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.

Sinanglay /Tilapia in Coconut Milk (Gata)

Tired of the usual fried tilapia? Here's an alternative way to cook your fish. Sinanglay as I've known is a dish from Bikol province, thus the gata (coconut milk) which is widely used in the region's cuisine. I've had a few variations of this dish some with souring agent, others salty with the incorporation of bagoong alamang and some delightfully spicy. The leaves used to wrap the fish also varies from pechay, to gabi, to pandan and even banana. To me it's just a matter of preference and sometimes to what ingredients you have on hand.

What's In It:

2 medium tilapia (you can cut it in half if it's large sized)
pechay leaves, choose the big ones since you're using it to wrap the fish with
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 onion, chopped
ginger, sliced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
lemongrass
2 cups coconut milk
chillies
salt
1/2 tsp. sugar

Have the fish monger clean the tilapia thoroughly. Gutted, scales removed and the fins chopped off. Be sure to wash the fish at home especially the inside and the head to get rid of the slimey stuff. To lessen the fishy smell you can either spritz some lemon juice on your fish or immerse it in a bowl of cold water with grated ginger/ vinegar.

How It's done:
Rub the fish with salt all over. Mix the tomatoes, onion, ginger and garlic. Stuff half of this mixture inside the stomach cavity of the fish together with the lemongrass. Put the other half of the mixture at the bottom of your pan. Wrap each fish in pechay leaves, you might need to use 2 or more leaves if the tilapia is a bit big. Lay the fish on top of the tomato mixture. Add in the chillies. Pour in the coconut milk. Simmer for 20-30 min. over medium heat. Season wit sugar and salt. Serve with bagoong alamang or patis with calamansi on the side.

Crispy Anchovy Ukoy

Ukoy or Okoy are fried fritters consisting of a batter, vegetables, shrimp or anchovies. Often great as appetizers or even as snack. It is best eaten right away after cooking to fully appreciate the crisp ukoy.

What's In It:
1 lb. anchovies
2 garlic cloves minced
1/2 onion sliced into strips
1 carrot sliced into strips
green onion cut diagonally into strips
1/2 c. flour
1 c. cornstarch
salt and pepper
1 egg, beaten
1 c. water



How It's Done:
Mix all ingredients to form a batter. Heat oil in pan. Spoon or ladle the batter into the pan and shallow fry until bottom turns brown. Flip and fry to a golden brown. Drain in paper towels. Serve immediately.

Grilled Squid ( Inihaw na Pusit )

I love grilled food esp. ones done over charcoal or wood. Nothing beats that smokey flavor grilling imparts on the food. Just the smell of the food being cooked as the flame touches it every now and then, the dripping fat, the sound as it sizzles makes me salivate. I bought a couple of the jumbo squids usually found at asian supermarkets, the two biggest ones intended for grilling and the rest for making fried calamari.
First,how to clean the squids thoroughly. Remove the transparent spine (quill) of the squid. Then pull out the head while holding on the body, most of the innards will come out with the head. I usually invert the squid to check for any remaining gunk inside. Next peel of the skin by making a tear on the top side then pulling it down until the whole the skin is removed. Cut the head from the innards. Wash the squid head and body under cold tap water.

What went into it:
Marinade:
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 c soy sauce
1 tbsp. sugar

Stuffing:
3 cloves garlic-minced
1 onion- diced
4 tomatoes- diced
ginger - julienned
salt
ground black pepper

How it's done:
Mix ingredients for marinade. Marinate squids for at least 15-20 mins. In a bowl mix all ingredients for the stuffing. Using a spoon stuff the squid until 3/4 full. Secure head and close ith toothpicks. I scorched the squids lightly on the body to help minimize shrinkage (the same reason why the skin should be removed) and for presentation wise.
Grill squid for about 5-7 min. on each side(top and bottom). Depending on the size of your squid you can extend cooking time up to 10 mins but no longer lest you want to eat rubbery squid.

BACON WRAPPED CHICKEN AND CRAB FRIED RICE

Ok I admit it, I'm obviously a fan of this sweet meat called pork. I do eat my vegetables but I am more of a meat person. And my meat of preference? That glistening, fat laden, tender, juicy cut of porcine goodness. When we came here in America I vehemently experienced pork withdrawal that even a bowl of chicken adobo can't cure. Good thing there's good ol' bacon. Fried bacon for breakfast, bacon on my salad, bacon on my pasta, bacon in my sandwich.... bacon.. bacon.. bacon.
I've tried chicken liver, shrimps and asparagus wrapped in bacon so why not chicken.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken
What's in it:
2 pcs. Chicken Breasts cut into 1/2 inch strips
Bacon (I prefer the honey cured or maple flavored)
1 tbsp Lemon juice
A pinch of salt
A pinch of pepper

How It's Done:
Mix salt, pepper and lemon juice. Pour lemon mixture over chicken, mix to coat the strips. Wrap bacon by winding spirally on chicken strips. Shallow fry on medium heat.

