Mangantayon! (Taraon, makan, kdpy...)

Mangantayon has Moved

2011-08-11T23:30:00.000-07:00

I have decided to move Mangantayon to wordpress and have invited my sister as co-author. She is also in Japan and has more culinary acumen than I ever will have. Please do come and follow us there.

"Leftover" Muffins

2011-02-12T17:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I grated too much carrots than I needed for Ken's carrot hotcakes. I also had some left-over spam bits, cheddar cheese and sausage from yesterday's salad. While I was making Ken's hotcakes, I saw a recipe for parsley muffins at the back of the mix packaging. So I gathered all the leftovers and decided to make muffins with them. Hence the name.

This is my first time to make muffins like these. All I have been making were muffins with lots of sugar. I don't know how much sugar there is in this recipe though because I used the hotcake mix.

Ingredients:
200 g hotcake mix
2 tbsp milk
2 eggs
1/4 onion minced (1/2 if the onion is small)
4 pcs small sausages diced
spam bits
1/3 tsp salt
2 tbsp minced parsley
powdered black pepper
cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. Beat eggs and mix in milk, onion, sausages, spam bits, salt. Mix well.
2. Add the hotcake mix and mix till the flour is just wet.
3. Add the parsley and black pepper.
4. Scoop into a muffin pan and top with the cheddar cheese.
5. Bake at 180℃ for 30 minutes. (Made about six muffins)

The green of the parsley is very noticeable so when I offered it to Ken, he looked at it suspiciously and covered his mouth. It was quite tasty and very filling. Rad and I ate all of them for midnight snack and breakfast.

Sa Tabitabi na Tabi (旅）1

2011-01-02T07:55:00.000-08:00

I don’t have that much spare time but I would like to at least make an account of all the travels my husband and I have done while we were in Japan. And since there is always food in our travels, I might as well put my accounts here at Mangantayon even though sometimes, there won’t even be any mention about food. We both love to go to new places especially during the seishun juhachi kippu season when we can go anywhere in Japan in one day for just about 2300 yen. We have been to so many places that if only I have the time, I would make scrapbooks of all of the souvenirs and pictures we have taken. But since time is of the essence, let me just compile the things that I have found charming, rare, weird, and out of the ordinary from each place we have been. Between the two of us, there is about more than 10 000 pictures thus, the challenge lies in unearthing 4 years worth of documentaries. All of the places we have been are interesting but here are things that do not usually get mentioned in travel brochures.

*Note: Tabi (旅） is Japanese for "travel"or "journey"

Matsue (Summer 2009)

I love Matsue. There is a different air here compared to other cities. Perhaps it’s the sea air or the setting of the place. It is a mixture of European and Japanese architecture. In one word, it is so charming. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is the home of Lafcadio Hearn, the first ever foreigner to be given Japanese citizenship. I found books of his works at the Shizudai library and I was immediately enthralled. We found this at his old residence in Matsue. At first I thought it was just another case of Japanese English but no, they are really referring to his hairs!

As usual, our primary destination is the Matsue Castle. The hotel we were staying in have bicycles available for customer's use. It is much more convenient, cheap and fun to go around Matsue by bicycle. But it was summer so when we were done taking pictures, we were so hungry. Fortunately, there is a restaurant in the grounds, aptly named Ni no Maru (二の丸）. They serve delicious Izumo soba at a very reasonable price. What's more, one order comes in 3 stack of bowls called the Warigo-soba!

In addition, these danggo are tummy pleasers for all seasons. Prices vary though. These were quite cheap at 150 yen. We found them roasting infront of a very charming house which kinda reminded us of home, a sarisari store and a barbecue stand.

Tottori (Summer 2009)

All over Japan, when the clock strikes 7AM, 12PM and 5PM, a bell or siren is heard. Here in Tottori, you will here the bell rendition of “Furusato” (My Hometown). I have liked the song ever since I heard it and correct me if I am wrong but I think it is only in Tottori that you will hear this unique time ringer.

We are always on a tight budget when we go on travel. And in the western part of Japan, there are towns which do not have the convenience of contemporary fastfoods but there is always that one-coin (500 yen) meal somewhere. This one is at the Tottori Station where they serve freshly caught and cooked fish over rice, complete with salad and miso soup.

Pork & Bean Sprouts Sauté

2010-10-30T09:30:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. This is my first official post in Mangantayon. As I have mentioned in Bushido Calling I will be temporarily taking over writing and sharing here what I have come up with in the kitchen. I am in no way a master in the culinary arts. I will even present a lot of guerilla dishes just to share my adventure. Please be kind with the comments whenever you had the chance to stumble upon one of my recipes. Mind you, Rya would be my first critic and be the one approving what to post. So, here we go.

Ingredients:

pork (lean, cubed)

butter

ginger (minced)

garlic (minced)

onion (minced)

bean sprouts (a handful)

carrots (thinly sliced)

cabbage (thinly sliced)

oyster sauce (about 2 tablespoon)

salt

basil

oregano

parsley

butterhead lettuce

Procedure:

1. Cook pork in small amount of water! Add ginger as the meat turns white (I like the taste of ginger on pork and this procedure sort of makes the meat sip that ginger flavor). Wait until water evaporates. Stir. Add butter. Then add garlic and onion. Stir until meat turns brown.

