Sweet and Sour Fish

Sweet and Sour Fish

Ingredients:

1 whole fish Tilapia

1 carrot, juliened

1 onion sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 thumb size ginger, juliened

1 medium tomato, sliced

For the sauce:

1/2 tsp salt

dash of pepper

2 tbsp. vinegar

1 tbsp. soy sauce

1 tbsp. brown sugar

1/3 cup catsup

1 cup water

1 tbsp. cornstarch

1/2 cup cooking oil for frying

Procedure:

Wash and clean fish, remove scales and guts. Wash properly, make 2 diagonal slits on each side of the fish then rub with salt. Deep fry fish in cooking oil until fish is crispy on both sides. Remove from pan and set aside.

In a deep bowl, combine ketchup, water, vinegar, sugar, pepper, salt, soy sauce and cornstarch. Mix well and set aside.

In a separate saucepan, saute in 2 tbsp. oil, ginger, garlic, stir fry carrots, onions and sliced tomatoes for about 2 minutes.

Pour the prepared sauce ketchup-vinegar, bring to a boil. Remove from heat immediately and pour all over the fried fish.

Fried Vegetables Lumpia

Fried Lumpia
I always liked lumpia be it fresh or fried lumpia with bean sprouts.

Mung Beans Sprouts

close up of fresh tawge

Spring Roll Wrapper

Pastry Wrapper

Sweet Potato

Ingredients:

1/4 kg. mung beans sprouts (tawge)

1 pc. garlic

1 pc. small camote (sweet potato), sliced diagonally

1 small pc. carrots, sliced diagonally

dash of pepper, salt, msg

Pastry Wrapper

1 cup Oil for frying

Procedure:

Saute garlic in 2 tbsp. oil, add sweet potatoes, carrots and lastly the sprouts. Stir fry for a few minutes. Season with salt & pepper. Don't overcook the veggies. Turn off heat. Cool veggies before wrapping. Lay wrapper on a flat surface. Put about 2 tbsp. of the veggies on the pastry wrapper. Roll and tuck both ends. Dip fry in deep hot oil about 3 pcs. at a time or until light golden. Drain on paper towel.

Dipping Sauce:

1/2 cup whitevinegar

1-2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 chili, crushed

1 tbsp. white sugar

dash of pepper

dash of salt

Mix all ingredients, stirring thoroughly until sugar dissolves.

Barbecue & Grilled Fish

Chicken BBQ

Pork BBQ

Grilled Alumahan Fish

Marinated Pork

Soy Sauce

Calamansi & Chilis

I have some cravings for pork and chicken bbq. So I marinated the meat overnight in calamansi, soy sauce and some catsup.

I prepared sauce consisting of soy suce, calamansi juice & chillies, add more chilis for a hot, hot diping sauce.

Pita or Pan De Sal Bread with Pork Adobo Floss

Meat Floss Sandwich


Pan De Sal(Philippine Bread)

Pita Bread

Pork Adobo

I cooked pork adobo last night and set aside the leftovers to use for my pita or pan de sal sandwich. Meat should be tender so it will be easy to break up the meat by using fork or just your fingers. This is a very simple recipe.

Ingredients:

about 1 cup of shredded Meat floss, mayo, mustard, catsup, onions(optional) and Pita or Pan de Sal bread.

To prepare the pita filling:

Add 3 tbsp mayo, 2 tbsp mustard, 2 tbsp. catsup, 1 onion minced (optional). Mix and combine ingredients. Open up pita bread or pan de sal and put the meat floss inside.

Note: you can also use chicken & beef meat floss. There are other ways to prepare meat floss if you don't have a ready cooked pork adobo which I will post next time.

Marble Pound Cake

Tube Pan

MARBLE POUND CAKE
I made a Marble Pound Cake today using a 10-inch tube pan instead of a loaf pan and it turned out well.
Here's the recipe

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup butter

1 cup white sugar

3 eggs

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 ounces chocolate bittersweet, melted & cooled

Method:

Preheat oven to 325 deg. Butter a 9 x 5 loaf pan. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Mix and beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, add vanilla and mix gently.

Transfer half of the mixture in another bowl and add the melted chocolate. Blend well.

