Paksiw na Bangus

I grew-up ignoring this dish. When my mom serves this on our table,  I would ask for something else like tocino or hotdogs  I guess that my taste buds are configured for and sweet foods when I was a kid; I’m sure that most of you can relate. :-)

As time passed-by, I learned to appreciate simple dishes; fish and vegetables slowly became part of my regular diet. I guess all I needed was enough time to adjust. It’s about time or else I wouldn’t have had experienced the pleasures in trying different Filipino Food

Ingredients:
1 big Bangus milkfish cut into 3 portions 
1 ginger cut into small portions
1-2 pcs. of green siling haba pangsigang
1 small ampalaya 
1 small onion
Vinegar
1 cup of water 
1 tsp sugar (I used coco sugar)
Pepper and salt to taste

Remove gills and innards of bangus. Using scissor cut fins and tails. Wash fish thoroughly drain and slice diagonally. 
Heat a pan and cooking pot then pour-in vinegar and water.
Add salt and whole peppercorn then stir. Bring to a boil.
Arrange the fish in the pan along with the ginger, garlic, onion, bitter gourd, and finger chili. Cover and simmer in low to medium heat for 12 to 15 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper.
Serve hot with steamed rice. Share and enjoy!

Lomi Recipe

Lomi or Pancit Lomi is a Chinese-Filipino noodle dish made with a thick variety of fresh egg noodles of about  about 1/4 inch in diameter , sautéed with small pieces of pork or chicken meat, liver and select vegetables, added with tasty broth and then thickened  beaten eggs. The most popular among these variations would probably be the Batangas Lomi. There are as many styles of cooking lomi as there are eateries, panciterias or restaurants offering the dish. They served several toppings are added prior to serving such as chicharon (crispy pork skin) and hard boiled egg. 

let me share, this easy recipe that I used during the rainy days we had a few weeks ago...

You will need;

1/4 kilo egg noodles (lomi) - boiled and rinse (refer to instruction)
1/2 cup pork (sliced into strips) 
1/4 kilo chicken meat cooked and cut into strip
1 small carrots, peeled and julienned
1/4 lb cooked Kikiam (quekiam), sliced
6 to 8 pieces cooked squid balls
1/4 lb pork liver, sliced
1 pc chili pepper 
1 large onion, chopped 
3-4 cloves garlic, crushed 
2 pcs hot chili peppers
1 small bok choy  hopped
6 cups chicken or meat broth 
2 tbsp. cooking oil
1 tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in water (slurry)
2 raw eggs 
salt and pepper  to taste
1 hard boiled eggs

Then what you have to do;

1. Heat a cooking pot then drizzle with cooking oil.
2. When the oil is hot enough, sauté the onions and garlic.
3. Put in the sliced pork and cook until the color turns medium brown.
4. Add the chicken meat
5. Throw-in the  liver then cook for 2 minutes.
6. Add fish sauce and soy sauce then stir.
7. Pour-in the broth and let boil. Simmer until the pork strips are tender (about 20 to 30 minutes)
8. Put-in the cooked meatballs and kikiam then simmer for 3 minutes.
9. Add-in the ground black pepper and miki noodles then cook for 5 to 6 minutes.
10. Add the vegetables - carrots and bokchoy
11. Stir-in slurry and stir well. Cook until the sauce thickens.
12. Turn-off the heat then pour-in the beaten egg. Stir constantly until the egg is well incorporated.
13. Transfer to a serving bowl and top with chicharon and sliced boiled egg. Garnish with onion leeks.
14. Serve hot. Share and enjoy! 

:-)

Preparing Fresh Egg Noodles (Lomi)

I cooked lomi a few weeks ago and I would like to share it's recipe here but before that let me share  first - the steps in how to get rid of the excess salt and oil in the noodles Just so I won’t have to go through the procedure over and over each time I post a recipe using fresh egg noodles. :-)

First, In a casserole, bring to boil 1 liter of water.

While waiting for the water to boil,  place the miki noodles in a strainer and rinse under running water.

