Brian Ong: A Bite of the Sandwich King

A Bite of the Sandwich King
by: Brian Ong

Who would have thought I would be meeting the Sandwich King himself, Jeff Mauro, the winner of the Food Network Star's 7th season, and the host of Sandwich King on Food Network (US/Asia). The other night, I had the chance to talk to him in a private function, together with other food bloggers.

We were introduced to the Sandwich King, and the premiere of a new season of his show. We also had some lessons on how Jeff "makes any meal into a sandwich and any sandwich into a meal." It is not just putting meat in between two slices of breads, but it also takes some consideration on color, texture and imagination.

He's such a character beyond his sandwich making skills. He's down to earth, entertaining and creative. He definitely knows how to capture his audience, that's probably why he became successful in bringing mouthwatering and tasty sandwich meals and an awesome show together.

After showing us a few tricks up his sleeves, we were able to do and replicate some sandwich creations he made. This is my version of his Brisket Sandwich with Smoked Mozzarella. Slow cooked juicy beef brisket, red cabbage slaw, onions, several slices of homemade smoked mozzarella, with mustard. With carrot cranberry salad on the side. I would prefer this in between a baguette or sourdough, but all in all, it's an amazing bite! Try it :)

Catch Jeff Mauro's The Sandwich King, Wednesdays, 8pm on the Food Network, brought to you by Cignal. Be sure to watch the Season 3 premiere this June 19, 8pm. Jeff also appears on $24 in 24, premiering on Food Network Asia in the 4th quarter of 2013.

Bloggers' Event | California Pizza Kitchen's Make Your Own Pizza

Make Your Own Pizza Adventure
Bong at California Pizza Kitchen
Glorietta, Makati City

Nothing beats a freshly made thin crust pizza that came straight from the oven. Weeks ago, California Pizza Kitchen invited bloggers and media friends to embark on a culinary adventure by recreating the bestselling pizzas of CPK.

Each guest was able to make his own pizza from the dozens of recipes that were featured - Thai Chicken, Jamaican Jerk Chicken, Greek, BBQ Chicken, and a whole lot more.

"Our California-style pizzas are famous for their use of fresh ingredients sourced locally and around the world," said Archie Rodriguez, President of Global Restaurant Concepts, Inc., the Philippine franchise owner of California Pizza Kitchen. Wth the pizza I did, the Tricolore Salad Pizza, I can say that indeed their toppings are fresh.

You'll be amazed and think that you're pizza's just simple because of the ingredients (corn syrup and Parmesan) you have added to the dough before it went in the oven. But lo and behold, this was what my pizza looked like after it came out from the oven and garnished with the fresh healthy ingredients. I can eat this everyday. The mix of the salad and the cheese based pizza dough really complements each other. And since I am a salad person, this pizza's just perfect for me.

Tricolore Salad Pizza
1 TBL Corn Syrup
3 TBL parmesan

Pizza Garnish
6 cups tricolore salad mix
3/4 cup diced tomato
2 oz Dijon balsamic vinegar
1 oz shaved parmesan
Optional: 1 portion grilled shrimp

Reviewed by Bong.
Photography by Eric of Byahilo.

Bloggers' Event | Buhay Coke Party Part 2

Announcement of Buhay Coke Vlog Winners
Tiffy at Taste Asia
SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City



The first Buhay Coke Party left the attendees thinking about the vlog contest that will give vloggers (or even bloggers) a chance to take home a 32” Toshiba LCD TV.

So August 8 marked the day for announcing the winners for the vlog contest.

As was usual, this was held in Taste Asia in SM Mall of Asia. Having attended a lot of blogger events there, I was accustomed to the set up. You get in, grab some food, and find your niche. Simple, really! The waiters are ever so helpful in keeping you well-hydrated -- although frankly, beer is a bit dehydrating, don't you think?

The first time I ate at Taste Asia, I didn't much like the food. It seemed... bland. And not as yummy. But I'm thinking that they might have gotten the hang of it!

And here are the winners for the vlog contest:
4th Place - dcoyexo
3rd Place - CokskiBlue
2nd Place - komikero
1st Place - popazrael

Oh! And they were also serving this pulpy orange drink thing:

Photo from Jeric

After the announcement, Marcelle also announced to the people attending that they can help themselves to the juice. Not 5 minutes has passed when the display emptied out. Too bad for those of us too busy having our pictures taken! I liked the juice, but I think I would've liked it more if I wasn't drinking a lukewarm one. A friend of ours seemed to like it -- she took home a plastic-full!

Reviewed by Tiffy.
Photography by Tiffy and Jeric.
See more photos on Tiffy's Flickr.

Bloggers' Event | UCC Coffee Sampling

UCC Coffee Blends with All Day Breakfast
Bong at UCC Café Terrace
TriNoma, Quezon City

The Ueshima Coffee Company, or more commonly known as the UCC Coffee, sampled its famous coffee blends to bloggers in its newly opened Café Terrace located at TriNoma.

