Filipino’s eat this BBQ as an appetizer, meal, a snack, or what most of the guy’s favorite, Pulutan. This particular recipe has been a tradition for Filipino’s when it comes to street barbecuing.

Aside from the requests, it also inspired me to post this recipe to give our craving kakabayan’s that have been away from the Philippines a little trip down memory lane where street food is just a couple of steps away. This is fairly simple to make, but it does take a little bit of time to marinate. Just remember, the longer you let it marinate the better the taste. So be patient when it comes to preparing these mouth-watering street delights. Now, on to what you’re waiting for, the recipe.

Ingredients:

2 Lbs. of Pork butt or belly (if using pork belly remove the skin)

1 Cup of soy sauce

1 Whole garlic peeled & smashed

1 Small onion minced

2 Lemons

½ Cup of 7UP

1 Tsp. Ground black pepper

5 Tbs. Dark brown sugar

1 Cup of Banana sauce (ketchup)

1 Tsp. MSG

Directions:

Soak bamboo skewers in water overnight to avoid splitting and burning before using. Cut pork into ½ thick x 1” inch wide x 1 ½ ” inch long pieces. Slide pork onto skewers and set aside.

In a large bowl combine soy sauce, garlic, onion, juice of 2 lemons, 7-UP, ground black pepper, dark brown sugar, banana ketchup, and msg. Using a whisk mix and dissolve ingredients really well and pour marinade mixture onto the pork. Cover and set in the fridge at least overnight or up to 2 days. Barbecue over hot coals or gas grill until pork is done. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce and enjoy your BBQ.  Ayan may Pulutan na kayo! Nasaan ang tagay ko?

Tip:

Baste the pork with the remaining marinade to further enhance the flavor while barbecuing. Basting the meat will also help to keep it moist through the entire cooking process. Make sure you allow the marinade to cook when using it for basting, remember this is a left over marinade.

Translations:

Pulutan = Finger foods

Kababayan = Fellow citizens

Ayan may Pulutan na kayo! Nasaan ang tagay ko? = Here it is! You have you’re finger food! Now where’s my drink (shot)?

I don’t have his recipe, but from what I can remember he didn’t put any black pepper or garlic in it. So I made mine just like that, but I had to make a few test runs to get the measurements right.

The funny thing is you can mess up this one and it still tastes good. This has a very short ingredient list, but it will make you come back for a second plate every time. As Rachel Ray says Yum-o!

Ingredients:

2 Lbs. Round Roast (lean beef)

1 Large red onion

1 Cup of soy sauce

1 Cup of water

7 Packets of frozen calamansi or fresh ones

½ Tbs. MSG

Corn oil for frying

In a large bowl marinate beef in soy sauce, water, calamansi, and msg for an hour. Heat frying pan and add 2 Tbs. of corn oil and fry meat in batches until they all have good sear marks on both sides. Remove meat from the pan and set aside. Repeat the process for the next batch. You will need to add more oil each time you fry more batches of meat. When you are done frying, add all the meat back into the frying pan and add the remaining marinade to the pan. Let it simmer for 5 minutes on medium heat and then add the onions and let cook for another minute. Serve with rice and enjoy your Bistek!

Tip 1:

When buying the meat, have your butcher slice the meat no thicker than 1/8 of an inch. If you have to slice it yourself and don’t have an electric meat slicer you may do so. The easiest way to do this is to partly freeze the meat. It will make it easier to slice thinly. Just make sure that you do not freeze it solid otherwise you will have to thaw it out and try to do it again.

Tip 2:

Pot roast meat is not the most tender cut of meat. Cutting the meat against the grain will make it more tender, although meat cut against the grain is not as presentable as it is when it is cut along the grain. Bistek meat is sliced very thinly so this is not going to be a big factor for this particular dish. As for myself, I cut mine along the grain. You decide which cut you prefer and let the butcher know before you have it sliced.

