A very simple, very hearty beef stew. This dish was inspired by Chinese braised beef and they share a lot of common ingredients. The Filipino version though, has more broth.

Pares actually means “pair” in Filipino. Beef pares is a pairing of beef stew and rice. The rice is usually fried or mixed with soy sauce. You then add your own choice of garnish; chopped spring onions, fried garlic, soy sauce, chili and calamansi.

It is another favorite street food and served by street side food stalls, restaurants and even itinerant push cart vendors.

Beef Pares

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 2 – 3 hours
Good for: 3 to 4 people

Ingredients

• 1 kilogram beef (any cut for stewing)
• 3 tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoon cooking oil
• ½ cup soy sauce
• 1 cup chopped onions
• ½ cup chopped garlic
• 1 piece carrot or radish (about 100 grams)
• 6 cups of water or beef stock
• 4 pieces star anise
• 1 teaspoon ground pepper
• ½ cup chopped spring onions
• 2 tablespoon sugar

Method

Rub beef thoroughly with salt and set aside for 30 minutes.

Beef Pares

Heat some cooking oil in a pan or wok. Fry beef until brown on both side. Set aside.

In a casserole or pot, pour water then add the carrots, star anise, onion, garlic ground pepper and beef pieces.

Beef Pares

Let this simmer gently until beef reaches preferred tenderness. Add water to maintain level.

Once beef is tender, add sugar and let it simmer for another 30 minutes.

Serve topped with rice and garnish with chopped spring onions, soy sauce and chili.

If using a pressure cooker, do not add the other ingredients before beef has been tenderized. Add ingredients and simmer normally after releasing pressure.

Sotanghon is a versatile ingredient that is used in several Southeast Asian dished. In the Philippines it is commonly used for pancit and noodle soup dishes.

Pancit is a name used for any dish that usually contains noodles. Pancit bihon is a type of pancit that uses bihon noodles. Pancit habhab uses local hand made rice noodles.

The toppings and garnishes for pancit vary from the most elaborate to the simplest. Vegetables, fried pork and smoked fish are only a small sample of ingredients that can be used.

Garlic Shrimp Sotanghon

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Good for: 2 to 3 people

Ingredients

Garlic Shrimp Sotanghon Ingredients

• 250 grams Shrimp with shell
• 250 grams Sotanghon (chinese vermicelli, cellophane noodles)
• 100 grams chopped garlic
• 50 grams minced shallots (spring onions)
• 1 tablespoon annatto oil (optional)
• 2 tablespoon fish sauce (patis)
• 3 tablespoon cooking oil or pork lard

Method

Heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a wok or pan.

Stir fry shrimps with 1 tablespoon of fish sauce until cooked. Set aside to cool.

Garlic Shrimp Sotanghon - Cooking Shrimps

In the same pan, heat 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and then sauté garlic until light brown. Turn off heat once it starts to brown, the remaining heat in the oil will continue to cook it. Do not let the garlic get burnt.

Remove shell from the shrimps. Set aside meat and shells.

In a casserole add 1 cup of water and the shrimp shells. Simmer for 3 minutes.

Strain and set aside the broth.

Soak sotanghon in warm water until it becomes loose and flexible. Drain well.

Turn heat back on wok. Add softened sotanghon to the fried garlic.

Pour the shrimp shell broth and add the annatto oil to the pan.

Mix well until noodles have absorbed all the broth.

Adjust to preferred taste by adding fish sauce.

Cook for 3 minutes .

Serve topped with the shelled shrimp, minced shallots and a slice of calamansi or lime.

Beef adobo is a less commonly cooked version of adobo. Filipinos prefer their beef served in a sauce or in a broth since the beef keeps its mass and extenders like potatoes and other vegetables can be added.

Since beef is expensive for average Filipinos, there is a tendency is to cook beef dishes only on holidays or a few times a week. Pork & chicken appear more often on the dining table.

Beef adobo keeps well and the flavor actually improves after being stored overnight.

