It seems like the rain just keeps on pouring these days making many Dabawenyo urbanites feel down in the dumps. To counter the blues, here is my short list of delicious goodies that are sure to perk up one’s mood, warm the soul, and fill any hungry tummy.
Little Dynasty’s Laksa
Spicy, hot, rich, and savoury. Little Dynasty’s Laksa is the closest one can get to authentic Singaporean Laksa one can find here in Durianburg. The soup is filled with fishballs, tofu, shrimps and perfumed with spices and herbs such as galangal, turmeric, chilli and curry leaf.
You can have your laksa with either beehoon or, my preference, egg noodles. Each spoonful is like a warm, soothing caress that chases the blues away.
Manna’s Kimchi Jjigae
While Little Dynasty’s Laksa is like a soothing hug, Manna’s Kimchi-Jjigae is like a spicy firebomb in the mouth, but in a good way. A traditional Korean stew, Manna’s Kimchi-Jjigae features the restaurant’s home-made kimchi stewed with pork and served in a piping-hot stone bowl.
The kimchi gives the soup a slightly sour taste that makes one salivate while the fatty pork gives richness and flavour to the dish. The accompanying bowl of fluffy white rice allows you to balance out the heat of the dish.
Dusit D2’s Tom Ka Gai
While Thai cuisine may be synonymous to spicy and hot dishes, there are many dishes that are actually less hot and one of these is Tom Ka Gai or Chicken Coconut Soup, and in Davao, Dusit D2’s version of the soup is definitely the real deal.
Although it may not look like it, Dusit’s Tom Ka Gai is a complex soup with layers of flavour thanks to the different herbs and spices used such as kefir lime, lime, coriander leaves, and lemongrass. The fragrant bouquet and slight heat of the soup is sure to invigorate the soul.
Lugang’s Beef and Tendon Noodle Soup
A Taiwanese specialty, Lugang’s Beef and Tendon Noodle Soup is a meaty and savoury dish that is sure to be a hit for meat lovers. The beef brisket is soft and tender while the jelly-like texture of the collagen-rich beef tendon coats the mouth with its flavour.
The dish is balanced out with the addition of a heaping of pickled mustard greens which add a sour note to the slightly spicy and rich soup.
Native Davao chocolate from Cacao City
While most of the dishes I mentioned earlier do have some heat in them, I have not forgotten sweet tooths.
Cacao City, at the City’s Pasalubong Center is every cacao product imaginable from chocolate bars, cacao nibs and, my favourite for the rainy days, tablea. Just dunk a couple of tablea pucks into boiling water or milk, dissolve and blend into a rich chocolate drink.
If you can’t wait to go home and make your chocolate drink yourself, Cacao City also has read-to-drink hot Davao chocolate you can purchase and enjoy.
