Still feeling the Asian guilty pleasures, I heed on to my growling tummy's calling and braved the traffic at EDSA yesterday for the private dinner and opening of The Peppery Asian Cuisine
What used to be a doughnut cafe, turned into an oriental comfort place, where you can not just savor the best of Asian culinary but also feel well-served and thought-off, with the seats so designed for ease and tables with bag hooks underneath.
The name of the place came from the fiery word pepper, obviously. Regarded as the king of spices. which is highly
treasured and a precious commodity. I mean, any cook would not dare live without it. According to history, it was used in the past for trading
exchange like money. Native to South India, it’s been exported for
4,000 years, although its cost put it out of reach of ordinary people,
with only the wealthy being able to afford to use it, imagine that.
Today,
readily available and cheap to buy, it remains the king of spices and
accounts for one-fifth of the world’s spice trade, Vietnam being the
largest exporter, now mainly regarded as part of the eastern spices.
As a general rule, little pepper is involved in Chinese cooking although
some traditional recipes call for Sichuan pepper. This is native to
Northern China and is unrelated to black pepper, which is sometimes used
in its stead although a connoisseur should be able to tell the
difference. Sichuan pepper has a characteristic pungent taste followed
by a tongue-numbing effect.
In India, its country of origin,
pepper is used generously. It’s a constituent of many pastes and curry
powders such as garam masala from north India and sambaar podi from the
south of the country.
In Thailand it’s the fresh green
peppercorns that are most popular. They’re used in stir fries and in
curry pastes. Black pepper is also used in some of the mild stews.
Well in whatever form it may be, you can tell distinctly whether a dish is peppered or not.
It is just as proper that one restaurant dedicated to serving authentic home-cooked Asian dishes is named from it, thus The Peppery.
And yes, I was one of the privileged few who got invited to the private opening of The Peppery. Located at the corner of Timog Avenue and Panay Avenue, it will be the next Asian culinary stop on the area. Let me show you some pictures why.
Sarada Nippon, Japanese-inspired seafood and cucumber salad. I am a salad person. To me it is a complete dish and healthier too, so their unique salad blends are by far my favorites. Bask in seafood bits, freshest of all sliced cucumber with a zest.
Yam Mamurang, Thai green mango salad. Beat your stress with the mix of sambal on your green mangoes, shrimps, peanuts and an uhmp with red chillies.
Lap Cheung Fried Rice, Chinese fried rice with Lap cheung sausages are best for kids. An order would suffice two to three persons will sure to beat your regular chao fan.
Com Chien, Vietnamese garlic and egg rice
Mildy-zesty shrimp pancakes and some seafood balls can kick-start one hefty meal.
Seafood Curry would for sure be blast to seafood lovers.
Sambal Ikan, whole deep-fried sambal Tilapia, prepped the Indonesian way.
Their version of Adobong Manok, this have coconut milk. May be interesting since there is ore than ten ways to cook Filipino's Adobo.
Chanh Va Toi Muc, Cambodian Lemon and Garlic Squid.
Daging Puteri Manis, Sweet princess beef fro Malaysia
Pu Tong Hua Bian Chao Niu Rou, glazed beef with mandarin oranges (Chinese)
Curry, curry...Once you enter the restaurant a whaft of curry, lemon grass and ginger aroma will invite and eventually captivated me. So leaving the place without a feast of this on the fried rice would be a major sin. Remembering that our family loves curry and for sure my kids would loving a try of this here as well.
Oh dear! You caught on me on my first plate!
So in case you might be asking of the sort of Asian cookery they are
specializing in, let me give you now the surprise. Nope they are not
Korean, or Thai, not even Chinese. Actually they are a one-stop shop to
all the owners favorite dishes. From our Filipino Humba, to
Indonesia's Sambal, herbed-rich Thai, Korean Bulgogi, Singapore's Roti
Prata and Laksa, a fusion of Dim Sum, Vietnam's Tau Hu Xa Ol, India's
Biryani rice down to Cambodia's Chanh Va Toi Muc squid dish. Oh and
how can I forget the well-loved Japanese food.
The buffet was sweetfully-ended with this beautifully embellished fruit platter and some dessert choices from their menu
Please don't blame me if you weren't able to try their Coco Jello. A local gelatin snack with the subtly sweet and creamy knock of the reduced coconut milk.
Another must-have when having a snack or kicking off the spicy after-taste from the viands is their Halo-Halo Roll or Turon. Halo-halo ingredients, without the crushed ice of course, encased in a lumpia wrapper fried and smothered with
yema or milky-caramel syrup and sesame seeds.
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| Executive Chef with the bloggers |
How can you ever go wrong with The Peppery, you don't need to travel far to get your impeccable Asian-dish fixed. No family member frets, whether mom wants Korean or daughter likes Japanese, everyone will be well-satisfied. Did I also mention is priced so competitively among Asian-inspired restos in Metro Manila.
Another brilliant idea from the company that brought us
Pages Deli and
Bistro Vignette.
Peppery Asian Cuisine
Ground Floor, Victoria Towers, Timog Ave. corner Panay Ave., Q.C.
