Restaurant Review: Kanin Club in Technohub Diliman, Quezon City

Dateline October 31, 2013. Place...Technohub near UP Diliman. The first day of my stay in Metro Manila, I chanced upon this restaurant which I believe is a chain specializing in Filipino dishes. Looking at their menu, I think that the restaurant is more "Neo Filipino" rather than traditional Filipino. The menu items contain the usual words that define what is Filipino cuisine; but the descriptions speak more of reinventions of such. That sounds exciting. For one thing, in this world of restaurant competition, one does not survive by the mere usual, rather it is ruled by the unusual, the extraordinary, the special and sometimes even the weird.
For appetizers, Kanin Club offers crispy pork belly which I thought is traditionally known as Lechon Kawali similar to that offered by Chinese stores, known for the crispy skin with a layer of fat underneath and lean meat further served with a sweet sauce or a combination of garlic, vinegar and soy sauce dip and a side of sweet papaya pickles. What arrived on the table were thin slices of pork belly sans skin and cut thinly deep fried to a crisp served with a dip of the same vinegar, soy sauce with crushed fresh garlic. "Tough on the teeth," I thought. The crispness is there, no doubt, though sensitive on the gums and the pieces seem to lodge between teeth. I wonder how it would be for customers who sport dentures.
The Kilawin Blue Marlin, a take on the Latin American ceviche is supposedly fresh though rather strong on the vinegar but forgivable after all what it is is a vinaigrette. The hotness using the peppers and peppercorns is just right. The cuts of fish could rather use a thinner version. As mentioned, I'm not sure of the freshness of the preparation as it seemed that the fish pieces relative to its size has already been cooked thoroughly by the acidic marinade.
Soup. The Hototay is a delight. Warm and light with somewhat an afterfeel of seafood - fish perhaps but definitely not fish sauce - it's a dish that defines Filipino cuisine for it plays on counterpoint. Several dishes play on either seafood or meat and some even further defined by just pork or beef or chicken but never a mix. This is somewhat a melange of meat with fish but not to a point of irritation. It's simply wonderful. Reminds.com of the Chicken Soup that is supposedly good for the soul.

Main dishes. Stated in the menu that it is the dish they are known for, Crispy Dinuguan is next on the agenda. It is described that the dish is a reworking of the traditional Dinuguan which is pork blood stew consisting of various pork cuts including those considered a bit unconventional for the foreign palate - pork hearts, cheeks and ears. In this version, deep fried pork pieces are used which give the dish its crunchy feel. So the meat chunks are fried to a crisp and a drier version of the Dinuguan broth which has the consistency of a sauce rather than broth is poured on top of the pieces with a fresh green chili serving more as decor is on the side. Again, the pork pieces are tough and challenging to the dentures. The Dinuguan itself is rough on the tongue and probably the raw blood was added in the pot during the cooking process with minimal stirring thus the blood particles had somewhat congealed creating the rough texture. Here, I think that the traditional Dinuguan is better than the reworked version. The original stew consisted of tenderized meat choked through a long simmer. One note, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Just sayin'.

The Sigarilyas is a treat. To those unfamiliar with this vegetable, it is as thick as one's pointing finger with the shape somewhat resembling a pointed star when seen on the side cut crosswise. It has a crunch that is pleasant to the bite with a flavor that is a bit bitter bordering on the aromatic. What is delightful about the dish is its combination with sauteed garlic and pork then simmered with coconut milk. What is even more surprising is how the preparation managed to bring out the coconut oils, called "latik" which when mixed with the vegetable and meats results in a something comparable to heaven. Most likely the meat and coconut mixture have been prepared way ahead and the Sigarilyas was added later thus preserving the vegetable's intrinsic crunch and flavor. This I can only surmise because from experience, it takes considerable period of simmering before the latik comes out of coconut milk. However the preparation and from the cold storage the pre prepared meat and coconut may have sat prior to its presentation to table, it is greatly recommended.