Alternate large spoonful of dark and light batters in the pan. To marble: Run a knife through the batters. Bake for about 45-50 minutes. Remove cake from oven and let cool and rest for about 30 minutes. Run a knife both sides of the pan and turn the cake out to cool.

Tortang Talong ( Eggplant Omelette)

Serve with rice

Eggplants tops among my favorite veggies. This recipe is quite easy. The messy part is when you grill and peel the skin off the eggplant.

Recipe:
3 eggplants (long variety)
1 large egg
dash of salt & pepper
oil for frying

Procedure

Pierce the eggplant with a fork (3 on each sides). Cook the eggplants, broil on a grill or open flame or by boiling until eggplant is soft. Turn eggplants on every side to char the skin until wilted. Cool the eggplants before you peel off the skin, retain the stem for easy handling during frying.

Flatten the eggplant by fork, set aside. Beat egg and season with salt & pepper. Heat oil in a medium pan. Dip each eggplant one at a time in the egg mixture and slowly slide it into the pan. Fry until golden brown on both sides.

Mallungay-Miracle Vegetable

Mallungay Stalks(Horse Raddish Tree)

Mallungay Clam Soup




Recipe:

Clam Soup with Mallungay Leaves

1/2 kg. clams (cleaned)

1 thumb-size ginger, peeled and sliced

8 stalks mallungay leaves

1 tbsp. oil
1 clove garlic, chopped

1 med. onion, peeled and sliced

dash of salt

5 cups water

Remove the leaves from the stalks. Wash leaves and strain leaves. Set aside.

Heat oil in a pot. Saute garlic, ginger and onion. Pour the water, bring to a boil. Add clams, salt , cover and boil, once the clam shells open, add the mallungay leaves cover and simmer for a minute.

Facts about Mallungay:

Mallungay(Moringa oelifera -scientific name) is known as miracle vegetable because of its many benificial uses. The leaves are rich in Vit. A, B, E and minerals such as calcium (four times the calcium in milk) , three times the potassium in bananas, and four times the Vitamin A in carrots, Vit. C content in seven oranges.

Mallungay has been promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the past 20 years as a low-cost health enhancer in poor countries around the globe

Because of its nutritional content, malunggay strengthens the immune system, restores skin condition, controls blood pressure, relieves headaches and migraines, manages the sugar level thereby preventing diabetes, reduces inflammations and arthritis pains, restricts the growth of tumors, and heals ulcers. This information comes from Dr. Kumar Pati, an Indian doctor who is an expert in natural medicine.

Mallungay seeds can also purify water. Boiled leaves used to help increase lactation. Seeds for hypertension, gout, asthma, hiccups, and as a diuretic.

Leaves must be used immediately after picking, if not, store inside the plastic bag and refrigerate for at least one day.

Other recipes for Mallungay are: Chicken Ginger Stew, Ginisang Mungo w/ Mallungay, Papaya-Mallungay Fish Dinengdeng, Gulay Dinengdeng and many more.

Guinisang Munggo Beans

1 cup munggo, washed
1/4 kilo pork belly, cut into small pieces
5 cups water
1 head garlic, minced
1 small onion, minced
4 pieces tomatoes, sliced
1 cup malunggay leaves
1 Knorr pork cube
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoon cooking oil

PROCEDURE :

1. In a casserole, put water, munggo, and Knorr pork cube.2. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes or until the munggo is cooked.3. In a skillet, heat the oil and saute the garlic, onion, and tomatoes.4. Add the pork and saute until lightly browned.5. Add in the munggo and stock.6. Season with pepper and add the malunggay leaves.

Stir Fried Manila Clams

Clams in different shades
Stir Fried Clams

The clams that I bought in the market were already cleaned but I still rinse them for three times and submerge clams in cold water for about an hour until they are free of sand. Adding 1/2 tsp of rock salt to the water will remove the sand from the clams, however, I prefer not to do it. Drain clams before cooking.

Here's the recipe:

1 kg. clams
2 tbsp. oil
slices of ginger
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup water
green onions/scallions, sliced
dash of pepper

Procedure:
Heat oil in a big pan or wok, saute onion, ginger, garlic until soft. Add clams, stir well before covering the pan for about 30 seconds. Open the lid and stir clams for a minute or so until clam shells have opened up. Add ground pepper, chilli powder and green onions.

