Where to buy those hard-to-find ingredients (or possible substitutes)

[chesca28drew]

Also do your guys know where I can buy seeds or anything I can plant to have my own garden of herbs like rosemary, thyme, basil, parsley or whatever herbs I can plant at home.

and where to buy shallots and scallops?

[franzb69]

Also do your guys know where I can buy seeds or anything I can plant to have my own garden of herbs like rosemary, thyme, basil, parsley or whatever herbs I can plant at home.

check with the home and garden threads. us gardeners are always ready to help.

flower, veg and herb seeds are found in groceries and hardware stores. occassionally also found in gardening / landscaping shops (which is odd, since it's what they're supposed to be selling, right?)

rosemary is hard to grow from seed, i suggest you buy one that's a large plant. they don't like getting watered all the time, they like getting watered like once or twice a week and let the soil dry almost completely before next watering. buy the largest one you can find because those aren't easy to kill. lol. i've killed rosemary everytime, no matter how much care i give it or lack of it. very hard to care for in my experience. i've managed to keep one mother plant of rosemary for close to a year now. but then i can't use it all that often since it's so slow growing. buy several rosemary bushes if you can afford it.

thyme is also hard to take care of in my experience. best to buy a living one na den since they grow so darn slowly. rosemary den is also a slow grower. they also don't like getting wet all the time, and loves getting eaten by snails and slugs. keep 'em away from those. thyme likes a well draining soil the same with rosemary. get a larger plant or several ones if you're gonna use them a lot. don't like a lot of sun same with rosemary.

morning sun, afternoon shade for both herbs.

thyme and rosemary are perennials, once you've got them, you don't have to buy them anymore. so long as you can keep them alive. lol.

the easiest perennial herbs to grow are oregano and marjoram. also very useable in the kitchen. they don't need a lot of attention and will give you lots of leaves for you to use. they don't need a lot of water, so it's perfect for noob gardeners. italian oregano and greek oregano is what i prefer to use rather than the local oregano or aka cuban oregano.

basil and parsley are both annuals. once they flower, you need to plant or buy more. in order to keep them alive longer, you need to cut off the flowers and buds off the plant. the flavor changes to a more concentrated and bitter flavor once they start to bolt / flower.
basil loves the sun, parsley also. quick growers.

if you manage to find basil from the grocery that still has a decent amount of stem. at least 2 inches long, you just need to soak them for 15 minutes in ater and stick them in a potting mix that's moist, not sopping wet. once you see they start perking up, you'll know they're responding well. give it a few days in a window ledge with morning sun and keep the soil moist, you'll start seeing roots and you have cloned your first basil plant. not that hard to do, i think.

you can grow basil from seed, since it's easy to germinate them and grow them from seed. they grow fast and strong quickly. i just find clones are quicker.

with parsley, either you buy seeds and plant them or buy live ones. can't clone these. these don't like getting overly wet. so keep it away from overzealous people who like to water every single day and from the wet season.

with both annuals you can let the plants go to flower and find those plants invite great beneficial plants such as bees and ladybugs. and you can get seeds from the dead flowers eventually then you won't have to buy your seeds. just plant them after they've dried.

might i suggest growing dill also. dill is great with fish. i also love making pickles with dill.

and where to buy shallots and scallops?

any grocery should have shallots (sibuyas tagalog). rustans should have stocks of scallops. also south supermarket always has great selections.

ground coriander
ground cumin
good quality lamb rack
and potatoes good for mashed potatoes

I once made mashed potato and it tasted like mashed kamote. lol

Your help will be much appreciated.

you can always just crush coriander and cumin seeds with a mortar and pestle or if you have a coffee / spice grinder it'll be faster. hehe. i do that for my sausage spices.

grinding your own is always better than preground stuff, be it coffee or spices.

those spices are found in Taj along alabang hills, near the service road na. sa may alabang 400. or just go to makati supermarket in alabang town center and buy there. they carry Taj's products.

lamb rack? s&r, south supermarket, sometimes santi's.

potatoes? we don't really have great potatoes for mashing. we just have one kind usually, big ones, medium ones and marble ones. it's practically the same stuff sold in different sizes.

unless you can find idaho potatoes or yukon golds here, that's next to impossible. we just have to stick with the large potatoes that we find at the grocery. don't buy the smaller ones since they're usually more waxy. you need to find a starchy kind of potato.

haba ng sagot ko.