2. In medium fire, add bean sprouts, carrots and cabbage (on a different variation you can add baby corn and ubod (heart of palm) to this combination). Jerk the pan! After all this is a sauté. Stir until the juice of the bean sprouts comes out. Add oyster sauce and a small amount of water. Stir. Add a pinch of salt.

3. Turn of fire after a few minutes. Sprinkle basil, oregano and parsley.

Presentation:

Ok this will be a first. I mean this presentation part. This is what I am most interested in. How to make a food more pleasing to the eyes. Given it is already pleasing in taste and in smell. This is my attempt.

Spread the fresh butterhead lettuce on the plate and the Pork & Bean Sprouts Sauté in the middle. Simple but not boring. Until next time. Don't forget to say grace. Mangantayon!

Spareribs with Pineapple in Oyster Sauce

2010-10-23T04:32:00.001-07:00

It has been a long time. My harddrive is already full of food pictures that are waiting to be published here. My baby is already 5 months old yesterday and since September, we have moved to a new apartment and I have started a new job. Our new place is nice. It is a place where everybody still says "Ohayou" (Good morning) to each other and also offer you produce from their gardens when harvest time comes. Although we are far from the conveniences that city living offers, we are loving every minute that we are here. My husband is particularly loving the fact that there is a supermarket nearby which sells big chunks of meat at a relatively cheaper price than the usual supermarkets. And thus as a comeback, let me share Rad's favorite meat: the spare ribs.

Tonight, I decided to experiment a little bit. It is weekend, and we decided to spend the whole day inside the apartment just taking it easy so the ingredients are the things that I can find in my refrigerator only.

Ingredients:

spare ribs (4 cuts)

butter

1 potato

1 green bell pepper

2 rings pineapple

mushroom

half an onion

pepper

about 2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

water

lettuce (as garnish)

Procedure:

1. Sprinkle shio-kosho (a mixture of salt and fine pepper) on the ribs and fry in butter until brown.

2. Put in onion and potato and fry some more (use moderate heat).

3. Mix in oyster sauce and soy sauce until they are incorporated in the meat and potatoes. Sprinkle ground black pepper. Pour about 3/4 cup water and cover.

4. Mix in pineapple and mushroom.

5. Put in bell pepper when everything is cooked. The remaining heat is enough to cook the bell pepper and still have some crunch in it.

Usually, the meat that we buy are already so tender that we don't even need a pressure cooker or cook for a long time. I think the amount of water would depend on how tender or hard the meat is.

Nuts over Nattou

2010-06-08T11:24:00.000-07:00

It seems that my last venture in the kitchen making the natsu mikan marmalade was all it took to stimulate my labor pains. I got myself admitted to the hospital at 7AM and our baby girl was born 12 hours later. As I stayed for a week at the hospital, I thought that my next blog entry would be about hospital food but that would take a lot more energy so it would have to wait. One thing significant that happened to me while I was in the hospital was, I suddenly found myself liking, no, loving natto (fermented soybeans)!

And so, since I got back from the hospital, natto has been a regular on our breakfast table and I have also convinced Rad to eat it regularly too! I was more encouraged when I found out that Shizuoka Gourmet is having a series of recipes on natto in his blog. What a coincidence!

For this week though, we have been eating natto with its sauce and mustard topped with bonito flakes and some nori. Sometimes, with fresh raw egg. I can swear that despite the sleepless nights, I feel more energized everyday because of natto (or perhaps I have just really convinced myself of that!LOL)

So anyway, while Ken and I went to shop yesterday, I picked up a copy of QuiCooking and I found this recipe (小松菜と納豆のからししょうゆあえ　or Komatsuna and Nattou with Mustard and Soysauce dressing） which I tried last night for dinner.　The recipe called for komatsuna (Brassica rapa var. perviridis var. komatsuna) or Japanese mustard spinach, which is Rad`s favorite.

Ingredients:
Komatsuna or Spinach (cut and boiled)
1 pack nattou
nattou sauce and mustard (usually included with the nattou)
mirin
soy sauce

Directions:
Mix the spinach and nattou in a bowl. Then mix in the remaining ingredients.

So simple really. But I was glad my usual spinach salad got a bit livelier and healthier.

NatsuMikan (Summer Tangerine) Marmalade

2010-05-21T08:54:00.001-07:00

Ok so Kaye is not coming yet. I didn't get the job I applied for, so there is no sense of hurrying things up. My baby can take her sweet time in my tummy. She has all my time now. The doc told me today that they will have to induce labor next Thursday if I still don't give birth by then. However, when I cam home from the hospital, I begin to feel that familiar pang and I have a feeling that she will come soon. It's 1AM and I slept the pains off from 7PM to 11PM. For lack of something to do, I decided to finally try making something out of the natsu mikan (summer tangerine) in our kitchen.

The tangerine trees at the back of our apartment are teeming with fruits at this time of the year. Every year, for almost every week that the mikan are in season, we would find a plastic bag full of tangerine at our doorstep, courtesy of our landlord. For the past years, I had no idea nor had any inclination to use the mikan for something else other than the usual so most of the time, they'd end up in the garbage.

Tonight, I experimented on making marmalade. I searched for a recipe online but couldn't find one and I really am not in the mood to search for recipes written in Japanese so, I made my own based on marmalade recipes of other types of oranges or tangerines.

Natsu mikan is much more bitter than the mikan or ponkan. However, I am quite satisfied with what I got.

