PANDESAL

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.

Chicken Miswa Soup

A very simple dish perfect for a rainy day or the colder months. This can be served any time of day as long as it's served hot. The miswa can also be substituted with sotanghon or lomi noodles just adjust the cooking time a bit longer.

What's in it:
Chicken pieces
1 carrot sliced into stripes/ diced
2 stalks of celery sliced thinly/diced
2 cloves garlic minced
half of a medium onion diced
thumb-size ginger sliced into quarters
miswa
water
2 eggs, beaten
salt and pepper

For garnish: toasted garlic and green onions

How It's Done:

Saute garlic and ginger then add in chicken pieces. Season with a little salt and pepper. Cover and cook until chicken is tender and the liquid in the pot is gone. Add in onion, carrots and celery. Saute until onion turns translucent. Add water and let simmer until the vegetables are fully cooked. Again season the soup with salt and pepper according to your desired taste. add in miswa simmer for 5 minutes. Add more water if necessary. Stir in eggs just before turning off the stove. Serve with or without garnish.

Monte Cristo for Breakfast

Back in college I had this type of sandwich for brunch whenever I didn't have time to eat breakfast at home. I grew fond of the mixed taste of the sweet jam, salty ham and sour mayo. The thing about this is that you can actually make so many variations. May it be the filling (
leftover slices of ham, luncheon meat ,corned beef, chicken fillets or hotdogs), or the bread (white bread, whole grain bread, rye, burger buns, pandesal etc.) or the jam (jellies, marmalade and even whipped cream).
With this one here I used slices of spam and strawberry jam.

Monte Cristo Sandwich

Ingredients:

slices of white bread
slices of spam, pan fried
slices of cheese
2 eggs, scrambled
2 tbsp. evaporated milk
mayonnaise
butter
strawberry jam

Mix the milk and beaten eggs. Spread mayo on one side of two bread slices. Place a slice of cheese on top of the bread. Then spam and another cheese. Top with another slice of bread to make a sandwich. Dip ( no, not soak) all sides of the sandwich in the egg mixture. Fry in butter until sides turn brownish in color . Serve hot with a dullop of jam on top.

Lugaw At Iba Pa...

I have been planning to make lugaw (rice porridge) since the day before, just on a whim . So I had the rice pre-soaked overnight to shorten the cooking time. But surprise surprise we had guests coming for dinner . Had to make a few adjustments in a dash.

Lugaw Toppings

I had some pre-boiled pork belly in the fridge which I intended for lechon kawali. But what the heck, hate to serve a bit lame lugaw. In the end I had a few toppings/side dishes for a presentable meal: hard boiled eggs, crispy ukoy and tokwa't baboy. Had time to make baked tahong too.

For the Lugaw, I had 1 1/2 cup glutinous rice and 1/2 cup long grain rice which I soaked in water overnight. Saute 2 cloves of chopped garlic, 1 chopped onion and a piece of sliced ginger. Chicken necks and wings may be added but I had the stock from the pork belly I boiled this morning. Put in the rice and stir a bit. Scorching the rice, as I've learned, helps it to absorb more flavor from the savory liquid it's cooking in (same with making paella, bringhe etc). Pour in the stock , water may be added if necessary. Season with salt and pepper. If you have no available meat stock on hand, water and a buillon cube would be acceptable.

The pork belly for the tokwa't baboy was boiled with garlic, onion, peppercorns and bay leaf. Seasoned with salt. And cooked until fork tender ( I prefer it when the skin has an almost hard gelatin-like appearance) . Cool and cut into strips.

Rinse the tokwa thoroughly ( it would be best to soak it in water overnight, covered and placed inside the fridge to lessen the sort of starchy taste) Cut into 1/2 inch cubes . Deep fry and drain in paper towels.

For the tokwa't baboy sauce combine: minced garlic, chopped onions, soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar and a little water. Proportions are according to taste .

To make the crispy ukoy I used 1 cup shrimp fry ( the ones used for alamang but unsalted) mixed with 2 tbsp. flour, 2 tbsp. cornstarch, 1/4 c. water, 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Fry in oil forming it into crepe like (in thickness) circles. Brown both sides. Drain in paper towels.