[chesca28drew]

check with the home and garden threads. us gardeners are always ready to help.

flower, veg and herb seeds are found in groceries and hardware stores. occassionally also found in gardening / landscaping shops (which is odd, since it's what they're supposed to be selling, right?)

rosemary is hard to grow from seed, i suggest you buy one that's a large plant. they don't like getting watered all the time, they like getting watered like once or twice a week and let the soil dry almost completely before next watering. buy the largest one you can find because those aren't easy to kill. lol. i've killed rosemary everytime, no matter how much care i give it or lack of it. very hard to care for in my experience. i've managed to keep one mother plant of rosemary for close to a year now. but then i can't use it all that often since it's so slow growing. buy several rosemary bushes if you can afford it.

thyme is also hard to take care of in my experience. best to buy a living one na den since they grow so darn slowly. rosemary den is also a slow grower. they also don't like getting wet all the time, and loves getting eaten by snails and slugs. keep 'em away from those. thyme likes a well draining soil the same with rosemary. get a larger plant or several ones if you're gonna use them a lot. don't like a lot of sun same with rosemary.

morning sun, afternoon shade for both herbs.

thyme and rosemary are perennials, once you've got them, you don't have to buy them anymore. so long as you can keep them alive. lol.

the easiest perennial herbs to grow are oregano and marjoram. also very useable in the kitchen. they don't need a lot of attention and will give you lots of leaves for you to use. they don't need a lot of water, so it's perfect for noob gardeners. italian oregano and greek oregano is what i prefer to use rather than the local oregano or aka cuban oregano.

basil and parsley are both annuals. once they flower, you need to plant or buy more. in order to keep them alive longer, you need to cut off the flowers and buds off the plant. the flavor changes to a more concentrated and bitter flavor once they start to bolt / flower.
basil loves the sun, parsley also. quick growers.

if you manage to find basil from the grocery that still has a decent amount of stem. at least 2 inches long, you just need to soak them for 15 minutes in ater and stick them in a potting mix that's moist, not sopping wet. once you see they start perking up, you'll know they're responding well. give it a few days in a window ledge with morning sun and keep the soil moist, you'll start seeing roots and you have cloned your first basil plant. not that hard to do, i think.

you can grow basil from seed, since it's easy to germinate them and grow them from seed. they grow fast and strong quickly. i just find clones are quicker.

with parsley, either you buy seeds and plant them or buy live ones. can't clone these. these don't like getting overly wet. so keep it away from overzealous people who like to water every single day and from the wet season.

with both annuals you can let the plants go to flower and find those plants invite great beneficial plants such as bees and ladybugs. and you can get seeds from the dead flowers eventually then you won't have to buy your seeds. just plant them after they've dried.

might i suggest growing dill also. dill is great with fish. i also love making pickles with dill.



any grocery should have shallots (sibuyas tagalog). rustans should have stocks of scallops. also south supermarket always has great selections.



you can always just crush coriander and cumin seeds with a mortar and pestle or if you have a coffee / spice grinder it'll be faster. hehe. i do that for my sausage spices.

grinding your own is always better than preground stuff, be it coffee or spices.

those spices are found in Taj along alabang hills, near the service road na. sa may alabang 400. or just go to makati supermarket in alabang town center and buy there. they carry Taj's products.

lamb rack? s&r, south supermarket, sometimes santi's.

potatoes? we don't really have great potatoes for mashing. we just have one kind usually, big ones, medium ones and marble ones. it's practically the same stuff sold in different sizes.

unless you can find idaho potatoes or yukon golds here, that's next to impossible. we just have to stick with the large potatoes that we find at the grocery. don't buy the smaller ones since they're usually more waxy. you need to find a starchy kind of potato.

haba ng sagot ko.

this is the most helpful answer I've ever got from a forum.
thank you very much.

