Filipino Recipes

Fish Cardillo

2010-06-10T03:30:00.000-07:00

1 kilo whole fish (or fish steak), cleaned
1 tsp. salt
cooking oil for frying
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 medium-sized onions, diced (¾ cup)
2 pcs. eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup water
Salt and pepper to taste

Clean fish; cut crosswise into serving pieces if desired or leave whole. Put salt on the fish and set aside.

Heat oil and fry fish until nicely browned; drain and set aside in a platter.
Pour excess oil and leave some to saute garlic, onion and tomatoes until soft.
Add seasonings and water.
Bring to boil; remove from heat and stir in beaten eggs.
Pour mixture over fried fish; serve hot.

Trivia:
This fish dish is simple to prepare but is surprisingly tasty. It is really just fried fish with a saute of garlic, onions and fresh tomatoes to which is added some stock and beaten egg. Very often, a dish such as this is forgotten and then when one makes it again, one rediscovers that it is quite good, tasty and inexpensive.

No one knows the origins of fish cardillo. I suppose that someone must have gotten tired of plain fried fish and decided to add sauce. During the Great Maya Cookfest Culinary Exchange Program, it was thought good enough to merit being demonstrated to our Asian neighbors.

Humba

2010-06-09T22:30:00.000-07:00

1 kilo pork pigue or pork kasim, whole
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup water
2 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
½ cup vinegar
1 spring oregano
½ bay leaf (laurel)
1 heaping tbsp. tausi (salted black beans)
2 tbsp. fat

Mix all ingredients and cook until pork is tender. Slice pork into serving pieces. Arrange on a platter, set aside.
Strain sauce and pour over pork. Serve hot.

Trivia:
Humba is part of our culinary heritage though it surely originated from the Chinese because of the black beans and peanuts that go into the dish as well as the name which includes the syllable "ba" and which means pork in Chinese. We have translated the recipe to please our Filipino palate bycovering the bottom of the clay pots in which the humba is cooked with banana leaves. Filipinos love to wrap, steam and broil food in banana leaves, and the humba is no exception.

In Leyte, the humba is cooked in either clay pots or heavy calderos. At the bottom of the cooking pot is placed an inverted porcelain plate so that the pork does not stick there when cooked. The dish is popular not only because of its delicious flavor or the way the pork fat almost melts with the long slow cooking but because it keeps for days, an important factor in the era before electricity and refrigeration reached this island province. Like the adobo, the humba is better tasting days after it is cooked.

Fish Curry

2010-06-09T18:22:00.000-07:00

1 kilo fillet of fish (lapu-lapu or any white fish)
¼ tsp. turmeric powder
½ tsp. shrimp paste (bagoong)
¼ tsp. salt
3 tbsp. fish sauce (patis)
½ cup oil
1 cup onions, chopped or minced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp. ginger, crushed
1 tbsp. paprika powder
½ tsp. chili powder (or crushed dried red chili)
1 tbsp. tamarind paste (thick tamarind juice)
6 coriander sprigs
½ cup water (optional)

Marinate the fish fillet (cut into desired pieces) with turmeric, shrimp paste, salt, fish sauce and set aside.

In a large pan, heat the oil and when it is hot, turn down heat and brown the onions, garlic, and ginger until soft. Mix well. Add paprika and chili powders. Stir and immediately add the marinated fillet. Stir lightly and cover.

Shake the pan frequently and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes. Add the tamarind paste/juice and water (optional) and the coriander. Turn off heat. Check the seasoning and correct if necessary before serving.

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

2010-06-09T18:00:00.000-07:00

300 grams crab meat
8 medium sized shrimps cut into strips
⅔ cup ground pork
½ cup soy bean noodles, (bead thread)
2 pcs. Chinese mushrooms (soaked in water for 1 hour), sliced very thinly
1 egg
½ of a big onion, chopped
White part of green onion
Salt and pepper
Patis (fish sauce)
Rice paper (wrapper)

Mix all ingredients together and wrap in rice paper (lumpia wrapper) firmly. Fry in oil. Care should be taken that the oil is not too hot so that the ingredients inside the spring roll will cook properly. Store the lumpia upright so that the excess oil can be drained.

Sauce: Mix all ingredients.

3 tbsp. patis

Garlic

Hot chili

6 tsp. vinegar

6 tsp. water

5 tsp. sugar

carrots, sliced thinly in fine strips

white radish, sliced thinly in fine strips

Serve with very fresh lettuce, basil leaves, mint leaves and coriander leaves (wansuey), and the sauce.

Trivia:
In the 1930s and earlier, fried lumpia was filled with either an assortment of vegetables or ground beef and pork with cubed potatoes. Today, fried lumpia in all its variations can be found all over the world but it is certain that it is Chinese in origin. The Chinese say "Popia" for lumpia. Most countries in Southeast Asia use a name that is derived from "Popia".

Kuhol Bicol

2010-06-09T17:45:00.000-07:00

2 tbsp. cooking oil
⅓ to ½ cup bagoong alamang
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 thumb-size fresh ginger, chopped
1 thumb-size fresh turmeric (luyang dilaw), chopped
1 cup chopped onions
3 kilos kuhol (snails, or escargot)
1 to 2 pcs. finger pepper (Jalapeña)
5 cups coconut milk
2 cups coconut cream
*For spicy hot kuhol add 1 to 3 pcs. hot chili

Wash river snails thoroughly, scrubbing the shells. Heat cooking oil and add garlic sautéing till golden brown. Add ginger, turmeric, onions and cook till mushy. Add bagoong and cook until all are well-blended. Add kuhol and five cups of coconut milk. Cook over low heat tightly covered until kuhol is tender. Add coconut cream and continue cooking till sauce is thick and oil comes to the surface. If mixture should dry out, add water and continue cooking. Kuhol should be tender before it can be served.

