adobongblog

Sinigang na Bangus sa Kamatis

2013-05-07T21:30:00.001+08:00

Here's a quick and simple way to cook Sinigang na Bangus sa Kamatis (Milkfish in Tomato Stew), as demonstrated by my eldest sister. She actually did away with measurements though, but the recipe is quite straightforward. Tomatoes may not be as sour as sampaloc, but it is more readily available and the result is a delicate sour taste that's nice to sip and/or add to rice.

Ingredients:

1 large milkfish (bangus), scales removed, gutted, cleaned, and chopped

5-7 medium tomatoes, roughly opened and seeds removed

3-4 pieces siling pangsigang

ginger, skin removed and crushed

a bunch of pechay, washed clean

salt

water

Procedure:

Pour water onto a medium-sized pot (depending on how much soup you want), and add the tomatoes, sili, and ginger. Season with salt. Cover and bring to a boil over medium heat.

Add the sliced bangus and cover to cook (around 5 minutes). Then remove from heat and add the pechay leaves.

Serve hot.

Igado

2013-04-26T21:57:00.000+08:00

I love having igado for any meal. I request for either this or bopis from my Nanay whenever I visit her when I was still working and living in Manila. I have never taken particular attention to how it is cooked (indeed, it's ready there when I arrive!), so when my elder sister said we will be having igado for lunch, I simply could not let the opportunity pass to learn how to cook this tasty Ilocano dish.

Ingredients:

1 pig's heart
1 pig's liver
1/2 kg pork liempo
a splash of soy sauce
cooking oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium bell pepper, cut into strips
a handful of siling pangsigang
1 tbsp vinegar
salt and ground pepper to taste
water for boiling

Procedure:
Boil the pig's heart, liver, and liempo over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Let cool, then cut into strips. Boiling makes it easier to cut. Reserve some of the stock for later use.

Heat up a couple of tablespoons cooking oil, then saute the garlic and onion. Add the sliced pork liempo and stir fry until the fat starts getting released. Add the sliced heart and liver and mix. Add soy sauce. Cook until liver is cooked, mixing occasionally.

Add the broth, just enough for the purpose of giving the dish some sauce. Add the carrots and mix; cook for a couple of minutes. Then add the siling pangsigang and cook for a couple more minutes. Then add the bell pepper strips and cook for a minute longer. Finally, pour the vinegar and do not mix, just let the vinegary smell dissipate.

Taste and adjust using salt and ground pepper.

This dish is great served either warm or cool. When cooled down, the sauce will thicken slightly, which is ideal.

Serve with hot rice.

Paksiw na Tilapia

2013-04-22T23:49:00.000+08:00

Cooking Paksiw na Tilapia is simplicity in itself, and the result is simply mouth-watering goodness. You don't even have to clean the fish yourself, just ask the fishmonger to remove the innards and scales for you.

After having thoroughly washed the fish, lay them neatly on a thick-bottomed pot, preferably non-metallic as vinegar tends to react with the metal. There is no hard and fast measurement for the ingredients. Just add some crushed garlic (about 4-6 cloves), some sliced ginger (about an inch worth), and some siling pangsigang.

Next, sprinkle a generous amount of salt...

... followed by a generous pouring of red cane vinegar (you may also use white vinegar).

Then cook uncovered over medium heat until the fish is thoroughly cooked.

This dish is best served the day after, as this gives the dish more time for its flavours to be developed. Serve with hot rice.

Asian Noodles 101: Ramen, Soba, Udon, Lo Mein, Rice Stick

2013-04-09T18:26:00.003+08:00

This video will come in handy, as there are quite a number of noodles available here.

Herby Beef Stir Fry

2013-04-03T16:36:00.000+08:00

We had some surprise guests last night, and they were the kind of guests we like because they cooked us dinner! Pinkee proceeded to describe this beef recipe that they cooked recently and they loved it so much they were making some for us. She was right, it was a lovely dish.

They did not have a name for the dish though, and let's face it: "surprise" and "delight" is overused. So I gave it a name: "herby beef stir fry" which I thought up only a few minutes ago!

