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:

Tocino (w/ soda)

1 kilo thinly sliced pork with skin removed   

8 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon rock salt

1 cup clear soda (sprite or 7up)

Spread the thinly sliced pork on a chopping board and pound it using a meat tenderizer hammer or with the dull side of a kitchen knife. Mix all ingredients and allow to marinate for at least 3 hours. You may cook the tocino in its marinade. When almost dried up. Add some oil. Turn the tocino frequently to ensure even cooking. Top with fried garlic. Serve with sunny-side-up egg and fried or plain rice.

Children will love this tocino for its sweetish taste. This recipe is good as it does not require any preservative other than sugar and salt used here.  Because of this, it requires refrigeration.

Happy eating!

photo from flickr.com

Hamburger (Jollibee-style)

Yap! Filipino style hamburger. This western food has invaded the Filipino palate. It is unstoppable. It is irresistible. But.... of course, we give this western food a twist to fit our taste buds. That is why Jollibee is all over the world. Wherever there are Filipinos, Jollibee is there.

I got this Jollibee--style hamburger recipe from a friend who happened to work once in Jollibee that I want to share with you. You may prepare a lot of patties in your freezer for future use. You no longer have to go out for a hamburger or buy ulamburger for your kids' baon to school and your baon to work.

Hamburger (Juicy and Jollibee style)

Ingredients:

1 -Pound ground angus beef
10 -Small hamburger buns

10 -teaspoons chopped onion

5 tsp chopped garlic (optional)

Hamburger Seasoning

Irresistible

The Hamburger Seasoning:
1 Tablespoons salt
1 Tablespoons Accent (msg)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon onion powder

Add on: Mustard, Ketchup, cheese, sliced tomatoes, sliced onions, lettuce ....and ..... sheets of waxed paper

First, mix all seasonings well and add to your ground beef. Add chopped onions. Mix well.

Divide 1 lb of beef into 10 equal sized balls. Form a patty about 4 inches in diameter and1/4 inch thick. You may press the beef balls between 2 sheets of waxed paper to form the patty. Now freeze the patties for at least an hour.  Freezing keeps them from falling apart when you cook them (grilled or fried).

Toast your burger buns lightly before serving. Of course you may add  onion rings, tomatoes (sliced thinly crosswise), lettuce, mustard, ketchup, cheese, hot sauce… just do it. Then pair your burger with a big glass of icy pineapple juice.

You may add some grated carrots, sayote or any favorite vegies (like chopped malonggay leaves) for added value. I sometimes add some ground pork (30% proportion) to make the burger patties juicier.

Batchoy

Batchoy – ah! An all-time favorite Ilonggo “pamahaw”. So mouth-watering! Almost all restos and eateries in Iloilo and Negros serve batchoy. Almost all of them claim to serve the original Lapaz batchoy. Anyone who comes to Iloilo cannot leave without savoring Ted’s Original Lapaz batchoy or Deco’s Original Lapaz batchoy. I have my own recipe for batchoy. Original or not, my family just love my version of batchoy – they crave for it.

To Boboy P., my husband's long-time-no-see friend who lost himself in the wilderness of Mindanao but later found himself with a pot of golden fruits in Davao, here’s how I cook batchoy….

You will need:

½ kilo pork (with some bones)

¼ kilo pork/beef liver

some quail’s eggs

1 head garlic (minced)

spring onions (minced)

cooking oil

2 pork cubes (I prefer knorr)

some fresh eggs (for special batchoy. But this is optional)

2 kilos fresh noodles (available in public markets. You may use miswa or sothanghon)

cooked ginamos (shrimp paste, this is optional if you have allergy),

salt

ground black pepper.

ground pork chicharon

 Fry garlic in little oil under low fire until brown. Be sure to turn the garlic continuously to avoid scorching. Set aside.

In a big “caldero”, boil pork and liver for about 15 minutes. Remove from fire and separate the pork and liver, Cut pork and liver into thin strips. While doing this, boil again the pork stock with the bones. You may add more water. Season with pork cubes, salt, cooked shrimp paste and pepper.

In a bowl, put some fresh noodles. On it, place some strips of pork, liver and some quail’s eggs. Pour some boiling hot pork stock. Top with lots of fried garlic, spring onion and chicharon. You may add fresh egg (minus its shell, of course) to give the soup that creamy look and taste.

Serve with puto sg Manapla or pan de leche.

Happy eating!..:)

photo from pinoyrecipe.com

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.

Maja blanca (ni Nang Fely)

Nang Fely was my office-mate known to many of us as the old little chancellor. A lovable lady who loves to entertain her visitors with her mouth-watering dessert - maja blanca. Nang Fely now retired, devotes her life as a church volunteer.

I never liked maja blanca until I got to taste Nang Fely's. Of course, Gen's maja blanca which I tasted only a few years back is also as delicious. Now, I do not eat maja blanca unless it uses Nang Fely's or Gen's recipes. For Gen's version, click here. Below, I am sharing Nang Fely's recipe just in case you wish to try it out and invite me in for a bite:


Ingredients:

1 cup corn starch
1 3/4 cup refined sugar
5 cups liquid (consisting of coconut milk, coconut water, evaporated milk. You may add some water to complete the 5-cup liquid requirement)
1 can sweet corn (cream style)
1/2 cup of shriveled meat of young coconut

Combine the first 3 ingredients. Cook over low fire, stirring constantly until thick. Then add sweet corn and coconut meat. Mold and cool.

For the coconut topping, see Gen's maja blanca.

Mmmmm...yum-yum-yum!

Yacon - sweet, tasty and healthy

Yacon both sweet and healthy, study shows
Florante A. Cruz, UPLB and Philippine Agricultural Journalist, Inc. - CALABARZON
Yacon tubers on sale at the market. Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/santos/68253396/sizes/o/in/photostream/ Have you ever tasted yacon, a crunchy tuber with a sweet apple and watermelon-like taste? Despite its sweetness, yacon is known for its low-calorie content. Yacon, however, is not just for weight-watchers. Research  by the group of Dr. Evelyn Rodriguez of UP Los Baños Institute of Chemistry shows that the tuber from yacon, a perennial crop closely related to the sunflower and grown in several areas in Northern Luzon and Mindanao, has more benefits than most people may know. [read more...]