A few weeks ago, Tsinoy Foodies was asked if we wanted to try out locally produced duck products.  We said yes for two primary reasons: 1.) We love supporting the local food industry and 2.) We are really interested in exploring more on duck meat.  

 

Primaduck Breakfast Platter: Pekin Duck Smoked Longganisa, Pekin Duck Tocino, Pekin Duck Skinless Longganisa and Pekin Duck Tapa

Last week, we received a variety of Primaduck’s frozen Pekin duck meat products.  Upon researching more about the products, we discovered that Primaduck is actually a subsidiary of EDL Agritourism Farm Inc.  What an intriguing coincidence because 8 years ago (way back in 2014), we had a fun experience during our visit in EDL Excellence Gamefarm and Estancia de Lorenzo in San Mateo, Rizal.  During that time, its farms and events places were still being conceptualized and developed.  We have already observed and noted then how EDL really cares about proper training, process and investment in technology in breeding its farm animals.

Now, back to Primaduck and its Pekin duck meat.  Duck meat as a poultry dish is not as popular as chicken.  While there are many types of duck, the Pekin (Asian) or Long Island (Western) duck is the most popular for consumption, because of its quality meat, flavor, tenderness and weight (up to 5 kg).   

Trivia: By the way, just found out that the dish is called Peking Duck but the variant of the duck is called Pekin Duck.  

 

Because ducks are waterfowls (as distinguished from chickens which is a land fowl), it has heavier fat deposit in its skin as protection from the cold then leaner and more protein-filled meat (23% fat content against 40% fat of a store-bought chicken).  Moreover, ducks can fly so it has more blood distribution resulting in darker meat.  The older the duck, the darker the meat.  But to be clear, duck meat is still classified as white meat just as other poultry since it does not contain as much Myoglobin protein as other four-legged mammals.

 

Primaduck Pekin Duck Tocino (250g) P72.00

 
Duck meat usually costs more than Chicken because of raising requirements: 1.) requiring 25% more space than chickens and 2.) taking a week longer and more feeds than chickens to grow to a marketable size.  So it’s really amazing that we have locally-sourced Peking ducks sold by Primaduck at very affordable price marks:
1. Pekin Duck Ball Ham (1kg) P215.00
2. Pekin Duck Square Ham (1kg) P215.00
3. Pekin Duck Honey Cured Bacon (250g) P80.00
4. Pekin Duck Tocino (250g) P72.00
5. Pekin Duck Tapa (250g) P70.00
6. Pekin Duck Skinless Longganisa (220g) P58.00 / (1kg) P200.00
7. Pekin Duck Smoked Longganisa (250g) P95.00
8. Pekin Duck White Sausage (500g) P155.00

 

Duck consumption is growing.  China remains the largest consumer at 76% (5.5M tonnes last 2018), followed by France and Myanmar.  When it comes to duck dishes, the Philippines is already world-renowned for “Balut” which is classified as an exotic dish by foreigners.  Yet, it's quite interesting that Primaduck has innovated ways to make frozen and marinated Pekin duck meat into easy-to-cook Filipino favorites.  Allow us to share our experience with them.

Pekin Duck Honey Cured Bacon (250g) P80.00

 

Among all the variants, we loved the Pekin Duck Honey Cured Bacon the most!  We just cooked this through an air-fryer and our Pekin Duck Honey Cured Bacon turned out to be deliciously lean and crispy.

 

BLT Sandwich with Primaduck Pekin Duck Honey Cured Bacon

 

 

BLT Sandwich with duck bacon, lettuce and tomatoes anyone?  With all honestly, we'd opt for this healthier sandwich and skip the pork bacon any time.

 

 

Primaduck Sandwich Platter: Pekin Duck White Sausage Sandwich, BLT Sandwich w/ Pekin Duck Honey Cured Bacon & Pekin Duck Ham & Cheese Sandwich

Check out our sandwich platter with Pekin Duck White Sausage Sandwich, BLT Sandwich with Pekin Duck Honey Cured Bacon & Pekin Duck Ham & Cheese Sandwich.  Aside from the BLT Sandwich, we also enjoyed the Pekin Duck White Sausage.  The Duck Ham was the sweetened kind which was a bit too sweet for our preference.