The only problem she had was knowing what it is. Dinuguan or pork blood stew is a Filipino, savory stew of blood and meat simmered in a rich, spicy gravy of pig blood, garlic, chili’s, and vinegar. The term Dinuguan come from the word dugo which means “blood”.

It is similar to a Singapore dish, pig’s organ soup. The only difference is it does not have vegetables in it. For western cultures this dish is considered as unusual or maybe an alarming dish even though it is similar to European-style blood sausage or British black pudding, but in a saucy, stew form. This dish is so popular in the Philippines that you will find it at just about any occasion, from simple family gatherings to weddings. For my kababayan who just recently moved here to the U.S., especially if you don’t live in the major cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, or New York City, you can still find edible pork blood at just about any International grocery store in the frozen section. One of the most popular brands here is Orientex. They have beef blood also. Ok, so enough talking and let’s get down to the recipe.

Ingredients:

1½ Lbs. of Pork belly (pork butt is fine)

10 oz. of Edible pork blood (Orientex)

2 Cups of Chicken stock (water is fine)

1 Cup of Vinegar (Datu-puti)

3 Tbs. Fish Sauce (Rufina)

4 Cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed

1 Medium onion sliced thinly

1 Bay leaf (Laurel leaf)

4 Pcs. Finger peppers

½ Tbs. Ground black pepper

1 Tsp. Msg (Aji-no-Moto)

½ Tbs. Kosher salt

Oil for sautéing

Directions:

Prepare pork blood by straining it and separating the blood that is in a jelly form in a separate bowl. Next add ¼ cup of water and break up the jellied blood with your hands and set aside. Slice pork into small bite sized pieces and set aside.

Using a casserole dish, heat 1 Tbs. of corn oil, add the pork, and spread it evenly on the bottom of the casserole dish. Cover and let it cook on medium low heat for three minutes without stirring it. Remove cover, stir the pork, and drain the liquid accumulated. Add garlic and sauté for one minute, then add the onions, stir, and cover. Let it cook for another minute. Next add fish sauce and bay leaf and sauté for 3 minutes. Then add ½ cup of vinegar, cover, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let it simmer for 3 minutes. Add the chicken stock and salt and let it simmer for five minutes. Add the jelly formed pork blood first, stir for about a minute, then add the rest of the pork blood and the finger peppers. Continue to stir for about two minutes, cover, and let simmer for another five minutes. Add another ½ cup of vinegar. Again cover and let it simmer for an additional 5 minutes. Adjust the taste by adding salt & pepper if needed. That’s it, you’re done. Serve with white rice, or Puto. Enjoy!

Puto – Filipino rice cake

As most Filipinos know they come in several combinations, but the most common ones are Tapsilog, Longsilog, and Tocilog.

One of the keys to making fried rice is using the right type of rice. For example, don’t use a rice that is very sticky or you will have a hard time  incorporating all the ingredients. The rice will stick together rather than breaking apart. Also let the rice sit overnight in the fridge. This will help to break the rice apart a lot easier or at least let it totally cool off before cooking it. There are endless combinations when it comes to fried rice, but we are not going to talk about all of them today. Instead I’m going to show you my version which is pretty simple, but it has enough ingredients in it that it could be eaten by itself. This version of fried rice is inspired by the way the Chinese cook theirs, which also became very popular in the Philippines. The same common ingredients are found in both versions. Let’s cook shall we?

Ingredients:

5 Cups of cooked long grain rice

1 Cup of diced pork barbecue

1 Cup of diced Ham

1 Small onion diced

½ Cup of diced carrots

½ Cup of frozen green peas

2 Eggs scrambled and sliced into small pieces

1 Tbs. Oyster sauce

2 Tbs. Soy sauce

½ Tsp. Ground black pepper

½ Tsp. MSG (vetsin) optional

½ Tsp. Salt

2 Tbs. Corn oil

8 Stalks of green onions

Note:
Slice green onions ¼ in. long and then use 4 stalks for cooking and the other 4 as a garnish.