UCC prides itself with being the Total Coffee Company and its farm to cup quality control in pursuit of the best coffee in every cup of coffee they serve.

Each cup of gourmet UCC coffee is carefully siphoned brewed, one individual cup at a time. UCC rigurously train its baristas to master the technique that ensures each cup brings "Good Coffee Smiles."

"We at UCC have positioned our coffee as a ''Comfortable Solution'' and we aim to provide as many people as possible with the ''comfort'' and ''amenity'' that they seek through our coffee. Imagine the smile spreading across someone's face when they smell the rich aroma of coffee. Their smile intensifies when they tastes the delicious beverage. Smile after smile, connected by coffee. Now imagine this ''Good Coffee Smile'' repeated in scene after scene from your daily life. This is the responsibility of UCC, and it is our mission." - Tatsushi Ueshima, UCC President

The coffees we tasted were the House Blend, Sumiyaki Coffee and the Blue Mountain #1

UCC House Blend

Developed by UCC specifically for coffee house use. The UCC Blend is a mixture of different beans from around the UCC estates and a mixture of different roasts of beans from dark, medium, and light. It is a full bodied coffee with perfect levels of acidity, aroma, and smooth flavor intensity. This is the real perfect cup of coffee.

Sumiyaki

Sumiyaki, Japanese for "charcoal roast" is a mixture of different beans roasted until charcoal color. Espresso lovers, this is a strong dose of coffee. It has a deep rich aroma and smooth flavor minus the bitter taste.

Blue Mountain No.1

100% pure Jamaican blue mountain coffee, meticulously picked, sorted and roasted evenly to perfection. This coffee has been graded as the top coffee bean in the world.

After the coffee tasting and the breakfast, which has a different menu altogether from the lunch and dinner menus, we ended our meal right with the Sumiyaki Coffee Jelly, fresh homemade jelly cubes made from Sumiyaki coffee topped with vanilla ice cream served with coffee cream, and hefty servings of very rich portions of different kinds of cakes by Karen Young.

Part-and-Parcel (Trivias):

• All the servers are HRIM graduates and are trained in rotation.
• The uniforms they use are designed and custom made by famed Rajo Laurel
• UCC now serves its All Day Breakfast Menu

(L-R: Macadamia Cheesecake, Kit-Kat Mousse, Blueberry Cheesecake)

Reviewed by Bong.
Photography by Bong.
See more photos on Bong's Flickr.

Bloggers' Event | Chef Lisa Leong

Healthy Asian Cooking with Singaporean Celebrity Chef
Bong at Tang City
Glorietta, Makati City

Singaporean Celebrity Chef and Gourmetician Lisa Leong taught Filipinos weeks back, including members of the media, in an event in Tang City Glorietta, how healthy food should never be bland, colorless and boring, and can even taste great.

Being an advocate of new Asian healthy cuisines, with more than 25 years of culinary experience and expertise, she used SUPER COCO Organic Virgin Coconut Oil and COCOS *MCT Powder to turn her dishes into a healthier choice.

(*MCT or Medium Chain Triglycerides are organic compounds that are extracted from fresh coconuts, which contains beneficial lauric and capric acids, found in human breast milk. These compouds list numerous health benefits such as boosting the immune system and protecting the liver.)

She prepared for us 5 dishes that night. First up was the Pandan rice with spicy anchovies. The rice was good, especially when paired with the spicy anchovies, but don't expect a lot from the rice--it can only take you that far.

Next up was the Dancing Singapore Laksa (spicy). It was my first time to try Laksa, and I fell in love with it immediately. I love how the spices blend, and how the dish comforts you. Then, she prepared the Pandan Cake using a rice cooker. It turned out really great -- soft, warm, and intact. The taste is definitely better than a chiffon cake.

After that, she made the MCT Pandan Kaya on toast. I love the taste of the Kaya she did; it wasn't too sweet, and it a "melts in your mouth" kind of Kaya. Lastly, the MCT Jingle Glass Jell-O crowned the whole experience. It is the best gelatinous dessert I have ever tried!

Capping off the event, Tang City provided bloggers and members of the Media a simple yet scrumptious Chinese dinner which sampled what the restaurant can offer. It was just unfortunate that we were already full from all the taste testing we did from the demonstration of Chef Lisa.

Along with this, she had a Healthy Lifestyle Cooking Course in Manila - a series of cooking workshops sponsored by Team Asia Corporation from August 8-9 which was held at different Tang City branches in Robinson's Place Ermita and Glorietta.

On a more personal note, I can see that she's very exuberant, and passionate about what she does. I think that her outlook in cooking healthy food, and sharing it with other people, with a couple of quips here and there and in between her demonstrations, what makes her cool and click with any crowd.

Chef Lisa Leong with Team Asia Corporation President and CEO Mr. William T. Guido

Reviewed by Bong.
Photography by Bong.
See more photos on Bong's Flickr.