Throw-in the rinsed noodles in the pot and bring to boil

8 to 10 minutes for thick noodles; four to five minutes for thin noodles

Drain and rinse agin in running water. There...they are ready to be added in your soup or to make your pancit.

Eggplant and Tofu in Spicy Oyster sauce

I found this meatless recipe on a magazine.The first time I tried this recipe, it became my favorite. This is also my favorite packed lunch for work and my officemates loves it too. 
Now let me share this 10 minute recipe. If you love tofu, I am so sure you will like this recipe too. :-)

You will need;


4 pcs eggplant cut 1" long then cut in half
300 grams firm tofu cut in cubes(I used masoya Japanese firm tofu)
half cup oyster sauce
1 tbs sugar
liquid seasoning
1/2 cup water
Chopped chillies (I used 2)
oil for frying (I used olive oil)


Then what you will do;

• Fry the eggplant then place in a paper towel to remove excess oil and set aside.
• On the same pan, place the oyster sauce, liquid seasoning, sugar and water. Simmer for a minute.
• Throw in the cubed tofu. Simmer until the tofu until it'll soak up the flavors. If you think, the sauce is running dry, do add more so as not to burn the sauce. 
• Keep simmering until the sauce thickens. Add the fried eggplants. Mix and turn of heat.

Serve hot. 

Ham and Cheese Rolls

We have left over ham, cheese and bell pepper. So I decided to make an easy snack one fine Saturday afternoon. :)

You will need;

8 slices white bread (brown edges removed)

4 slices sweet ham (cut into half)

Cheese sliced into 8 strips

Green Bell Pepper (Julienned)

2 pcs. eggs (beaten)

Japanese breadcrumbs

Then;

Flatten the bread slices with a rolling pin, use a clean glass bottle of softdrinks if you dont have a rolling pin. Place the flatten bread on a plate and lay the ham first then the cheese then put a strip of green bell pepper.

Wrap it up. Dip the ham and cheese roll into the eggs then roll it over the Japanese breadcrumbs. (If you dont have japanese breadcrumbs, you can replace it with crushed skyflakes )

Deep fry it until it becomes golden brown. Place in a paper towel to remove excess oil.

Enjoy and Serve. Yummy...for me it taste like pizza :)

Adobong Manok na may Gata

The best Filipino dishes are the ones that do not have a written recipe other than the knowledge passed on from generation to another. This is one is a great example and it is one of my all time favourite comfort food.

You will need:

6 pcs chicken legs
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 head garlic crushed (the more the merrier)
1/2 cup vinegar (I used delmonte cane vinegar)
1 tsp peppercorns
1 tsp salt
6 pcs fresh chillies (optional)
1/2 cup water
3 pcs bay leaves
1/2 cup coconut milk
cooking oil

Then you have to;

• Marinate chicken in soy sauce, vinegar and garlic. I marinate my chicken overnight.  
• In a sauce pan, heat oil, thrown in the garlic and seared the chicken pieces and pour-in the marinate mixture.
• Simmer until the chicken is cook.
• Add the chillies.
• Add the coconut milk. Simmer until a saucy consistency is achieved. Season with soy sauce or salt if needed or according to desired taste. Serve hot!

Beef Papaitan

Beef Papaitan

Papaitan origins traces back to the Ilocandia or the Ilocos region far north of  Manila. Pinapaitan is from the root word "pait" which means bitter. It is an Ilocano dish made with either beef or goat meat (sometimes innards are included), and is flavored with chili and bile,  but what makes this recipe so different from the rest is the “bile” which makes it  bitter.

I am not really a fan of papaitan but since the husband requested for this, so did try my best to cook this recipe which is really easy to do :-)

To do this, you will need;

11/4 lb beef, cut in small cubes and boiled

1/4 lb ox tripe, boiled and cut into small slices

1/4 lb beef intestines, boiled and cut into small slices

1/2 kilo liver, sliced thinly into 1 1/2"

cow bile, strained ( I used 2 sacs)

6-10 pcs calamansi

1 onion, sliced

1 ginger, sliced thinly

garlic, chopped

sili mahaba (long green chillies)

spring onions, sliced

salt and pepper to taste.

