Beef tapa (for tapsilog)

Tapsilog is my favorite breakfast. Tapsilog is every Filipinos’ favorite. The secret to Pinoys’ beef tapa is the freshness of the meat and lots of garlic. That’s it! The rest is found below:

1 kilo thinly sliced beef sirloin

Marinade:
1 1/2 Tablespoon + 1/2 teaspoon salt
7 Tablespoon white sugar
2 teaspoon minced garlic (you can add more)
1 tsp. ground black pepper
2 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
3 1/2 tablespoon vinegar

Mix well all marinade ingredients in a mixing bowl. Dip each slice of beef into the marinade and place in a plastic bag or any shallow plastic container. When all slices has been dipped and placed in the plastic bag/container, pour the remaining marinade over it. Seal the plastic bag/container removing as much air as you can from the container. Let stand for at least overnight in the refrigerator. You may allow it to “cure” for at 2 days. You may also sun dry the meat pieces if you want your tapa to have that rubbery texture. To cook, just fry in little cooking oil. I prefer mine cooked first in a little water. When the water has dried up, that is the time I add oil to fry. This way the tapa is tender and juicy.

Now serve with fried egg and kalo-kalo (sinangag or fried rice). Garnish with slices of tomatoes and atsarang kapayas (papaya pickles).

It is better if you make several servings of tapa. Let’s say one serving of about ½ kilo per meal. You can save a lot than buying tapa from the grocery stores that are probably made from unsold, thus, not fresh meat.

You may also use pork instead of beef. Pork is cheaper than beef.

photo from marketmanila.com

For a demo on how to prepare beef tapa, here's a video:

Paksiw na prito (pak-prit)

I saw this recipe of Chef Gene Gonzalez from abs-cbn.com. This is almost similar to fish sarciado I think. Perhaps we can try this out at home. The recipe seemed simple enough.

Chicken nuggets

Meaty chicken nuggets are children's favorite. You serve them chicken nuggets for breakfast, for lunch, for dinner, they eat them all. Children don't seem to get bored with chicken nuggets.

from deliciouscusine01.blogspot.com

Oh, well so be it. Later on we can do some trick by adding some veggies. For now, here's the basic recipe for chicken nuggets...

For the nuggets:
1 whole chicken breast, sliced bite-size
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp kalamansi juice
1/4 tsp ground pepper
2 eggs slightly beaten
some all purpose flour
some bread crumbs
cooking oil for frying

Marinate chicken in soy sauce, kalamansi juice and pepper for about 30 minutes. It is better to mix first all marinade ingredients before putting in the chicken. After marinating, coat each chicken piece with flour. Dip each piece in eggs then in bread crumbs. Make sure the coating is even but not too thick. Heat cooking oil in a frying pan. Deep fry chicken until golden brown. Serve with any favorite dipping sauce.

Now for that valued-added chicken nuggets...

Choose ground chicken meat. Add grated vegetables such as carrots or brocolli. Add a dash of salt, pepper and mix well. Form into small balls the size of pingpong balls. Roll in flour. Mix 1 slightly beaten egg, 1/4 cup milk and 1/2 cup pureed vegetables. Dip each flour-covered chicken balls in the egg mixture. Roll the nuggets in a mixture of bread crumbs, grated parmesan cheese. Flatten the balls a little bit to form nuggets and arrange on a cookie rack. Bake at 400 degrees F for about 10 minutes or golden brown. Now you have crispier and healthier chicken nuggets. Serve with your kids' favorite dip.

Happy eating

Okoy

I remember going with my mother to buy okoy in a Chinese restaurant somewhere in Binondo. I can still remember the smoke, the smell and the clattering of cooking utensils and waiters going to and fro. Everytime we had okoy for lunch, my mother studied all the okoys she bought to determine its ingredients. She made her own recipe.

Ingredients: ¼ kilo fresh alamang or shrimp; ½ cup powdered malagkit; 1 cup hot water; 2 tbsp achuete oil, ground pepper, salt, msg.

Thoroughly wash and drain the fresh alamang or shrimp. Meanwhile, dissolve powdered malagkit in hot water. Add achuete oil, salt, pepper, msg. Blend batter well until consistent. In a pan, heat oil enough for deep frying. Add to the batter well drained fresh alamang just before frying to avoid thinning of batter. Pour about ¼ cup and fry until crispy. Drain excess oil in paper towel. Serve with your favorite dip. The best dip for me is vinegar with chopped garlic.

Other version of okoy has mongo sprout and/or shredded unripe papaya in addition to alamang or shrimps. If you use shrimp, be sure to remove the "horn" and the "hair" from its head.

Dilis Crispies (fresh)

My mama used to cook this when  was a little kid. This is one of her recipes, hand-written on an old notebook, half-eaten by termites. All these years I have kept it, like a precious gem. Dilis (I guess this is anchovies in English) are small slender fish, about 2 to 3 inches long. Fresh dilis can be prepared as kilawin, a very appetizing dish. For now, I will share Mama's dilis crispies, one of my favorite food.

1/2 kilo fresh dilis; 4 tsp. calamansi (chinese lemon) juice; 4 tsp. table salt; 1 tsp black pepper (ground); cornstarch; and cooking oil for frying.

Remove head of dilis. Wash fish very well and allow to drain. Soak fish in a mixture of salt, juice and pepper for about 15 minutes. Drain and dry fish under the sun for about 20 minutes by scattering the fish on a tray. Cover with screen to keep away flies and other insects. Place cornstarch in a plastic bag, drop some dilis and shake untill all the dilis is well coated with cornstarch. Fry the dilis until golden brown and serve with your favorite dip or sauce. Happy eating!