Ingredients:
1/2 kg beef rump
some mint leaves
some marjoram
some thyme
light soy sauce
cooking oil
butter
ground pepper

Procedure:
Cut the beef into strips.

Cut the herbs into small pieces
Marinate the beef with some light soy sauce, ground pepper and herbs mixed in for about 15 minutes.

Heat up about 4 tbsp cooking oil with the same amount of butter over medium-high heat.
Add the marinated beef pieces, turning when it changes colour, about a couple of minutes per side.

Lower the heat to medium then mix the beef pieces until you get the desired doneness (we did not like seeing blood with the beef pieces so we had it well done)

Serve immediately.

Steamed okra: an acquired taste

2013-03-18T16:47:00.002+08:00

For as long as I can remember, my parents have been serving up steamed okra but I never learned to like it. Sure, I like it in dinengdeng but in it pure, steamed version I can't seem to get over how slimy it is. This was served in a friends' gathering just last week, but I just took a photo then proceeded to ignore it for the rest of the meal. Good thing there were other choices!

Which is my loss, come to think of it. For okra is high in fiber, vitamin C, and folate content (according to Wikipedia).

Steaming okra is easy as, especially if you are already cooking rice. When you are in the "in-in" stage where most of the water has evaporated and it's time to cover the pot and lower the heat, just place the okra on top of the rice. You can do the same with the rice cooker method, by putting the okra in when the cooker switches to "heat" mode.

However, it may be something I can never grow to like :-(

Gingered Bok Choy

2013-03-03T16:44:00.000+08:00

Filipinos are very familiar with the concept of boiling / steaming greens usually served with fish sauce and is a nice accompaniment to fried meat or fish. My favourites include the crispy tips of chayote/sayote greens, kangkong (water spinach), and kamote (sweet potato) greens. I am now including Bok Choy in that list.

If you are keeping tabs on your salt intake, this gingered version will come handy. I am not sure yet how this treatment will work on the other greens I mentioned, but it's great with the bok choy. The leaves have a distinct flavour which is not masked by the ginger.

Ingredients:
2 heads bok choy
2 tsp grated ginger
2 cloves garlic,crushed and chopped
2 tsp oil (I used rice bran oil)
2 tsp water

Procedure:
Cut the bok choy lengthwise and wash thoroughly.

Heat up the oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Saute the garlic and ginger for a minute.

Add the bok choy and water. Drizzle a teaspoon of salad oil or rice bran oil (optional). Cover for 2-3 minutes or until bok choy is withered.

Serve hot.

Paksiw na Pata (Pork Stew in Vinegar)

2013-02-28T16:38:00.001+08:00

Paksiw na pata is an irresistably good pork recipe. Its rich sauce is poured freely over hot rice, and the tender pork pieces will make you forget your diet. You have been warned. :-)

Cooking in vinegar is an age-old tradition in the Philippines. In the past, when refrigeration was virtually unheard of, cooking in vinegar was an effective way of preserving meat, fish, and veggies. The process is known as paksiw. But not only does it preserve the food, but it also makes a tasty meal which, like adobo, becomes richer the following day - if it can last that long!

This recipe uses dried banana blossoms (because this is what we have from the Asian store). If buying the dried variety, give it a good wash before soaking in water to remove much of the salt content.

Ingredients:
1 kg pork pata (hock, also known as knuckles), chopped and washed
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup cane vinegar
water, as needed
1 head garlic, crushed
3 laurel (bay) leaves
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp black peppercorn
1 pack dried banana blossoms, washed and soaked OR 1/2 cup fresh banana blossoms
salt to taste

Procedure:
Place the pork pieces in a thick-bottomed pot. Add the soy sauce and vinegar, then add enough water to nearly submerge the pork pieces. Add in the rest of the ingredients, save for the banana blossoms. Do not mix, as it will affect the taste of the vinegar.

Cover and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat (medium-low) to simmer for an hour. Check if the pork pieces are tender by piercing with a pork. If not yet tender, continue simmering for half an hour or less.