Ingredients:
1 big natsu mikan
1 cup sugar
yuzu rind

Directions:
Since I have nothing better to do, I peeled the mikan and removed all the pulp and seeds by hand. This would have been so time-consuming if I had used like 5 mikans and I read in one blog that they just processed the sacs as they are. I opted to remove the sacs though and only used the pulp. I had leftover yuzu in the refrigerator so I removed its rind and mixed it in.

One big mikan with all its juice amounted to 1 cup so I used also 1 cup of white sugar. Since I don't have a food processor, I blended it for 2 or 3 seconds.

Then I boiled the mixture for about 13 minutes.

As you can see from the picture (my photographer is fast asleep so excuse the inartistic shot), it looks like marmalade. It tastes and feels like marmalade although a little bit bitter than the commercial one. Nevertheless, I think I will be making my own marmalade from now on. Maybe I'll add a more sugar next time but I think this one is just perfect for my orange marmalade French toast!

Now if only I have the energy to peel and pulp 10 more natsu mikan. . . . .

Tambo-tambo or Padarusdus or Ginatan Bilo-bilo

2010-05-20T09:14:00.000-07:00

There is a lot of name for this dessert and a lot of ways to cook it. We call it Padarusdus or Paradusdos in Ilocano. Correct me if I am wrong but I think the name came from when the glutinous rice flour is shaped into balls and made to roll in dry flour and as the balls roll, especially if there are many who are making them, it would appear like there is a "scuffle" of mochi balls. Or at least that`s what I remember my aunt told me. That by the way is the meaning of "darusdos". Although it could have come from the Tagalog word "dausdos" which means "to slide". But etymology is the least of my concerns now.

So anyway, whenever I go home to Batac, I would just crave for it. Last October, the first thing I requested from Manang Perla was to buy a serving of padarusdus and she said that she'd better make it herself because it would be cheaper and that way everybody can eat. I am so glad she did! I watched her cook it so that next time I'll know how but like the great cook that she is, she never ever measured her ingredients but just boiled and tossed in every ingredient and lo and behold!

This is a dish so rich in carbohydrate as most of the ingredients are made of starch! The glutinous rice, sweet potato, sago or tapioca, and other root crops which one may want to add.

When I came back to Japan, first thing I did was to order some sago, tapioca and coconut milk from a Filipino store online. By the way, for those who are not aware, sago and tapioca are different in that, sago is made from the pith of sago palm stem (Metroxylon sagu) while tapioca is from the root crop Manihot esculenta or cassava. Both are made of starch though and can be used in the same way.

Here is what I did, crudely, but, it worked and it satisfied my palate.

Ingredients:
1 can coconut milk
1/2 - 1 cup brown sugar
sago (cooked)
sweet potato (cut in bite size)
bananas
glutinous rice balls (I used mochi powder, well they are the same)
vanilla

Directions:

*Glutinous rice balls are made by blending the glutinous rice flour with water and shaping them into balls.

Boil the coconut milk. Once the coconut milk is boiling, add the sugar. The amount of sugar depends on how sweet you want it. Put in the sweet potatoes. If you have cooked the sago beforehand, you can just add it after the sweet potatoes. Then the bananas. Right after that, drop in the mochi balls and cook till the balls float. Add vanilla for that aromatic flavor.

I only had sweet potatoes and bananas here but some would add yam, jackfruit and/or sweet corn.

Choco Chip Cookies and Brown Sugar Oatmeal Raisin Bread

2010-05-20T07:58:00.000-07:00

It has been two months since my last post and our baby girl is supposedly due to come out today but it seems that she is taking her sweet time in my tummy. I have been busy preparing for her coming and of course nurturing myself out of boredom, irritation, hormonal imbalance and what-have-yous of pregnancy. So instead of getting more anxious when the labor pains would come, I have decided to write another post just to channel the extra energy and sleeplessness I have been suffering the past days.

My sister arrived in Japan last April and she just came and stayed with us for 5 days during the Golden Week (that`s Japan`s week-long vacation). We had fun going from one store to another shopping with Grace (a Filipina friend, also studying in Gifudai). Anyway, when all was bought and my feet finally gave up, we decided to spend the rest of the vacation cooking, particularly baking. We had the muffin, quick bread, cookies and a whole wheat bread in our list.

The choco chip cookies recipe I got from my sis in UP Cells, Orange, who cooks a lot of amazing and delicious food for her family. I kinda wish she would also make a blog of all her recipes. I dunno what we did wrong but, although this is my second time to make these, they were still so thin. Nevertheless, they were so delicious that they were gone before we knew it and Ken has become the new Cookie Monster.

Before we mixed the cookie recipe, we already prepared the dough for the Brown Sugar Oatmeal Raisin Bread. It was fun to be back baking bread but I had to admit that I am glad my sister did all the mixing and kneading. My powers were not enough for bread making just yet. Ken had a great time sprinkling the cinnamon and playing little chef.

We followed the recipe from Cookingbread.com to the letter and we were aptly rewarded with two very delicious and tasty loaves which are indeed so perfect for breakfast!

Puto Pao

2010-03-18T18:54:00.000-07:00

And so, after the leche flan adventure, I am left with a lot of leftover egg whites, and so is Manny. I hate to see the egg whites go down the drain so I looked for ways to use them. At first, I thought of making merengue but I thought, I would just end up eating everything again. I thought of chiffon cake but Rad doesn`t like it very much and I thought it would be too "mendokusai". And then I found out this website with pictures on how to make PUTO PAO! I followed their recipe changing a little bit in the the measurements.

