JiPan

Kojiro and I have found a new favorite Japanese restaurant that's accessible, easy on the pocket and serves great-tasting dishes. We've seen it so many times before, passed by it without giving much thought and now we're wondering why we only tried it recently when it was just under our noses.

Jipan is situated at the second floor of Glorietta 4, beside a textile shop and across the G-Shock store. An odd location you might think but on the contrary, it draws the crowd especially during the peak hours. This is probably because of the "open air" seating at the mall corridors. People passing by get to see what the customers are eating. If it looks good, maybe it does taste good.

And yes it does. The owner/manager is a middle-aged Japanese woman and I guess she is the reason for the quality of the dishes as well as the noteworthy service of the limited staff. Kojiro and I have been to the place three times already in just a month!

We sampled other dishes on separate occassions but these were the only ones I got to photograph:

Mabo Tofu Don - 240 Php

The Mabo Tofu Don is made of ground pork, tofu, minced vegetables and spicy sauce on top of Japanese rice. The serving was huge! Good for 2-3 people depending how hungry you are. It had the right balance of flavors, salty-sweet-spicy which goes well with the steamed rice.

Chashu Ramen - 250 Php

After watching non-stop Naruto Shippuuden episodes, Kojiro had the craving for ramen. He ordered the Chashu Ramen and from what I can remember, he counted 12 slices of pork in it! Well the menu did describe it as having "lots of pork slices", such generous serving! The ramen had the right texture -- springy and slightly chewy, the broth was subtly flavored, and the pork slices were also tender. He liked it so much, he orders this every time.

Miso Ramen - 220 Php

The Miso Ramen was also good, with the same springy ramen and marinated chashu slices but with a miso based broth and added ingredients of Chinese cabbage, corn kernels and half of a boiled egg.

Jipan Coffeeshop and Bakery
2/F Glorietta 4
Ayala Center
Makati City

Pesto Crusted Tofu with Cheese

I absolutely love pesto. Its so simple to make and so tasty. In my family, I'm the only who has acquired the liking for it. They find the basil flavor too overwhelming. In my opinion they're missing a lot, but on the other hand it's a good thing that they don't like it -- more pesto for me!

Looking for ways to bring more excitement to the subtle flavor of tofu, I decided to experiment and combine the two; the boldness of pesto and the mildness of tofu. It's an East-meets-West recipe, and I was pleasantly surprised with the result. I was expecting a strong herb flavor but the tofu subdued the intensity. The cheese brought the flavors together with just the right amount of salt and creamy texture.

Ingrdients:
tofu, sliced into 1/2 inch thick slabs
pesto sauce
grated or sliced quick-melt cheese

Procedure:
1. Marinate the tofu in the pesto sauce for 5 minutes.
2. Heat pan and place tofu with some of the pesto sauce coating it.
3. Pan fry one side of the tofu for 2-3 minutes.
4. Flip it to fry the the other side for another 2-3 minutes.
5. While still frying the other side, place cheese on top and let it soften a bit or completely melt based on your preference.
6. Remove from heat and serve.

Tofu in Barbecue Sauce

This is what me and my parents had for dinner earlier. It was paired with Catfish Adobo and steamed white rice. Both viands were so good, I forgot to take pictures of them before it were shoveled onto our plates.
Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tofu block, cubed
1/2 cup Mang Tomas Barbecue Sauce
2 tbsp water
1/2 tsp Lee Kum Kee Chiu Chow Chili Oil

Procedure:
1. Heat pan and melt the butter.
2. Saute the garlic until golden brown. Be careful not to burn the garlic to avoid the bitter/burnt flavor.
3. Pour the barbecue sauce and dilute it with water, depending on your preferred consistency and taste.
4. Add the chili. Lessen or add more to what is indicated in this recipe depending on how well you can handle spicy food.
5. Add the tofu cubes to the sauce.
6. Let it simmer for 5 minutes in low heat.
7. Remove from heat and serve with steamed rice.