Primaduck Silog Platter: Pekin Duck Smoked Longganisa, Pekin Duck Tocino, Pekin Duck Skinless Longganisa and Pekin Duck Tapa

Filipinos love having Silog Meals for Breakfast.  Silog is a Portmanteau word combining sinangag (Filipino fried garlic rice dish) and itlog (Filipino word for "egg").   So we thought of making one using Primaduck's Pekin duck meat products.  

 

Primaduck Pekin Duck Smoked Longganisa

The best of this platter is the Pekin Duck Smoked Longganisa and Pekin Duck Tocino.  The taste and texture is not far off from the usual pork counterpart.  

With the Pekin Duck Skinless Longganisa, we're actually not sure if we cooked it right.  The packaging just says "fry in a single layer pan until cooked".  Unfortunately, since we are new to this type of meat, we had no idea or even an approximately on the temperature or time for cooking it.  We're also not sure how the inner meat when cooked would look like so we're guessing that we failed in cooking this so it tasted kinda funny.  

 

Primaduck Pekin Duck Tapa

The Pekin Duck Tapa was dominantly salty with a counterbalancing pepperish taste.  Since we had a better first try of the Duck Tapa during our visit at Estancia de Lorenzo, we just couldn't help but yearn for that.  

 

Overall, we're so glad to try Primaduck Premium Pekin Duck Meat.  It is an amazing, proudly pinoy product, that shows innovativeness and progression.  Primaduck delivers within Metro Manila so hope you can all check them out.

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The farm to table concept is quite new for me.  But as previously stated, I all in for it!  So when I was invited by the Estancia De Lorenzo team to try and critic their dishes, I was thrilled. 


Upon our arrival, I instantly fell in love with this place.  Who could have thought that such a beautiful place is hidden inside El Dia Farms in San Mateo Rizal.  


Check out the interiors!  It's just like your dream house depicted in some foreign interior magazine right?


Eveything is so lovely that I couldn't help but rush in to check it out more.  The staffs are all full of smiles and politeness as we were greeted and accommodated kind-heartedly.


Each table is completely set up with complete wares. 


Every detail is fascinating even the centerpiece.

Since they are currently on their soft-opening phase, the fresh plant crops still outsourced.  But once the're organic garden is constructed, they will offer their diners a one-of-a-kind experience by allowing them to pick their own ingredients.  The meats are directly sourced since they have their own free-range chicken, shrimp, tilapia and peking duck farm so they are offered fresh and affordable too.

This is just one part of El Dia Farms by the way, they also have an Aviary and Crocodile Farm.  Within a year and a half, this will be a full-blown tourist recreational area with an event place and adventure activities.  I'm very excited for that.  But right now, I'll share with you their awesome dishes that are currently offered.

Food

Our Bowls

50/50 Champorado (120 php)

You can have the 50/50 Champorado for breakfast or dessert.  It's called 50/50 because it has 50% oatmeal and 50% brown rice.  It has a nice rich creamy layer of chocolate on top of the oatmeal and brown rice then meringue frosting and served with a cookie.   

From the Greenhouse

Taro + Bamboo Shoots (150 php)

The Taro + Bamboo Shoot is an interested dip dish.  I love the ingenuity.  It's also very addictive! The dip is a mix of many ingredients:  taro leaves, bamboo shoots, confit garlic, taro root chips, sour cream and cheese.  It is served with grilled crispy flat bread and buttered toasted bread. 

EDL House Salad (180 php)

The EDL House Salad is one of the best salads I've ever had!  It has a perfectly cooked runny organic duck egg, pulled duck bits, roasted beet cubes (I know I've stated that I dislike it but I ate every piece I got because it blends well with the salad), pomelo bits, sweet potato chips, santan flowers, mixed greens and tamarind vinaigrette.  It's so good that even non-veggie lovers will praise this!

