Chinoy Chow, Lifestyle

Undecided on what to eat for lunch? Try hakaw and dim sum meals from these places!

It’s timeless, and admit it, a frustrating struggle especially now that dining out is limited due to the virus threat, and you’re stuck at home, tired of ordering fast food deliveries. 

Most people nowadays are too busy to cook their own meals since the work-from-home setup has been implemented by private sector companies. Fortunately, there are some business owners who felt the need to solve this all-too-familiar problem and started selling their home-made meals. 

CHiNOY TV recently launched a project in partnership with Fil-Chi Ho Tsia Ho Dim to support local micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) including these restaurants that offer home-cooked meals you can enjoy without messing up your kitchen.

Food Bar Manila

A civil engineering graduate and a ‘quaranpreneur,’ Kyle Gaw shares he launched Food Bar Manila after his board examination got postponed in May. Since the lockdown, he has been helping his parents with their family business but to keep him busy, he decided to have his own online business. 

Kyle admits he doesn’t have a background and enough knowledge on managing a business but he slowly honed and curated his social media page to gain traction. In terms of his products, he said he thought of selling frozen goods simply because they have an extra freezer at home. 

Must try: Pork Siomai (P265/30 pcs), Hakaw (P350/20 pcs), and their signature chili sauce (P225/200ml bottle)

Food Bar Manila’s Hakaw

Hakaw is the bonnet-shaped shrimp dumplings that are usually wrapped with a thin, transparent, and smooth sheet made of wheat starch, tapioca starch that is folded with pleats on one side. You can eat Food Bar Manila’s hakaw in one bite. It has a generous amount of meat inside along with the well-cooked shrimp. Just make sure that you properly cook it or else the skin will stick to your pot or steamer.

Food Bar Manila’s Pork Siomai

The Filipino food market is very familiar with siomai but Food Bar Manila’s has been carefully handmade. It’s a mouthful of seasoned ground pork mix that is flavorful enough to consume it with plain white rice.

Food Bar Manila’s Signature Chili Sauce

Dim sum will not be complete without a special dipping sauce. You can try their signature chili sauce. It will surely improve the flavors of the dumplings with its tasty zing.

Bonus tip: Just this October, Food Bar Manila introduced its newest product, chicken feet, a dim sum cart staple but it’s marinated with their secret sauce.

Learn more about Food Bar Manila’s products here

Gan Gourmand

A family business venture that was also developed and launched during the lockdown period, Gan Gourmand started when Shaina Louise Gan, together with her mom and two sisters casually accepted orders from friends and families. They have been requesting for their food trays and so they decided to publicly sell their specialty. 

Gan Gourmand is very proud of their products since they carry the flavors that generations are used to and are familiar with. Shaina shares her mom knows the secret to make good food without the use of shortcuts, and her sisters who have had experience in the food business which would provide enhancement to the products when needed.

Must try: Frozen spare ribs (P435/500g), ready-to-eat Kiampeng (P320/small | P620/large), and Chicken mushroom with Chinese sausage (P525/800g)

Gan Gourmand’s spare ribs with black beans

Spare ribs in black bean sauce or pai kuat in Cantonese, this dish has been a dim sum favorite. What makes this meal appealing to most people is the savory sauce that is not overwhelming yet packed with flavor especially when dipped in spicy soy sauce concoction. All you have to do is reheat and you will have juicy and tender pork ribs in a delicious sauce that is perfect with steaming hot rice. 

Gan Gourmand’s Kiampeng

Kiampeng is one of the ready-to-eat meals offered by Gan Gourmand. The term literally means salty rice in Hokkien. It’s a combination of rice, pork meat, Chinese chorizo, veggies such as green onions, mushrooms, and seasoning. 

Gan Gourmand’s Chicken mushroom with Chinese sausage

Gan Gourmand’s Chicken mushroom with Chinese sausage has a very rich flavor. The umami taste of the mushroom complements the flavor of the sausage and the tender chicken meat absorbs all the flavor in. All of their packed meals have reheating instructions attached so that you get to eat it at its best.

See the full menu of Gan Gourmand here

Sinji Dimsum

Sinji Dimsum is a passion project turned into a viable business, Sally Lee proudly said when asked how it started. Her husband has been very passionate about cooking meals for their family. 

Sally shared her husband really wanted to give their kids wholesome meals so he redefined the common dishes that their children love to eat and made it healthier and even more delicious.

Every dish that comes out of their kitchen goes through a strict quality control process, Sally said. Aside from serving good food, Sinji Dimsum is also serving a good cause by providing meals for the frontliners who are battling the COVID-19 pandemic for almost seven months now.

Must try: Truffle siomai (P320/20 pcs), Hainanese boneless chicken (P350/pack good for 2 persons), 3 Cup chicken

Sinji Dimsum’s Truffle siomai

Their guilt-free siomai is packed with a hundred percent pure and fresh meat, mushroom, and contains no artificial extenders or preservatives. If you want to have a leaner, chunkier, and healthier kind of siomai, be it for your snack or with rice, you might want to try this one.

Sinji Dimsum’s Hainanese Chicken

Sinji Dimsum proudly claims that they do the classic dish Hainanese chicken right. Their version is cooked until the flesh of the chicken is marvelously tender and rich with flavor which is then paired with gingery spicy sauce and veggie garnishes on the side.

Sinji Dimsum’s Three Cup Chicken

The business released its newest item on the menu which is the three-cup chicken or Sanbeiji. The origin of this dish is very interesting. It is believed that a cook placed three cups of sauces into the simmered chicken, a cup of soy sauce, a cup of rice wine, and one cup of sesame oil. But Sinji Dimsum’s version is loaded with garlic cloves and slices of ginger to make it even spicier.

Want to order from Sinji Dimsum? Click here!

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