Add the banana blossoms and cook for a further 5 minutes. Taste and adjust accordingly with salt if needed.

Serve with hot rice.

Crispy squid

2013-02-18T17:11:00.001+08:00

Whenever I think crispy squid, I think about beer. However this is also great with meals! Squid is not your run-of-the-mill seafood, and people may be put off serving this as it is not exactly fish, and if bought fresh, they may not know how to clean it. But squid can now be bought cleaned, nicely-cut, and frozen from the supermarket. This is what we used and it's really good. Of course, you can always opt for the fresh one as well. Traditionally, squid rings are used but you can also use other cuts.

Essentially, the squid becomes crispy due to the batter or coating, which in our case is simply plain flour. But surely you also can't go wrong with tempura batter! We were running short of time though, so we opted for just plain flour and the result was yummy just the same. It was finished off long before the meal was over.

Ingredients:

Squid, cleaned and cut into rings or squares, and scored. If frozen, thaw as per package directions
Plain flour
Cooking oil
Salt and pepper
Lemon or mayonnaise

Procedure:

Heat up oil over medium heat in a thick-bottomed pan. The oil level should be able to submerge the squid pieces halfway.

Dredge the squid pieces with flour, making sure all sides are covered.

The oil is ready when the surface is shimmering. Fry the flour-coated squid pieces until light brown. Fry also the opposite side.

Season with salt and pepper.

Serve warm, with lemon wedges on the side. Mayonnaise is also a popular dip.

Mais con yelo (corn on ice)

2013-02-11T17:40:00.002+08:00

Mais con Yelo (corn on ice)

Mais con yelo is a simple yet fun dessert. We were re-acquainted with this treat last weekend when our good friend Cacay dropped by our home for dinner - also bringing dinner and dessert with her!

With ice crusher in tow, we proceeded to make mais con yelo after dinner. Even the process of making this is so much fun, and was the topic of conversation for quite a while. Our merry chatter was interspersed with the slushing sound of spoons mixing up the contents of our glasses, followed by slurps of contentment. What a way to spend dinner on a warm summer weekend!

Ingredients

as needed crushed ice
as needed cream-style tinned corn
as needed condensed milk
as needed sago (tapioca pearls)
optional gulaman (gelatin cubes)

Directions

Layer the crushed ice, sago, crushed ice, corn, more crushed ice, and condensed milk.
Add a layer of gulaman if you have that as well. Serve.

Baked Mac

2013-01-19T18:03:00.004+08:00

Baked Macaroni

I love baked mac simply because I love minced beef and pasta. This dish is the perfect combination. If you have cooked minced beef with tomato sauce for spaghetti, then you can easily do this. The additional step of baking with a cheese-based topping makes this a favourite. We brought this to a party and it was a hit! We still have quite a lot of pasta shells so we used that instead, but the traditional pasta used is - obviously - elbow macaroni.

Ingredients

500g minced beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium capsicum, chopped
500g pasta (shell or elbow macaroni)
1 tsp paprika
1 cup water
1 400 g can tomato sauce
7 tbsp butter
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups fresh milk
1/3 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup tomato paste
to taste salt and pepper
to taste sugar

Cooking Directions

Cooked pasta according to package directions, but shave a couple of minutes off as it will continue cooking during baking. Set aside.
Heat up 4 tbsp butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the minced beef and onion, and cook until the meat turns brown.
Dilute the tomato paste into the water, then add into the pot along with the capsicum, paprika, and tomato sauce and mix well.

Bring to a boil, season with salt, pepper and sugar, then turn off heat. Add the pasta and mix thoroughly.

Transfer to baking dish.
Preheat the oven to 177 degrees Celcius.
In a separate pot over medium heat, melt the rest of the butter then mix in the flour.
Add the milk and mix thoroughly. Add the grated cheese and continue stirring until melted.

Season with salt and pepper.
Pour this mixture evenly over the minced beef and pasta.
If you wish, add more grated cheese on top.
Bake for 20 minutes or until top is lightly browned.
Serve warm.

