What is the best dish that I can make right now?!?!

Katsu? Burgers? Seafood? Noodles? Pizza?

It's easy to find a recipe, follow it and call it a night. But that's somebody else's recipe, tuned to their tastebuds. Or adapted to a wider audience for widespread acceptance.

But the thing that makes You, You! Ya know?!

The dish that only I can make! I could say that the most complex = best dish. But that's Not true either. Some correlation yeah... but the simple things are also tricky to master too.

Like even just soft boiling an egg to perfection; there are a lot of factors to consider from: temperature, timing, cooling, cooking vessel, range type, etc.

A tasty steak? Just a little salt and pepper, some oil, and a hot pan right? Nah, it's definitely a little more complex than that! Listen to the sizzle, us your intuition on knowing when to flip it. Good things in life are hard, making a good steak is hard.
A good steak is a good thing in life.

Cooking is really a full contact sport!

Sight, feel, auditory, taste, smell, and that built up knowledge and intuition from doing it over and over again.
You pick up on all of the little idiosyncrasies. Adapting to the equipment on hand, using your technique, maybe even testing or experimenting with something new! This is a living a breathing thing.

It's almost as if one is communicating and speaking to the ingredients! And it's true!

Ok. So good food is hard to make. It takes all of your senses and then some.

So after all my living, experiences, travels. What can I make that nobody else can?

Is it Filipino 🇵🇭 Sinigang? Indonesian 🇮🇩 Mie Goreng? Timorese 🇹🇱 Ai farina tahan? Tonkatsu from 🎌Japan? Fijian 🇫🇯 Ika vaka lolo? A Branzino from🇮🇹 Italy? A cheese burger from 🇺🇸 America? Fried rice from 🇨🇳China? Hujiao bing from Taiwan 🇹🇼? Kimchi jjigae from South Korea 🇰🇷? Dhal soup from India 🇮🇳? A meat pie from New Zealand 🇳🇿?

What is it???

I don't know. I can't just pick one...

There is too much and my life has been all over the place. My inspiration is spread all over. I love all of these dishes. I have learned so much from my travels over the years. I overspent on my food budget, made some questionable financial decisions (some might call it dumb 😅) but risk, adventure, fun made it all worth it in the end!

So I'd say I would have to make a spread of all these different cultures that inspired me!

It's all about the culture right?!

Okay! Let's assemble a plate! One plate that encapsulates all of my experiences and travels.

To start:

Lumpia Shanghai from the Philippines. These are fried crunchy spring rolls with a chicken, and pork filling. They are absolutely delicious and I could eat like 50 of them during a Filipino party. 2 dipping sauces. One sweet chili sauce. And one spicier sambal. Chili, vinegar, a little sugar, calamansi juice, and garlic.

And some edamame because I just like it haha.

A soup:

I would make a plain soup with boiled fish and salt. Just a little lemon juice and maybe a little chili. I know it sounds boring and I'm leaving a lot of flavor out. But this is a classic Fijian dish. Wai buta. Served in a Bilo, a coconut shell.

Letting the ingredients speak and cleanse the palette.

The big plate:

A fried fish.
With tteobokki on the side. Add some of the sambal to the gochujang sauce, to make it even spicier! Then use that sauce to add some flavor to the fish. And some pisang goreng (fried banna fritters). This would be kind of an Indonesian, Timorese, Filipino, South Korean party haha.

As well as a grilled steak. Seasoned simply. And some tortillas.
A carne asada type situation. And you can add the spicy gochujang sauce from the tteobokki to season it. As well as a chimichurri sauce to add some freshness and cut the boldness from the spice.

Some veggies. Don't worry I didn't forget it. Modo fila. A simple quick stir fried veggie dish. Like ai-dila tahan. This is actually a kinda interesting dish because it is very medicinal tasting because it is bitter in taste. Not sure why I would want to put it here, but because it tastes healthy.

Dessert:
Vanilla ice cream. With the some sweeter Pisang goreng. Let's say some dark liquor infused brown sugar sauce. With some coconut milk and shavings.

This screams island but I do love chocolate too. Perhaps a cheesecake with some Oreos??!!

I think given the right occasion, preparation, money, time, energy and teammates. I think this could be done.

So let's recap!

The best dish I could make isn't just one particular food. It has to be a combination of all of my experiences and cultures I have somewhat assimilated into. Or just had the curiosity to pop my head in a little and see what they have to offer.

We see lots of island and western flavors here. I guess this sums up my life experiences on a plate so far!

I still have so much to learn!

Anyways! Happy cooking!

Big Dawgs Gotta Eat!
-Albert