Way back when I was still with DMMMSU, a colleague`s sister made this for us when we visited their house in Pangasinan and I remembered how yummy it was. This is not her recipe but at least, I have made another "breakthrough" in my cooking experiments!

Ingredients:

for the dough:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar (I used 1/2 to 3/4 cup)
2 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups fresh milk (the original recipe used water)
7 egg whites (although there are times when I used up to 10 egg whites)
a dash of salt or a pinch of lemon juice (to stabilize the egg whites)

for the filling:
ground pork (I used about 250-300 g)
garlic
onion
2 tbsp soysauce
1 tbsp mirin (optional)

Directions:
1. Sift the APF, sugar and baking powder and mix.

2. Add the milk and mix well.

3. Mix the salt or lemon with the egg whites and beat until fluffy.

4. Fold the beaten egg whites into the first mixture.

5. Saute the ground pork with the filling.

6. Pour the dough about 1/4-1/3 into the baking pan or mold, put the filling then cover it again with the dough. Be sure not to fill the pan all the way though because the mixture will rise.

7. You can put cheese, or salted eggs as topping.

8. Steam or bake for 30-40 minutes at 180-200℃. Or, use the toothpick method to make sure that the dough is already cooked.

I do not have an electric mixer so I had to request Rad to beat the egg whites everytime I make puto pao. Using fresh milk made it tastier and indeed, the fluffier the egg whites are, the better is the dough. Using mirin in the filling is optional. I just couldn`t resist. I believe it tastes better if it has mirin though.

More Experiments! (Leche Flan)

2010-03-17T02:39:00.000-07:00

I am, right now, in Miyazaki City, having just attended my perhaps last academic conference in Japan (till graduation that is) and so, with time in my hands, I finally got to update this blog after yet another hiatus.

More experiments! Yup in all aspects of my life at present.... At the lab, with my family and the kitchen.... Since I am not graduating this March, my professors deemed it better to add yet more experiments to my research thus, my time, till June will have to be spent again in the lab.

At home, after almost 2 years of being long-distance parents, we find ourselves adjusting to each other (Rad and I with Ken and vice versa). Life has suddenly been so busy getting to know Ken once again and establishing a routine for him and for Rad and I as well. Since we (Ken and I) came back from the Philippines, Rad and I have been trying out all sorts of food and drinks with Ken. Being in Japan suddenly made him suspicious of everything we put on his plate. Fortunately, though, lately, his appetite is back and he is liking everything already. Don`t you just love kids?

For a time, I found myself having no interest in cooking and even hating just being in the kitchen and the thought of making food. Rad was also baffled why the sudden change and that`s when we found out that we are infanticipating! Yes, my dears, Ken will have a sister by May. It is gonna be a big change for all of us but well, God is always there to see us through.

Now, in the kitchen, one of my cravings lately is for that sweet, creamy Filipino caramel custard called Leche Flan. I have always thought that making it would be very troublesome but thanks to Daisy (who has come all the way from Australia to spend Christmas in Japan) and Manny, for showing me how easy it is.

Ingredients:
for the Custard:

10 egg yolks
1 can (300mL) condensed milk
300 mL fresh milk
lemon rind or vanilla

for Caramel topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

Directions:

1. For the custard, just mix everything well. Do not beat as this would leave air spaces and would affect the texture or appearance of the flan. If you use lemon rind, be sure to strain the mixture first before pouring into the mold.

2. For the caramel topping, mix the sugar and water and cook over medium fire until the sugar turns a little bit brown. Be careful not to over caramelize it as it would give a different taste to your flan.

3. Pour the caramelized sugar into the mold then the flan mixture.

4. Steam for 20-40 minutes or better yet, use the toothpick method to make sure that the flan is already cooked. I did mine in an oven though, at 180��, for 35 minutes using a baking pan half-filled with water.

I have done this several times and came up with a ratio that I liked but I loved the result too much that we ate the flan right away and I forgot to take down notes. However, I have stopped making leche flan lately because it came to a point that I would eat one whole flan in just one day! That`s 8-10 egg yolks! Rad had to do the buying for supplies because if I do it, I`d always end up buying more eggs and more milk than we can ever eat and I would go back to making leche flan again.

Now, the egg whites is another story. I`ll reserve it for tomorrow`s post.

Sinigang na Tilapia (Ilocano Style)

2010-01-25T07:19:00.000-08:00

Today, I finished my presentation (my second mid-term presentation, actually). This is one of the reasons why I have ignored blogging and the kitchen for quite a while. I needed to meet my deadlines for my dissertation. However, as it turned out, no matter how on time I was or I am, some things just don`t ever turn out the way others expect them to be. To make a long story short, I won`t be graduating till September. But I am glad that today`s presentation is over. I went home with a big headache and a growling stomach and immediately made macaroni fruit salad and gobbled left over tocino. To further "celebrate" this event, is a blog post.

When I went home (Philippines) last October, a Tilapia vendor would always drop by our house every other day to entice us with his freshly caught tilapia or mudfish. We would almost always buy thus our refrigerator or our dining table is never without a tilapia. At 100 pesos per kilo (about 4-6 pieces), compared to the 100 pesos a piece here in Japan, I didn`t mind seeing tilapia everyday.

