Purple Yam

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Purple Yam ain’t a taro

Filipino food does not really get much attention and it is easily a cuisine that is written off. You are most likely going to get a blank stare if you tell people that you want Filipino food and maybe, someone will know what the hell adobo is. Truthfully, it is rare to see a sit down Filipino place and Filipino food is generally synonymous to a cafeteria hot line. I mean, that’s basically how I usually got my fix. But that image of the hot line is slowly starting to turn around, with places such as The Purple Yam up in Ditmas. 

Purple Yam is a casually sit down place that is at the core, a Filipino restaurant with some other Asian influences. I came here with my rather giddy and excited Filipino friend for brunch and overall, it was great.

We started off with the Lumpia which was a rice crepe, stuffed with Napa cabbage, leeks, mushrooms and all topped with a peanut and tamarind sauce. The crepe is lazily draped over the mountain of vegetables which were crisp and the tamarind added a nice sweet sour to everything. It was good and despite the mountainous amount of cabbage, it was not filling at all and was a good starter.

Bagoong Rice- tasty and fun to say

For our mains we got the Ticino and Lechon Kawali with a side of Bagoong rice. Bagoong rice is spiked with fermented shrimp and not only is it fun to say, it was incredibly flavorful, sticky yet fluffy at the same time. The Ticino, featured a piece of pork that gets cured in a sugary mix and served with eggs, rice and pickled vegetables and makes me think of this is a Filipino Astronaut breakfast, so when that Filipino space program gets off the ground, those folks going up to the wild blue yonder, are going to be doing pork and eggs. The pork was juicy and charred nicely with sugary burnt edges. The addition of beautifully cooked eggs, this had all the makings of a post-brunch nap. Rest of the food after the jump!

Lima: Pork and more Politically Incorrect food!

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: I can stop after eating one Pringle. I cannot however, stop eating after one pork sandwich

The adventure continues as I finally arrived in Lima, well, returned to Lima, I mean I did spend a lovely evening in the Lima Airport Food Court. I was originally planning to visit a ceviche place but due to Peruvian Air being delayed, I got in later than I wanted. I was hungry and I did not want to waste time and wanted something eat. So when I hired car driver came to pick me up, I asked him to take me to a place that had chicharrons. This is how the conversation went down (translated in English to hide my embarrassing and pitiful High School Spanish:

Me: Excuse me, I have a question, do you like eating chicharrons?

Taxi Driver: Yes I do.

Me: Do you have a favorite place?

Taxi Driver: Yes. Wait…do you want to go eat chicharrons?

Me: Yes.

Taxi Driver: let me get this straight, you want to go to the hotel first then get chicharrons, or chicharrons then hotel?

Me; Chicharrons. Now. 

Sandwich Porn after Jump!

Cusco Day Uno Part I : Market eating frenzy, sugar rush, alpaca and more!

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: My Spanish may suck, but I know pork in every language

Peru was my first solo trip that I have taken. I have traveled to other places on my own but this was the first time I did not plan to meet anyone on the other side. I went to Peru to hike/trek the Inca Trail and see Machu Picchu and it was one of the most rewarding experiences in my life so far. The food was amazing and I met so many people despite the language barrier (me having horrible High School Spanish). This will be a multi-part posts that will be mixed in so here we go with part I: Cusco Day Uno. 

After a flight from Newark to Lima and spending a lovely evening in the Lima Food Court, I took an early flight out to Cusco, which is like the unofficial base camp for anyone that is doing up the Inca Trail and . After a hilarious flight courtesy of Peruvian Airlines (the pilot failed to mention we were landing and I think 30 seconds before we touched down, the flight attendants were scrambling to sit down, get tray tables and seats up) I had a quick taxi ride to my hotel Rumi Punku. Although they offered a complimentary breakfast and I slept all half assed in the Lima Airport, I was hungry and I took a quick shower, changed and went to the market to eat.

I love markets because are pretty much guaranteed to eat well and for a good price. I have visited many markets and this was one I thoroughly enjoyed and spent a lot of time going back to. First off, this is mainly run by women, they were cooking, selling, butchering and ran the whole show. It was sectioned off too in which there was a meat section, fish, veggies, cheese and of course the cooked food section. I ate a lot of things in this market and during my time in Cusco, probably accounted for 40-50% of my diet here. Many would see this as a bad idea and I was advised by many not to go and eat at the market. I like to think that I am pure awesome retarded and I do not have a regular Gringo stomach like others. However, when it comes to eat in a market or in a non-restaurant setting here are some rules that I created for myself. Volume is better, like do not eat from the random lonely dude or lady because you feel bad that no one is there. You won’t feel bad about them later when you are on the toilet later that night and you did it for some probably crappy food. If there is a line of people, or there is a lot people eating there, you have a better chance of not getting sick. High turnover rate generally means food needs to replenished and is general fresher. Also I avoid raw veggies (no salads) and stick to the meats and the fried stuff. In my experience, these very basic rules kept me out of trouble.

Mercado food Pronz after the jump