Halo-halo heaven

2013-01-06T12:30:00.000+08:00

Today is the last day of our Christmas break, but there's really no time to mull over the end of the happy days, so to speak, because the sun is out shining brightly, and there's still time for one last get-together. And this one's quite special as we planned for a Halo-halo afternoon!

Halo-halo is a summer treat back in the Philippines. Its literal translation is 'mix-mix', which is essentially what you do after adding all the ingredients in a cup, then topped with crushed ice, followed by leche flan and/or ice cream and/or ube. The dry season is welcomed with makeshift stalls on the roadside selling this popular delicacy to help stave off the heat. Halo-halo is in fact a staple of many a happy childhood memory, along with trips to the provinces and the beach.

For our contribution to this afternoon's gathering, we prepared some sweetened kamote (sweet potatoes). We simply diced the kamote, then let it cook over water with sugar over medium heat until the water has almost evaporated, leaving a syrupy residue. We also brought along ice cream, crushed ice, and our manual ice crusher!

Rice crispies, ube, sweetened saba, sweetened kamote, all sorts of sweetened beans, sweetened coconut strings, nata de coco, evaporated milk, sugar water, leche flan .... definitely halo-halo heaven....

Kids dig in, coached by the elders on how to make their halo-halo

My second serving!

The kids making most of the sunny afternoon

Our hosts also cooked squid balls with special sauce - much to our delight! They cooked three batches which did not even have time to cool off before the plate has been wiped clean. This actually gave us the idea of having another gathering, this time for street food!

Ginataang Kamoteng Kahoy (Cassava in Coconut Milk)

2013-01-01T19:30:00.002+08:00

Ginataang Kamoteng Kahoy (Cassava in Coconut Milk)

My wife called it Balinghoy, I just knew it as either Cassava or Kamoteng Kahoy. We purchase this tuber fresh from the market back in my hometown of Baguio. We would remove the rough, outer bark before cooking it. You need to be careful with the raw product as it has toxins, so it needs to be thoroughly cooked before consumption. We do not have fresh cassava here in New Zealand, but we do have the frozen variety, available from the Asian store. It has already been pre-cooked so the first stage of cooking is shortened.

Total time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

1 pack Frozen Cassava, thawed
400 ml Coconut milk
1/2 cup White sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
as needed Water

Cooking Directions

Chop the Kamoteng Kahoy into bite-size pieces.
Place the pieces in a thick-bottomed pot (arrange it in such a way that you maximize space - I made the pieces stand beside each other), then pour enough water to nearly submerge and add the salt.
Cover and bring to a boil over medium heat. The cassava pieces will eventually as it starts cooking. The whitish colour will also turn a nice light yellow. This will take around 15 minutes, but occasionally check by piercing with a fork for tenderness.
Pour the coconut milk and add the sugar and continue boiling uncovered.

Let the coconut milk boil for 20-30 minutes, just enough time for it to reduce and thicken. You will notice that initially, the coconut milk will be foamy and then the bubbles will become more pronounced as it thickens.
Serve warm.

Suman

2012-12-23T09:37:00.001+08:00

Suman

Suman is a glutinous rice treat usually cooked for special occasions such as Christmas or All Soul's Day. It is a hearty snack and especially handy when you have guests over. It takes some time to make, which makes it even more special when offered to guests, as they appreciate the effort it takes to make suman. This recipe is straightforward, and is different from the way my Nanay makes this dish, but it does the job and it's yummy. I hope to be able to make my Nanay's more elaborate preparation next time and write about it here. The banana leaves can be bought frozen from the Asian Store. This recipe makes around 30 pieces.

Ingredients

1 kg glutinous rice
2 packs banana leaves
as needed water
to serve sugar or some sweet syrup.

Cooking Directions

Prepare the banana leaves by boiling some water and submerging the leaves for a couple of minutes. This will keep the leaves pliable.

Cut into serving portions (cut the leaves lengthwise through the midrib then cut into sections) then wipe to remove excess water.
Thoroughly wash the glutinous rice to remove the starch.

