Jollibee and Chowking- Filipino/Chinese Fast Food Chain

  Jollibee- serving burgers, chicken and some filipino dishes.  Chowking- Filipino dishes and Chinese style/inspired dishes.  These two, along with Red Ribbon Bakery, are owned by the same company.


This was probably one of the first things I ate on my trip to the Philippines on Christmas Eve.  Heck, I have been to Jollibee about 3 times I believe.  Of course, me not being adventurous, I decided to get what I would normally get from a US fast food chain.  First and second time I got their Chicken Joy meal.  I notice though the taste of Chicken Joy tends to vary a bit by location.  The one in the SM Mall in San Pablo City tasted very similar to KFC but you can tell the difference.  The second time I ate Chicken Joy was in another location but still in San Pablo and it tasted pretty different.  Still good but not used to it.  Unlike the US, where our fried chicken is served with southern sides, Jollibee's Chicken Joy is served with rice and gravy, however the gravy is very similar to southern gravy most of the time.
Now during the second time, my cousin had ordered a Hash Brown Burger...and I looked at it...and had been craving it until the third time I went.  So yes, third time I went, I ordered this Hash Brown Burger...two of them (although I should have just ordered one, but it was delicious!).  It was basically a meat patty, cheese, and ketchup using two hash browns as the buns.  But instead of fried, these potato things were baked, so it did cut down the bad stuff a bit.  But yes...I forgot they were potatoes...and potatoes are starchy and a bit heavy...so finishing the second burger took a little more time.  But it was good.  I have no picture BUT, this is basically something you can make at home.  So...I will make this someday, and take a picture, and enjoy this delicious potato-y burger.
As for the rest of the dishes of Jollibee, if one day I come back to the Philippines, perhaps I'll try more things.  The Filipino dishes had pancit and Filipino spaghetti.  Some meat and rice dishes, so yes if you don't want burgers or chicken, you can get those. 

( Chowking....meh )

Hopia, Black bean pastry

 

One of the things I like about Asian sweets is their use of certain ingredients that people usually use in savory stuff.  One of those is the black bean...and of course red bean.  For now, today's article will be about the black bean hopia.  I am unaware if there is a red bean one.  If there is, please someone point me to the direction of good red bean hopia.  I have had two black hopias (as in from two different places).  The first time was bleh.  My mom bought some from BJ's Wholesale.  They were totally meh, no flavor. The second time I tried from a friend's place.  He bought it from New Golden Fung Wong Bakery in Manhattan Chinatown.  That is the pic of that hopia you see above.  I like it.  It has a subtle sweet flavor from the filling and the pastry part has a slight salt/savory flavor, sort of like those goldfish crackers but not as salty.  It's good to have for breakfast with tea or coffee.  I have a stash hidden in the freezer where no one sees it =D

So, anyone else have good recommendations for hopia, red or black bean?  I don't mind trying more!