All Day Home Cooked Feast

Pinoy Fish Bistek which I would call Fishstek, 

 is a healthier  alternative to the traditional  

Pinoy Beef Steak  or Bistek, and also

 a perfect breakfast for the cold months.

Saute garlic and onions in Olive Oil, with
 Soy Sauce, and Worcestershire Sauce combination.





 

Steam fresh native  Kanduli,

…fry the steamed fish one the sautéed mixture, 

and set aside once it absorbs the flavorful sauce

(this  dish could also be served at this stage).

Another option is to add more white onions 
and thicken the remaining sauce with cornstarch.

Generously pour the sauce over the fish,

and sprinkle with Basil and Black Pepper.

This dish is best eaten with a cup

of piping hot, steamed  brown rice.

Chef Doy's; Naga City’s Culinary Gem

Chef Doy’s Restaurant 

Naga City’s Culinary Gem 

Chef Doy’s was fully booked on the evening we

dined so we decided to use its al fresco section.

Culinary Genius, that’s how I see Chef Doy on

how he re- invents his traditional Filipino dishes

into a more exciting and tastier new fusion recipe.

Some of the extraordinary fusion dishes that

he created that we have tried in the past are; 

Kare Kareng Lechon Kawali where he fused

two classic Pinoy favorites of KareKare but he

used a perfectly fried pork rib instead of oxtail,

…and Sinanglay na Tilapia using Malunggay 

instead of Pechay leaves that we have gotten used to.

This time it was no different- as we started our dinner

with another fusion dish which I consider a brilliant

work of a genius- Tinolang Manok at Melon.

Who would ever thought that sweet ripe cantaloupes

would blend well with the Chicken Tinola as we have

already gotten used of utilizing papaya for this dish?

The ripe melon provides a sweetish contrast

to the tangy sili leaves and it also gives the dish  

a delightfully sweet candy- like aroma.

We never fail order Batangbatang Pusit whenever

we dine in this restaurant, which is listed as an

appetizer in the menu but we always consider this

dish as a main viand as it is best eaten with rice.

It was our first time to try Crispy Tadyang 

which was also meant as an appetizer but we

decided to make it  a part of the main meal as

the perfectly fried beef ribs were very crispy on

the outside as it looked even burnt but surprisingly

very tender very moist and very tasty in the inside

and just like the pusit, it goes well with rice as well.

We also had Gising- gising that looked and

tasted like Chopsuey. I didn’t see any difference

except that (call me biased) this was done by a

pro- chef, then, it is a notch above the rest.

The Chef Doy’s Bistek Tagalog tasted very good

and was very tender as it was made of braised beef

and cooked just with the right amount of soy sauce,

and not as salty as the contemporary Pinoy bistek.

My wife who loves menudo spotted Menudo ni Doy,

their new offering in the menu so we ordered one.

Menudo is an iconic Pinoy dish and popular fiesta fare

and regular carenderia item all over the Philippines.

The Chef Doy’s version, just like it’s regular counterparts

is made of braised pork, liver, carrots, potatoes and raisins.

But the difference is in the sauce that is made of thick  tomato

sauce that is not as irritatingly sweet, as most Pinoy menudos,

as you could still savor the rich tomato taste (not the lousy

ketchup like sauce of most regular menudos) and made crunchy

and chewy  by the bits and pieces of crispy fried rice noodles.

While we were dining, we were informed by the waiter that we

could get the Menudo ni Doy for free if we use a BPI credit card.

So we used our BPI credit card to pay, but since we gobbled

up the Menudo that was served to us up to the last piece, we

had another addicting Menudo ni Doy wrapped up- for free. 

 Read Here for Related Post;

Chef Doy’s, Cereza, Naga City

Picturesque Albay, Majestic Mt. Mayon: Scenic Roadtrip from Naga City to Legazpi City

Picturesque Albay, Majestic Mt. Mayon

Scenic Roadtrip from Naga City to Legazpi City

It was one of the rare moments that I traveled
to Legazpi City as a passenger, not as a driver,

 so I took the chance to bring my camera

to document the scenic countryside of Albay.

I left Naga City early in the morning,

together with three of our employees

who packed themselves on the backseat,

…while I was at the front passenger seat, and our ‘driver’

was a professional medical representative who volunteered
to drive for us when my car broke down a day before.

The CamSur leg of our trip was pretty dreary, and  despite
 the awasome view of Mt Asog when we reached the
 Baao- Nabua diversion that bypasses the City of Iriga, 

…that my companions slept on the backseat.

We bypassed most of the town centers in CamSur

except for Nabua, as it didn’t have a diversion road yet.





....and Bato, the last town in CamSur.



When we got to the CamSur- Albay boundary

in Agos, Polangui- I got my camera ready,

to document and capture the sights and sounds

one of the most scenic roadsides in the Philippines.

The Maharlika Highway traverses several barrios

in my old hometown of Polangui, the first of which

is Agos, that serves as a boundary with it’s namesake

barrio of Agos in the town of Bato, Camarines Sur.



It would then lead the traveler to Matacon,

a very progressive barrio in Polangui which

is usually mistaken as a town by travelers

as it has its own town- like business center.

 

Balangibang the next barrio, has one of the straightest

portion of Maharlika Highway in the region with

 acres and acres of rice fields on both sides of the road,

…and if the traveler is lucky enough, this part

of the highway would give them  the first glimpse

of Mayon Volcano looming in the horizon,

…and luck was on our side that day.

This super straight highway stretches up

to the Polangui Diversion Road ,



…and this is an ideal meal stop or rest area

as the Bastian Food House is located here

and it offers delectable dishes and tidy toilets.

There is really not much to see 
in the next town of Oas, 

 

 

...but it may also  give the traveler a glimpse

of Mayon Volcano as it nears, Ligao City.

