Change of diet and a new electric grill
If you frequent my food blog, you might have noticed the change in culinary focus. We’ve been on an Asian diet for a couple of weeks now. For starters, I’ve started to feel like the Leftovers Queen, whipping up dishes with what’s available. It’s practical, I know, but I also get this urge to learn something new. Asian cooking is a vast, vast arena and I only know a fraction of it. I want to learn about ingredients, new combinations and techniques, new ways of appreciating food… so there.
Secondly, I have this theory about diets. The obesity and heart ailment epidemics haven’t hit Asia — yet — because we are still eating REAL food. That might not be for long considering the onslaught of fast food, imported canned goods, just-drop-in-hot-water food and frozen processed food in the local market but, for now, we’re still eating fresh fish, meat and vegetables. I figured if I stick with REAL food, and that will necessarily include Speedy and the girls unless they want to cook their own meals, we’d be better off.
Ever since we built a new kitchen and Speedy bought a convection oven, I’ve always dreamed of escaping the fried fish culture. I hate, hate, hate the mentality that fish is only good when deep fried and crisp. To begin with, I hate frying because it’s messy. Secondly, there are so many ways of cooking fish and I just felt that we were missing out on so much because Speedy grew up with crisp fried fish and he has taught his daughters that tilapia and hito are no good unless fried to a crisp. They can do the frying if they continue to insist. I bought an electric grill.
Time was when grilling was a weekend activity and something I didn’t do unless Speedy agreed and was willing to stand in front of the charcoal grill, under the sun, fanning the live coals with old newspaper, etcetera. We’ve stayed away from electric grills because of the horrible way they consume electricity and I’ve been searching and searching for a good stovetop grill. But the ones available are either too small, too expensive or the quality is just terrible.
A couple of days ago, I saw this grill at the supermarket, P1.045.00, runs on electricity but can also be used with live coals. How cool is that, huh? It fits on the kitchen counter, can accommodate 10 skewers at a time, is practically smokeless (water is added in a small tank underneath) and cleaning is a breeze. Use it as an electric grill during rainy days; use it with charcoal on sunny days and when Speedy isn’t grumpy.
That’s Vietnamese chicken satay on the grill which I served with nuoc cham last night. And we also had japchae (chapchee), a Korean noodle dish. I love cooking. 
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[...] even grilled vegetables. But outdoor charcoal grilling requires too much work. I tried using an electric grill but the power consumption was astronomical. Result? We had been doing very little grilling during [...]
We feast everyday!
i like,i like the electric grill. saan po supermarket nabili? thanks, thanks.
Hmm, I have an electric grill in our wedding presents stash in the closet. I haven’t gone around to exploring what it can do. I’ve been thinking about having grilled stuff as baon, but of course if I’m going to do it more than once a week a traditional charcoal grilling is out of the question. How does it fare?
Sa Shopwise, Bem.
Jon, great so far. Preheating takes 1 minute. There’s a thermostat control too.
hala! maghahanap ako ng kamukhang electric grill. na-overcome ko na ang love ko sa fried anything, nag-evolve na ako to like the grilled version! ha ha ha. yun nga lang, sandadamak na pawis muna bago maka-grill sa charcoal. what a great idea connie!
lahat ng niluluto mo, love ko talaga! hindi yan bola ah!
shopwise? great! buti na lang meron shopwise dito antipolo. sana meron katulad niyan dito. pag nakabili ako, pwede na kami mag-ihaw ng marshmallows sa terrace! tagal na ako kinukulit anak ko na mag-camp kami sa terrace at mag-ihaw ng mallows. hmmmn….at pwede na rin gumawa ng s’mores! woohoo!
salamat po ng marami!
I received a similar grill as a wedding present but it doesn’t get hot enough so the food usually gets all dried up kasi yung juices nya just run out. I like your grill and I like the price. Shopwise ba?
i got a cast iron grill from my mom-in-law a couple of christmases ago and it works perfect- even on rainy days…or when brent (my hubby) has tri tip in the grill outside and i need to grill veggies for the side.
it’s great. fried fish is still the best, but salmon, if grilled right is delicious, moist and flavorful. enjoy! i love the satay. makes me so hungry and it’s 11:30 pm here right now…
even my mom has praises for the ease and convenience of electric grills. lakas nga lang daw sa kuryente. with liempo, though, i miss the smoke-flavor that comes with charcoal grilling. (hehe, liempo na rin lang, sagarin na ang pagka-unhealthy at dagdagan pa ng carcinogens from the smoke, hehe)
Ayyy I like! Thanks for the tip, Connie! Trip mo mag-grill ng eggplants ngayon na!
Ay, naku, this is what I need! My husband loves to eat grilled bangus and never tire of it. But I don’t have the patience of fanning the coals.