Trivia:
A few years ago, kuhol (snails, or escargot) became a hit in Manila. The initial enthusiasm has died down. Yet, kuhol is a delicious inexpensive source of protein. Kuhol Bicol was a crowd drawer at the Aux Iles Philippines restaurant in Paris. The French, being lovers of escargot, took to this recipe with gusto.

M E A T

2010-06-09T17:31:00.000-07:00

Very early writings note that goats, carabaos and deer were the meats our ancestors hunted and ate. Pork may have come from the wild boar, the "baboy damo" or jabali as the Spanish called it.

In my childhood days, pigs were almost all black with an occasional albino. They were small with long snouts. Someone taught me that the better breed was one that had a short snout and with limbs that were muscled even when it was young.

Today, what we have are cross-bred pigs that are best suited for our climate and yield excellent pork. In fact, pork is the one item in today's markets that we can be proud of.

From the 1980s, the pork and poultry industries had big companies investing millions to produce the meats most popular in the Philippines. It is cattle, however, that has not been cultivated enough to meet the demands of today's Filipinos.

Today, the quality of pork has improved, making it for tender probably due to the better distribution of fat in the meat. Chicken, on the other hand, has become bland and less tasty than those which were grwon and marketed up to the 1950s. Ducks and geese are still not available in steady quantities. Pigeon raising was quite common in most homes all over the Philippines but this practice seems to have decreased considerably. Quails are raised mostly for eggs which are in demand in Chinese restaurants. Among the sources of meat, it is cattle that seems to have been introduced later in our history.

Beef has undergone changes in marketing and concepts through the years. It was believed that good beef had fat that was yellow. This was usually associated with Batangas beef, then and now still synonymous to high quality local beef. I was also under the impression that beef in the country is different from those found abroad.

Those impressions, however, were corrected by Mr. Gerry Aranez, a specialist who fattens cattle in his own farm in Batangas for his stores to Metro Manila. From him I learned that yellow fat comes from cows that are past calf-bearing stage and are then slaughtered for beef. Good beef should be cherry red in color and the fat should be white. And from what Mr. Aranez has been producing in his farm, we know that quality beef comparable to that raised in Kobe, Japan, can be had here.

Leche Flan

2010-06-09T08:24:00.000-07:00

Leche flan
1¼ cups evaporated milk
¾ cups water
8 egg yolks
1 tsp. lemon rind or vanilla
½ cup caramel syrup *

Scald the evaporated milk and water in double-boiler for 15 minutes. Beat egg yolks. Add sugar, milk and flavoring. Pour into 1 quart mold.

*Caramelized syrup
1 cup sugar
½ cup hot water

Melt sugar in heavy metal container. As soon as sugar is golden brown, add ½ cup hot water to dissolve caramelized sugar and form syrup.

Put the mixture in a mold and cover with wax paper fastened wit a cord.

Place the mold in the pressure cooker. Put enough water to submerge the bottom of the mold. Cover well and put gauge in #5. When it starts to "tic tic tic", count 3 minutes and remove pressure cooker from the stove. Leave it to cool. Before opening the pressure cooker, remember to remove the gauge.

**This is my favorite dessert and I'm really going to make one.

Pancit Malabon

2010-06-09T05:55:00.000-07:00

There are many versions of the pancit Malabon. The Pascual family of that town serve the noodles, called Bihon sariwa, and the mixtures, called Sahog, separate. There would be two kilos of fresh shrimps, the dark variety called swahe, still jumping when bought. There would be pork cubes, tinapa(smoked fish) that was just bought and then shredded, newly cooked chicharon which was pounded to bits, and sliced native pechay.

It is the sauce, called the Palabok, which distinguishes one pancit Malabon from another. The sauce is all-important which is why the noodle dish is also known as pancit palabok. The sauce is usually made of shrimp stock, a dozen egg yolks, a little bit of achuete, some starch for a thicker consistency, and of course, the best patis and some calamansi for flavoring.

The old way Pancit Malabon was made was quite different. It had no palabok, just the sahog, the noodles cooked with oil from pork fat and colored with achuete. In the old days also, the luglug was eaten in a small soup bowl called a mangkok, the kind the Chinese use as rice bowl. These days, the pancit is almost always served in bigger Western style soup bowls. The bowl may be all that remains of the Chinese influence because there used to be a time when the pancit was eaten with bamboo chopsticks the called "sipit". Another surprising trivia was a side dish known as balubad that was supposed to neutralize the taste of the rich palabok sauce or as the Tagalogs would put it, "pampaalis ng suya". It was doubly surprising to find out that balubad is the yellow fruit of the casuy.

Pansit luglug is another name for pancit Malabon because the noodles are dipped with a bamboo strainer into boiling stock and the action is called "niluluglug". The luglug is usually eaten with kamachile cookies, a dry kind of cookie with a slight buttery taste so called because it is shaped like the kamachile fruit.

