SINIGANG NA PORK BELLY

GINISANG PATOLA AT MISUA WITH SHRIMP

Patola or loofah gourd is one of the first few vegetables I've grown to like during my teen years. Admittedly, I hate eating veggies when I was a kid, especially those leafy green ones. Back then they all tasted the same to me -like grass. Food just for goats, I would say. But over time I overcame my dislike  for this food group and realized what I've been missing on. I like my vegetables sauteed, roasted, grilled or raw but I like veggies  most in my soups. After giving birth to my eldest vegetable soups constituted most of my diet and it did help in losing those extra pounds. Vegetable soups are filling enough as a meal that one can do without the rice.

What's In It:
1 big piece of patola, peeled and sliced
1 lb. shrimp
2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 tomato, sliced
1-2 tbsp. patis (fish sauce)
1 small pack of misua (thin rice noodles)
4-5 c. water
salt and pepper 

How It's Done:
1. Saute garlic and onion in a bit of oil until fragrant.
2. Add in the tomatoes saute  until limp.
3. Put in the shrimp and patola. Pour in patis and saute until shrimp changes color.
4. Add in the water. When it starts to boil add in the misua.
5. Simmer for 2 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Serve hot as is or with rice.

CHICKEN ADOBO

If there's gonna be a national dish of the Philippines this would be it. Each and every filipino household has it's own version of this dish that it's very rare for a true-blue pinoy to not have eaten adobo in his entire life. Adobo is distinctly pinoy yet it is very diverse and flexible especially when it comes to ingredients. Generally speaking adobo in it's basic form is meat stewed in vinegar, soy sauce and garlic. Almost any kind of meat can be made into adobo: pork, chicken, beef, goat, duck, squid, fish, oyster, frog, etc. etc. There's even vegetable variations of adobo like adobong kangkong (water spinach) and adobong sitaw (string beans). Some adobo recipes omit the soy sauce, some have coconut milk, some with annatto, some has onion, some with ginger, some with mashed chicken liver or liver spread, some use tomatoes, some includes boiled eggs and some even add shrimp paste. Adobo can be cooked soupy or almost dry. Recently there's even sizzling, baked and ala steak. Whatever your preference is nobody can deny that adobo is one of the ultimate filipino comfort food that spells home.

This adobo I'm gonna share with you is actually my hubby's recipe. He's not that adept in the kitchen but admittedly he cooks a killer adobo superior to mine.

What's In It:

2 lbs. chicken (preferably dark meat), cut into serving pieces
5-6 whole cloves of garlic
8-10 black peppercorn
1 c. vinegar
1 c. soy sauce
2-3 pieces of bay leaf

How It's Done:
1. Mix vinegar and soy sauce in a bowl. Adjust according to taste.
2. Place chicken in a flat wide-bottom pan or pot. Arrange the chicken pieces in such that they form a single layer.
3. Pour the soy-vinegar mixture over the chicken pieces. Add in the remaining ingredients.
4. Cook over medium heat. Refrain from stirring for the first 10-15 minutes.
5. You may need to turn the chicken pieces on it's other side to make sure the soy-vinegar gets all through out the chicken.
6. Continue simmering until sauce thickens.

A real adobo connoisseur knows that this dish is best eaten the following day or a few days after.

MINI BIBINGKA

Bibingka is one of the various rice cakes in the Philippines. This is made with rice which has been finely grounded into flour. Mixed with a few ingredients, the batter is poured into clay or tin pans lined with banana leaves. These are then baked on top small clay/tin stoves filled with live coal. Tins with more live coals will also be placed to cover the batter-filled pans cooking the rice cake simultaneously from top and bottom. In a few minutes the batter will magically transform into a fluffy, soft, steamy hot bibingka. Slices of white cheese and salted duck eggs are sometimes placed on top of the batter halfway in the baking time for a savory contrast to the bibingka. Some like their bibingka with freshly shaved coconut meat....for me, just load it with butter please.

What's it made of:
1 c rice flour (not the sweet/ glutinous kind)
1 tblsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 c sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 c milk
1/2 c water
6 tbsp melted butter

Topping:
thin slices of white cheese or any mild cheese
slices of salted duck egg

How it's done:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mix all ingredients until well blended.
3. Line muffin pan with banana leaves.
4. Pour batter into muffin pan half-full.
5. Bake for 10-15 mins. Halfway through the baking time put on the toppings.
6. Serve warm smeared with butter.