If Speedy and the girls love hito, Connie, you can grill them in your new electric grill too. Gosh, I’m excited about this elec grill…. Hehehe. Thanks, Connie, for this info.
Sassy,
I am greatly comforted by your theory that ” The obesity and heart ailment epidemics haven’t hit Asia — yet — because we are still eating REAL food.” I don’t eat McDonalds or any other fast food. Whether your theory is true or not, I feel better after reading what you have said! Thanks!
Satay! One of my favorite food! Unfortunately in Malaysia, the shops add in a piece of chicken fat in the middle of the stick to make the meat taste better. Well, I just remove the piece of fat though many would just eat the whole stick.
BTW wouldn’t an electric grill consume a lot of electricity? Just asking, as the cost of electricity keeps going up. I have an electric grill at home too and I love it.
Sulit yan, Gloria. The one thing I never could stand about grilling is the “pagpapabaga” part. That’s why I used to wait until Speedy was in the mood.
Bern & Kongkong, bought it Shopwise ANTIPOLO. The brand is Wimpex.
Inna, a stovetop cast iron grill? That was what I wanted. But at P5000+ and too small to accommodate a whole fish, I kept having second thoughts.
Ruth, pag liempo siguro, we’ll try using the grill with charcoal hehehe
Toni, LOL, sarap yan with grilled panga ng tuna.
Rhodora, I have no patience either to stand in front of the grill hanggang magbaga yung uling. Si Speedy nga, he brings out an electric fan so he won’t have to use his arms for the fanning part.
Bayi, lots of times, we keep missing the obvious truth that we in Asia are so lucky that we still eat fresh food. The irony is how so many people feel that they can only claim to “eat well” if they can afford to patronize the fast food joints and all the other “hip” places. I look at so many food blogs and how they push — hard — at the culture of eating out as some sort of status symbol for having “arrived”. And it’s so, so sad.
Re electricity consumption: I think if we use the grill once a week or so, and not for grilling whole slabs of meat, it won’t be so bad. One of the advantages of having a small family — we don’t need to cook all that much.
hi connie- yup it’s a stove top. the cast iron grill gives it a better “grilled” and smoked flavor- in my opinion better than the electric…mine is only 12″ square. one whole fish could fit (diagonal if the fish is bigger than 12″??) 5,000+ pesos? mine is from crate & barrel- $30 lang…i’m afraid the shipping can cost a lot dahil cast iron is heavy….i’ve attached the website. check it out….let me know if you really really really want one…
http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=489&f=3724&q=cast+iron+grill+pan&fromLocation=Search&DIMID=400001&SearchPage=1
happy grilling!
inna
Hi Connie! Naku dito, hindi talaga kami makapag-fry ng fish cause the smell gets to everything inside the house so mostly we grill the fish (outdoors) or cook it sinigang style. Otherwise, we have the fish fried in a Filipino or Asian store and that can be pretty scary as you never can be sure what else is frying in the oil with the fish. So grill is pretty much the way to go. We can go Asian with a soy sauce and vinegar dip, or Mexican with salsa and guacamole or western with lime and tartar sauce. Right now we have to exhaust all means of cooking fish, iwas cholesterol ba… hehe.
Inna, that’s exactly the kind of grill I found that cost P5,000+. Another, not cast iron, but with a non-stick coating, cost just as much. But from experience, cookware with non-stick coating lasts only a maximum of 2 years so I didn’t think it was worth it.
Jet, di ko ma-imagine kung pano mag-prito ng isda sa isand apartment building/condo. Even with the range hood, mangangamoy pa rin. Kaya tama, wag na lang mag-prito hehehehe Besides ang kalat kalat ng mantika pag nag prito.
hi connie-
P5,000+ wow that’s a lot…so what, is it P50.00 to a dollar? if you are really interested in getting one let me know your e-mail address i can send info to you to, if you mind me posting it here in your comment section…….i’d be happy to help. cast iron is the best- non-stick coating does wear out-
oh, and by the way, i found a bigger one as well- obvious ba na i want you to have one too
https://secure.lodgemfg.com/storefront/product1.asp?menu=logic&idProduct=3942
Inna, ang ganda nung rectangular, WOW! It’s 42 pesos to a dollar, so best time to buy. Thanks, Inna. My brother-in-law is coming for a vacation in a few months. Papabili ko para wala nang shipping. Yahoo!!! Thank you! I will email him right now!
yey! i’m glad…happy grilling- maybe we can exchange grill recipes/marinade….
have a great week…
I’m so excited, Inna! Can’t wait.
Hie Connie..i really enjoy reading yr blog. I am interested in buying a griller and the one u r using is my ideal griller. May i know what is the brand and how much is it? I am looking for a similer griller in Malaysia but have not found it yet.
Bayi- Do u have the similer griller like connie’s . Did u purchase it in Malaysia.
Thanks