The Low Cost Firebrick Oven

When the unrest in Egypt took place, the farthest thing on my mind was how it would affect us. Then, trouble in the Middle East broke out. Soon, prices of oil had gone up and everything else followed. Now, I feel the pinch.

Anyone who has a business is somehow affected. My small fast food outlet in Makati has been on crisis mode ever since the tenants of the building started moving out to new offices at the Fort or else where. Now, everyone is trying to cut down on costs and the last thing anyone needs or wants is a price increase in their meal dishes. So, we find ways to adjust!

A couple of months ago, I came across a local engineer who invented an oven, griller and burner using charcoal. For over 30 years, he had been in the business of making and selling Ceramic. One day, his son asked him to make an oven just to bake pizza for a birthday party he was going to celebrate. The oven became an instant hit and started a craze among friends. One of his guests, foodie Danny Dingkong was looking around for an oven to bake anything in. They brain stormed and the rest is history.

Today, Jerry Yu has perfected the oven that is made from ceramic fire bricks. Temperatures of these ovens go as high as over 600 degrees and can finish a nice, crusty and bubbling pizza in less than 3 minutes. It can also bake fluffy and moist cakes, nicely browned roast chickens and anything a normal convection oven can do. The ovens come with temperature gauges. His barbecue grillers are also a winner. The use of charcoal is very minimal and the heat it retains lasts a long long time. His burners have better efficiency that your ordinary table tops. He has invented one that can make his burners high pressure with the switch of a tiny fan attached to the side of the burner. It has the same principle as blowing on the burning charcoal to stimulate the fire. They are all smoke free except the grillers.

The principle behind it is the charcoal is heated using small pieces of coal soaked in denatured alcohol. This starts the heating of the rest of the coals. It takes just a few minutes for the other coals to heat up. The ceramic bricks then absorb the heat and retains it. When the bricks are hot enough, the consumption of coal drops significantly and all one has to do is to drop a few coals to retain the heat. Heat is controlled by sliding shut or open windows on the side and cutting the air off or letting it in. This too helps in saving some of the coals for future use. Except for the grillers, both the ovens and burners are self cleaning. Because of the high heat, almost nothing gets stuck on the hot bricks. Powdered and used coal fall from holes in the bricks into a pan that slides out for easy cleaning. For the burners, pans do not get black at the bottom. For the ovens, the heat is equally distributed all over. For the grillers, there is hardly any smoke except for the sauce dripping on the charcoal. The 2 others are smoke free.

I have used his products in my fast food outlet. For all my grilled items, I consume 15 pesos worth of coals grilling the whole morning. For cooking the rest of the food items as well as tenderizing meat, I use his high pressure burners just to jack up the heat then lower them when I get the right temperature. My gas consumption has dropped by half and they work as efficient with a fraction of the cost. In fact, I have been suspected of tampering with the gauges with the sudden drop in gas consumption. I am in the process of going 100% ceramic energy. I have also began using this in my home to cook anything. Every home and restaurant should use this. That should drop the demand and lower our prices. Charcoal consumption is very minimal.

Every home that wants to cut down on costs should have these. Jerry does custom made models depending on ones needs. Seeing is believing. Call Jerry for a demo or visit his showroom. You will not believe what these energy savers can do. Prices? Very reasonable and tons of savings.

This is how I’ve adjusting in this crisis. Now, I have to find something to replace gasoline. Hay, buhay!

COMES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
HAPPY EATING!

JERRY FIREBRICKS Tel. 09205760256, 0920 567 9113 and 911 4216
***March 31, 2011, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Lifestyle Section***

Ilocos Norte - Bangui Windmill Farm

Recently, I found myself in the vicinity of the wind turbines in Bangui, a small town off the North West tip of Ilocos Norte. I didn't realize that these behemoths, all 20 of them, are a lot bigger than they look in photos.

Their ominous presence by the coast of the South China Sea with the strong tempestuous winds and crashing waves is daunting. Feels like the aliens have finally landed. Standing directly underneath the rotating blades as they come down certainly will give you the heebie-jeebies. Don't believe me? Try it. Those of you who have been there know what I'm talking about.

