Kono Mania

Last week, was when I first saw Pizza Cones over at KainPinoy, not knowing that it has been in Vienna since January. According to the chef (who comes from Bangladesh), Kono Mania has been operating at the Millenium foodcourt since January and so he thought it must have been a long time since I visited the place.

Not exactly, in fact I often go there with the kids, I wonder too why I haven't noticed the place...then coming from the 2 entrances of the foodcourt, it is at the farther end of the circle. At the right side of Kono Mania is a running sushi restaurant which the kids and I love...on the left, one would see KFC, Burger King and noodle houses. No wonder the customers seem to settle at the other restaurants before ending up at Kono.

Kono Mania offers various pizza toppings as well as sweet fillings. You can choose from ham, salami, tuna, spinach and ricota except perhaps for pineapples. Unfortunately, I forgot to check the sweet list.

Daughter asked for the Schinken (ham) cone Pizza, we waited for it about 5 minutes more...she was satisfied as well as the little boy who took bites off it and would always say hmmmm...yummy every single chomp! The cheese melted so well and the cone was crispy.

The cone costs 2,70 euros.

Along with their cone pizzas, pasta is also served. I had the Pomodoro e mozarella, served in hefty portion, I barely finished it...the tomato sauce and mozarella combi was really good and blended well with the rightly cooked pasta. This serving costs 5,90 euros.

Son1 had spaghetti bolognese and though I ordered the junior size, he had the same amount as mine...it was too much for him to finish. He said its so good and was really happy about it. Son1 asked me to taste it, and I obliged, I tasted carrots along with the meat and rich sauce.

The junior size costs 4,60 euros.

Despite the good food, and cozy little dining area, I still wonder why Kono Mania remains a hole-in-the-wall.

Kono Mania
Millenium City foodcourt
Handelskai 94-96 1200 Vienna

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Corned Beef Sinigang

I've been seeing this dish for quite sometime now and was eager to try it since the kids love corned beef for breakfasts and sinigang soup (plus kangkong) a lot. I thought the combination would be good and it was, they love it well that they asked for a second serving.

I used Liza's recipe from last week, thanks Liza, I only added chunks of beef because hubby might look for them in the dish =) I unfortunately have kangkong (water spinach) and tomatoes only for veggies since we do not eat eggplant and radish...The recipe is as simple as the sinigang mix package directions just subsitute corned beef for fish/shrimp/pork.

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Food Friday - Grilled Boneless Pork Chop

My husband is a little picky with meat, he only eats pork when its fried or grilled, so here, I grilled boneless pork chop that has been marinated with different herbs, curry powder and pepper!

For side dish, I fried string beans bundled up with bacon. Enjoy your weekend with more great food. Visit Maiylah's page.

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Repost: Umami, the 5th taste

Our tongue has been used to foods that are sweet, salty, bitter, sour and also spicy. We even learned that our tongue has different areas of taste maps. Technically, there were only 4 (spicy being a sensation) but a fifth taste emerged, referred to as Umami, Japanese for 'beautiful flavor' or 'good taste.'

Umami taste can be found in many foods such as walnuts, grapes, broccoli, tomatoes, mushrooms, seaweed and parmesan cheese. But the most common we are familiar of is Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) or Vetsin. It is also in soy sauce, fish sauce and ketchup.

In 1907, Professor Kikunae Ikeda of Tokyo Imperial University started his experiments regarding the taste apart from the 4 common flavors known to man. He knew that umami can be tasted in dashi stock (soup out of kelp which is used as base for many Japanese dishes). Prof. Ikeda extracted glutamic acid (glutamate) from the konbu broth, crystallized it and called it 'umami,' coined from the Japanese word umai (delicious).

(photo and other info courtesy of http://www.glutamate.org/media/discovery_of_glutamate.asp)

Contrary to popular belief, MSG is not unhealthy or full of chemicals, glutamate is in fact an amino acid which plays an important role in the body's metabolism. MSG enhances the flavor of food, so if raw food contains saltiness and you added MSG, it becomes saltier naturally. No need for salt which contains 1/3 more of sodium, a mineral linked to certain health risks.

Nutritionists recommend that we eat foods that are low on fat and sodium, that means less salt...so next time you cook consider omitting salt, don't worry that food will taste bland, all you need is a dash of MSG!

Note: I have read and heard other people saying otherwise, so if you are or if you know a nutrition expert, please do ask!

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