Adobong Baka

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 2 hours
Good for: 2 to 3 people

Ingredients

• 500 grams beef (any cut) sliced into 3 cm. cubes
• 1 cup coconut vinegar or white vinegar diluted with an equal amount of water
• ½ cup light soy sauce
• ¼ cup chopped garlic
• ½ cup chopped onions
• 100 grams potatoes, cubed.
• 1 teaspoon whole black pepper
• 4 pieces bay leaf

Method

Place beef cubes in a casserole and pour enough water to cover them completely with 1 inch of water.

Simmer beef until tender. Depending on the cut, it may take 1 hour or more. Make sure the water does not dry out.

Cooking Adobong Baka

Once beef is tender remove it from the pot and place in a shallow pan.

Pour in vinegar, soy sauce and the rest of the ingredients except for the potato.

Simmer on low fire until the sauce has become reduced to 1/4 its original volume.

Add the cubed potatoes and cover pan. Stir occasionally.

Beef adobo is ready to serve once the potatoes are cooked.

Adobong Baka - Cooking with Potatoes

You may reduce the sauce further to get a drier, oilier adobo.

Dulong in Oil

Dulong is fairly common in Philippine markets and groceries. It is a tiny species of fish usually caught near the shore. It is similar in appearance to fresh alamang except that alamang is shrimp fry or krill.

It is usually battered then fried in oil. It can also be wrapped in banana leaves and boiled in a clay pot. This dish is called pinais na dulong.

Dulong in olive oil was introduced during 90s by an enterprising gourmet cook. They sold it in jars for use as a spread similar to Spanish style sardines. The addition of olive oil greatly improves the flavor of this humble fish.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Good for: 5 – 6 people

Ingredients

• 2 cups dulong or boneless, minced sea fish
• 1 1/2 cup olive oil
• ½ cup minced garlic
• 1 cup minced onions
• 1 cup coconut vinegar or white vinegar dilute with equal amount of water.
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice or calamansi juice
• 3 pieces bay leaf
• 2 tablespoon chopped olives (optional)
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh basil (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Soak dulong in a solution of vinegar and 1 teaspoon salt. Mix well and let stand for 15 minutes.

Strain dulong and set aside.

Dulong in Oil - Strained

Sauté’ onion and garlic in a small amount of olive oil. Add dulong once onion starts to sweat.

After 3 minutes, add lemon juice, bay leaf and chopped olives. Mix well.

Add the rest of the olive oil and set heat to lowest setting.

Cover pan and let dulong cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Do not let the oil get too hot. The oil should be gently simmering and the dulong should not brown.

Dulong in Oil Cooking

Add salt and pepper to desired taste.

Let the dulong cool before storing in a jar.

This can be used as a spread on toasted bread or as a sauce for pasta.

Dulong in Oil

This is a very filling soup usually made from young corn ears. Ideally the corn should be young enough that the uncooked kernels can be easily popped with your fingers.

It takes several ears of corn to produce enough mash for a large casserole of this soup. The grating process is a labor of love. This is why it usually served only during Sunday meals or on special occasions.

Creamed corn is a fair substitute; however make sure you are using unsweetened corn, as the sugar will affect the taste of this savory soup.

Suwan Na Mais

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Good for: 2 -3 people

Ingredients

Suwan Na Mais Ingredients

• 1 tsp cooking oil or pork lard
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoon chopped onions
• 3 cups beef or chicken stock
• 3 cups unsweetened creamed corn OR 3 cups finely grated young corn kernels
• 100 grams chili leaves removed from stem.
• 100 grams crab meat or chicken meat (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Method

If using young corn, make sure its grated as finely as possible. You can also use unsweetened whole corn but puree it in a blender first until smooth.

In a casserole, sauté onion and garlic in oil until slightly brown.

Add stock slowly into the casserole.

Once stock starts to simmer, add corn and mix thoroughly. You may also add the optional crabmeat or chicken meat.

Let soup simmer for 5 minutes so the corn absorbs the flavor of the stock. You will need to simmer it longer if using fresh corn.

Once the soup reaches desired consistency, add the chili leaves and turn heat off. Replace casserole lid and let the leaves blanch for 2 to 3 minutes.

Cooking Suwan Na Mais

Serve with plain rice and any fried meat or fish.