Instant Corn Soup with Quail Eggs

2010-06-09T05:39:00.000-07:00

6 cups water
4 pcs. chicken bouillon cubes
1 can cream of corn
½ medium-sized carrot, finely chopped
2 dozens, quail eggs, hard-cooked
1 egg, slightly beaten
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp. cornstarch dispersed in 3 tbsp. water

Boil water and bouillon cubes. Add cream of corn, grated carrots and quail eggs. Wait for the soup to boil then add the beaten egg while stirring the soup. Season with salt and pepper. Thicken with cornstarch.

Chicken Spaghetti

2010-06-09T05:35:00.000-07:00

3 tbsp. cooking oil
1 medium-sized onion, sliced
1 pc. chorizode bilbao, sliced
4 slices sweet ham, cut in ½inch squares
3 eggs, hard cooked, finely chopped
1 whole chicken, cut in half
1 tsp. whole peppercorns
1 tbsp. rock salt
9 cups water
1 can (385 grams) tomato sauce
½ cup grated cheese
1 pack (450 grams) spaghetti noodles

Sauté onions, chorizo de bilbao and sweet ham in oil. Set aside. Meanwhile boil chicken in 9 cups of water, with quartered onins, rock salt and peppercorns.

When chicken is cooked, remove it from the stock and shred the chicken meat. Strain stock to remove peppercorns and onions then boil the chicken stock under medium heat.

When the stock starts to boil add 1 pack of uncooked noodles, chopped hard cooked eggs, tomato sauce, and the chorizo de bilbao, sweet ham mixture. Continue cooking until noodles are al dente. Add grated cheese. Blend well then remove from fire.

Seafood Brochette

2010-06-09T05:24:00.000-07:00

½ kilo large prawns, shelled
½ kilo large squid, peeled and cut into 1 inch rings (save tentacles for another dish)
½ kilo lapu-lapu fillet, cut into match box size cubes
¾ cup virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. brandy
1 tsp. Italian seasoning or a few sprigs of fresh dill
½ tsp. salt
Freshly ground pepper
Skewers or barbecue sticks

Marinate prawns, squid and fish in olive oil, brandy and seasonings overnight. Skewer alternately into sticks or metal skewers. Broil over charcoal for 3-4 minutes on each side. Serve wih lemon wedges.
Makes 6-8 servings.

Tuna Macaroni Rolls

2010-06-09T05:09:00.000-07:00

¾ c. salad macaroni, cooked al dente
2 c. water
1 can tuna flakes in brine (184 grams), drained
1 egg, beaten
¼ c. frozen peas
1 tbsp. Maya all-purpose flour
½ c. grated cheddar cheese
Salt & pepper to taste
18 pcs. large lumpia wrappers
Oil for frying

Cook the macaroni in enough water in a deep pan. Drain but do not rinse. Transfer to a bowl.

Add all the next ingredients except the wrappers. Season to taste. Mix well.

Wrap 2 tbsp. of mixture in each lumpia wrapper. Deep fry until golden brown.

Quick tip:
The best dried pasta is made from durum-wheat semolina and water. When stored in a cool, dry place, dried pasta will keep immediately.

Buko Pie

2010-06-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

For the Double Crust Pie:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
⅓ cup margarine or butter
⅓ cup shortening
3 to 4 tbsp. cold water

Using two knives, cut shortening and butter or margarine into the flour and salt mixture. Cut until the pieces are about the size of peas. Moisten with cold water and gather into a ball.
Divide into two parts. Roll out the dough to fit the bottom of the pie plate. Reserve the other for the top.

Buko Filling:
2 cps buko meat, scraped
¾ cup sugar
½ evaporated milk
½ cornstartch dispersed in
½ cup buko water

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly until thick. Pour into pastry lined pan. Top with a second crust and bake at 400°F until top is golden brown. Top crust should be perforated with holes to allow steam to escape while baking. Serve cold.

Gado-gado

2010-06-08T07:15:00.000-07:00

100 grams cabbage
100 grams Baguio beans
100 grams carrots
100 grams cauliflower
150 grams togue
1 cucumber
2 medium potatoes
2 square tokwa, fried until light brown, then cubed

Wash and clean all the vegetables.
Boil water in a big pan and add a little salt. Blanch the vegetables one at a time. Strain.
Arrange the vegetables and tokwa on a platter.

Peanut Sauce:
3 tbsp. oil
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup sibuyas tagalog, minced
¼ cup bagoong alamang
1 siling baba, sliced
2-3 tbsp. brown sugar
¼ cup tamarind juice
¾ cup peanut butter
1 coconut grated -- add ½ cup water to obtain 2 cups coco milk

Heat oil. Saute garlic and sibuyas tagalog. Add bagoong, sili, sugar and tamarind juice. Mix in peanut butter and coco milk.
Correct seasoning. Serve with the above vegetables.

Superslaw

2010-06-08T06:22:00.000-07:00

Salad dressing:
6 tbsp. rice vinegar
8 tbsp. olive oil
5 tbsp. creamy peanut butter
3 tbsp. soy sauce
3 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. minced fresh vinegar
1½ tbsp. minced garlic

7 c. shredded cabbage
2 red bell pepper, blanched and cut into matchstick strips
½ c. fresh cilantro or parsley, chopped

Whisk salad dressing ingredients in small bowl to blend.

Combine vegetables in a large bowl. Add dressing and toss to coat. Season with salt & pepper.

