filipino dish

Here is my menu for today –

Pinakbet or Pakbet is one Filipino recipe that is much enjoyed by people who are into vegetables. This famous local dish is one of the nutritious because of the variety vegetable ingredients such as bitter melon, eggplant, squash or pumpkin, okra, string beans and I would say one my favorite ingredients - tomatoes. These vegetables are great sources of vitamin A and C.

Better try this recipe, if you have Filipino blood – you’ll sure love this one

Here is the complete list of what you’ll need:
· 1/4 kilo pork with fat, cut into small pieces
· 2 bitter melons sliced to bite size pieces
· 2 eggplants, sliced to bite size pieces
· 5 pieces of okra, cut in two
· 1 head garlic, minced
· 2 onions, diced
· 5 tomatoes, sliced
· 1 tablespoon of ginger, crushed and sliced
· 4 tablespoons bagoong isda or bagoong alamang
· 3 tablespoons of oil
· 1 1/2 cup water
· Salt and pepper to taste

Here is how to prepare
· In a cooking pan, heat oil and fry the pork until brown, remove the pork from the pan and set aside.
· On the same pan, sauté garlic, onion, ginger and tomatoes.
· In a casserole, boil water and add bagoong.
· Add the pork in the casserole and mix in the sautéed garlic, onion, ginger and tomatoes. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
· Add in all the vegetables and cook until the vegetables are done, careful not to overcook.
· Salt and pepper to taste.
· Serve hot with plain rice.

Happy cooking =)

Tinolang manok (chicken ginger soup with vegetables)

I was left to cook for 4 kids...3 nephews and a niece. Before leaving, my sister asked me if I know how to cook tinolang manok for lunch, pretending that I know I answered yes... she then added that she bought malunggay leaves, then plenty of ginger for the ingredients.

I actually cooked tinolang manok before, but by now, I can’t remember the exact way to cook it, wow I need to let my memory work here… and guess what?? It turned out all right!!

Here’s the ingredients and procedure

Chicken (cut)
Fish sauce
Pepper
Ginger
Garlic
Onion
Malunggay leaves
Sayote (sliced in cubes)
Water
Salt
Vegetable oil
For the ingredients – use a minimal or balance amount depending on how many persons will consume the soup BUT I used plenty of ginger and onions here – I love them. We can also use chili leaves instead of malunggay. In cooking soups with vegetables, we often notice kids taking the leaves out and not eating them. If we use malunggay, because they are tiny, kids don’t take the effort removing.

Procedure:

Sauté ginger (cut into strips) along with crashed garlic, and then add sliced onions. Add chicken cut, I let it cook for few minutes until the color of the chicken is a little change. Pour the water and put it to boil. Let it simmer until the chicken is cook and then I added the sayote (papaya can be used) and let it boil until the vegetable is cook. Added salt and fish sauce to taste, and put again to boil, then finally added malunggay leaves, stir and DONE!! Serve!!

Chicken Curry

Found this wonderful recipe of chicken curry in one of my favorite website … better try!!

Chicken Curry
5 cloves garlic
One 3-inch chunk peeled, fresh ginger
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 heaping teaspoon whole cloves
10 green cardamom pods
8 whole allspice
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
1 bay leaf
1 medium yellow onion
2 teaspoons Madras-style curry powder
1/2 jalapeno, or more to taste
3 pounds mixed skinless, bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks (separated)
1/2 cup whole, peeled, canned tomatoes (with puree), roughly chopped
2 cups cold water
In a small food processor (mini-chopper), combine the garlic and ginger and puree to a paste.
Heat the oil in a stew pot or Dutch Oven over medium-high heat. Add the cloves, cardamom, allspice, cinnamon stick, and bay leaf and cook, stirring constantly, until dark and fragrant and the cinnamon stick unfurls, about 30 seconds. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic-ginger paste, curry powder, and jalapeno and cook, stirring, until lightly browned and fragrant, about 1 minute.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add the tomato and chicken and cook, stirring, until the oil begin to separate and there is a distinctive crackling sound as the ingredients "re-fry" in the oil, about 6 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring, until the chicken is lightly browned, about 7 minutes more.

Add the water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to maintain a simmer, cover, and stew for 15 minutes. Uncover and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and tender and the liquid thickens into a sauce, about 30 minutes more. Transfer chicken curry to a serving bowl and serve with rice and chutney.

(http://www.foodnetwork.com/)