Squash Lumpia

During squash season in the Philippines, farmers find it difficult what to do with their extra squash. If they dump their extra squash in the market, it would terribly lower the price. Many farmers would just leave the squash to rot in the gardens. Well, here's one recipe idea to try in your kichen, squash lumpia:

Ingredients:
2 cups squash, grated
2 tbsp kinchay, chopped
lumpia wrapper
salt to taste
msg (optional)
cornstarch paste

Lemon sauce:
3 tbsp calamansi juice
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/3 cup sugar
1 piece siling labuyo, crushed
1 drop yellow food color (or atchuete extract)

Mix together squash, kinchay in a bowl, season with salt, msg and mix well. Put a tablespoon of mixture in lumpia wrapper and roll. Seal edges with cornstarch paste. Fry until golden brown. Serve with lemon sauce or catsup.

To prepare the lemon sauce: Mix all ingredients in a saucepan and cook until thick

Hardinera (embutido)

In Quezon Province, they call this hardinera. In the Visayas, it is embutido. I got this recipe when I watched one of the episodes of Kapuso mo, Jessica Sojo, my favorite Saturday night show. I have cooked this recipe and my kids find it appetizing. I think by adding more pineapple chunks and its syrup will make it more flavorful. Just like embutido that is usually served during fiesta, you can prepare several hardineras for give aways. So try this out...

Ingredients

from: panlasangpinoy

1/2 kilo ground pork
1 cup carrots, cubed
1 cup pickles, cubed
1 cup luncheon meat. cubed
1 cup hotdog, cubed
1 cup pineapple chunks
1/2 cup liver spread
1 cup all purpose cream
1 cup cream of mushroom (powder)
1 tablespoon flour
3 large eggs
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
cooking oil for sauteeing
You will also need some llaneras (molders), aluminum foil and steamer

• Sautee the ground pork in onion and garlic.  Then add the liver spread. Set aside.

• In a mixing bowl, combine carrots, pickles, luncheon meat, hotdog, pineapple, all-purpose cream, cream of mushroom and pork mixture.

• Beat the eggs and add it to the mixture. Then add the flour and mix thoroughly.

• Put the mixture in a llanera, cover with aluminum foil then steam for 2 hours. Serve with hard boiled eggs. (Another variation is place uncooked egg and some pineapple chunks at the bottom of the llanera before putting the pork mixture.)

Pancit Malabon

PANCIT MALABON INGREDIENTS
1 kilo fresh rice noodles (soaked for 10 minutes in water and drained)
For sauce
6 tbsp atchuete oil
6 cups shrimp juice
2 tbsp garlic, minced
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup of water
salt and pepper to taste

For toppings
1 cup kintsay, sliced
1 cup pechay Baguio, sliced
1 cup chicharon, crushed
1 cup smoked tinapa, flaked
1 cup oysters, cooked
1 1/2 cup shrimps, cooked and peeled
1/2 kilo squid, sauteed in oil and garlic
1 cup pork, cooked and cubed
4 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
1/2 cup spring onions, chopped finely
4 tbsp fried garlic
4-6 pcs calamansi, sliced
PANCIT MALABON PROCEDURES
1. Dissolve 1 cup of flour in 1 cup of water. Set aside.
2. To make sauce: Heat atchuete oil in a pan. Sautèe garlic, then add shrimp juice. Allow to boil. Pour in water with dissolved flour. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
3. Boil water in a wok or large saucepan. Fill a luglugan or bamboo strainer with noodles, pechay Baguio and kintsay.
4. Dip into the boiling water and drain. Put in a large bowl.
5. Add sauce, crushed chicharon, and tinapa flakes. Toss, then transfer to a plate.
6. Top with oysters, shrimps, squid, pork, egg slices, spring onions, and fried garlic. Serve with sliced calamansi.

Pork sinigang (Mama's style)

Pork Sinigang

1 kilo pork, preferably spare ribs, cut into chunks

1 regular red onion, diced

5 tomatoes, sliced half

1 roll lemon grass (tanglad)

100 gm. river spinach (Kangkong)

100 grams string beans

3 pieces horse radishes, sliced

3 pieces gabi (taro), pealed and sliced

4 pieces sili (green finger pepper)

200 grams sampalok (tamarind)

4 tablespoons of patis (fish sauce)

1 liter of rice wash, pork broth or water

1.        Boil sampalok in water until the shell cracks.Cool and  peal off the shells, mash and with the use of strainer, separate the meat from the seeds. Set aside the sampalok juice.

2.        In a pot, sauté garlic and onion then add the tomatoes. Let simmer for 5 minutes.

3.        Add pork, tanglad and fish sauce then add the rice wash. Bring to boil then simmer for 10 minutes then add the gabi. Continue to simmer for another 20 minutes or until the pork is tender.

4.        Add the horse radish and simmer for 5 minutes then add the string beans, kangkong and sili . Let boil for 2 minutes.

5.        Serve hot.

(cooking tip: you may use commercially available tamarind cube or sampalok seasoning instead of tamarind fruit)

Kadyos, baboy, langka - authentic Ilonggo dish!

Enjoy KBL, or pork knuckles stew with kadios, baboy & langka - an authentic Ilonggo dish.

3 cups of fresh kadios
1 kilo langka cubes
1 kilo pork
Pieces batuan
2 liters water
1 medium sized onion
1 roll tanglad or lemon grass
How to cook:
Broil over charcoal pork belly/legs to give it its smoky flavor in the stew later.when done cut into desired sizes. set aside

In a separate pot, boil fresh kadios for  5 minutes. Add langka and lemongrass. When the langka is soft, add the cut-up broiled pork and continue boiling for about 10 minutes. add batwan and katumbal. Mmmm! Namit gid ya...