Variation:
You can add drained pineapple chunks and marshmallows.

Quick Tip:
Choose a cabbage that is heavy, compact and has shiny, well-colored leaves that are free from cracks and bruises.

Fisherman's Soup

2010-06-06T20:29:00.000-07:00

1 clove garlic, crushed
1 clove onion, chopped
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
3 tbsp. Maya all-purpose flour
1 fish broth cube boiled in
3 c. water
200 grams potatoes, chopped
1 can whole kernel corn (425 grams), undrained
400 grams mixed meat & seafood balls
Salt & pepper to taste

In a large saucepan, sauté garlic and onions in oil over medium heat until tender. Stir in flour, cook 1 minute. Stir in broth, cook until thickened, stirring occasionally. Stir in potatoes and corn.

Add the mixed meat and seafood balls. Simmer until cooked. Season to taste.

Trivia
Some old Filipino folks will tell you that if a fish bone gets stuck in your throat, don't tell anyone. Just turn your plate around three times and the bone will disappear.

Vegetable Tofu Soup

2010-06-06T20:23:00.000-07:00

1 chicken broth cube
3 c. water
½ tbsp. minced onion
2 tbsp. crushed dried oregano
1 c. frozen mixed vegetables
1 pack cream of mushroom soup powder (70 grams), dissolved in
5 c. water
¾ c. milk
125 grams firm tofu, drained and cubed
Salt & pepper to taste

In a 3-quart saucepan put the chicken broth, add water, onion and oregano. Boil

Add frozen mixed vegetables. Boil then reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 3 minutes.

Stir in dissolved cream of mushroom soup. Gradually add milk, then bring to a boil. Reduce heat.

Add tofu. Season to taste. Serve hot

Trivia
Tofu is amazingly versatile, it easily absorbs the flavor of the food with which it is combined. It also contains up to 3 times more iron than cooked meat.

Tom Yum Goong (Thai Hot and Sour Prawn Soup)

2010-06-05T20:32:00.000-07:00

400 grams (14 oz.) medium-size prawns
3 stalks lemon grass
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp. chopped coriander root
4-6 pieces peppercorn
½ inch (15mm.) knob fresh Kha (Siamese ginger)
2 fresh red chilies
4 small fresh green chilies
6½ c. chicken stock
4 Khaffir lime leaves (Makrood)
⅓ cup vegetable oil
2 tbsp. fish sauce (patis)
2 tbsp. lime sauce (dayap)
Freshly shredded coriander leaves

Shell and devein the prawns, leaving the tails intact. Retain the heads and shells. Cut the lemon grass into short lengths, approximately 1 inch and pound lightly with the back of the knife. Place the garlic coriander root and peppercorn in a mortar and pound into a smooth paste. Slice the ginger, cut the chilies into very tiny rings and shred the lime leaves.

Heat the oil in the sauce pan, add the prawn heads and shells and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes. Then add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Cover the pan, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Pour the stock through a fine strainer into a fresh saucepan and bring back to the boil.

Stir in the spice-paste and add the lemon grass, ginger, lime leaves and prawns. Bring back to boil and allow to cook for approximately 3 more minutes.

Chicken and Pork Adobo

2010-06-05T01:13:00.000-07:00

1 cup vinegar
1 head garlic, crushed
10 pcs. peppercorn, crushed
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp. rock salt
4 tbsp. soy sauce
1 kilo chicken, cut into serving pieces
½ kilo pork, cut into 1-inch by 2-inch pieces
⅛ kilo pork liver, cut into 1-inch by 2-inch pieces
1½ - 2 cups water
cooking oil for frying

In a saucepan, combine vinegar, garlic, crushed peppercorn, bay leaf, rock salt and soy sauce. Put in chicken, pork and liver. Let simmer for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Add water and simmer uncovered until tender. Strain sauce; set aside. Take the liver from the meats and chop finely. Combine with the sauce; set aside.

Heat cooking oil and brown garlic and meat pieces. Pour sauce with liver. Stir once, cover and simmer until sauce thickens.
Serves 10.

Pork Barbecue

2010-06-04T18:04:00.000-07:00

1 kilo pork, cut into bite-size pieces

Marinade:
⅓ cup calamansi juice
¾ cup soy sauce
¾ cup Seven-Up
1½ tbsp. chili sauce
3 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. mono sodium glutamate
Salt & pepper to taste

Pork pieces must be marinated overnight in a refrigerator. Arrange in barbecue sticks. Mix marinade with banana catsup. Brush on pork pieces and broil over charcoal.
Banana Catsup - use with marinade to brush barbecue as it is being charcoal broiled.

Calderetta

2010-06-04T17:31:00.000-07:00

½ kilo pierna corta (beef round), cut in serving pieces
¼ cup vinegar
10 pcs. peppercorn, crushed
1 tsp. salt
2 cloves garlic
¼ cup cooking oil
1 cup onion, sliced
½ cup tomato sauce
1½ - 2 cups boiling water
1 cup red or green pepper, cut into strips
1 pc. laurel or bay leaf
dash of hot sauce
¼ cup liver spread

Marinate beef in mixture of vinegar, peppercorn, salt and crushed garlic for 1½ to 2 hours. Fry pieces of beef in cooking oil. Add onions and saute until tender. Pour in tomato sauce and boiling water. Add the green pepper, bay leaf and hot sauce as desired. Cover and simmer until meat is tender. Blend in liver spread. Cook 5 minutes more. Serves 5.