There was a week however, when we had a steady supply of the fish from Solsona, my mother`s hometown and my birthplace. My cousins built a fishpond, let the rain and clean stream ran through it and filled it with a lot of tilapia fingerlings. There were so many fish that even with a simple stick and a tiny bait, in less than a blink and voila, you`ve got yourself a meal!

There are a lot of ways to cook tilapia so you won`t ever get tired of seeing it always on your plate, but I won`t go into all the 101 ways. I would just like to share the way the Ilocanos (or at least, my side of the family) cook their "tilapia sinigang" . Sinigang is the Filipino sour soup or stew. Usually, tamarind is used to come up with that distinct sourness, although some other fruits such as guava, calamansi or kamias (Averrhoa bilimbi) may also be used.

Here though, the only ingredients used were tomatoes, onion, and salt. It is a very simple dish really. It only takes boiling water, dropping the tomatoes (sliced, of course) and onion and then the fish and add some salt and/pepper to taste. The broth is not as sour as the normal sinigang but it has the delicious taste of fish in it, especially if the fish is fresh. With this way of cooking tilapia, one can easily tell whether the fish used in the dish is fresh or frozen.Mangantayon!

Twas` a Hiatus (Inihaw, Inabraw and Kamote Leaf-Banana Salad)

2010-01-12T23:23:00.000-08:00

For so many reasons (which, I will slowly disclose with every post from hereon), I let my blog go on a hiatus. Well, let me correct that, for a time ( more or less, 3 months), I didn't even want to stay in the kitchen, nor cook anything. My hard drive though, is full of food pictures. So as a comeback, I will be sharing some of the foods that I got to enjoy when I went home to the Philippines for a short vacation. Yep, that is one of the reasons. Went home and put food-blogging at the back of my mind (writing that is, not the food).

First feature is that sumptuous lunch prepared by Manang Perla, my brother-in-law Boyet and my sister Peng. We were supposed to go to the beach that day but there was no available transportation and the weather didn't look so promising, so instead, Boyet cooked one of his specialties (the one he always cooks whenever we go home for vacation), Inihaw Galore!

The Ihaw (grill) part is not a very hard thing to do but when the fishes and sea food came together with the side dishes which were grilled eggplant (torta) and green mangoes with tomatoes and fresh spring onions with a bit of fish sauce, my, my, it is one mouth-watering dish!

We ate outside at Mama`s garden and Manang Perla came out with her delicious Inabraw which consisted of string beans, squash flowers and malunggay (horseradish tree) leaves.

In addition, she and my sister made a combination of banana flower (or heart, we call it "puso ng saging") and sweet potato leaves salad. This one is not a mystery either. Just boil the leaves and add minced ginger and tomatoes in fish sauce. The banana flowers and potato leaves were boiled separately though. We usually rub salt to the banana flowers before boiling to remove some bitterness that come from its juice and then you have to squeeze the flowers after boiling too.

Now, that, plus eating with your hands plus a glass of cold soda on a not-so-hot day with your family is what I call a real good time!

So what made me decide to write a blog today despite the things waiting to be done on my to-do list? It is freaking cold! I need something to remind me of summer.

Shrimp and Avocado Salad (Cobb`s)

2009-09-19T06:38:00.000-07:00

This is my and Rad`s favorite salad ever. Especially if it`s with Cobb`s dressing. This has daikon strings, some greens, onions, avocado, shrimps and tomatoes. Adding peas, garbanzos, tomatoes and other veggies will add to the tastiness of this salad. The picture below is another version with a bit of chicken, lettuce, nachos and boiled eggs. Unfortunately though, I haven`t tried my hand at homemade Cobb`s dressing.

Inabraw or Dinengdeng

2009-09-13T05:09:00.000-07:00

We called home today and they told us they were having frogs for lunch. A local delicacy. Since I have no way of getting hold of the same today, I decided to cook something close (not to frogs but to home, that is.). What`s more traditional Ilocano cooking than INABRAW? So timely because yesterday I spotted a lot of jute at the supermarket. If only there were malunggay but I guess I have to be thankful that at least familiar veggies were there.

Inabraw is also called dinengdeng and it usually contains a mixture of veggies in a bagoong (salted/fermented bonnet mouth fish or the shiokara 塩辛) soup base. It is different from pinakbet in that, inabraw is more soupy, less veggies and usually do not have tomatoes. Ilocanoes are voracious vegetable eaters and most of the combinations of vegetables in inabraw are those that can be found in one`s backyard. Perhaps this is one reason why Ilocanos are thought to be thrifty to the point of stinginess because most never have to go to the market to buy food because they can have a proper meal with just the leaves and fruits from their backyards.

Most common combination is malunggay (or leaves from the horseradish tree or Moringa oleifera) and jute or saluyot (moloheya or Corchorus sp.). I sometimes think that an Inabraw with only malunggay and jute in bagoong is the basic Inabraw. Some say one is not an Ilocano if they don`t have at least one horseradish tree in their yard. Jute on the other hand, grows just about anywhere and during rainy season, they just come out.

Cooking inabraw consists only of boiling water then adding the bagoong and then the veggies. Here are tips though that my parents especially my father taught us to make sure that the inabraw will come out appetizing and delicious. Other people may have different ways of preparing but this one works for me and my family.

1. Do not put too much water or else it will come out too soupy or what he terms as bumiraw biraw. It is not so appetizing to see all the veggies drowning in the soup base plus the excess water will dilute the taste from the veggies.

