Spicy Tuna Salad

Here's a simple recipe that doesn't need a rice cooker nor a stove. And should also make use of your leftover Sriracha sauce from the wings the other day.

Back in early 2016, I used to intern for a (now defunct) modern Japanese bistro back in the Philippines. I could have kept working for them if it weren't for the toxic environment their kitchen started having, but it wasn't as if I didn't learn anything out of my three months there. One of the things I learned while working there—which to this day I have not forgotten—is how to make spicy mayo. This wasn't just some store brand mayo with hot sauce in it though; this was exactly the kind of spicy mayo that just screams Japanese when its flavors make contact with your taste buds and explode in an overwhelming umami climax inside your mouth.

At the bistro I worked at, this spicy mayo was combined with tuna (sometimes salmon) tartare and served on a salad where the greens outnumbered the spicy tuna. As a customer I find that total bullshit, man. Why? Because I may have paid money to eat the salad, but I taste more greens than the spicy mayo, which is boring as shit. Well if you want something delicious, I say try making it yourself, eh?

This recipe is good for two.

Buffalo Wings

It's Friday evening. Work and school just ended and you're off for the weekend. You think to yourself, you've been working hard all week long, and it's about time you treated yourself out for once. A nice cool beer or two sounds just about enough to hit the spot right now. You head home and buy a few at the convenience store, and then you realize it wouldn't be as enjoyable if you didn't have something to eat with this beer. You've got some money to spare... What would go best with beer right now? Nearest pub and resto is miles away, but there is this delicatessen nearby. You walk inside, and after the staff greet you warmly, you go on and have a look around.

The delicatessen is exactly what you'd expect; various dried meats and specialty ingredients are on display all around the store. Rows of exotic ingredients line the shelf, either in boxes or jars, and there's a display of a pyramid of stacked cans on sale near the meats section. As you put down the vegemite you had some small interest in, you turn and see a shelf full of nothing but organized stacks of Munz chocolate on one side of the store, next to the pastry goods. But you don't want anything sweet. You want something that goes well with this beer you've bought and that chocolate is anything but.

But then, you see the blue cheese, packs of chicken wings, and Sriracha sauce, and suddenly it all hits you.

My plating could have been better.

Time for a personal take on my favorite kind of chicken wings.