Trivia
This is a dish of Spanish origin and the name comes from the Spanish word caldero which means cooking pot. Calderetta is often found in fiestas from Batanes to Jolo.

At the Philippine restaurant in Paris, this was one of the popular items which was prepared with lamb shoulder, green olives, liver and other spices.

Our own calderetta has liver with a touch of chili for added spice. Marinating the meat is an essential step in the preparation of this dish.

Whether one's favorite is calderetta made of beef, lamb or goat's meat, the prime objective is to find the blend of flavors that suits one's taste best.

Crisp Spinach Leaves

2010-06-04T17:23:00.000-07:00

Select fresh, large and unblemished spinach leaves.

Prepare a tempura-like batter using:
1 cup cold water
1 large egg
1 cup sifted cake flour

Beat egg with water and add flour all at once. Mix lightly, stirring not more than five times. Lumps will remain but this is all right. A pinch of salt may be added to improve the flavor of the batter.

Tempura Dipping Sauce:

1½ cups of Dashi-no-moto (Japanese instant soup stock)
½ cup soy sauce
¼ cup Mirin (Sweet sake, a Japanese wine)
Combine the above ingredients; bring to a boil and cool.

When serving Crisp Spinach Leaves, you can add some grated white radish and wasabe (Japanese green mustard) in mounds on the side.

Prepare the wasabe mixture by adding drops of water to 2 tsp. of wasabe powder. Mix, adding water till a smooth paste or medium consistency is attained.

Grate white radish and arrange in a mound. The wasabe may be put in tiny mounds also. The blend of the Tempura Dipping Sauce with the grated radish and wasabe is usually served for Tempura.

A P P E T I Z E R

2010-06-04T17:07:00.000-07:00

Whether they are called canapés, hors d' oeuvres, antipasto or antipasti, nibblers or nosh they are all bits of tasty food that are meant to stimulate the appetite and prime one's sense to enjoy the main plat de resistance.

Today's appetizers are also used to calm the hungry while awaiting the other guests or the meal that will be the main attraction of the lunch or dinner.

When choosing appetizers, one should select those that balance the flavors or contrast with the dishes that are to come. If the main dish is focused on meats or fish, hors d' oeuvres should be vegetable that can be used to dunk, spear or pick up with fingers into a tasty dip with cream, yogurt or cheese.

With the world of food crossing national boundaries as never before, appetizers can go from fried wontons, lumpia, ukoy, crispy spinach leaves to cucumbers, carrots and celery dunked in a dip with innumerable variations.

In Manila where almost all Filipinos come to spend some time during that year, those who have traveled and lived abroad come back and serve appetizers and meals they have learned and adapted all over the world. Food in Manila now features those found in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Hong Kong and Singapore

Dinuguan

2010-05-31T05:39:00.000-07:00

2 tbsp. cooking oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, minced
1/2 k. pork head, boiled until soft then diced
1 pc. pork heart, boiled then diced
100 grams pork liver, diced
1/2- 3/4 cup native vinegar
2 cups broth
1 1/4 cups pork blood
1 cup beef blood
4 pcs. long green sili (hot pepper)
1 tbsp. salt
1/2 tsp. mono sodium glutamate

Saute garlic in cooking oil add onion, pork head, heart and liver. Pour in vinegar and boil uncovered, without stirring until vinegar has evaporated. Add broth, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain pork and beef blood stirring continuously until thick. Drop sili. Simmer 5 minutes more. Season with salt and mono sodium glutamate.

Dinuguan 2 (a variation):
1/2 kilo pork
3 cups water with 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup pig's blood
1/2 cup cow's blood
4 tbsp. cooking oil
1 tbsp. pounded garlic
1/2 cup onions, sliced fine
1/2 cup tomatoes, chopped
1 radish finely released
1 cup vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil the pork until soft and tender. Reserve 2 cups of the broth. Cut pork into small cubes. Combine the broth, pig's blood and cow's blood. Set aside.
Saute the garlic until golden brown. Then add the onions and tomatoes. Cook for about 10 minutes. Add the boiled pork, radish and vinegar. Cook for 5-6 minutes without stirring then add the mixture of blood broth. Season with salt and pepper and stir continuously to prevent the curdling of the blood. Cook for 10 minutes. Serve hot or cold.

Trivia
While Dinuguan has always been a part of main meals, the trend today is to serve it with puto* as a merienda item.
A good dinuguan should have pork that is tender, a vinegar flavor that is not pronounced and a smooth sauce that has been carefully cooked so the blood added does not curdle. The traditional way is to add intestines, etc. a revised pork recipe is given here where a pig's head may be used. However, any pork cut will do.

Lomo Guisado

2010-05-28T20:15:00.000-07:00

1 kilo beef tenderloin or round steak cut into 2" strips
3 tbsp. cooking oil
5 segments garlic, minced
2 onions, chopped finely
thin strips of ginger
4 big ripe tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup soy sauce
salt and pepper
4- 6 beef stock or beef bouillon

Heat fan in a saucepan. Sauté garlic until brown. Add onion, ginger and tomatoes and cook over slow fire for 10 minutes. Add meat and soy sauce. Add beef stock 1/2 cup at a time and simmer until meat is done and tender. Add just enough liquid to cover meat strips. Serve hot

*Beef bouillon may be prepared with 1 cup water for every cube of bouillon.