Keep the rice moist while putting a couple of heaping tablespoons onto a banana leaf.

Roll firmly and fold both ends. Tie these using either kitchen string or traditionally use the fibre from the banana leaf.
Boil enough water to submerge the suman. Add the suman into the pot and cover, and cook for 2 hours.
Serve with a sweet syrup (this is another recipe altogether or use maple syrup) or some sugar.

Ensaladang mangga (Mango salad)

2012-12-18T16:34:00.000+08:00

Ensaladang mangga (Mango salad)

I bought this mango because I wanted to make ice candy out of it. However, the mango turned out to too firm to mash properly. Good thing we were invited to dinner where we were going to fry some fish. Mango salad is the perfect fit for it! And so easy to make. Just chop and mix!

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 medium mango, unripened
1 medium tomato
1 small onion
1 heaping tablespoon bagoong (shrimp paste)

Cooking Directions

Chop the mango into small pieces. Likewise with the onion and tomato (seeds removed).
Mix.
Add and mix in the bagoong before serving.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

2012-12-09T18:06:00.002+08:00

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

The recipe is for baked Macaroni and Cheese, but in this case we used pasta shells (conchiglie) instead of elbow macaroni; it's what we had in the pantry at the time so we used that instead. Pasta variation notwithstanding, this dish was a hit with kids and grown-ups alike.

Ingredients

500g pasta shell (you can also use elbow macaroni!)
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
to taste salt and ground pepper (try half a teaspoon each)
as needed extra cheese for topping
as needed breadcrumbs

Cooking Directions

Cook pasta according to package directions, but shave a couple of minutes off the cooking time as the pasta will still be baked later.
Preheat oven to 205 Celcius.
Heat up a thick-bottomed pot over medium-low heat.
Melt the butter, removing the pot from the heat as necessary to prevent it from burning.
Whisk continuously while slowly adding the flour. Then gradually add the milk, still whisking continuously.
After a couple of minutes, add the cheese, salt and pepper, still whisking (yes, there's quite a lot of whisking) until the sauce is smooth.
Add in the cooked pasta and mix carefully with a wooden spoon.
Transfer the pasta and sauce mixture onto a lightly greased baking pan.
Grate some cheese op top, then sprinkle with breadcrumbs.
Bake for 20 minutes or until top is lightly browned. Serve warm.

Pork Binagoongan sa Gata (Pork with Salted Shrimp Fry and Coconut Milk)

2012-12-05T16:39:00.001+08:00

Pork Binagoongan sa Gata

Pork Binagoongan is - not surprisingly - quite a salty fare. But a little bit goes a long way when mixed with hot, steamy rice. The saltiness gets dissipated with the rice and the dish becomes so irresistible you momentarily forget your diet. You have been warned :-). The addition of coconut milk makes this dish even more appetising as it mellows down the saltiness and one can't help getting more sauce than usual to mix with the rice.

Total time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 kg pork liempo, chopped into small pieces (see photo)
1 bunch string beans (sitaw)
1 medium onion, chopped into small pieces
5 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
1 x 400ml can coconut milk
2 pieces siling pangsigang (green chilli)
3 heaping teaspoons bagoong alamang (salted shrimp fry)
as needed cooking oil
as needed water
1/3 cup white vinegar
as needed ground pepper

Cooking Directions

Distribute evenly the pork pieces on a thick-bottomed pot and pour water to submerge the pork halfway. Season with pepper, bring to a boil and mix occasionally to even out the cooking.
When the water has evaporated and the pork pieces start releasing its own fat and becomes light brown, set aside and add a bit of cooking oil to the pot. Saute the onion and garlic and return the pork.
Mix in the bagoong-alamang.
Add the vinegar. Do not mix, until the vinegar aroma has subsided.
Add the coconut milk and mix a bit.
When it starts to boil, add the string beans. Lower the heat to medium-high, cover to simmer for 5-8 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.
Remove from heat and add the green chilli. We are not fond of spicy food hence we did not chop the chilli. You may do so if you are not averse to hot dishes (perhaps remove the seeds to avoid surprises).
Serve with hot rice.