2. Put minimal bagoong. Although it is in a bagoong soup base, putting too much of bagoong will make it too salty. For a recipe for a family of 6, we usually just use about 1 tablespoon or lesser.

4. Put veggies which are hard to cook, first, and the leaves last. For example, in the above inabraw, I put the bitter gourd, then the eggplant and the jute leaves last. (by the way, the combination of the bitter gourd and jute is good because the sweetness from the jute contrasted with the bitterness of the gourd and the result is really so good!).

3. Never overcook the veggies. My father always stressed on maintaining the color of the veggies especially the green leafy ones. So, do not wait for the veggies to cook before you put in the next one. It is all about timing.

4. Boil a bit of ginger in the water before putting the bagoong. My mom taught me this. It adds flavor.

5. Add fried fish or pork or leftover pork adobo into the soup to have a little meaty taste.

6. If you do it right, you will never have the need to add msg or additional salt.

Now the only thing that I have to figure is how to cook inabraw without ever using bagoong. Rad wants it that way, but then it won`t be inabraw anymore. A bit of warning though, eating inabraw is an acquired thing. Oh well, mangantayon!

Rosemary Chicken and Potatoes

2009-09-10T09:42:00.000-07:00

I bought a marinated chicken (marinated in something a bit sweet and a bit spice with pepper)from the supermarket and usually I would just grill or fry it but I decided to spice things up a bit and coated it with the following mixture before baking it at 200℃ for an hour.

Rosemary mix ----Minced fresh rosemary, 2 tbsp lemon, 2 tbsp olive oil. (This is good for two big cuts already. I only cooked 1 tonight and froze the other.)

Halfway through the cooking time, I flipped the chicken. Then I realized it looks so lonely so I peeled and wedged some potatoes and cut some button mushrooms, sprinkled them with 1 tbsp olive oil(although the oil from the chicken would have been enough), pepper, minced garlic, a bit of garlic powder and some shichimi togarashi for a spicy taste, and just baked it along with the chicken for the last 30 minutes of cooking time. My did our kitchen smelled so nice! And that chicken was really good! Promise!

Finally! Muffins that look like Muffins!

2009-09-08T19:36:00.000-07:00

I was on a roll last friday, Rad made me bake another batch of bagels and I made myself have another try at muffins without beating the batter! Here it is! Oh I was so happy when they finally came out looking like real muffins! I just used the basic muffin recipe and folded some blueberries, choco chips and pineapples. If you are thinking that I am too lazy to post the recipes, you are right. LOL! Just wanna share my excitement over my muffins. These were gone on our first day of our trip to Matsue (I`ll be blogging about it later). If you`ve got tips for a noob then please feel free to share! They are so welcome!

My Imperfect Bagels

2009-09-08T09:57:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, Rad came back from work tired and so hungry and called to ask me if I`d like some bagels. We both love to sit and just savor the bagels at Bagel and Bagel. Since I just had my presentation and my adrenaline is still on a plateau, (although my head was already throbbing), I grabbed the opportunity to use the oven again and cook for him this time. Plus, I had to make something to bring with us in our trip the next day. So, I ventured into bagels. And I didn`t know that you had to boil them first before baking them! Making them was really fun! I was kneading them while Rad sat on a stool telling me about his day. I guess we got so engrossed in talking that I really kneaded the dough well enough because, I liked the consistency and elasticity that I came up with. Rolling and shaping it though was really tricky but practice makes perfect.

When it was cooked, I asked Rad how it tasted and he answered, "BAGEL!". It was enough.

Got this one from this hub. I followed the recipe except that I tried it only for half the measurements and still used 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, it was still good.

Homemade bagel recipe

4 cups bread flour

1 Tbls sugar

1 1/2 tsps salt

1 Tbls vegetable oil

2 tsps instant yeast

1-1/4- 1-1/2 cups of warm water

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. You don't have to worry about soaking the yeast when you use instant yeast (most yeast sold these days is instant yeast). The dough should feel stiff, but add the extra water if it's really stiff, or you can't get all the dry flour incorporated.

Plop the dough down onto the counter, and knead for about ten minutes, or until the dough is uniform and smooth. Cut the dough into 8 equal sized balls, and let rest for 10-20 minutes.Pre heat your oven to 425F.

Now, take each of the dough balls and using two hands, roll it into a little snake on the counter. When the snake is longer than the width of your two hands, wrap it around your dominant roiling hand. The dough rope should be wrapped so the overlapping ends are together at your palm, near the start of your fingers. Now take the two overlapping ends, and use your palm to squish/roll these two ends together. Once the dough is fused, you should have a perfectly circular bagel-to-be! This is the only part of the process that can take a little practice before your bagels will look really professional. Don't get discouraged if they don't look perfect, it just takes practice!

Let your bagels rest on the counter for about 20 minutes, and meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil, and grease a large baking tray lightly. You can just rub a splash of vegetable oil and rub it around. After the 20 minute wait, your bagels will start to look puffy, and it's time to get them boiling! Add them as many at a time as you can to your boiling water without crowding them. Boil for about a minute, turn them over, and boil for another minute. Take them out a let dry for a minute and then place them on your oiled baking tray. Repeat until all the bagels are boiled. Add the tray to the oven, and after 10 minutes, flip the bagels over, bake for another ten minutes; and they're done! Let them cool for at least 20 minutes, get the cream cheese ready, and feast on what's got to be one of the best weekend brunch treats possible!