Trivia
I am told that Lomo Guisado originated in the Visayas where they use carabao meat instead of beef and that sometimes, fresh blood would be added to the soup.
Very important in the preparation of the Lomo Guisado is the pressing of the meat strips against the side of the saucepan so that the meat juices are squeezed out and dissolved into the broth. The stock therefore attains a very rich flavor and the meat becomes tender

Mushroom Paté

2010-05-28T20:07:00.000-07:00

2 tbsp. butter
2 c. onions, chopped
4 1/2 c. fresh oyster
   mushrooms, roughly sliced
1 c. walnuts, chopped
   Parsley leaves
   Salt & pepper to taste
   thin slices of toast
1/2 cucumber, sliced into sticks

Sauté onions in butter. Add the mushrooms, simmer until cooked.

Transfer the cooked mushrooms to a food processor with their juices. Add the walnuts, parsley and process briefly until the mixture is smooth. Season to taste.

Serve on toasts with cucumber sticks.

Menudo

2010-05-28T01:11:00.000-07:00

800 grams pork, cut into about 2 cm. cubes
200 grams pork liver, cut into cubes
3 tbsp. cooking oil
3 cloves garlic
1- 2 onions, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup tomato paste or 1 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup vinegar
2 tbsp. soy sauce
2- 4 tbsp. brown sugar
2 cups pork or chicken stock or water
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 bay leaves
1 big red bell pepper, cut in strips
3- 4 pcs. potatoes, diced (about 300 grams)
1 cup chick peas (garbanzos), cooked and peeled
10 pcs. green olives (optional)
1/2 cup raisins

Heat cooking oil. Sauté the garlic and onions. Add tomato paste, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar and pork or chicken stock. Add the pork but set aside the liver. When pork is tender, season with salt, pepper and bay leaves. Mix the rest of the ingredients including the liver.

Trivia
Menudo can be prepared with garbanzos (Chickpeas) with guisantes (green peas) or simply with potatoes. Recently, I tried menudo with camote (sweet potatoes) and found it to be seasoned just right for the Filipino taste; a bit on the sweet side because of the camote. Even with the kind of meat used, menudo has many versions. I have tried using ground beef and ground pork. The most popular version, however, is one that is made with pork, a little pork liver, potatoes, garbanzos and tomato sauce.
The above recipe uses almost all possible ingredients, including green olives and raisins. This is to allow different versions by either reducing or modifying ingredients to suit one's taste, time and budget.

Fish Kinilaw

2010-05-27T17:02:00.000-07:00

1 kilo white meat fish (tuna, labahita or bangus), skinned and deboned

½ cup vinegar
1 thumb-sized ginger root, cut into fine strips
1 cup onions, chopped
½ cup tomatoes, seeded and chopped
¼ cup green onions, chopped
½ cup vinegar
1- 2 tsp. salt
2- 4 small hot chilis, pounded
½ cup dayap juice or calamansi juice
½- ¾ cup coconut cream

Wash the skinned fish and cut into bite-sized pieces. Add ½ cup vinegar to rinse and gently wash the fish pieces in vinegar. Squeeze vinegar out.

Add ginger, onions, tomatoes, green onions, ½ cup vinegar, salt and chilis. The amount of chilis will determine how "hot" your kinilaw will be. And the ½ cup dayap juice or calamansi. The dayap gives a better flavor than calamansi.

Add salt and allow the marinated fish to "cook" in a covered bowl in the refrigerator. Correct seasoning. The fish flesh will turn white. Just before serving add the coconut cream, and serve at once.

Trivia
Kinilaw na isda is basically raw fish salad. What makes the standard kinilaw different from the Japanese sashimi is that the raw fish is almost "cooked" by the vinegar that is used to soak the fish for a while before being squeezed out. Finely chopped ginger and onions are usually added, spiked with hot chili and flavored with calamansi and salt.
Variations, however, are many. Coconut milk is sometimes added for some fish like the tanguigue not only for a richer quality but also to take out the fishy taste. Some people prefer toasted shredded coconut meat with their kinilaw. A Davao version is very plain bariles (large tuna) fillet that uses a minimum of vinegar and so maintains its raw red color.
And then there are those who like their kinilaw with mayonnaise. This variation seems to take rather seriously the American definiion of raw fish salad. But done by an expert, the result is one that blends well the sour taste from the vinegar and the sweet taste of the mayonnaise.

Hot and Sour Chicken Soup

2010-05-26T11:44:00.000-07:00

1 chicken broth cube boiled in
3 c. water
1/2 c. can button mushrooms
1 can bamboo shoots (50 grams), sliced
2 tbsp. sliced fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. soy sauce
1/4 tsp. hot pepper flakes
2 cans chicken chunks (165 grams each), shredded
250 grams chicken balls, sliced in half
1/4 c. shredded kimchi
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in
1 tbsp. vinegar
2 stalks green onion, chopped
1 tbsp. sesame oil

In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken broth, water, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, ginger, garlic, soy sauce and hot pepper flakes to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer.

Increase the heat under the broth to medium-high and return it to a boil. Add the chicken and kimchi to soup. Stirring constantly, slowly pour in the beaten egg. Stir in the cornstarch mixture. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the soup has thickened slightly, about 3 minutes.

Stir in the green onion and sesame oil and serve hot.