Our Boards

Estancia's Duck Burger (200 php)

The Estancia's Duck Burger is an organic thick duck patty with local greens, pickled onions and aioli sandwiched between potato buns.  It is served with their Papaya Ketchup (or Sriracha if you want it spicy like me) and mixed fries.  The sweet potato buns are soft and moist!  The duck patty is very savory and tender to chew.  

Sriracha

They make their own fiery Sriracha and sweet Papaya Ketchup!  Both are really good.  But since I enjoy the hot stuff, I liked their Sriracha more.  It's so good they can these by bottles.


Classic Farm Breakfast (includes 2 free range eggs any style and garlic fried rice)

Estancia's Duck Tapa (180 php)

Every one was exclaiming oohs and aah with glee over the Estancia's Duck Tapa.  I've always been a tapa fan but never have I encountered duck tapa before.  Wow!  It was really good!  This is definitely a must try.  The texture is like meat and the blend of flavors is simply delightful.  This one hefty meal too.  Ladies can opt to share this.

Free Range Chicken Tocino (160 php)

The Free Range Chicken Tocino is also good.  It's not too sweet and the chicken was tender and juicy.  But if you've tried the Estancia's Duck Tapa, this will just be the next best thing.  But if you're a fan of tocino dishes, this is for you.

From the Pond

Tilapia + Shrimp Gyoza (140 php)

The plating of the Tilapia + Shrimp Gyoza is so beautiful that I almost didn't want to eat it.  But, a bite of the gyoza made me want to swipe this plate clean.

Tilapia + Shrimp Gyoza (140 php)

I've tried a lot of gyoza before (beef, pork and chicken) but my golly this Tilapia + Shrimp Gyoza
has left me stupified.  Just by the look you could tell that it's cooked with precision promising a wonderful crispy and softness in every bite.  The ground tilapia and shrimp is very tasty.  They are in perfect harmony with the mango butter, sour cream, shriracha cashews and sweet potato curls. 

Smoked Tilapia Fish Cake (180 php)

To eat the Smoked Tilapia Fish Cake, you crush the smoked tilapia fish cake until it crumbles into grinded bits and mix it together with the green onions, 64 degrees poached egg, linguine pasta in red sweet seafood tomato bisque.  It also has crispy tilapia skin flakes on the side.

Beer-Battered Catfish (180 php)

Steering away from the usual Fish and Chips, Estancia offers the Beer-Battered Catfish laid on top of a squash brown cooked like a roesti and swimming in a pool of coco cashew cream with sayote tops and crushed cashew.  It's the first time I've tried a catfish fillet.  What a great idea!  I've always loved catfish and I'd certainly prefer it over the dory.

Duck Ragu Bolognese (250 php)

Rarely do I encounter a ragu pasta dish.  Boy am I glad they have the Duck Ragu Bolognese.  Yes, its a linguine pasta with less tomato sauce as its emphasis is to bring out the bold flavors of the ground duck meat complemented by the lightly salted duck chicharon.  It also comes with fried battered squash blossoms. 

Desserts

Pandan Cheesecake

The Pandan Cheesecake is to die for!  A taste of this wonderful masterpiece will make you hear the trumpets of heaven.  It's a rich, smooth, creamy and slightly dense pandan cheesecake served with a scoop of ice cream, sweetened kamias, macaroon bits and meringue. 


Drinks
I rarely insist on ordering drinks.  But, really you have to try at least one of their drinks.

House Blend Iced Tea

Pandan Water

This is the best Pandan Water I've tried yet!  This even beats the specialty beverage Pandan Tea of Ilustrado.

Chili Mango

The Chili Mango will definitely capture the hearts of spicy lovers like me.  The combination is so nice because the refreshing sweet note and fiery spice is a nice contrasting yet equally balance and matched duo like fire and ice or like yin and yang.

Cucumber Basil

The Cucumber Basil is another must try!  This a refreshing drink is so cool and cleansing that you'll enjoy every sip.