Crab Fried Rice
What's in it:
4 c. Cooked (boiled) rice
1/2 c. Cooked crab meat
2 cloves Garlic minced
1/2 Onion diced
2 Eggs (scrambled, fried and cut into thin strips)
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. cooking oil
Salt

How It's Done:
Saute garlic in oil until light brown. Add in onion and saute until translucent. Put in soy sauce then rice. Mix until soy sauce is evenly distributed over the rice. Put crab meat and eggs. Add salt to taste. Continue cooking and mixing for 5 min.

CRAB LUMPIA (Spring Rolls)

As you may know by now, I don't really measure the ingredients I use with many of the dishes I cook. Especially with those that call for a mixture of ground meat, minced vegetables, spices etc. To be made into patties, rolls or loafs. It's mostly a trial and error thing for me. What I usually do is to mix the ingredients, fry a small sample and see if I got the right balance of flavor.
For this dish, I tried searching for a Lumpiang Alimango recipe in the web but the results I got were not much to my liking. So I just thought of ingredients that can go with the crab and still get an end product that will be in the likeness of lumpiang shanghai. And yet, at the same time it will boldly announce with each bite that it's crab meat in there.

What's In It: (please note that all measurement are by approximation only adjust as you please)
2 c cups Crab meat
1/2 cup minced Onion
1 tbsp. finely minced Garlic
1 Potato finely diced
1 stalk Celery finely diced
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1 Egg beaten
Spring roll (Lumpia) wrapper

How It's Done:
Mix all ingredients (except lumpia wrapper of course). Wrap lumpia. Fry until golden brown. Serve with sweet and sour dipping sauce.

For this lumpia we used the store bought sweet chili sauce that can usually be found at asian stores/supermarkets.

SEAFOOD WITH COCOMILK

Isa munang buntong hininga

Remember my post on the crab torta? Well, I have two more cans of lump crab meat in the fridge so I had to make use of them sooner or later. I wanted to cook them with coconut milk just like ginataang alimango but I didn't want it to look like mush. So I threw in whatever seafood and vegetables I have left in the fridge.

What went into the pot:
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 onion minced
1 tomato sliced
2 cups shelled shrimps
2 cups shelled mussels
1 can of lump crabmeat
2 bundles of pechay cut into 1" pieces
1 can coconut milk
salt and pepper to taste
scallions for garnish

How it's done:
Sautee the garlic, onion and tomatoes. Add the shells and mussels. When the shrimps start to change color add the cocomilk and turn the heat to medium. Add the pechay then the crabmeat.
Refrain from stirring .Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with scallions.

CRAB TORTA

Isa munang buntong hininga

Guess what I just discovered in our last visit to Costco......canned lump crab meat from the Philippines! Yep, yep Philippine crabs. Just can't figure out if it's alimango or alimasag. Eh, what the heck, whichever it is it's yummy crabmeat from home. Nothing beats the sweet meat of our crabs.
If I'm not mistaken Phillips is the brandname of the crabmeat and it comes in black cans. However if you go to Costco and find 3 cans that are slightly different from one another, don't be confused. Although under one brand the crabmeat comes from three separate countries: Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Okay, enough of that. I've been dreaming of crabcakes since I bought the crabmeat but, alas, I've ran out of mayo. So what's the next best thing to make with already-picked-no-shells crab meat - rellenong alimango. Sans crab top shells to put the mixture into so I just shaped them into patties. They turned out great. One bite and it reminded of the tortang giniling we had at Pampanga. So simple yet so filling and satisfying. Hence it's more of a tortang alimango than a rellenong alimango.

What went into the mixture:
1 potato chopped finely
1 onion minced
1 red bell pepper chopped finely
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 egg

Dumpling and Shrimp Soup

Nope, it's not wonton or siomai soup. What I made were really dumplings, used the circular wrappers pa nga e, which I planned to cook gyoza style (commonly known here as pot-stickers). But it was raining that day and I could sense that my husband would more likely appreciate to have some hot soup. So what else is there to do but make soup of the dumplings

Dumpling and Shrimp Soup

Filling for the Dumpling:
ground pork
shrimps, chopped
carrots grated
green onion, chopped
a few leaves of kinchay, chopped
1 egg
soy sauce
salt
pepper

As usual I didn't measure the ingredients again but when in doubt fry small portions of the mixture to test and adjust the taste. Place filling on half of the wrapper and fold to cover, it should look like half-moons or empanada like in shape. Seal with water or egg-wash (mixture of beaten egg with a little water.