The name white adobo denotes the lighter color of this dish as compared to the traditional adobo with soy sauce. This is likely the original incarnation of adobo since vinegar was easier to obtain than soy sauce in pre-Hispanic times.

Cooking pork in this manner helps to preserve it for later use. In some Filipino regional cooking traditions, pork is precooked in vinegar after butchering, again as way to preserve it. This was important during the time before refrigeration was readily available.

The resulting pork from this recipe will have a shelf life of at least a week. Make sure that the meat is completely covered in lard before storing.

Adoboputi

Preparation time:20 minutes
Cooking time: 1.5 hours
Good for: 3 – 4 people

Ingredients

• 1 kilogram pork loin or belly
• 1 cup vinegar
• 1 tablespoon rock salt or 2 teaspoons fine salt
• ½ cup chopped garlic
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 1 teaspoon roughly ground pepper
• 6 pieces bay leaf

Method

Wash pork well then slice into 2cm square cubes. Let excess water drain.

Put pork and the rest of the ingredients into a thick pot. Crock pots, slow cookers or clay pots are recommended.

Adoboputi - Pork with Other Ingredients

Cook for 1.5 hours or until pork reaches desired tenderness.

Cooking Adoboputi

You can toast the pork in a separate pan to produce adobo flakes.

There should be a lot of very flavorful oil rendered from the pork. This can be used for making fried rice.

Bangus or Milk fish is designated as the national fish of the Philippines. Like Tilapia, It is one of the most consumed fishpond raised species in the country. There is even a festival held for it.

Bangus is prepared for frying by butter flying it then marinating in garlic and vinegar. For more festive occasions it is deboned, stuffed then deep fried.

In this recipe, bangus is poached in a sour broth like in other sinigang recipes. The souring agent used here is ripe guava. It has a scent similar to freshly crushed basil leaf.

Bangus is a very bony fish. It has a lot of fine bones distributed in its flesh. I recommend buying smaller sized bangus for sinigang as they have smaller and finer bones.

Bangus

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Good for: 2 -3 people

Ingredients

Bangus Ingredients

• 500 grams bangus / milk fish; cleaned and sliced into 4cm pieces. You may substitute fresh salmon in this recipe.
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• ½ cup chopped onions
• 3 pieces small sized ripe guava fruit or 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1 tablespoon chopped basil.
• 1 cup sliced tomatoes
• salt and pepper to taste
• 200 grams okra
• 200 grams kangkong (water spinach) leaves
• 1 liter water
• 100 grams sliced daikon radish (optional)

Method

Fill casserole with 1 liter of water. Add garlic and onions.

Once pot starts to boil, lower heat and add guava and tomatoes.

Add the fish once tomatoes are soft. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Cooking Bangus

Add the rest of the vegetables and simmer for another 3 minutes or until okra and radish is cooked.

Season with salt and pepper to desired level.

Serve hot with plain rice and fish sauce as dip for the fish.

Fresh seafood is a rare and often expensive treat in Metro Manila, the largest and most densely populated region in the Philippines. The easiest way to get fresh fish is to wake up early and join the crush of people going to the palengke during market days. This makes kilawin a rare treat for most city goers.

In Philippine provinces, you will often times find local subsistence fishermen hawking their catch in the early morning. The fish would’ve have been caught during the previous night or at dawn. These are the best fish to use for kilawin.

Kilawin is often thought of as a food that’s best eaten during drinking sessions. It is actually quite tasty partnered with rice and a grilled meat dish. The flavors of the sour kilawin complements that of the grilled meat’s smoky flavor.

The usual fish used for kilawin is tanigue (mackerel), tuna and dilis (anchovies), but other less expensive saltwater fish can be used provided they are at peak freshness.

Kilawing Isda

Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 0 minutes
Good for: 2 -3 people

Ingredients

• 500 grams Fresh saltwater fish; any type of none bony fish is preferred
• 2 tablespoon calamansi or lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon rock salt or 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• ½ cup chopped onions
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 cup coconut vinegar or mild vinegar; or 1 cup strong vinegar and water mix
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 cup cubed or julienned cucumbers
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 1 tablespoon minced long green chili
• ½ teaspoon chopped bird’s eye chili (optional)

Kilawing Isda

Method

Prepare fish by deboning, slicing off skin and any dark meat. You can have the fish monger do this for you. Any fish that is good for sashimi can be used for kilawin.