Tomato and Orange

The Tomato and Orange is a very nutritious beverage that will boost your immune system.  It is served with syrup so you can make it sweeter depending on your preference.  I'm a frequent tomato juice drinker so I'm used to the taste of tomatoes so I enjoyed it even without syrup. =)

Dalandan Lime Soda

No, this is no mojito.  The Dalandan Lime Soda is a mocktail perhaps as it is a nice sweet fizzy citrus drink.

Estancia De Lorenzo Farm to Table Restaurant Team

The Estancia De Lorenzo Farm to Table Restaurant Team who served us.

Tsinoy Foodies Verdict
Estancia De Lorenzo won't be opening till the El Dia Farm is completely developed and open to the public.  However, I have yet to receive of an update.

Agahan offers a fun and cozy modernistic ambiance.  The entire place is filled with colorful pastel colors even the place mats.  The interiors are complemented by the lively music too.  I've never been to a place like it before.  As soon as I sat down, it felt so homey and comfortable that I felt at ease.  

Agahan's unique game dice

Agahan offers games to entertain its customers for FREE.   We, Tsinoy Foodies, love games!  We used to go a long way to Katipunan just to play board games at Game Crab Board Game Cafe where they charge 45 php an hour per person.  I was expecting the highly popular and addictive card game of Monopoly Deal there but they don't have it.  Instead, they interactive group games like Pictureka and Cranium Cards which are also fun too!  Aside from those, the owner Ms. Adee enthusiastically introduced to us her self-innovated card game.  Cool huh?  Well, you'll have to dine there to know about it. =p   As soon as I saw the games, I could envision work teams eating together and playing those games at Agahan as an affordable and convenient team building activity.  It's also a good destressing place after a tiring or stressful day at work.  It could also a family or groupie (barkada) hang out.  Oh, did I mention they offer FREE WiFi too?  The FREE WiFi and the availability of electrical outlets makes the venue ideal for group meetings and solo work and study sessions.  


Food


Agahan Platter

Agahan Platter: Luncheon Meat, Hungarian Sausage and Chicken Nuggets (250 php)

Agahan Platter: Bacon, Tocino and Chicken Nuggets (250 php)

Agahan Platter: Bacon, Tocino and Ligaya's Tapa (250 php)

The Agahan Platter is a customizable combination dish where you can choose three of the following: Chicken Nuggets, Hungarian Sausage, Tapa, Tocino, Bacon and Luncheon Meat.




Bread and Eggs

Bacon and Mushroom 2-Egg Omelette (90 php)

Bacon and Mushroom 2-Egg Omelette (90 php)

♥ Joanne's Special 2-egg Omellete (90 php)

Pancakes (3 pcs.) (75 php) (*the extra is complementary)

Beverages

Hot Chocolate (Tablea) (60 php)

The Hot Chocolate (Tablea) is a rich bitter-sweet dark chocolate. 

Hazelnut Brewed Coffee (unlimited) (50 php)

♥ Organic Iced Tea (50 php)

Cold Milk (50 php)

Everyone was happy with the Cold Milk.  It's one of the best drink to enjoy while eating your breakfast meal.  Don't you agree? =)


Dessert

♥ Choco Banana Brownie (35 php)

The Choco Banana Brownie is delicious!  It tasted dominantly of banana bread topped with chocolate fudge on top. 


Tsinoy Foodies Verdict
Agahan is a great place to hang out and chill.  It certainly offers a one of a kind atmosphere.  It's a breath of fresh air against the usual crowded coffee shops.  In fact we were having so much fun that if we didn't gaze outside through their glass window, we almost forgot that it was night time.  The unique feature of Agahan is that it's a family friendly venue too.  You could leave your kids to play some games while you work on your laptop and I'm sure they won't be bored there.  The food they offer is pretty good and quite affordable.  Both students and employees can drop by anytime at Agahan whenever they please.  If they can't, Agahan also delivers.  The service is excellent.