Directions:

Prepare the rice by breaking it apart completely before you begin. In a large wok heat oil over medium high heat and sauté carrots and green peas for 1 minute. Next add the rice and mix it for about one minute. Then add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, barbecue pork, and ham. Keep mixing for 3 minutes. Add the onions, eggs, and season it with msg (vetsin), salt, and black pepper. Keep mixing for another 5 minutes, then add the green onions stirring for another 2 minutes and you’re done. Serve with Filipino style pork barbecue and Lumpia (shanghai). Garnish fried rice with the remaining green onions just before serving. Enjoy!

I have seen so many versions when it comes to Nilagang Baka. Some of them are very elaborate and sometimes it makes me wonder if using all those ingredients actually over powers the entire dish.

It seems as if you would not be able to enjoy the flavor of the meat. Having said that it inspired me to come up with my personal version of Nilagang Baka. It is very simple and does highlight the true flavor of the beef by simplifying the ingredients. So let’s try another mouth-watering dish by letting the flavor of the beef do the work.

Ingredients:

3½ Lbs. Boneless beef chuck roast cut in 2 in. cubes

2 Medium onions sliced thinly

1 Small Cabbage de-cored and cut in wedges

3 Medium carrots peeled and cut in 2 in. pieces

4 Medium potatoes peeled and quartered

Water for braising (boiling) don’t use beef broth*

8 Whole peppercorns

1 Tbs. Salt

½ Tbs. MSG (vetsin)

Note: * It will alter the taste..

Directions:

In a large pot place beef and cover with water about 2 inches above the meat. Bring it to a rapid boil. Remove the scum as it rises, add the onions, and lower the heat to medium high. Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes. Next add salt, msg, and whole peppercorns. Cover and let it cook for 1½ hours or until beef is very tender. Add water if necessary maintaining the 2 inch water level above the meat. At this time you may add the carrots and potatoes. Cover and let them cook for an additional 15 minutes or until carrots and potatoes are tender. Add cabbage, cover, and let it cook for 3 more minutes. Adjust the taste by adding more salt if necessary. Serve with white rice and the fish sauce condiments. Enjoy!

Translation:

Nilaga = Braised or Boiled

Thai Peppers = Siling Labuyo or Birds Eye Chili

Baka = Beef

Back when I was in the Philippines this was one of my favorite snacks or meals. It does not require utensils to eat and it can be consumed on the go. That’s one of the reasons Siopao can easily be found on the sidewalk at vendors or eateries (Turo-Turo). Whenever I got here in the U.S.

I sort of forgot about Siopao and needless to say I had not had it in a long time until I came across it on the Internet while browsing around. The last time I ate Siopao was when my sister in-law made one, but she made it out of mix found in many international grocery stores. It was ok, but I wanted to make mine from scratch. So I started looking for recipes on the web and studied theirs so I could try and make my own version while my mouth was watering at the same time. As many of us know when your looking for recipes online a lot of the recipes are copied from someone else’s and most of them have not even tried the recipes. Often enough you ask yourself a question, “does this person who posted this recipe even know how to cook at all?” Probably not! They obviously don’t have any business having a recipe site whatsoever. I am not a professional chef or cook, but when I share my recipes with others I can assure you that I have cooked it first then eaten the dish myself and made certain adjustments until I was totally satisfied with it. Otherwise I would not even think of posting the recipe. I write my own recipes based on how exactly I cooked it. Anyway let’s look at the recipe and start steaming… Yum!..

One piece of advice is that you don’t try to make this if your hungry because it does take a little time and patience to get the final product, but it is very rewarding. I asked my American wife to try it and she said it was ok, but she would rather have ham and cheese for stuffing. I told her this is Siopao, not Hot Pockets. I did mention before that she is picky right? Anyway it’s more Siopao for me, 12 Siopao to be exact, and I was the only one here to eat all of it.