Angel Cake or Chiffon Cake Tube Pans

Angel Cake/Chiffon Cake Tube Pan. There are 3 little feet as pictured above.

Tube Pans has removal bottoms

Chiffon and Angel cakes are baked in tube pans. When I was in the US I had a hard time "pan shopping" for pans, so my sister ordered directly from the pan manufacturers such as Wilton. We waited for about two weeks before our orders arrived. Here in the Philippines the tube aluminum pan is easy to find.

I have 2 tube pans in my dozens of baking cookware. I seldom use this pan except for special occasions like birthdays & holidays. It is easy to order special cakes in bakeries or cake shops but angel and chiffon cakes are no longer made in bakeshops, so making your own angel cake is something special.

Tube pan and electric mixer are essential gadgets in making this kind of cakes. Don't ever buy a non-stick pan as I did before or you'll end up baking a fallen angel. The cake will collapse as it will not cling to the tube and sides of the pan. Do not grease the pan.

What do you do with your egg whites??? Here's the recipe for Angel Food Cake

Angel Food Cake Recipe

12 egg whites
1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 1/2 cups white sugar, divided
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 cup sifted cake flour
1/4 tsp salt


Oven Temp ~ 375° Ore-heat oven
Cake Baking Time ~ 30 - 40 Min. Pan Type ~ 10 x 3 3/4-inch - Angel Food cake pan

Directions:


In large bowl, using a mixer, beat egg whites with cream of tartar at high speed until foamy. Add 3/4 cup of the sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating constantly until sugar is dissolved and whites are glossy and stand in soft peaks. Beat in flavorings.Sift together flour, remaining sugar and salt. Sift about 1/2 cup of the flour mixture over whites and gently fold just until flour disappears.
Repeat, folding in remaining flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time. Pour into ungreased 10 x 3 3/4-inch Angel Food pan. Gently cut through batter with metal spatula.Bake in preheated oven until top springs back when lightly touched with finger. Remove from oven immediately and invert cake as soon as possible to maintain its volume and to keep it from shrinking. Cool completely, about 1 1/2 hours. With narrow spatula or knife, loosen cake from pan and gently shake onto serving plate.Top with fruit or frost, if desired.



Chocolate Angel Food Cake Recipe:

Omit almond extract and increase vanilla to 2 teaspoons. Reduce flour to 2/3 cup and sift in 1/3 cup Cocoa Powder. Prepare batter and bake as above.
Yield: 12 servings - 1 (10-inch) cake

Guava Jelly

The finished product!

We made five bottles..
Beautiful & pungent smell...

Fresh Guavas

Guavas are one of the rich sources of Vitamin C. They contain more than 5 times Vitamin C as oranges or fruits listed in the vitamin C categories. They are cheap when in season. For two consecutive days, my brother gave me a bagful of native guavas. My sister suggested that I make a guava jelly.

The pictures shown above is a testimony that we were able to perfect the guava jelly.The smell of guava was overpowering our next door neighbors where curious as to where the pungent smell came from.

Choose green and ripe guavas. Wash and slice into halves. To every kilo of guava, add 2 litres of cold water, cheese cloth, let it drip (overnight), do not squeeze the bag to obtain a clear juice. To every cup of juice extract, add 3/4 cup white sugar. Boil once to dissolve the sugar. Cook over high heat until a soft ball is formed when the jelly is dropped in a cup of water. Immediately pour into sterilized dry glass jars. Let cool before covering the bottles.

To sterilize bottles: Wash bottles with soap and water. Rinse properly. Place the bottles in a pot and cover with water. Bottles may stand up or lie on their sides. Bring water to a boil for about 20 minutes. Remove the bottles immediately and drain.

Now it's ready to be used as spread on crackers and bread.

Fried Fish (Tamban or Herring-Sardinella)

Herring (Sardinella) or tamban, salinyasi, tunsoy, in Tagalog are popular fishes in the Philippines which can be processed into sardines (bottled in oil), canned, tinapa(smoked fish) dried salted fish(daing), fried fish, etc. Prices of this fish variety is not expensive and is lower compared to other fishes. Fish is a good source of proteins, calcium, iodine, riboflavin, and fats from fish is easy to digest.

Yesterday I bought a kilo of Tamban. Frying the fish is the only way to entice the appetites of my sisters, so without further ado, I cleaned the fishes and drain off excess water for about 15 minutes before adding the salt.