Pinakbet

2012-11-27T18:14:00.000+08:00

Pinakbet

Pinakbet is one of those dishes that taste great when immediately served, and tastes even better the following day as the flavours become more intense. Traditionally, ampalaya (bitter gourd) is also added. But for those who are not fans of this bitter treat, leaving this out still makes for a great pinakbet. I personally love ampalaya but we could not find some in time for this recipe.

Total time: 1 hour

Ingredients

2 tablespoons alamang (shrimp paste)
1 large eggplant, chopped and quartered
1 small or half of a medium squash, chopped into wedges
1 bunch string beans (sitaw), cut into 2-inch strings
as needed water
1/2 kg pork liempo, chopped into small pieces
as needed cooking oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, skin removed and chopped

Cooking Directions

Place pork bits on heavy-bottomed pan with water submerging it halfway through. Let boil over medium heat, mixing occasionally until all water has evaporated.
Set aside pork, add a bit of cooking oil and saute onion and garlic
Add alamang ang mix
Add squash and string beans, mix, lower heat to medium-low and cover.
When squash is soft (can be pierced with a fork but still with a bit of resistance), add eggplant.
Leave for a couple more minutes or until the eggplant is cooked.
Serve hot.

Ice candy

2012-11-17T18:08:00.001+08:00

Ice candy

This treat didn't fail to bring a smile to our friends, and I can be sure that it reminded them of many fun summers back home in the Philippines. Incidentally, the kids also loved these! Traditionally, ice candy comes in coconut, melon, milk, avocado, and chocolate flavours. For this batch, we tried mango, strawberry, and avocado. All are winners.

We used canned manges in this instance, as sweet, fresh mangoes are not readily available. These came out right, though we're sure fresh mangoes would taste even better. Also, we could not find the plastic wrapper on sale here; we had to ask friends coming over from the Philippines to buy some for us. If you know where we can buy some plastic wrapper here in Wellington, we'd love to hear from you.

This recipe makes 32 pieces. We actually used just half the can of condensed milk and evaporated milk. Double the fruit, water, and cream quantities if you want to completely use up all the milk, in which case you will have around 64 pieces of ice candy to share.

Ingredients

300 ml fresh cream
200 g condensed milk
200ml evaporated milk
as needed white sugar
3 cups water
1 medium ripe avocado
7-9 pieces strawberries
1 ripe mango, or a canned one

Cooking Directions

Whip up the fresh cream. Add the condensed milk and evaporated milk and mix well. Divide equally into 3.
Prepare the fruits by mashing each up (not totally mashed though as it's great to get small pieces of real fruit too), then adding 1 cup water and the cream-milk mixture. Add sugar to taste (1-2 tsp).
Ladle the creamy mixture into the plastic wrapping and fill 3/4 of the way through. Squeeze it down and tie a knot to close.
Freeze, then hand out after a meal with friends for a surprise treat!

Fun fruit salad 2

2012-11-09T18:24:00.002+08:00

So I mentioned in a previous post that I wanted to "improve" on this fruit salad with agar cubes. Well, I had the chance to do so last weekend. There were good points and bad points with my "experiment", and here they are in case you want to try this out:

My wife was right. Alsa Gulaman is indeed a tougher gelatin than Gregg's so use this (available from the Filipino store) if you want to add colour to the dish. However, note that one pack of Alsa (90g box) gives only half the yield of the almond flavoured agar. On the other hand, that quantity is actually just right.
See the pink sauce in the above photo? I added some berry-flavoured yoghurt into the mix. It didn't turn out right so don't do it. Same goes with cream.
I made this dish a couple of hours before serving. Guess what. The dish oozed water! When I brought it out, the salad was swimming in water! Good thing I was able to salvage it by transferring it to a colander and placing the lot onto a bigger bowl. Therefore, combine the agar, gelatin, and fruit salad (layer by layer) moments before serving.