Corned Beef Macaroni Soup

2010-05-26T11:19:00.000-07:00

8 cloves garlic, crushed
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tbsp. melted butter
1 can corned beef (200 grams)
200 grams elbow macaroni, cooked al dente
5 c. water
1 small can red kidney beans
1 small bell pepper, diced
1 carrot, diced
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 c. evaporated milk
1 stalk green onion, chopped

In a soup pot, sauté garlic and onion in melted butter. Add corned beef and cooked macaroni.

Add water, red kidney beans, bell pepper and carrot. Season to taste.

Cook over medium heat with occasional stirring until cooked. Stir in milk. Top with green onions.

Serve hot.

Chicken & Sweet Corn Chowder

2010-05-26T04:42:00.000-07:00

1 tbsp. corn oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 medium potatoes, diced
1 chicken broth cube boiled in
3 c. water
1 bay leaf
1 Salt & ground black pepper
1 can cream-style corn (425 grams)
2 cans chicken chunks (165 grams), drained and shredded
2 tbsp. chopped parsley

Sauté the onion and garlic in oil until softened.

Add the potatoes, chicken stock, bay leaf, salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 15 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf and transfer the cooked mixture to a food processor. Process briefly until creamy. Season to taste.

Transfer mixture to pan and stir in the corn, chicken chunks and parsley. Simmer gently for another 5 minutes.

Serve hot with crusty bread.

Chicken and Pork Adobo (with Coconut Milk)

2010-05-26T04:35:00.000-07:00

1/2 kilo pork
1/2 kilo chicken
1 cup vinegar
2 tbsp. salt
1 tsp. vetsin
1/2 tsp. pepper (powdered)
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups thick coconut milk

Cut pork and chicken into small serving pieces. Put in pan and add all ingredients except coconut milk. Boil for 5 minutes. Drain. Set aside broth.
Fry pork, chicken, and garlic in oil until a little brown. Add broth again, cover and boil. When half cooked, pour in coconut milk. Stir until it boils. Continue cooking until pork and chicken are done.

Bruschetta

2010-05-25T04:48:00.000-07:00

200 g. fresh oyster mushrooms
6 tbsp. olive oil
6 cloves garlic, chopped med. sliced, blanched, skinned and seeded tomatoes
2 tbsp. chopped parsley
4 stalks spring onions, chopped
½ c. grated quickmelt cheese
½ c. Slices of frozen French bread, toasted

Put the mushrooms in an oven toaster. Brush with 1 tbsp. olive oil and bake for 2 minutes until cooked through.

In a bowl, combine the remaining olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, parsley, cooked mushrooms and spring onions. Season to taste.

Transfer the mushroom mixture to a food processor. Process briefly until the mixture is fine. Spread on slices of bread. Top with cheese then bake in oven-toaster.

Sweet and Spicy Anchovy

2010-05-25T04:21:00.000-07:00

1 pack Caldereta mix (50 grams)
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. vinegar
2 tbsp. garlic powder
1½ c. fried anchovies (dilis)
1 tsp. chili powder

In a bowl, mix together caldereta mix, brown sugar, vinegar and garlic powder. Transfer to a hot pan, heat, stirring occasionally until mixture caramelizes.

Add the fried anchovies. Stir-fry until the anchovies are crispy and properly coated with the sauce.

Add chili powder for spicy taste.

Glossary

2009-10-04T23:22:00.000-07:00

A la King - dish served with a rich sauce, flavored with wine. This rich sauce contains chopped vegetables like green pepper, pimiento or mushroom.

Bake - to cook in an oven.

Barbeque - to cook poultry or meat over hot coals.

Baste - to brush seasoned liquid or melted fat over food while baking or frying.

Beat - to mix with rapid rotary motion

Blanch - To scald, plunge into boiling water for a few minutes. Some fruits and nut meats are blanched to loosen the skin for easy removal.

Blend - to combine ingredients thoroughly.

Boil - to cook in liquid kept above the boiling point.

Braise - To broil, bake or fry meat until brown. Then, cover and simmer with a small amount of liquid at a low temperature.

Broil - To cook by direct heat over hot coals, under gas or electric heat.

Brush - to spread thinly.

Caramel - to melt sugar to a liquid state over low heat, until it becomes golden brown.

Cream - to beat with a spoom or beater until soft and waxy.

Croquettes - Chopped cooked food held together by flour or eggs, then fried in deep fat.

Cube or Dice - to cut into small squares.

Steamed- Baked Spareribs

2009-10-04T06:02:00.000-07:00

1/2 kilo beef or pork spareribs
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. fresh ginger, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. vetsin

Cut spareribs into small serving pieces (1" x 1").
Combine all ingredients and marinate spareribs in this mixture for 15 minutes. Place in pan and steam-bake for 1/2 hour or until tender.
Arrange in serving plate and sprinkle top with chopped spring onions or parsley.

Pineapple Ice Candy

2009-10-04T05:57:00.000-07:00

4 cups pineapple juice
1/2 gallon water
3/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp. pineapple extract

Dissolve sugar in water thoroughly before adding all ingredients. Pour in ice candy plastic bags. Makes 30-40 ice candies.

Putong Puti (Rice Galapong)

2009-10-04T05:50:00.000-07:00

2 cups rice
2 tbsp. cooked rice
2 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup water

Soak rice for 6 hours and grind with cooked rice. Let stand overnight. Add 1/4 cup water (add more if galapong is too thick). Add all ingredients and blend well until smooth.
Pour on muffin pan lined with wax paper. Steam for 25 minutes.