For the Dough

Ingredients:

3 Cups of all-purpose flour
1 Packet active dry yeast
1 ½ Cup of luke warm water
½ Cup white sugar
½ Cup shortening (Crisco)
1 Tbs. salt
Food coloring (red) for flavor identification

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl dissolve yeast in luke warm water, add sugar, salt, and 2 ½ cups of all-purpose flour. Beat thoroughly until you have the consistency of a soft sponge. Cover loosely with seran wrap, set aside, and let it rise for 30 minutes. Add shortening, (Crisco) mix well, and then add the remaining ½ cup of all-purpose flour. Knead until smooth. On a flat surface, counter top or table top, dust surface with flour and roll the dough to form a 2 in. tube. Keep adding flour if needed to avoid the dough from sticking to the surface and to your hands. After forming the dough into a 2 in. tube, cut dough with a sharp knife using a cutting board so that you have 2×2 in. pieces. Place on a tray, line with wax paper, and dust with flour. Set aside.

For the Filling

Ingredients:

1 ½ Lbs. Pork or Chicken cut in ¼ in. cubes

4 Cloves of garlic smashed

1 Small onion diced

3 Tbs. Soy sauce

3 Tbs. Hoisin sauce

2 Tbs. Oyster sauce

½ Cup of water

4 Tbs. Brown sugar

½ Tbs. Ground black pepper

1 Tsp. MSG (optional)

1 Tbs. Cornstarch

2 Tbs. Asian sesame oil

2 Tbs. Shortening (Crisco) for sautéing

6 Hard-boiled eggs

Directions:

In a large frying pan heat and sauté 2 Tbs. of shortening over medium heat. Next sauté garlic until golden brown, add onions and cook until onions hit the shiny stage. Then add meat, (pork or chicken) sauté it for 2 minutes, cover, and let simmer for 5 minutes over medium low heat.

In a mean while, mix cornstarch in a small bowl with ½ cup of water until totally dissolved, set aside.

After five minutes remove cover, stir the meat, and add the following: soy sauce, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, cornstarch-water mixture, and the brown sugar. Then season it with msg, black pepper, and sesame oil. Stir well and bring to a boil. Let it simmer uncovered for another 5 minutes on low heat while stirring occasionally. Remove pan from the heat and let it totally cool.

Take the dough cut in 2×2 in. pieces and dust each one with flour. Next roll each individual piece into a ball with your hands and lay the rounded dough onto a flat surface. Again dust with flour. Using a rolling pin flatten the dough to 3/8 of an inch thick or about 5 inches in diameter.

Slice hard-boiled eggs crosswise and carefully arrange 3 slices at a time onto the center of the rolled-flattened dough. Then spoon about one spoonful of pork or chicken filling onto the center of the dough. Pull edges of the dough together and twist together firmly. Using wax paper cut in 4×4 inch pieces, place buns on there upside down so the smooth side is up on the wax paper. Steam Siopao for 25 minutes per batch. Enjoy your Siopao and if you made a little too many to be consumed at one time, relax. You can freeze these buns and re-steam them for 15 minutes later. Just make sure you thaw it out first.

Is it hot in here? No, not yet! But it will be as we dig deeper into this particular dish. First things first, before we get any deeper into this recipe I just want to make certain things clear. I’m not a Bicolano nor have I ever even been in Bicol. I was born in Antipolo Rizal and basically grew up in Quezon City before moving here to the U.S. in September of 1992. I’m going to apologize in advance if any of my facts aren’t totally accurate.

Ok, let’s continue! Bicolano’s have been well known for their fiery obsession for centuries. They often use scalding-hot peppers as a main ingredient in most if not all of their vegetable dishes especially in the first district of Albay.

Bicol Express is a very popular dish originated from Bicol, but oddly enough in Bicol from what I read, they don’t even call it Bicol Express. So the dish itself did originate from Bicol, but not the name. They say that this dish evolved from another dish called “gulay na may lada.” I also read that the reason they call this Bicol Express is that it makes you run for water like an express train as soon as you put it in your mouth. Whether this is how they got the name or not, I don’t know.