Tokwa't Baboy

2012-10-30T15:31:00.000+08:00

Tokwa't Baboy (Fried Tofu and Pork)

This dish is as straightforward as its name suggests. But, simple as it may seem, this dish has seen many happy days, as it is popular beer food. It's just the perfect fit for munching in-between gulps and chatter. Tokwa't Baboy, however, is also a popular snack item, usually paired with rice porridge.

In a sense, Tokwat's Baboy is comfort food. Just mention the name and it never fails to bring out smiles all round.

This recipe is not the traditional dish in a sense, as pig's ears are normally used. But pig's ears are hard to come by where I'm in. So I used pork liempo instead. Also, the sauce is usually mixed right in with the pork and tofu and served as such. But when we order this dish, we ask the waiter to place the sauce in a separate dish and we dip the yummy pieces in. That's because the tofu slurps up the sauce so you get mushy bits after some time. This is also how I present this recipe.

Total time: 1.5 hours

Ingredients

500g pork liempo
500g firm tofu
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup cane vinegar
as needed water
as needed cooking oil
1 medium brown or white onion
3 cloves garlic, crushed and finely chopped
a couple stalks spring onion, chopped
2tbsp brown sugar

Cooking Directions

Cut the onion into 2 pieces. Chop one half into rings, the other into small pieces.
Lay the pork pieces flat onto a thick-bottomed pan. Pour water halfway the pork level. Bring to a boil over medium heat uncovered, occasionally turning the pork over so the other side gets cooked too. Let it boil until all the water has evaporated.
Remove the pork pieces, then chop into bite-size pieces (roughly into cubes). Return to the pan and fry, adding a bit of cooking oil to help it along. fry until lightly browned.
While you are cooking the pork, you can actually start frying the tofu separately as well over medium heat. Using a non-stick frying pan and cooking oil, fry the tofu until all sides are lightly browned (see photo below for reference). You want a bit of crunch with your tofu, while making it soft inside. I divided my block of tofu cake into 8 pieces. When all sides have been browned, I drained the tofu and let it cool a bit before chopping each block into 6 smaller pieces.
Place the tofu and the pork pieces onto the serving dish. Mix if you like (or try my presentation!), adding fresh onion rings with it.
Now for the sauce. Place the soy sauce, brown sugar, onion and garlic in a sauce pot and mix. Then add the vinegar (do not mix!) and turn on medium heat.

Bring to a boil then transfer to a sauce bowl to cool. Garnish with spring onion.
Serve and enjoy.

Chorizo sausage pasta

2012-10-25T15:54:00.000+08:00

Chorizo sausage pasta

We bought some sausages for the weekend barbie, and spotted a pack of Heller's chorizo sausage. I suddenly had a craving for chorizo and so we bought one. It was nothing short of awesome. My wife, who is not fond of anything spicy, loved it. Even my son had a second serving. And then my wife and I thought of the same idea: this sausage will taste great with pasta! And it did. I used dried Italian herbs for this recipe. I'm sure that fresh basil will taste loads better.

Total time: 90 minutes
Yield: serves 5 people

Ingredients

10 pcs chorizo sausages, sliced
1 medium onion chopped into small pieces
300g spaghetti noodles
400g can tomato sauce
100g tomato paste
as needed cheddar cheese
2 tbsp cooking oil
as needed water
6 large button mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 bunch spinach leaves
as needed dried italian herbs
to taste salt and ground pepper

Cooking Directions

Heat up a pan over medium heat and pour enough water to thinly cover the base. Add the chorizo sausage slices and spread flat. Mix occasionally to cook in water.
At this stage, start boiling the water for the pasta. Cook the pasta as per package directions.
When all the water has dried up, set the chorizo pieces aside and pour cooking oil on the pan. Saute the onion, followed by the mushrooms. After a minute, return the chorizo and add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, and 1/8 cup water to thin out the sauce a bit. Mix.
Sprinkle dried herbs (or add fresh basil if you have these) and sprinkle salt and pepper. If you want to cut through the sour tomato taste, grate a generous amount of cheese and taste. When the sauce tastes as desired, add the spinach leaves and mix occasionally until wilted.
The spaghetti noodles would be cooked and drained by now. Mix the pasta with the sauce. Serve with grated cheese on top (and some fresh basil leaves - if you have these!).