What about the Crispy Pata?  Our version of the German Scheweinshaxe which according to Wikipedia is a dish with Bavarian origins and described as "a roasted ham hock," although the "Austrian version called Stelze (Austrian pronunciation [ˈʃtɛl.tsɛ], Viennese pronunciation ['ʃtœˑ.tsṇ]), is usually marinated or pre-boiled in a caraway seed and garlic brine, roasted until the skin is crisp, and served with mustard, horseradish, and pickled chili peppers."   The Philippine version, from my memory started about the mid to late seventies when it was concocted as part of beer house pulutan and eaten with beer in the presence of friends with "all-so-quite" adult entertainment.  I have a feeling this was brought into the culture by the German immigrants some of whom have chosen to stay in the country with their Filipina wives.  Anyway, I digress.  As for the Kanin Club's Crispy Pata, I have no complaints.  In fact, the meat falls off the bone.  The baked version in Berlin in this restaurant near the Hilton was so good and less fatty yet crispy with a creamy feel that I just have to have it twice in the same restaurant on two different occasions.  It seems that frying the pork hock dehydrates the meat further than baking it which has a tendency to seal meat juices within.  But fried or baked, I love them both.  The hock presented with fried shrimp crackers places an Asian signature to this dish.
I had the opportunity to try two different rice preparations. The first is Sinangag sa Taba ng Talangka. First of all, to explain, Sinangag is nothing more than fried rice with the main flavoring essence is sauteed garlic. It is also known as plain garlic rice. In the tradition of Chinese fried rice with all the trimmings, Sinangag saga Taba ng Talangka uses the fat derived from small crabs known in the Philippines as Talangka add its main flavoring mixed with the aromatic sauteed garlic. This, I think, is genius. The fat has an eclectic aroma the reminds one of the sea yet creamy on the tongue leaving a light salty afterfeel. This is perfect. The next preparation is quite a bit overdone. Sinangag sa Daeng is a concoction similar to former but using sun dried salted kipper which had been deboned and separated into slivers as its main flavoring. I find kipper a fishy fish to begin with but dried and preserved salted concentrates this quality. It's either a love it or hate it affair. And therefore in my opinion, I think I can take it in small doses and probably a smaller amount in the rice would have made it better. After all, its Sinangag sa Daeng and not the other way around.
There were two desserts I tried. The first is the Turon sa Ube which is a take on the banana fritter using the spring roll wrap and the Saba variety of banana. To expound further, the Saba banana is a fat version of the plantain, shorter but sweeter and similarly starchier when green though more tender when ripe. I like this more than the plantain though plantain is what's readily available in the United States. The Turon is good; what made it better is the Ube with the Langka or jackfruit in it. Fried to a crisp, it brings out the flavors of the individual components into a delightful melange as the crispness provided a contrast even a backdrop that brings the fruit flavors forward.
The better one is the next dessert which is sticky rice with Macapuno and sweet beans. Macapuno is a mutant coconut that instead of the usual coconut water with an outer white layer both enclosed within the hard shell, the meat is whitish translucent with a gelatinous middle that probably may be a mix of the water incorporated in the softer version of the coconut meat, being a mutant fruit. Shredded and cooked with a bit of sugar, this is such a delight that mixes well with rice. Reminds me of rice pudding in the States. Now, Mike couldn't understand the use of sweetened beans as dessert in the Philippines but he is familiar with it in Asian countries. But then, Asian countries may not understand the use of rice as dessert when served cold with vanilla and milk as flavorings typical of that in the US. (Though we know to serve it warm sweetened as in bibingka or champurado.)  But in a word, I would say I love this dessert. One more thing, as I explore the various components of this piece, I noticed there was a sprinkle of some brown powder on the rice top. Cocoa? Coffee? Cinnamon? Nutmeg? No. It was ChocNut, that famous confection composed of pulverized cocoa, sugar, powdered milk and peanuts. Now our version of this in the States is the Reese 's peanut butter cup but the chocolate portion of the cup is the usual milk chocolate and the peanut portion is essentially peanut butter. Here, the powders are mixed well and no extra fat in the process is added unlike in the Reese's version. The sprinkling of ChocNut is clever and worked well for the purpose as it blended with the natural taste of the rice which is glutinous and fragrant.
Finally, the scene. Well, its an eating place. Nothing much that's special but when the food is good and and adventurous, who needs it? But it is comfortable, the service relatively quick. I noticed too that there are Filipino paintings on the walls but most of them are hung high near the ceiling that appreciating them is a chore but then, it's a restaurant not a museum.
Kanin Club's take on traditional Filipino may be fresh and besides, who wants the usual? But I think it may need a bit of refinement. Some on mark and may have missed a bit or even overshot. Over all, the effort is commendable.