What I can tell you for sure is that this stuff is very good and thanks to the Bicolano’s for coming up with it. Bicol Express nowadays has so many variations that just about everyone that has cooked this dish had modified it to their own personal preference. They have to accommodate their level of obsession when it comes to scalding-hot peppers. I have looked at several recipes online about Bicol Express before coming up with my own recipe. Even though this is not the authentic Bicol Express, it’s still very good and it will not put you in a coma, but in order for me to use the original name it does have to have a certain degree of hotness.

My version of Bicol Express does not use scalding-hot peppers as a main ingredient, instead I used it as a secondary ingredient. I love hot peppers, but unfortunately my obsession with hot peppers does not quite measure up to the Bicolano’s, so mine is a milder version. Now let’s take a look at the recipe!

Ingredients:

1 ½ Lbs. Pork belly cut in 1 in. cubes

1 Lb. Calabaza cut in 1 ½ in. cubes

1 Large ginger peeled & sliced thinly

2 Cans of Coconut milk 13.5 oz each

1 Large onion diced

4 Cloves of garlic peeled & smashed

1 Tsp. Ground black pepper

½ Tsp. MSG – optional

36 Pcs. Thai-peppers, stems removed

6 Finger peppers – Siling mahaba cut in ¼ in. pieces, discard stems

Corn oil for sautéing

Green Onions for garnish

Note: Thai, Birds Eye, and Siling Labuyo are the same

Directions:

In a large pot heat 1 Tbs. of corn oil and sauté garlic until golden brown. Next  add pork belly, season it with salt, and sauté it for 3 minutes on medium heat. Add onions and ginger root and let it cook for 2 minutes. Add coconut milk, ground black pepper, msg, finger peppers, and Thai-peppers. Stir well and let it simmer for 25 minutes on medium low heat, stirring occasionally to avoid scorching. Then add calabaza and let it cook for ten minutes or until calabaza is tender. Adjust taste by adding salt & pepper if needed! Serve rice topped with Bicol Express & garnish with green onions. Enjoy & Feel the Heat!..

Note:

On this particular recipe I have my ginger root sliced in larger pieces so I can remove them before serving. However if you want to serve yours with ginger root you may so by slicing it in smaller pieces (julliene).

My final thoughts:

This is truly a magnificent dish. One piece of advice though is to only use as many chili peppers as you can handle. You can gradually increase the amount of chili peppers later on as you get used to the heat. As they say eating is one of life’s pleasures, taste and flavor are just as important to make sure you enjoy the food. That is why it is important that you do not exceed your own limit with chili peppers. You want to enjoy your food and not put yourself in severe pain.

When eating Bicol Express with the right amount of hotness to your liking you can truly enjoy this wonderful dish. You will immediately feel the heat as soon as you introduce it to your taste buds. The capsaicin from the chili peppers will trigger your brain to release endorphins which are a natural pain killer the human body produces. That’s when you get to the zone of enjoying one of life’s pleasure. Eating!…

For those of you who really like it insanely hot, there are chili peppers out there that are so hot they could be used as a weapon. The mighty Naga Jolokia!

For more information about Chili Peppers Click Here!

But before we head to the kitchen let’s dig a little bit deeper about this classic dish. Lugaw is the Filipino version of congee.

It is very similar to Cantonese style congee, however, lugaw is typically a thicker consistency, retaining the shape of the rice while achieving the same type of texture. It is boiled with fresh ginger. A lot of times it is topped with scallions and served with crispy, fried garlic. Chicken stock is also used to flavor the soup. In the Philippines they also serve tokwa’t baboy, (diced tofu and pork) as well as calamansi, and fish sauce. This is often served at the street side eateries commonly known as turo-turo restaurants. This is also very popular among Filipinos living abroad in colder weather because it is warm, soft, and easily digestible. Now we know how they came up with this soup, so let’s head to the kitchen and cook some Arroz Caldo.

