As y'all know I'm a huge fan of anything raw (not the kind you're probably thinking), but y'all know what I mean--Sashimi! But since moving to Malolos, I've been having a hard time looking for a go-to restaurant I can call my happy place since the places surrounding my area do not have a ton of choices. While there's Ganchan, my current go-to for Salmon Sashimi, they're not available on FoodPanda and messaging their page for delivery is a chore since sometimes they reply after a day or two lol. Nonetheless, they're still one of the place I'll highly recommend if you're looking for topnotch Sashimi in Malolos. 

But again, I wanted a place where I can have a ton of options for when I'm craving and thanks to my Goodbye, Manila vlog, one of my subscribers recommended this place called Chefie's Special and I wasn't disappointed!

The restaurant is owned by Chef Alfie Leoncio who used to be a Japanese cuisine chef in the luxury island of Maldives. He has over 15yrs of experience in Japanese food making from sushi to teppanyaki, name it and he can make it. I was amused because there aren't a lot of places that offer really good sushi/sashimi in my area as mentioned. The place already accepts dine-in customers following IATF protocols. Delivery is also available via FoodPanda or via their Facebook page. I've used both methods and can I just say how FoodPanda really is capitalizing on this pandemic? They add around P50++ to every dish and that's on top of the delivery fee. You'd think at that amount delivery would be free huh? Nope. 

Given that, I prefer to order via their Facebook page. The delivery to my place is P80 but considering the amount of food I order and the frequency, I've come to a conclusion that I save more rather than when I order through Foodpanda with every dish having an additional P50++. 

Okay, on to the food. I cannot stress enough how good the food is at such an affordable price! I mean 4pcs of Salmon Nigiri at P120, what more can I ask for? I've been stuffing my face with Sushi for the past 3wks just because. And you can see from the photos how presentable the food looks, right? I mean it's not the highest grade of Salmon Sashimi but for the price, I'm more than giddy to be sharing this place with y'all. I also always go for the Sushi and Sashimi for one which retails for P280, I mean are you kidding me?? It has Salmon sashimi, Tuna sashimi, Salmon Nigiri, Tuna Nigiri, Shrimp Nigiri, Shrimp Sashimi, Kani Nigiri and California rolls all for P280.00! I swear I can't with their prices, I am so in love with this place. I hope they can sustain this kind of quality as they go along. 

If I can suggest anything to this resto, I hope they add more things to their menu because their Chef is so talented I'm so sure this will be a hit here in Malolos. I also would love to see some Uni and Ika because I seldom see Japanese restos serve it right. Nonetheless, the current menu is already satisfying as it is. These recos really are just add-ons. Anyway, if you're ever in Malolos, don't miss this place!

I created my blog in 2009 when I was a young, naive, fresh-out-of-college lad looking into making it in the corporate world. From my humble beginnings at ABS-CBN, to my now esteemed role in my current company, I've always maintained chronicling my adventures in this tiny online space. Looking back, I started this blog because I had a lot of "feelings" back then that I didn't know how to address them and putting all these feelings in writing just made the world a little better. I would eventually make these "feelings" post private and transition from making it my online diary into a space where I can write down memories of my food and travel adventures. 

The name 'Ochi in the City' came about because, well if it isn't obvious yet, I'm very sentimental and wanting to document everything has always been my character. If not for Multiply shutting down in (2013/14), I would actually have photos to show for it because it was practically my dump lol. Come to think of it, 2009 was over 10yrs ago. I've been working my ass off in the city, hustling and bustling day in day out, enduring hellish traffic and wasting all my time just to get to work and get back home and...all for what? This pandemic made me realize a ton of things and one of them is that I don't want to waste any more of my time living in the city. 

During the pandemic, I was cooped up in a 57-sqm loft and you know what, it's pretty spacious if you're considering how people live in Manila right? But is it something we just tolerate or is it really how we wanna live? My answer was the former and this led me to exploring options outside of the city. My first option was to move back to Pampanga, not with my parents but probably close to the vicinity where they live. Second is move to a place close to them, but also close to Manila so when the time comes for us to go back to the office, I can still afford the daily drive. The latter seemed like a more feasible option and even if traffic will be bad when the time comes, it's pretty much the same given I live around the Ortigas business district and a 2km ride takes me from 30mins to an hour. I'd rather do so and live in a place with more space for plants and everything else in between. 

Given that, I decided I'd be moving to Malolos, Bulacan. It's the sweet spot between wanting to be with my family more, affording myself more space and still just the right distance between my home and work. Malolos is considered a city so I don't think I'll have to change my blog name, but being far from the busy streets of Manila--I probably won't have as much content on what or where to eat and i thought I'd have FOMO but you know what, it feels like a breath of fresh air. I mean, I still work with brands every now and then but I also have more time to be more creative with the content I put out. I've been wanting to do something like "A day in the life" type of vlog and I've finally had the time and space to do so! If you want to see more of my vlogs, check out the video below. And oh, for those from Malolos, see you around!

