Too tired and busy to bother yourself to cook up a great media noche spread? Good thing there are tons of talented chefs and capable restaurants that can fill up your table real quick! Asian Dragon has gathered a collection of goodies made available this holiday season by these tireless cooks—from pies to paella, from barbecues to brownies, plus a glorious, crisp-skinned lechon and a traditional leg of ham. To complete the list, we’ve also included meals and treats from hotels and restaurants, who are just as ready to enhance your holiday feasts with their own specialties.
Here are some of our best recommendations that will sit really well on your media noche table.
Josefina’s Ham, always a favorite at Christmas time, is cooked with just the right blend of spices and seasonings for the perfect balance of sweetness and saltiness. Each order comes with a sweet glaze. You can enhance the ham with garnishing of pineapple, grapes, and oranges (P1,050/kg in sizes 3 kg and up). Also available: Christmas ham (P650/kilo); chicken ham (P450/kilo); American ham (P450/kilo).
This award-winning red velvet cheesecake has moist red velvet cake on a layer of New York-style cheesecake (P1,400/eight-inch cake); ombré cake, truly a stunning cake with the “wow” effect: six layers of ombré vanilla cake with creamy frosting in between the layers, covered with swirls of Swiss meringue buttercream frosting, accented by silver studs or gold studs. May be ordered in different colors (P2,000 for a six-layer cake; P2,500 for an eight-layer cake); chocolate glamour cake, a playful cake with swirls of chocolate buttercream and toppings of chocolate Kisses, malted milk balls, hazelnut chocolates, and chocolate-covered luscious strawberries (P2,500/eight-inch cake).
Turkey to Fly, with all the trimmings, this five-star treat from a five-star hotel, includes: a whole maple roast turkey with stuffing, served with mushroom gravy and cranberry sauce, with choice of vegetables, including buttered corn on the cob, marble potatoes, and (clockwise, from left), roasted cauliflower and green beans, grilled zucchini, rosemary glazed carrots, garlic mashed potatoes, macaroni salad, corn bread, and Brussels sprouts with pancetta bacon. Each order also comes with pumpkin pie and a choice of either apple pie or pecan pie, (P8,999).
There’s nothing like this golden brown whole lechon to make your holiday table more special. Pepita’s lechon has crackling crisp skin and very tender meat, with just the right amount of fat to keep it moist and juicy. The skin stays crisp for several hours, too. Pick from a variety of stuffings, including truffle rice and Spanish chorizo with talangka rice. For pure indulgence and good fortune, choose the eight-treasure stuffing, which has chestnuts, machang, chorizong Macau, and salted eggs.
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See more holiday food finds that’s also great and available throughout the rest of the year inside Asian Dragon Magazine’s November-December 2015 issue. Grab your copy from all leading bookstores nationwide or purchase the issue from the Asian Dragon Magazine App, free to download on Google Play Store, iTunes, and Amazon.
[Photographs: PJ Enriquez]