Philippine mangoes in town!

2012-10-22T17:12:00.000+08:00

I thought I have to go on vacation in the Philippines in order to savour our heart-shaped, scrumptious, sweet mangoes. It does make me wonder why our mangoes are not being imported here. Bananas and pineapples are in regular stock, but not mangoes. Sure, there are imported mangoes from elsewhere, but they're just not the same.

So imagine my surprise when I saw one on our table when I came back from work one night! My wife excitedly told me that she bought it from the local fruits and veggies store. She got excited when she saw it herself, and did not want to miss an opportunity to have a taste (it's been a couple of years since we've had one) so she determinedly took one to the cashier. She did grimace a bit at the price - a whopping $3.99 for one piece (it's about PhP120.00!) but it was well worth it.

Even our baby daughter loved it!

If you are craving for ripe Philippine mangoes, try dropping by the local Fruit and Veggies store in Johnsonville. Now I'm crossing my fingers for those crunchy, sour green mangoes too!

Fun fruit salad

2012-10-08T16:25:00.002+08:00

Fun fruit salad

I picked up a packet of almond-flavoured agar-agar (or simply agar, which is similar to gelatin but derived from red algae instead of animal proteins - yes I looked that up) from the Asian store some time back because I like making simple desserts. Incidentally, the same packet had this cool idea of mixing up some agar cubes with tinned fruit salad. What could be simpler?

I just had the opportunity to make this last weekend when we had some friends over. They wanted to enjoy the sunny, great outdoors by tramping up the mountain and wanted Jo-Lo and myself as tour guides. We would all be back home by sundown and we knew everyone would be famished by then, so my wife decided to whip up some pasta in white sauce and I cooked the Agar and the gelatin ahead of time so it can cool down while we're away and then I can just combine the ingredients together when we get back.

Two things I learned from this exercise:

- Gregg's gelatin is too soft to handle getting moved around. My wife suggested using the Alsa brand instead (which can be bought from the Filipino store; it's what she uses for Buco Pandan). For now, I'm striking Gregg's off the ingredients list and will update this recipe once I am able to try out Alsa.

- do not use the typical canned fruit salad which chops up the fruits into small pieces and submerged in sweet sauce. Try using the chunky variety, and only in fruit juice. The fruits taste great without the extra sugar, and the bigger portions actually make it look like it did not come from a can at all. In this case I am happy to endorse Woolworth's Select brand (see photo below - there are even whole cherries in it!).

Needless to say, our guests loved it. Even the kids came back for seconds, and I'm sure it's not because everyone was so hungry from all that walking! Try this, it's hassle free.

Total time: 1.5 hours

Ingredients

810g (1 can) chunky fruit salad in fruit juice
130g (1 packet) almond flavour agar dessert mix

Cooking Directions

Cook the agar as per packet instructions. Cut the agar into cubes.
Drain the fruit salad mix.
Layer the fruit salad with the agar cubes for even distribution.
Keep refrigerated until it's time to serve dessert.

Love this chunky fruit salad - shown above draining away

The tramping group

Note: this recipe has an update

Wellington Night Market

2012-10-04T16:32:00.002+08:00

If you find yourself wandering the city streets on a Friday night looking for something different to do, head over to Cuba Street at the Left Bank for scrumptious treats and entertainment.

We have visited the place some time ago, and the place definitely has a charm all its own. Food stalls line the alleyway, each offering something different. A courtyard of sorts comes alive with performers while friends sit and enjoy their treats. Once you're done with your food, you can always roam around and try something else!

Jo-Lo and the other kids love these Bavarian Style Wieners.

We also tried this tower cake thingy which was yum, and hot choco which reminded me of chocolate de batirol back home! There's even someone selling Filipino sausages; too bad we weren't able to have some of that (we were already stuffed when we spotted it)...

There's even a bookshop and a discount store open!

The Wellington Night market is on from 5PM til 11PM. Visit their website to learn more.