Boil 2 cups of chicken stock and 2 cups water in a pot. When the water is boiling add the dumplings. Let boil for 5 min. more then add pieces of shrimps and sliced carrots. Lastly, add the chinese cabbage and season with salt and pepper. Serve hot with green onion.

Adobong Pusit

Ingredients:

6-8 medium size squids, cleaned
2 tomatoes sliced
onion sliced
garlic sliced
ginger cut into strips
1/4 c. vinegar
2-3 tbsp. soy sauce
a pinch of sugar
ground black pepper

Saute the garlic, ginger, onions and tomatoes. When the onion changes in color add in the squids.
Pour in the vinegar and let boil before stirring. Season with soy sauce, sugar and pepper.

Baked Tilapia Fillet

We had this for lunch yesterday and it turned out pretty well even my kids liked it considering that they're a little picky with what they eat. When I did this dish I had the idea of cooking it the same way we made grilled bangus back home in the Philippines. The aroma of tomatoes, onion and garlic on the broiler is just so wonderful my kids often came to the kitchen asking what was I cooking and exclaiming "It's (smells) delicious mommy".

Baked Tilapia Fillet

Ingredients;

2 large tilapia fillets
2 tbsp. calamansi juice
salt
pepper
3 tomatoes sliced
1/2 onion sliced
4 cloves garlic sliced into thin slivers
1 medium knob of ginger sliced
melted butter or olive oil

Marinate fillets with calamansi juice, salt and pepper for at least 15 min. Mix tomatoes, onion, ginger and half of the garlic season with a little salt. Brush the aluminum foil with butter place half of the tomato mixture and then one fillet on top. Brush the fish with butter and sprinkle half of the remaining garlic. Wrap and seal the foil. Do the same with the other fish fillet. Bake for 15-20 min. at 375. Open the foil and bake for another 5 min. or until the garlic flakes become toasted.

Inihaw na Pusit

Inihaw na Pusit

This is one of the dishes I prepared for my younger daughter's birthday. I had the squid prepared in a way that it only took a very short time on the grill the following day. The idea is to marinate the squid , then briefly braise it in its marinate and let the squid sit in the sauce (cooked marinate) overnight inside the fridge.


Ingredients:
large squids cleaned

Marinade:
1/4 c. calamansi juice
1/2 c. soy sauce
3 cloves chopped garlic
ground black pepper

Stuffing:
tomatoes diced
onion chopped
ginger chopped

Mix ingredients for the marinade. Let the squid marinate for at least an hour.
Lightly saute stuffing and season with a little salt and pepper. Set aside.
Par-boil the squid in its own marinade for 5 min. Remove and transfer to pan or bowl . Let the marinade simmer for 10 more minutes. Let cool.
Meanwhile, place the stuffing inside the squid using a teaspoon . When all the squid have been stuffed pour in the marinade and place in the fridge overnight.
This way it won't take to much time to grill and the squid will be more tender than chewy.

Nilasing na Hipon at Tortang Talong

Nilasing na Hipon and Baked Tortang Talong

Nilasing na Hipon

1 1/2 lb. shrimps
2 c. beer
1 small can of pineapple chunks, drain and reserve juice
2 tbsp soy sauce
salt
pepper
butter

Mix beer , pineapple juice and soy sauce. Marinate shrimp in beer mixture for 30 min. Place shrimp with marinade in pot. season with salt and pepper. Simmer until shrimps are cooked.
Remove shrimp from pot and transfer to serving dish. Lightly toss with bits of butter.
Make a dipping sauce from the cooking liquid left in the pot (the beer marinade where you cooked the shrimp in ) by adding a slurry (1 tbsp tapioca starch dissolved in 1/4 c. water)


Baked Tortang Talong

6 eggplants , roasted and peeled
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 lb. ground pork
1 onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic minced
salt
pepper
quick melt cheese, sliced
1 c. of spaghetti sauce

Saute garlic, onion and ground pork until cooked. Set aside and let pork cool.
Remove stems of the eggplant. Place in a rectangular baking dish.Lightly smash and spread until bottom of pan is covered.
Mix ground meat and beaten eggs. Pour over eggplants.
Cover with sliced cheese.
Spread spaghetti sauce on top.
Bake for 15 min. at 375 degrees or unti cheese melts.

Pinangat na Isda

Before, my cooking philosophy is that I only cook the food I like to eat. But having a hubby with some food preferences and two kids who classifies food as either delicious or yucky. I had to make some major adjustments.
For example, I am not particularly fond of fish dishes especially those with sabaw. First thing I desdain about it is that I hate cleaning fish. You know, like removing the scales, gills and guts (oh man, just thinking about it makes me wanna throw up...excuse me , be right back)
Now where were we? Oh yeah.. Secondly, I don't like the way it taste. No matter how much ginger and/or vinegar there is in the dish it still has that fishy taste to it. And to top it all , it's hard to pick all the bones (tinik) out with all that sabaw.
Well so much for my dis gusto. Somebody has been clamoring for paksiw or pinangat for some time now. So when I saw some small fish at the asian store (I don't know what they're called) I had the idea that they would do. And the great thing about it that it was pre-packed and pre-cleaned (Thank you God).
I texted (for those who are not familiar with the term it means to send an SMS or text message) my mom for the recipe for pinangat.