Then;

1. Saute onion. garlic and ginger in oil.

2. Add the boiled beef, ox tripe, beef intestines and liver.

3. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes.

4. Add the beef broth

5.  Then put a small amount of bile just to have a hint of bitterness, about 1 tablespoon of pure bile for 1 1/2 kg of innards, and put in 6 – 10 pieces of squeezed calamansi.

6. Bring to a boil.

7. Add the siling haba

8. Simmer for another 3-5 minutes.

9. Season with salt and pepper.

10. Sprinkle chopped spring onions. Serve hot with rice.  :-)

Syempre this is a beef/innard dish so best served piping hot or else, masebo.

Pasta Puttanesca

I'm updating again :-)

Since it's a holiday, I had ample time to do some homecooking. 
I remembered one time, while having dinner at a cafe, my husband had, a plate of puttanesca. He loved his plate and asked me to prepare it at home. So, since I am a very mabait na wife (hahaha)  did some googling for this pasta sauce. I grabbed all the ingridients and  planned to prepare this dish this lent season. Bagay di ba?

To do this, you will need;

12 pcs of chopped anchovies but I used 2 tbsp of dried herring (tuyo). I used tapa king's bottled spicy tuyo
1 tsp minced garlic
1 fresh red chilli - deseeded and finely chopped (optional)
6 whole tomatoes, stewed and chopped or you can use canned tomatoes
1 packs tomato paste (150 grams)
1 Tbsp capers
1/2 cup sliced pitted olives
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
coco sugar (to taste)
salt and pepper (to taste)
250 gm spaghetti

Then you have to;

1.Cook spaghetti according to the package instructions until al dente. Drain and set aside.
2.Heat the oil in a pot or large pan.
3.Saute garlic, dried herring or anchovies anchovies, and chilli in the hot oil for about 1 minute.
4.Add in the tomatoes, tomato paste and bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer for 2 minute.
5. sprinkle some coco sugar.
6.Stir in olives, parsley, basil, capers, salt and pepper.
7.Simmer for a further 4-5 minutes.
8.Add the pasta mix well with the sauce. If it's too dry drizzle with a little more olive oil.
9.Serve and enjoy.

My husband loves it. :-)

Pinoy Spaghetti

I woke up from a nap yesterday thinking I want Jollibee spaghetti but I was too lazy to go out and delivery needs to have a minimum order and its only spag that I want. Since there is a grocery near our place (it will only take 2 minutes to get there). I decided to buy the ingridients for my simple pinoy spaghetti.

So what I did, I grab 400 grams of spaghetti pasta. Boiled it al dente (around 8minutes), drained and set aside.

Then I chopped 1 white onion. Thrown it in a preheated pan with olive oil. Then add the chopped garlic. When the garlic is a bit brown (not burn) I add the 560grams of del monte pinoy style spag sauce and add UFC banana catsup (about half a cup). Season with salt, pepper and sugar. When it simmer thrown in the sliced hotdogs (about 5 pieces), bits of ham and shredded cheese ( I used queso de bola). Wait until the sauce thickens. Then thats it.

Pour over cooked pasta an topped with cheese. sarap!!.

I enjoyed my pinoy spaghetti.

Bicol Express

You will need;

1 kilo of pork meat sliced

1/2 cup of Philippine bird's eye pepper (siling labuyo)

3 cups coconut milk

1/2 cup sauted shrimp paste

4 cloves garlic; crushed

1 small onion; chopped

Then What you have to do;

In a cooking pan, place a cup of water and add the pork. simmer until the water disappers Continue cooking until pork starts to render fat and edges turn to brown.

In another pan, sauté minced onion and garlic. Add  the sauté the browned pork. Throw in the chili peppers.

Add sauted shrimp paste and stir, then pour the coconut milk (.you may pour gradually in preference to the amount of sauce you want)
Cook in low fire until pork becomes tender and until a saucy consistency is achieved. Serve hot

Note: I did not use any cooking oil since the pork will render it's own fat will fying and the coconut milk will give natural oils too while cooking.