[chesca28drew]

where to find?
Prosciutto

thanks

[franzb69]

this is the most helpful answer I've ever got from a forum.
thank you very much.

and some people say that i'm too much of a know-it-all. lol.

where to find?

Prosciutto

thanks

santi's at molito.

they have a great selection of sausages and cured meats. on the pricey side but, they're the only deli in the south that carries anything worth giving a damn. there are great deli's in makati, although less known than them, and sometimes even pricier than santi's. but some carry products that even santi's does not have.

there's also a decent deli inside shopwise in sucat, their in house deli has a decent selection. and their products aren't old and ugly like the ones you can find in the deli by the entrance of south supermarket.

i have a passion for charcuterie and cheeses (and pretty much any food for that matter) kse kaya iniikot ko lahat dito sa south ang mga groceries and deli's.

[mean_gurl2000]

I'm not sure kung mahirap ng hanapin to. But where can you buy Almond Butter? And mga magkano aya 'to? Saw this while searching through blogs and I never knew na nageexist pala to. hanggang peanut butter lang alam ko.

[franzb69]

I'm not sure kung mahirap ng hanapin to. But where can you buy Almond Butter? And mga magkano aya 'to? Saw this while searching through blogs and I never knew na nageexist pala to. hanggang peanut butter lang alam ko.

you can try looking for it sa healthy options, they're the only specialty food store that would sell it. some branches carry more products than others. the rustan's makati one is more complete than other branches i've walked into.

you can also check with santi's and other specialty food stores.

[photoaddict]

Hey guys,

Do you guys have any idea where I can buy pork floss?

Meron isang manufacturer, nagbebenta sa internet. saw it sa sulit.com.ph

ito yun link ng seller http://www.sulit.com.ph/index.php/vi...rds=pork+floss

[gotta lick it]

where to find baby carrots and baby potatoes?

[ka_deniz]

any large grocery carries baby carrots and baby potatoes nowadays.

[Papichulo168]

Where can I buy truffle oil?

^ I saw some at Terry Selection, but you can probably find it at Santi's or Rustan's too.

Any idea how much this is?

[zuuzrap]

Quiapo and Divisoria - hard to find items!

[illumina]

Any idea how much this is?

Last time I saw them at Santi's and Terry Selection was a few years ago, so it may have changed by now. Truffles & More online sells a 100 ml bottle of black truffle oil for 850; white for 950.
http://www.trufflesandmore.ph

(I haven't bought their truffle oil yet, but I got truffle honey and truffle salt from them, and they changed my life.)


As for almond butter, yes, Healthy Options and Rustan's carry this, but so does Metro Supermarket. Even got it buy-one-take-one at Metro a few months back.

[Papichulo168]

Last time I saw them at Santi's and Terry Selection was a few years ago, so it may have changed by now. Truffles & More online sells a 100 ml bottle of black truffle oil for 850; white for 950.
http://www.trufflesandmore.ph

(I haven't bought their truffle oil yet, but I got truffle honey and truffle salt from them, and they changed my life.)

Thanks for this Illumina! Exactly what I was looking for.

[cmax]

buttermilk?

corn meal?

not sure if anyone has replied but there's a baking store in BF (Palanca) which sells buttermilk and corn meal. I get almost all of my baking needs from them. In front of the wet market.

[franzb69]

thanks cmax. really helpful. =D

[marts_8]

Meron isang manufacturer, nagbebenta sa internet. saw it sa sulit.com.ph

ito yun link ng seller http://www.sulit.com.ph/index.php/vi...rds=pork+floss

pork floss or ma hu madami sa ongpin. at madami din klase. drop by Bee Tin Grocery. de timbang yung pork floss.

[newsonthedot]

Does anyone know where i could find "arrowroot flour"?

www.newsonthedot.blogspot.com

[ka_deniz]

Does anyone know where i could find "arrowroot flour"?

www.newsonthedot.blogspot.com

sa tindahan. gawgaw yan.

[franzb69]

gawgaw pala yun. thanks for the info ka deniz.

i was about to say meron sa healthy options, yun lang pala yun. lol.