tickle my palate...tickle the rest later

I went to Wok Inn in Malate, got stuffed and then went home with a vetsin-induced downer in my head.

Ah, ok. I'll revise what I wrote on the vetsin part because I'm not sure if the cooks in Wok Inn takatak-atak orders with aji.

This was last Wednesday.

When at Wok Inn and with my special gurl, be prepared to let her do the talking. You may choose and point at the raw ingredients behind that glass window display, but if you don't know exactly how the resto will serve it, let her do the talking.

And so that's what I did. I just wanted the chicken. That's it.

My parents were with us that lunch and it was their first Wok Inn time. Neverthess, the moment my father saw the bamboo shells, he got teary-eyed like a new dad, and said, "I'll take that."

Ok, I'll revise the part when he got teary-eyed. He knew what he wanted and how to have it done. Soup, he said. And he was right. It was yummy. Tasted like the sea. Sea that is yummy.

Alright. Go figure.

I must say at this point that Wok Inn is one of my gurl's fave hole-in-the wall restos. Why I was able to try its cuisine, let's give her the last slice of cake for that. She is more of the oriental food type eater although we can trace her roots in Ilocos Norte, land of the fermented shrimp paste.

We didn't order much, just these...

Wok Inn doesn't have its own house tea, which is a bit off when you know it is a chinese resto, and the Chinese drink tea like water. But let me tell you what they offer instead of the house tea.

Kermit's legs, as in, "Ribit," the ancient mating call toads...este goes.

Ahm... pass ako dyan. Even if my mom says they taste like chicken, I'd rather remain ignorant.

But hey, the food was good. One strange discovery though is that the spicy chicken tastes better if you have it as leftover and microwave it at home.

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kids should know that...

In Indonesia the wok is known as a wadjang, as kuali and kawali (small wok) in Malaysia, kawa (big wok) in the Philippines and kadai in India. The main advantage of wok beyond its constructed material is its curved concave shape. The shape produces a small, hot area at the bottom which allows some of the food to be seared by intense heat while using relatively little fuel. The large sloped sides are also make it easier for chefs to employ the tossing cooking technique on solid and thick liquid food with less spillage and a greater margin of safety. Curved sides also allows a person to cook without having to "chase the food around the pan" since bite-sized or finely chopped stir-fry ingredients usually tumble back to the center of the wok when agitated. (wikipeda)