You can add any toppings you like to these. To make sesame, onions, poppy seed, caraway etc. etc. bagels just have a dry plate ready with the seed or spice topping spread out on it. After the bagels have come out of the boiling water, place them face down onto the seeds, and then place the seed side up onto the baking tray. Bake and flip as for plain bagels.

Rad is Cooking.... again...

2009-09-08T09:41:00.001-07:00

After more than two weeks of no post here, I am back with one of Rad`s cooking again. The past two weeks have been so busy for me that I asked Rad to excuse me from the household chores which included cooking, well mostly cooking because the clothes still needed to be laundered and no way will he ever try to decipher the kanjis on the washing machine. So the past two weeks consisted of eating out, bentos, and Rad`s occasional recipes. He`d always cook some porkchops for me whenever I have an exam or presentation but on the night before my presentation, we were not able to go to the supermarket so he had to make do with whatever was left in the fridge. There was chicke, sausage and some veggies and here is what he came up with. He claims it`s his teriyaki although he didn`t cook it the usual teriyaki way, and it didn`t even tasted like one. He just liked the sound of it, So, I`ll just call it Rad`s Chicken. One thing though, it was very delicious! He cooked enough for my lunch the following day because he had to go to work. I will have to post the recipe later as my cook is so fast asleep (poor thing, these castle trips are energy consuming!).

Never Beat a Muffin Batter

2009-08-25T09:21:00.000-07:00

So sue me. I am new at this and mistakes are bound to happen. I was happy that I have muffin plates already so I tried them with the delicious banana-blueberry muffin recipe (and because of my excitement, I even put in choco chips! what the heck..). And since I have been making these quickbread recipes which I figured could also be turned into muffin delights so I thought, I had it all figured out. Well, I thought wrong. When the "muffins" came out of the oven, I thought they looked flat and a bit soft. Perhaps, I didn`t beat the batter well enough? No! I overdid it! Geez. Every muffin recipe should have the warning: "Never Beat the Batter!" for noobs like me.

Oh well, although they didn`t rise, they are still as good as I thought them to be. And Rad, bless his heart, said he loved them! (I even asked him to beat the mixture haha!). There is always next time.

Lavender`s Birthday and Sasami Cheese Katsu (Chicken Cutlets)

2009-08-24T05:42:00.000-07:00

Our friend from India, Lavender, celebrated her birthday last Tuesday, August 18, but since we meet every Wednesday for Bible study, we decided to have dinner together at our apartment. She promised us the goodness of her Indian curry. I asked Rebecca over at Chow and Chatter for some tips on what`s best to pair the curry with because her mother-in-law is visiting from India. She had an interesting suggestion but I promised to try it some other time as I didn`t have time to prepare it. So instead, I went the Japanese way (or Indian way) and made some katsu (like tonkatsu) to go with Lav`s egg curry. The recipe for egg curry would have to be posted later as soon as Lav takes a short break from her protein and cloning experiments.

This type of katsu is what I always order for lunch at the university cafeteria. Sasami Cheese Katsu or Chicken Fillet Cutlets. As in my post for Cheese Tonkatsu or Pork Cutlets, the procedure is the same. The only difference is, I used Chicken Fillet. Served with shredded fresh cabbage, and good company, again, more rice!

Oh and Lav`s cake was my very first attempt at making a birthday cake! It was a blueberry jam cake with Fresh Cream with blueberry yoghurt frosting. More birthdays to come Lav! Mangantayon!

Country White Bread

2009-08-24T05:21:00.000-07:00

A while back, I posted here that I have found my bread recipe, that is, whole wheat honey bread recipe. However, it seemed that it is "too healthy" for Rad to enjoy. Thus, yet again, I found myself trying another recipe. So I went back to cookingbread.com and tried their recipe for country white bread. I was not disappointed. And what`s more, Rad liked it! The recipe is good for two 5x9 loaf bread but as I only have the smaller loaf pan, I was able to make 4 small loaves out of the dough. (I froze half of it for use later). This is good because there are only 2 mouths to feed here and 1 small loaf is gone in just one sitting so, that`s about 4 meals or 6 snacks. And like I said, although buying bread is, time-wise, the easiest and most practical way, nothing beats the satisfaction of baking your own bread. My bread turned out better this time because, I had Rad to knead it till it was smooth and elastic (I don`t have the strength or the patience LOL). It is indeed a "fairly heavy bread" with "a wonderful creamy color and soft texture". I followed the instructions to the dot so if you want to try it yourself, visit the site`s illustrated procedure here. Mangantayon!

Sinuglaw with Tako (He cooked! ...and blogged!)

2009-08-18T07:24:00.000-07:00

Today, I came back late from school and so did Rad , from work. He assured me though that I won`t have to cook tonight because he will cook something that I would like to feature here in my blog. His "Sinuglaw". Even if dinner was late, it was worth it because once again, I ate my heart out. So here is Sinuglaw, a popular dish from Davao, whose name apparently came from the fusion of "sinugba" meaning grill and "hilaw" or "kinilaw" meaning raw. He even insisted on writing something plus the recipe! Well, well, well... an instant guest blogger!