Ingredients:

For the stock:

1 Whole chicken cut-up into smaller pieces

6 Quarts of water

1 Onion peeled and thinly sliced

1 Tsp. MSG

1 Tbs. Salt

For the rice:

1 ½ Cup of long grain rice (jasmine rice)

9 Cups of water

For the soup:

1 Large ginger peeled and sliced thinly

5 Cloves of garlic peeled and smashed

10 Cups of chicken stock

1 ½ Tbs. Safflower

½ Tbs. Ground black pepper

½ Tbs. MSG

3 Tbs. Patis (fish sauce)

1 Tbs. Salt

Hard-boiled eggs*

Fried smashed garlic*

Directions:

Prepare the chicken and the stock; Rinse the chicken very thoroughly and cut it all up into smaller pieces, with the exception of the two breast halves. Place chicken cut-up into an 8 quart stock pot with 5 to 6 quarts of water. Bring water to a boil and remove scum as it rises. Next add the onions and salt. Cover and let it simmer for 1 hour.

After an hour turn heat off and remove the meat from the pot. Place meat on a tray and let it cool off. In a large bowl, using a strainer, pour the stock and strain all the solids that are in the stock. Next discard the solids removed from the stock and set the stock aside.

When chicken is finally cooled off locate one of the breast halves and one chicken thigh, de-bone, and discard the bones. Remove the meat from the bone by shredding the meat from the bone and saving the skin. Slice chicken skin into small strips and set aside. As for the rest of the chicken carcasses, place them in zip lock bags and freeze them to save for later cooking.

The Soup:

Using the same 8-quart stockpot heat 3 Tbs. of corn oil and sauté garlic until golden brown. Next add onions and cook until they hit the shiny stage. Then add ginger, chicken meat, chicken skins, black pepper, msg, and fish sauce (patis) and let it cook for 3 minutes. Add the rice. While stirring constantly, let it cook for 2 minutes. If the rice has thickened add 2 cups of chicken stock and mix it well. Make sure all the lumps are smooth before adding rice to the pot. After the 2 minutes add 10 to 12 cups of chicken stock into the pot depending on how thick you want your Arroz Caldo. Bring it back to a simmer while mixing it constantly. As soon it starts to simmer add the salt, safflower or saffron whichever one you have, keep stirring and let it cook over medium low heat for 10 minutes while stirring constantly. Finally adjust the taste by adding more salt & pepper if needed. Serve hot with hard-boiled eggs and topped with green onion (scallions) and fried smashed garlic. Drizzle it with fish sauce and calamansi. Enjoy your mouth-watering Arroz Caldo!

The Rice:

In a pot add 1 ½ cups of rice and add 9 cups of water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to medium low, and let it simmer for 45 minutes un-covered. Stir the rice frequently to avoid scorching. Set aside.

The Hard-Boiled Eggs: *

Add eggs into a small pot and cover with water until it’s about half an inch from the top of the eggs. Boil for 15 minutes (10 minutes for soft boiled). This might sound silly, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t know how to properly cook hard-boiled eggs. People say that you should just leave it boiling long enough for it to cook. That is somewhat true, but the problem is if you leave it cooking too long you will have a hard time de-shelling the eggs as the membrane between the eggs and the shell will act like glue. You will wind up with pretty torn up eggs.

For the Fried Garlic: *

Peel and smash 8 cloves of garlic. Set aside. Over medium low heat, heat oil in a small frying pan and add smashed garlic until dark golden brown. Transfer the garlic onto a plate lined with paper towels to drain the oil and set aside.

Note 1:

I use safflower for this dish to give it a yellowish hue. That gives it the look you expect from this rice soup. If you can’t find safflower you can definitely use saffron, as saffron is the one commonly used in the Philippines for this soup. Unfortunately I’ve never used saffron before so I cannot give you a correct measurement. I would say use 1 tablespoon to start as you can always add more later. Just remember saffron does have a slight, bitter taste to it from what I read, so don’t use too much to start as you may alter the taste of your soup.