Slice fish into approximately ½ cm thick strips or the size of a sashimi piece.

Wash thoroughly with water then drain well.

Soak in a solution of ½ cup water and ¼ cup vinegar for about 30 seconds. Stir continuously.

Drain fish and squeeze gently to remove excess vinegar and water solution.

Gently mix fish and the remaining ingredients in a bowl then refrigerate for at least an hour.

You may add optional sliced grilled pork at this point.

Adjust spiciness before serving.

Kilawin is always served slightly chilled. If possible serve in a bowl placed on top of ice cubes contained in a larger bowl.

The name white adobo denotes the lighter color of this dish as compared to the traditional adobo with soy sauce. This is likely the original incarnation of adobo since vinegar was easier to obtain than soy sauce in pre-Hispanic times.

Cooking pork in this manner helps to preserve it for later use. In some Filipino regional cooking traditions, pork is precooked in vinegar after butchering, again as way to preserve it. This was important during the time before refrigeration was readily available.

The resulting pork from this recipe will have a shelf life of at least a week. Make sure that the meat is completely covered in lard before storing.

Adobong Puti (White Adobo)

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1.5 hours
Good for: 3 – 4 people

Ingredients

• 1 kilogram pork loin or belly
• 1 cup vinegar
• 1 tablespoon rock salt or 2 teaspoons fine salt
• ½ cup chopped garlic
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 1 teaspoon roughly ground pepper
• 6 pieces bay leaf

Adobong Puti (White Adobo)

Method

Wash pork well then slice into 2cm square cubes. Let excess water drain.

Put pork and the rest of the ingredients into a thick pot. Crock pots, slow cookers or clay pots are recommended.

Cook for 1.5 ours or until pork reaches desired tenderness.

You can toast the pork in a separate pan to produce adobo flakes.

There should be a lot of very flavorful oil rendered from the pork. This can be used for making fried rice.

Quail eggs have been a hawker’s staple in the Philippines. You usually find several vendors offering them on provincial bus trips. Sometimes the floors of the buses would be a mess of boiled peanut shells and eggshells. Plain hard-boiled quail egg dipped in rock salt is a cheap snack for commuters going on a 2-hour trip.

Several years ago, street food vendors began offering battered duck eggs and quail eggs. It’s unclear when or who started this trend but it has picked up over the years and “kwek-kwek” has become standard street fare in Metro Manila.

The addition of orange food coloring was probably done to distinguish it from other fried foods like squid balls and fish balls, which are cheaper than quail eggs.

Aside from this tasty snack, hard-boiled quail eggs are also used as garnish in some noodle and stir fried vegetable dishes.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Good for: 1 – 2 people

Ingredients

• 16 pieces quail eggs
• ½ cup flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 drop orange food coloring (optional)
• ½ cup vinegar
• 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
• 1 tablespoon chopped onion
• Cooking oil

Kwek-kwek, Fried quail eggs in batter

Method

Boil quail eggs until hard. Use a gentle boil only. It shouldn’t take more than 3 minutes to cook the eggs once the water starts to simmer.

Remove quail eggs from water and set aside to cool.

Mix flour, salt, baking soda, food color and pepper with a little bit of water until you get a mixture that has a very thick, pasty consistency.

Peel quail eggs carefully and then dust with some flour.

Drop quail eggs in to the flour batter mixture. Make sure that each egg is coated with batter.

Heat cooking oil in a frying pan. The oil should be deep enough to submerge 1 quail egg.

Drop each batter coated quail egg individually into the hot oil. Fry for about 1 minute or until the batter is cooked.

Set the fried eggs aside and drain excess oil.

You may skewer the eggs with bamboo sticks or use a metal barbecue skewer.

Mix vinegar, garlic and onion. Adjust taste with salt and pepper. You may add chili peppers if preferred.

Serve fried quail eggs with the spicy vinegar dip.

Kwek-kwek, Fried quail eggs in batter