What does this all have to do with a culinary blog you ask? Hang on, it's worth posting. Well, there is this little "nipa hut" restaurant sitting out there in the middle of it all. The name? Kang kang cafe. I asked around what Kang kang means and I was told it means fu**ing! He he.. the Effing Cafe. Among all the names of restaurants I've come across, this has got to be the most unpretentious. I mean, that's exactly what comes to mind. Picture it, you're out in the middle of nowhere amidst the roaring waves, massive, overgrown pinwheels and hysterical winds, not a soul in sight and you stumble onto a restaurant. You say, "What the heck?! It's an effing cafe!!". Yes! It's exactly what it is! They sell local Ilocano dishes and a whole selection of coffee, the best of which is aptly named the Kang kang brew. Ha ha. Imagine going up to the counter, "Hi, can I have a fu**ing brew?". I don't drink coffee thank God, but a friend did and he said it was, "effin' good!". =)

The Kang kang cafe

Wabi Sabi - A vegetarian discovery!

I was never a fan of vegetarian food. It wasn’t because I disliked the taste, I just never tried it. My perception of this type of food was boring, bland and not fun at all to eat.

Bubut and Maryann Jimenez are both vegetarians. And in one visit to Bubuts Gun shop, his wife served me vegetarian spam with freshly sliced tomato on a toasted pandesal. It was like a light bulb that just turned on in my brain. The following morning, I headed to Polki, the vegetarian store in Quirino Avenue in Manila and just started trying the various vegetarian meats, imitation Pork, Beef, Chicken and other interesting products.

Whenever I’m in Mega Mall and want to eat healthy, I make sure I have something from Bodji. They have barbecue, kare kare, different kinds of pancit and many other healthy imitation dishes. Pwede na food.

Recently, friends Dan and Geri Gil invited us to this hole in the wall vegetarian place on Malugay street in Makati. I get excited whenever I’m about to try "hole-in-the-wall" restaurants. To me, these are the real culinary finds.

This vegetarian discovery is in an old building with very interesting shops. There are a few restaurants and antique shops around. One was selling soap, various sizes of salt from Pangasinan, coffee and other interesting organic items. One specialized in chicken wings while the other in fast food Chinese cooking. Another is a repair shop for antique bicycles, furniture and home accessory store with an eclectic theme and a few others. Before I entered the restaurant, I went browsing around and found the next door resto serving a specialized burger. This is a first. It’s a burger with a strip of bacon using a Krispy Kreme type donut as its bread. All his menu items are fattening, unhealthy and sinful. It looked very interesting. This I have to try.

The vegetarian place we visited sits about 30. Menu is limited but most of them winners. As soon as we sat down, we were given vegetarian chicharon. It has the taste of the real macoy without the guilt. Tessa had the Pho while I had the Shoyu Ramen.We also had the siomai, siopao, Vietnamese sandwich, gyoza and the lemon grass iced tea.

I loved almost everything. I found the siomai and asado siopao not too exciting though. I enjoyed my ramen but hijacked my wife's Pho. The pho had the nice tasting and aroma of Vietnamese broth with a much lighter texture. Not as rich as the beef version. It had a lot of real veggies and some slices of veggie meat. Other must trys are gyoza, the Vietnamese sandwich with sauce and the lemon grass. You may also season your Pho with vegetarian patis if you want. Mine was perfect. Took some chicharon home, brought it to a get together and it was a hit! Sarap!

I know I enjoyed the place because I let one day pass and I was back. I had eaten a lot but felt very light when I played badminton that afternoon. So, this is what many vegetarians say they feel when eating this healthy kind of food.

I now see good vegetarian food in a totally different light. Check them out!

WABI-SABI NOODLE HOUSE and VEGETARIAN GROCERY is located at the Collective Building. # 7274 Malugay St., San Antonio Village in Makati. From Edsa Cubao, turn right on Buendia and drive all the way to Pasong Tamo. Turn right on Pasong Tamo, left on Yakal and drive all the way to the end. Turn left at the end, then left on Malugay Street (not Malunggay like I was asking around). It will be the building on your left. Tel. nos. 0918 450 1714 or 519 3950

HAPPY EATING!

***March 3, 2011, Word Of Mouth, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Lifestyle Section***