266 – THIS OR THAT 1: Banapple’s Creamy Chicken Pie or Casa Daza’s Chicken Empanada

Before I proceed, I’d like to give an introduction on this new post.

As we all know, we can’t simply leave our houses anymore for non-essential travel so every venture outside ought to be planned. Leaving the house for supply runs puts us at risk for the coronavirus. With that said, most of us can’t exactly dine in anymore for fear of contracting the virus in an enclosed space.

We don’t know who among the other diners we may encounter has the virus – so the next best option is to either order food from delivery apps or visit the restaurant for takeaway, or tapau as the Singaporeans call it.

Today’s new format is similar to the triptychs I’ve been doing for the longest time, but the only difference is that only two food items will be compared. At the end of the post, I’m going to say if I prefer this or that.

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Banapple: Katipunan’s well-loved kitchen

First up is Banapple’s Creamy Chicken Pie. Banapple is one of the restaurants most people nowadays would visit for good food and cakes.

The Creamy Chicken Pie is basically made using standard pie dough with egg wash. Areas where the egg wash was brushed on have a dark brown color. The actual pie is almost as big as my closed fist. A closer look reveals small cracks at the domed top because of the dough expanding during baking. I divided the pie and saw the shredded chicken meat filling that had cream sauce, green onion, and herbs. The pie’s biscuit-like edges tasted bland, however.

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Casa Daza: Keeping traditional fare alive

And going toe to toe against Banapple’s pie is the Chicken Empanada from Casa Daza. This one is based on the traditional empanada de kaliskis from Bulacan province.

The Chicken Empanada’s top is layered like the scales on a fish, which it takes its name from. It’s smaller than Banapple’s chicken pie, but its packed filling more than makes up for the size deficiency. Its filling is composed of chicken, raisins, cheese, and hard-boiled egg sautéed together for that guisado flavor. The dough is sweet, which apparently helps balance out the filling’s savory taste. Meanwhile, the edges were sweet and flaky – which also contributed in making the empanada less overwhelming.

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So, will it be Banapple’s Creamy Chicken Pie or Casa Daza’s Chicken Empanada?

I pick Casa Daza’s Chicken Empanada mainly because of the dry, guisado chicken filling. The sweet dough counters the savory taste of the filling’s ingredients, making it a good option for a quick yet heavy snack!

And that ends this new post format, the very first one. Stay tuned here at The Monching’s Guide for more posts like this – as part of the new normal.

Until the next post, bon appetit and stay safe!

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