Note 2:

When making arroz caldo you have to remember that the stock is what gives this soup it’s good flavor. It is very important to have a very good quality stock. If at all possible make your own stock by using a whole chicken to give it the maximum chicken flavor. Avoid using chicken bouillon or cheap low quality canned chicken stock.

Most of the time when I cooked this dish is to accompany another dish such as ginisang baguio beans, ginisang sitaw or just to eat it with white steam rice.

I know that sounds kind a plain but you’ll be surprise how many Filipinos eat it that way. Just like my other fried chicken wing v.1 this is also very simple and easy to make and it also has a very short ingredients list. So, let’s get to it.

Ingredients:

2 Lbs. Chicken wings tips remove

6 Cloves of garlic peeled and smashed

½ Cup of soy sauce

½ Tsp. Ground black pepper

½ Tsp. MSG (vetsin) optional

Corn oil for frying

Directions:

Rinse chicken wings with cold water very thoroughly, drain, and place in a large bowl. Add garlic, soy sauce, pepper, and msg
and mix it well. Cover and set in the fridge for 30 minutes.

In a large frying pan add enough oil (about ½ in deep) and fry chicken wings in batches until both sides are dark brown, usually about 9 -10 minutes on each side. I like mine very crispy so I cook mine a little bit longer, until they are almost dark brown. Serve with rice and stir-fried vegetables or by it self for pulutan. Enjoy!

My family didn’t have much money when I was growing up and my mom would have to cook what suited our budget and sure enough, due to lack of money, this dish came up on our menu quite often.

Even though it was my favorite back then, I got so tired of eating it that I would rather skip a meal than have it again. But now after not having this dish for a while I can honestly tell you I would trade a big juicy steak for this stuff. That’s why I decided to post this dish on my blog, to share this recipe for those who crave for this dish. Luckily I still have a couple of cans of Ligo brand sardines, which is plenty for this recipe. When my mom would cook this dish she usually used Kangkong, (water-spinach) but I have also seen her use Pechay (bok-choi) before. The only thing about where I live now is that all they have available nearby is the Big Bok-choi which is not as good as the one we are used to eating in the Philippines the baby bok-choi. Using the American bok-choi is fine, but you will have to cut the bottom of the stalk as it tends to be tough and bitter. I can get the baby bok-choi, but I have to send my wife to the International store which is not close to where we live. Having said that I have to use the one that is readily available at our local market. Now let’s get busy!

Ingredients:

2 Cans of Sardines (Ligo brand if possible)

1 Bunch of American Bok-choi

1 Small onion sliced crosswise

1 Small tomato diced

3 Cloves of garlic peeled and smashed

3 Tbs. Soy sauce (Silver-Swan)

½ Tsp. Ground black pepper

½ Tsp. MSG (vetsin) optional

2 Tbs. Corn oil

1 Cup of water

Directions:

Prep the Bok-choi / Pechay:

Start by preparing the bok-choi by removing all the stalks and rinsing  them thoroughly. Next cut off about two inches from the bottom to remove the tough part and then separate the leafy part by cutting the stalk off from the leafy part (see pictures). Slice them separately. Chop the stalk part first and then proceed to the leafy part, but do not mix them together. The stalk does require a longer time than the leafy part to cook therefore you should cook the stalks first and then add the leafy part later. That’s why I said you shouldn’t mix them at this point.

The cooking process:

In a large sauté pan, heat oil. Next sauté garlic until golden brown, add the tomatoes and onions, and let it cook until onions hit the shiny stage. Then add the bok-choi stalks and let them cook for 2 minutes. Now add the bok-choi leafy part along with the sardines, soy sauce, water, msg, and black pepper. Cover and let it cook for 3 minutes or until the bok-choi is tender. Adjust taste by adding salt and pepper if needed. Serve rice topped with Ginisang Sardinas. Enjoy!