1/2 kg Tamban (herring)

• 
  
  1/2 tsp. salt


• oil for deep frynig
  


• 2 big tomatoes sliced, for garnish


• 2 med size onions, sliced
  


• Vinegar & soy sauce for dipping

Preparation:

You may or may not scale the fish. Lay the fish on a cutting board use a sharp knife to cut the heads. Remove the entrails in the stomach. Rinse the fish inside out in running water. Drain off water. Salt the fish.

In hot oil, deep fry fishes in batches.

Arrange on platter. Garnish with slice tomatoes and onions.

Clams

• 1 kg. clams
  2 tbps. oil
  2 cloves garlic, chopped
  1 small onion, chopped
  1 small thumb-size ginger, chopped
  
  Procedure:
  Wash and clean clams in cold water. (Water will help to remove the sand from the clams). In a deep pan, saute onions & ginger in hot oil, add clams (don't put water unless your recipe is for a soup) they release a natural salty juice and cover pot and cook over high heat about 5 minutes or just until clams open. Do not overcook as clams becomes tough (discard clams that will not open).
  
  
  Tips: Do not put salt. Clams juice are naturally salty. If you'll make a clam soup then add about 8 cups of water and salt to taste.
  

Pork Braised in Soy Sauce

Braised Pork Belly
1/2 kg pork belly with skin on

• 1 medium onion, diced
  
• ginger, peeled and cut into thin slices
  
• 3 cloves of garlic
  
• 2tbsp cooking oil
  
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
  
• 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
  
• 1 pc. bay leaf, crushed
• 3 cups water
  
  Procedure:
  Heat the pan over medium heat, add the oil, then the diced onions, chopped ginger. Continue cooking the onions and spices, about two minutes.
  Put the pork belly flat, on the pot over the onions and spices. Add enough water to completely cover the belly, add the soy sauce, crushed garlic cloves, brown sugar and crushed bay leaf.
  Put the lid on the pot and turn the heat up to high and bring the pot to a boil. Let simmer over low heat for at least 30 minutes or until the pork is cooked and tender.

You can serve this over rice or any kind of noodle you have. You can add as topping blanched bok choy or diced carrots.

Chicken Lollipop

Cut joints of chicken wings & scrape, push meat down to form a ball.

Coat with the dredging flour

Chicken Lollipops

10 pcs. chicken wings (upper portion of the wings)

1/2 tsp. salt
dash of pepper
oil for deep frying


Dredging mixture:
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tsp. garlic powder
dash of red chillis (optional)

Procedure

Cut chicken at the joints. Pull skin and scrape the meat and push it down to the other end of the joint to form a ball. Set aside. Reserve the ther parts for soup or other purposes.
Marinate chicken with salt and pepper for half an hour Mix the dredging mixture. Combine the chicken and coating mixture. Let rest for half an hour. In deep pan, dip fry chicken over medium heat until golden brown. Serve hot with your fave dips

Eggplant Salad (Ensaladang Talong)

This week, I'll be posting some Filipino recipes that are easy to make. I started off with Sinigang na baboy. My second posting is Eggplant Salad. Talong or eggplant is one of fave veggies. You can cook a variety of eggplant recipes like Tortang Talong, Rellenong Talong, Ginataang Talong, and many more. Eggplant can be prepared by grilling but I prefer boiling 'cause it's time consuming.
Ingredients:

2 pcs. med. size eggplant (long purple ones)

2 med. size tomatoes, sliced in wedges

1 pc. green onion

For the dressing:

3 tbsp. fish sauce or bagoong

2 tbsp. white vinegar

dash of black pepper or chillis

Procedure:
Boil eggpant (cut-off the stalks) in water until cooked. Remove from pan and let it rest and cool. Cut or chop into bite-size pieces with the skin on. If you don't like to eat the skin, cut in half vertically and scrape the meat. Set aside. Slice tomatoes into thin wedges. Slice green onions.

Mix in a deep bowl or in a shallow platter all of the above ingredients. Season with fish sauce, white vinegar and dash of pepper. Mix and toss lightly. If you want a spicy taste you can add chilli powder cut red chillis. Let stand for 15 minutes minutes in the ref. before serving.