Adobong Bangus

2009-10-04T04:51:00.000-07:00

1 medium sized bangus, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 cup vinegar
1/3 cup water
1 tsp. vetsin
cooking oil

Combine all ingredients and marinate bangus in this mixture. Let stand for 1 hour.
Drain fish. Set aside vinegar mixture. Fry fish. When golden brown, set aside and fry garlic. Add vinegar mixture. When it boils, drop in fried bangus. Cook for 10 minutes.

Chicken Mami

2009-10-04T04:26:00.000-07:00

1/4 kilo mami noodles
1 pc. chicken breast, cooked & flaked
6-7 cups chicken broth
1 large onion, chopped
1 tbsp. vetsin
5 cloves garlic, sliced thinly, fried a few sprigs of spring onions, chopped
salt to taste
1 egg, beaten and fried, sliced into thin strips

Add chopped onion to chicken broth, season with salt and vetsin. Boil.
Place noodles in a deep bowl. Top with flaked chicken meat, fried garlic, and egg strips. Pour in hot chicken broth and sprinkle chopped spring onions on top. Serve hot.

Note: For a special mami, add 1 raw egg (unbeaten) on top of your hot mami before serving.

Kitchen Tips

2009-10-04T03:22:00.000-07:00

Storing eggs
It is better to store eggs with the tapered end down. The idea is to create a bigger distance for the yolk from the air pocket at its wider end. This is because the yolk is richer than the white and hence more perishable. Storing eggs the proper way will make these last longer.

When buying eggs by the dozen, store these in the refrigerator still in their cartons and put them in the back part of the refrigerator.

Placing eggs at their designated place at the refrigerator door does not help in their storage life. The less egss are jarred, the longer they keep. Storing temperature of eggs is about 30 to 31 ºF.

Cooking and Other Tips
1. Read the recipe thoroughly before cooking.

2. Prepare ingredients ahead of time. Arrange them in the order they will be cooked.

3. When cooking two or three different dishes, use different cooking techniques. For example, do not serve fried chicken with another fried dish.

4. Healthy, nutritious meals are quickly sauted, stir-fried, boiled, steamed or grilled. Meat and fish retain their moistness and vegetables retain their color and flavor if cooked quickly.

5. Learn to improvise or substitute. For example, instead of 1 c. sour cream use 1 c. all purpose cream with calamansi juice

6. Seasoning and the use of strongly flavored ingredients, such as onions and garlic, are very much a matter of personal taste. Taste the food as you cook and adjust seasonings to suit your own taste.

7. Can and packet sizes are approximate and will depend on the particular brand.

Giving a party
There are many do's and don'ts that should be considered when giving a party.

Do not invite more guests that you cannot entertain. Not many people enjoy an overcrowded party.

Do plan your menu carefully. Do not prepare too many dishes. Of course, food counts a lot in the success of a party, but it is a waste to serve too many dishes that the guests will no longer be able to eat. Three to four courses are enough.

Do not include dishes that need extensive last-minute cooking, or lot of supervising on your part specially when you do not have enough helpers.

Do not try experimenting on a new dish. Anxiety on how your new-tried dish will turn out will make you exhausted, thus, making you a poor hostess. And it would be a disaster if your new dish is a failure. If you are determined to serve such a dish, try cooking it first for your family.

Do make your table attractive, but do not overcrowd it with decorations. A simple arrangement of fresh fruits in a bowl, placed at the middle of the table is enough, or if your table is long, 2 pots of flowers on each end of the table would do. Do keep your decorations low, so guests can see each other.

Do serve dishes that can be prepared a few days before the party. For example, chicken galantina could be cooked one or two weeks before and placed in the refrigerator. This dish needs no heating. Same is true with embotido and other meat rolls. You can also cook the spaghetti sauce ahead of time and just heat it before serving. The noodles could also be pre-cooked, and steamed when about to be served.

Table Setting

A simple meal will turn into fiesta fare if you serve it in an attractive way. Of course it means extra work, but the effort will be well rewarded if you see your family enjoying their meal.

Attractive table setting does not mean setting the table with polished silver spoons, sparkling glasses, and delicate china ware. A plain plastic cover for a rugged looking table and inexpensive stick placemats are good enough setting. And mind, do not just dump the food on the table. Spoon the food on the plate carefully, no spills, no smears. Simple fried fish will look appetizing when garnished with tomatoes sliced like a flower and with onion rings. A thin tahong soup will look delicious when sprinkled with minced spring onions. Such garnishes are not expensive. Just use a little artistic touch and your 'poor man's meal' will turn out like a king's exotic dinner.

Bacon (Canadian Style)

2009-10-04T03:10:00.000-07:00

1 kilo pork lomo
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup salt
1/2 tsp. salitre
1/8 tsp. Sodium Nitrite
2 cups water

Combine last 5 ingredients in a deep bowl and soak whole pork. Prick with fork or ice pick for the solution to penetrate in the thick meat. Cover bowl with a clean cloth or wax paper. Keep in refrigerator for 3 days. Turn and prick once a day.

On the 4th day, wash 3 times in clear water. Then cover with water in a pan and add 1/2 cup brown sugar. Boil. Do not over cook. Chill to enable you to slice it thinly and evenly.

Continue boiling sauce until it thickens. Serve crisp fried bacon with this sauce.