Ligao City is where Kawa Kawa Nature Park,

a the popular pilgrimage site is located.

It features larger that life statues of depicting

the scenes of the Stations of the Cross.

It is also were the Sabluyon Road begins that

a serves as a scenic shortcut to Tabaco City.

This is also the place to try out the Rice Puto

with Macapuno filling that are unfortunately sold

on untidy looking  ramshackle huts by the roadside.

The city administrators should take a look

and support  these front yard stores to

make the stalls more appealing and sanitary

as these delicacies are becoming very popular.

One of the longest and most scenic bridges

in the Naga- Legazpi route is the Malabog Bridge

that serves as a boundary between Ligao City

and the quaint and idyllic town Guinobatan, Albay.

This town is famous for its home made, native

suasages called Guinobatan Longaniza, which

is a must try for tourists visiting this town.

Guinobatan countryside offers the best view

view of Mayon Volcano that breathtakingly

looms over like a painting at the roadside.

Camalig is a town located at the base of

Mayon Volcano,  and the closest one can get

to the famous volcano when traveling

in this main thoroughfare.

Unlike in most Albay towns where you see

the volcano on the roadside, Mayon looms

in front and seems to appear at the end of the

road when on is in Camalig town proper.

Being in Camalig is like driving right thru the

volcano and this is where you get to appreciate

Mayon’s magnificent crevices and fissures,

…and the awesome cleft on the crater created by previous eruptions 
reminds us that the beautiful volcano is not just another mountain
but  a living and breathing  spectacular display of nature.

Daraga is the penultimate town to Legazpi, and

this is where the Cagsawa Ruins Park is located.

This place is pretty special for me as this is

where I married my wife seventeen years ago.

We took the Daraga diversion road  to avoid the
 homongous early morning traffic in Daraga town center.



 



This side of Daraga although heavily populated also 
offers a very scenic view of the volcano at the vicinity 
of Isarog Street where  the crater cleft that faces the town 
reveals more of the volcanic activity on a clear day.

This diversion road leads to the Legazpi Airport,

…on to the Albay district,

…and to Rizal Street where we were heading.

On our way back to Naga City , Mayon Volcano
was still on its full glory amidst the late afternoon sun,
and we stopped by Camalig town center to take photos,

 

...and at the Camalig-  Guinobatan boundary to take
 more pictures and enjoy the breathtaking view.

...we used the Sabluyon- Nasisi in Ligao route
 going to Polangui and the view was even more scenic,

...as it offered the spectacular view 
of  Masaraga Mountain Range 
on the left  side of the road,

...and the majestic Mt. Mayon
on the other side of the road, 

...what could be more breathtaking
than this scenic country side view?

We passed several barrios at the

base of Masaraga Mountain Range.

Unknown to many, these isolated rustic barrios

with strange sounding sounding names like Nasisi,

Busay, Herera of Ligao,  Balogo of Oas, have the

best views of both Mt. Mayon and Mt. Masaraga.

This is the perfect place to view the two peaks
standing side by side on the horizon.

We stopped for a while to view and
admire the picturesque bucolic scenery
at the foot of Mt. Masaraga,

I cannot help but to become nostalgic of this
beautiful place where I grew up that looked
exactly the same during my boyhood.

It was like going back in the past
without the need of a time machine.

But I feel sad as the new generation of people

living  in this green paradise seem to behave

with utter disregard to the environment.

What would have been a picture perfect view is

ruined by the a heap of trash dumped on the roadside,
 

…and by the non stop detestable “kaingin” being

practiced by the local farmers  and I have seen

these people doing the same thing even  when

I was still a young boy growing up in this place.

The road then lead us to Balinad, a barrio

which is already a part of Polangui,

…and on to my old home in Napo,

…where we feasted on massive spread

of home cooked food prepared by my mom.

It s in my hometown of Polangui

where I get the chance to savor the

food of my childhood once again.

She prepares home cooked dishes like there is no tomorrow,
to the delight of my employees, as they feel like they were attending
a fiesta whenever we drop by to visit the old folks every week
on our way back to Naga after a whole day work in Legazpi.

After the sumptuous home cooked dinner

we resumed our journey at dusk,

… and passed by Ponso,

another barrio in Polangui.

By the time we reached Alnay,

we were again treated with the sight

of Mt. Mayon conflagrated by

the wonderful splendor of sunset.

We stopped to take photos for a while,

…and drove to the chaotic Polangui Centro.

The sleepy town of old Polangui on my childhood

is gone as it is sadly being turned into a bedlam

of disordered and jumbled town center,

…that most of progressing places

in the Philippines has become due to lack

of foresight of most government officials.

Progress without a master plan is disastrous.

With the clutter that I see and the frequent floodings

(that used to be unheard of in the past) that my

former town mates are experiencing lately,

 I believe, that is where my old hometown is heading.

I have been doing this journey once a week for nearly
 two decades now and I would be lucky to get a fleeting
glance of the volcano, as I do the driving most of the time.




When my car broke a day before, I had the chance 
to take this trip as a passenger and  Mt. Mayon 
had been very generous as she showed up all day long. 

We cruised back  to Naga City, longing to be home for
 a much  needed rest  and  looking forward for another
scenic journey from CamSur to Albay a week later.



Read the links below
for other related Roadtrips and Train Ride Posts


 The South Road Adventure
CamSur to Albay via Sangay- Joroan Road Trip : Scenic Pilgrim Road
Stonehouse Garden's Carabao Drawn Ride
Tugawe Cove to Partido Road Trip; Journey from Heaven to Hell 
The Great Train Ride to Prague 
Scenic Roadtrip: CDO to Dahilayan Bukidnon.
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