It's no secret Filipinos have fully embraced Korean culture. From Kpop to Korean food, we've all managed to get our hands on it. Not only have Korean BBQs taken us by storm, we've started 'Filipinizing" some of their traditional dishes like Kimchi, alternating the flavor to fit the Filipino palate more. And it's not a bad thing! We've managed to widen our palate by introducing ourselves to ingredients like gochugaru, gochujang and samjang to name a few. Personally when I was delving into Korean cuisine, I had no idea what these all are but after countless hours of watching youtube videos and reading food blogs, I managed. 

One of the things I love most about Korean food is their side dishes. As a Filipino you probably will be crossing your eyebrows at the thought of having to wash all those dishes but really, it's an amazing feast whenever we have korean food with all the mirage of side dishes. My first favorite was Myulchi Bokkeum (Stir-fried Anchovies)! I could eat a plate in a minute! Second would be pickled radish and carrots and third would be today's recipe--Pa muchim or scallion salad. Pa Muchim is best served alongside grilled meats like Bossam or Samgyupsal which is why we always see it in unli K-BBQ restaurants. If you haven't had this yet, you're missing out. If you want to try it for the first time, let's begin!

Since COVID happened, we've all been too reliant on food deliveries and I can't blame y'all because it's the closest thing we have to dining outside or at least having a taste of the cuisine we used to enjoy when we freely can roam outside without our face masks. But if I'm being honest, food deliveries can also get quite pricey, not to mention the tip we have to provide the riders who tirelessly bring us our cravings. Sometimes I also order for them, which I do wholeheartedly but then again also adds to how much one spends during deliveries. So, my point really is just I've been trying to learn how to cook some of these cravings so I can save some money because yknow we're not born rich lol. 

So for today's recipe, I'm sharing a super easy version of one of my favorite Japanese rice meal. Word of caution, this may not be the authentic way of making it but this is what I like to call "pantry edition"--meaning making the most out of what I have in my pantry to make a dish taste as close as it should be to the original. Which leads me to today's recipe, Chicken Teriyaki! I love Chicken Teriyaki because it's sweet, salty, savory and is just so perfect with steamed rice. But yknow how sometimes when you eat out and they are so stingy with the teriyaki sauce that there isn't enough for the entire dish? Yeah, I hate that. So today I'm teaching you how to make a saucy one. I hope that made sense, so let's cook some chicken teriyaki!

Chicken thighs/Chicken breast

Soy sauce

Mirin

Sake (but I use vodka, wink!)

Sugar

Ginger

Sesame seeds

Green onions

Cornstarch

1. in a pan, saute your chicken and cook for about 5 minutes. 

2. Once the chicken has browned, let's make our sauce. 

3. For the sauce combine equal parts soy sauce, mirin and vodka. 

4. Grate some ginger on top and add 2-3 tablespoons of sugar. 

5. Add a little water and simmer for about 3mins. 

6. Once simmered, add slurry (cornstarch + water) to thicken the sauce.

7. Simmer for about 5 more minutes, top with sesame seeds and green onions. 

I had vivid memories of hating vegetables as a child. Not just vegetables but eating in general. I've tried so many tricks on my mom when I was younger just so she'd think I actually consumed my food. I would push my rice around the plate just to make it appear like I've eaten some of the food on my plate, I'd throw it in the trash or push it in the sink--and just thinking about the cleanup, man that must have been hell for my mom that's why she was always mad at me. But on the rare occasion that I actually would have the appetite, I would usually just have soup and rice. But as I grew older, I was sort of 'forced' to incorporate other good groups because my mom wouldn't serve anything else lol. I was spiteful at first buuuuut, I actually thank her for it. 

Which leads me to our recipe for today, Ampalaya. A lot of people hate it not just because of its appearance but also because of the vegetable's naturally bitter taste. There are tons of techniques out there such as soaking and massaging into salt and such, but personally, I don't mind the bitter taste. But since eating vegetables has done me wonders, I've explored a couple of methods on how to make this underrated more appealing to the people I cook for. I've seen this new method from Tiktok and I've tried it a couple of times and it seems to work so, sharing is caring. Let's go!

Ampalaya/Bitter Gourd

Tomatoes

Onions

Garlic

Salt/Pepper

Eggs

1. Saute garlic, onions and tomatoes. 

2. After sautéing for about 5mins or until the tomatoes are mush, add a little water. 

3. Simmer for 2-3 minutes then add the ampalaya. 

4. Important, DON'T MIX if you want to leave the bitter taste out. 

5. Simmer until the ampalaya is almost done, then add eggs. 

6. Once the eggs are cooked, then you can mix. 

7. Season with salt and pepper!

And that's it! Super easy. It's one of my go-to recipes when I really want to be loaded with vegetables. For some they add shrimp or hibe to add more flavor, some also add ground beef. You can do as you please, but again personally I want it to be purely made of veggies as much as possible. When I tried this process, I didn't massage the ampalaya in salt anymore. I previously did before I learned about this method but for this, I didn't and not mixing it while cooking actually worked. Let me know if you guys try it! Would be thrilled if I get to have more people try and eat vegetables. Have a great week!