He says:

Late this afternoon when I was about to board my train back to Shizuoka the thought of Mindanao, specifically Davao came to me. I was more of a beach bum way back then and no summer passes by that I don't stay at Samal island. I dunno, I may have had just a bad day, my mind was so dead tired, that I longed for the food of the island. Fresh sea foods. Specifically, the all time favourite kinilaw. So when I arrived at Shizuoka, took the bus home and got off at the supermarket to buy the ingredients. This time, my creative mind was awakened.

SINUGBA (INIHAW)--- Grill

Ingredients:

pork chops
kikkoman soy sauce
salt
a dash of black pepper

--- mix everything together then grill. It would be better if you can marinate the pork for a while before grilling. Then slice into bite sizes or in the same size as you would slice the tuna.

KINILAW (Raw)

Ingredients:

fresh tuna (maguro)
datu puti white vinegar (abt 3 tbsp)
a dash of salt
1 lemon
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 green bell pepper
1/4 carrot
1/2 onion
1/2 ginger
*(all vegetables are cut into small bits)

1] While the pork is grilling, prepare the kinilaw or raw part. Slice tuna into cubes and mix with white vinegar add a dash of salt.Toss until tuna meat is "cooked" (turns white).Discard the extra juice.

2] Toss tuna meat, ginger and onion with the lemon juice and put in the fridge or freezer till it is ready to serve. If you put it in the freezer, make sure that it won`t be too long for the mixture to freeze.

3] Slice/cut all other ingredients into small bits. You can either mix it together with or garnish afterwards for presentation.

-------- We both like fresh octopus or tako so I put some in too. When everything is cut and ready, mix the grilled and the raw parts together. Serve immediately.

And I say,

Oh how I wish this happens everyday... or at least every week!

note: I love how the colors and came out in the picture that I will enter this at Laura`s Best Food Foto at Hey What`s For Dinner Mom! .Drop by and check her wonderful blog. And don`t forget to drop by on Monday (or is that Sunday, Tokyo time?) and cast a vote! For my photos of course.LOL!

Peppered Beef

2009-08-17T00:07:00.001-07:00

This is a repost from my other abandoned but soon to be refurbished blog at wordpress` Life is Beautiful.

It only involves frying the beef till they are brown, sauteiing with the garlic and the veggies and putting a tablespoon of soy sauce and sprinkling with lots of pepper!

I do most of the cooking here but when Rad and I get tired of the taste of my cooking, he volunteers to cook. I don’t complain coz when he cooks, I really eat and I mean EAT! There is this fastfood chain we usually go to for lunch. We always order their pepper rice because it appeals to our spicy taste buds and well we are really getting our 500 yen worth hehehe. So, yesterday, Rad went to Mom’s (supermarket) and bought some beef cubes and he made his version of pepper rice only he calls it Peppered Beef and Mushroom. I must say, I would pay twice what I pay for my pepper rice for what he cooked last night! It was really good! It was literally peppered with pepper, spicy but the beef taste was there and so with the green peppers. It was so good, twas a pity there was no Coca-cola to go with it. We are trying to cut our calorie intake by cutting on the sweets and soda drinks but last night, we ate all the rice cooked for supposedly two meals,, good-bye diet! Mangantayon!

Pinakbet --- Ilocano Style

2009-08-15T07:27:00.000-07:00

The Pinakbet is from the Ilocano word "pinakebbet" meaning "to shrivel" or "shrunk". It is a popular dish from the northern part of the Philippines which has become as popular in other places as well and with their own version. This version is what my parents taught me.

You can use just about any vegetable in it but the the most commonly used are string beans, bitter gourd, eggplant, okra, winged bean, chili peppers, winged beans, alukon (Aleanthus luzonicus), and malunggay fruits (seed and pulp). When we arrived from our trip, somebody left a bag full of veggies at our door. I was so happy to find chilli peppers, string beans and eggplants. String bean is not easy to find from these parts so I immediately told Rad to buy additional veggies to make pinakbet.

There are many versions on how to cook pinakbet. Some prefer to sautee the veggies but my parents said that the real pinakbet is to put it all together and to just let it simmer till the veggies shrink.

Ingredients:
string beans (about 8-10 strings) cut into 2-in length
1 eggplant, sliced
1/2 bitter gourd (I bought a big long one. We usually use the tiny round ones in Ilocos)
5 okra
5 chili peppers
2 big tomatoes, pulped, or cut
2 tsp bagoong (we have the shiokara (塩辛) here. it is milder than the normal Ilocano bagoong)
1/4 ginger, julliened or just cut

Directions:
Put all ingredients in a pot. You can dilute the bagoong in water but make sure that there won`t be too much liquid to simmer the mixture in. I always see to it that the total liquid won`t exceed half of the height of the mixed veggies. My mom always said to put a bit of salt in the tomatoes and mash and squeeze with your hands to get the juice out.
Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes or less. See if the veggies have been cooked enough. Add salt to taste. If you have to mix the veggies, mix them before cooking it. Don`t mix it while it is simmering, it will bring out the bitterness of the gourd. If you have to, then just toss it holding on to the handle of the pot. With the lid on of course.

I added some pork slices which I fried in its own fat beforehand. You can also put in fried fish or grilled fish or shrimps.And of course, the best would be to put in bits of chicharon or bagnet.

I don`t use MSG in my cooking but some prefer to put a dash of it in.

In the Tagalog version of Pinakbet, slices of kalabasa or squash are added.

Note: The photo above is the uncooked version, with Rad`s watermark and not the usual "mangantayon" mark. Cook it then, mangantayon!