Pinangat na Isda

I rinsed the fish three times and submerged it in water with grated ginger and garlic just to get rid of some of the fishy taste and smell. Left it to soak for a good 30 min.
After that I followed my mom's instructions...

"Ilagay mo sa caserola yung malinis na isda, iayos mo. Lagyan mo ng bawang, sibuyas, luya,paminta, siling mahaba, asin, konting tubig at konting suka. Tikman mo na lang pag kumulo kung kulang yung lasa ng alat at asim"

A More Presentable Egg Foo Yung

I almost forgot about the sauce for the egg foo yung . It's not egg foo yung without the sauce you know. I'm not sure what ingredients went to the one in the restaurant but it's kind of like the gravy we often use with fried chicken.I just made my own version and jazzed it up with roasted sesame seeds.

Egg Foo Yung with Gravy and Sesame Seeds

For the Sauce:

Make a slurry with 1 cup water and 2 tbsp tapioca starch. Heat slurry in pot. Mix in 1 bouillon cube, dissolve. Adjust taste with salt and pepper. Serve over egg foo yung with a sprinkle with roasted/toasted sesame seeds.

Adobong Talaba

Adobong Talaba

4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tomato, sliced
1 ginger, sliced
1 lb. oysters, removed from shells
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. vinegar
salt
pepper

Saute garlic, tomato and ginger. Add vinegar and soy sauce and let boil. Drop in oysters. Simmer for 5 min. Adjust seasoning wit salt and pepper.

SEAFOOD CHOWDER

Isa munang buntong hininga


Seafood mix (sold pre-packed in supermarkets)
Onion
Celery stalks
Bell pepper
Potatoes
Chicken broth
Milk
Butter
Salt
Pepper
Biscuit dough
Grated parmesan cheese
Celery leaves, finely chopped

Melt half the butter in pan. Sauté onion, celery and bell pepper. Add in potatoes. Then put in seafood mix. Cook for 5 min.
In a separate pot, cook flour in butter . Stir in milk. Thin down mixture with broth. Add in sauted seafood and vegetable mix. Season with salt and pepper.
For a nice presentation place chowder in individual cups or mugs. Cover each mug with biscuit dough. Sprinkle top w/ grated parmesan cheese and celery leaves. Bake according to biscuit dough’s package directions.

Baked Fillet of Fish

I bought a pack of fish fillets last night and was planning to fry it for lunch. But I remembered the hardened bread rolls sitting in the pantry and thought of making use of it. The bread rolls were accidently forgotten inside the oven when I had them "warmed-up" for breakfast two weeks ago. We went out that day and when I remembered to take them out the following morning they're hard as rocks.
I made fresh breadcrumbs by putting the bread rolls into a big ziploc bag and pounded them w/ an empty bottle (have no rolling pin in the kitchen yet).
So, I finally used the "forlorn" bread rolls in the pantry for today's lunch.

Baked fish fillet with mayo-salsa dip

Baked Fish Fillet

Fish fillets (any firm-fleshed fish will do)
½ c. milk
All purpose flour
Breadcrumbs
2 eggs, well beaten
4-6 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
¼ cooking oil
Butter

Dip/Sauce

1 c. mayonnaise
½ c. salsa
1 hard boiled egg, peeled and chopped finely
Salt
Pepper
Sugar

Check fillets for any remaining bones (tinik). Season fish with salt and pepper then marinate in milk for at least 20 min. Put flour, breadcrumbs and eggs in separate plates and sprinkle each w/ a dash of salt. Dredge fish in flour, dip in egg and then coat with breadcrumbs. Continue process w/ the rest of the fillets.

Heat pan in stove top. Put oil and ½ stick of butter. Set flame to medium low so that the butter will not burn. Brown the fillets. Each side of the fillet will take at least 3-5 minutes to become golden brown. Transfer browned fillets into a baking dish/pan. Place fish side-by-side and put a dullop (1/2 tsp) of butter on top of each fillet. Sprinkle w/ garlic. Continue cooking in 375 degree oven for 10-20 min. depending on the thickness of the fillet. Serve with dip.

Dip/Sauce

Combine mayonnaise, salsa and hard boiled egg. Season w/ salt, pepper and sugar. Mix. Pour over fish upon serving or put on the side as dip.