Dinuguang Baboy

Dinuguang Baboy

(Pork Blood Stew)

Ingredients:

½ kilo pork, cut into cubes

1½ cups pig’s blood

10 cloves of garlic, minced

1 medium bulb onion, chopped

6 tablespoons fish sauce

15 pieces unripe tamarind fruits

white vinegar

table salt

long chili (siling haba)

cooking oil

water

Cooking Instructions:

Put pork and about half a cup of water in a pot.  Add a pinch of table salt and heat to boiling.  Let the water evaporate then switch to medium or low flame.  Allow the pork to be fried in its own fat until medium brown.  Add oil if necessary.  Scoop up the pork, drain and set aside.  Toss the garlic in the pot and sauté until golden brown.  Add onions and stir until tender.  Put fish sauce and stir in the pork.  Add half a cup of water and place the unripe tamarind on top of the mixture.  Cover and simmer over low heat until the tamarind fruits are soft.  Get the tamarind fruits and mash on a bowl together with some of the liquid from the pot.  Drain the extract into the pot.  Repeat three times making sure that none of the seeds or peels of the fruits are mixed with the pot mixture.  Add the pig’s blood into the mixture with stirring.  Cover and let the mixture simmer over low or medium heat.  Stir the mixture occasionally to prevent burning the blood.  Once the blood is dark-colored, balance the saltiness with the acidity by using white vinegar and table salt.  Add long chili and continue to simmer until the mixture thickens or until the blood is fully cooked.    

This recipe will serve up to four people.

Additional Notes:  If tamarind fruits are not available, you can use vinegar as a substitute.  Just make sure to add the vinegar in moderation as it has a tendency to increase the acidity of the mixture very abruptly.  Also, add vinegar after adding the blood and not before.

Paksiw na Saluyot

Paksiw na Saluyot

(Saluyot Cooked in Vinegar)

Ingredients:

2 handfuls of saluyot leaves

6 cloves of garlic, crushed

fish paste (bagoong)

cane vinegar

water

  

Cooking Instructions:

Mix half a cup of water and one tablespoon of fish paste in a pot.  The mixture need not to be salty at this point.  Bring to a boil over low heat.  Add the crushed garlic cloves.  Let it simmer for a couple of minutes.  Add the saluyot leaves.  Cover the pot and let the mixture simmer over low flame.  Once the leaves are half-cooked, add one to two tablespoons of cane vinegar.  Do not stir.  Cover the pot and simmer for five to ten minutes.  Stir the mixture.  Balance the acidity of the vinegar with the saltiness of the fish paste by adjusting the two ingredients if needed.  Once satisfied, continue cooking the mixture uncovered until almost dry.

This recipe will serve up to two people.

Additional Notes:  The saltiness of the fish paste and the acidity of the cane vinegar may depend on the brand names of these products.  Feel free to adjust the ratio according to your taste.  However, please bear in mind that the water evaporates as you cook and the mixture becomes saltier.  It is always safe to use less fish paste at the beginning then adjust as the need arises.  You may use rice washing (hugas-bigas) as substitute for plain water.

Mac 'n' Matoes

Mac 'n' Matoes

(Creamy Tomato Macaroni)

Ingredients:

150 grams elbow macaroni

130 grams Vienna sausage, diced

198 grams champignon mushrooms

210 grams corned beef

500 grams tomato sauce

100 grams all-purpose cream

70 grams cheddar cheese, shredded

5 to 10 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium bulb onion, minced

1 teaspoon ground black pepper
cooking oil

Cooking Instructions:

Cook the elbow macaroni until al dente.  Drain and set aside on a bowl.

Pre-heat the cooking oil on a sauce pan and toss in the Vienna sausage.  Fry the sausage until brown but not burnt.  Move the sausage on one side of the pan and toss in the garlic.  When the garlic turns light brown, add the onions.  When the onions are tender, mix in the sausage and put the champignon mushrooms.  Sauté for a couple of minutes.  Add the corned beef and sauté for five more minutes.  Pour in all the tomato sauce and ground black pepper. Stir well under medium flame.  Pour in the all-purpose cream.  Stir well until the entire mixture is homogeneous in color.  The amount of cream that you will add may depend on your personal preference.  You may add more or less of what is in this recipe.  Add the cheddar cheese and simmer for a few more minutes with occasional stirring.

Pour the sauce on the drained elbow macaroni.  Mix well.

This recipe will serve up to five people.

Additional Notes:  For this recipe, I used Libby’s Vienna sausage, Palm corned beef, one 250-gram sachet of Del Monte tomato sauce (original), one 250-gram sachet of Del Monte Filipino sweet style tomato sauce, and Nestlé all-purpose cream.  Please take note that the taste may be different if you are using other brand names.  However, it should not hinder you from trying them out.

Crema de Fruta

Crema de Fruta

(Fruity Refrigerator Cake)

Ingredients:

500 grams all-purpose cream

168 grams sweet condensed milk

Graham crackers

fruit cocktail, drained

unflavored gelatin powder

  

Cooking Instructions:

Pour the all-purpose cream and sweet condensed milk in a bowl at room temperature.  Mix well.  Feel free to adjust the amount of condensed milk.  Make sure that the amount of cream is always greater than the amount of condensed milk.  Chill the mixture for at least six hours.

Layer Graham crackers on a square or rectangular container.  Pour in the chilled cream mixture on top.  Set another layer of Graham crackers on top of the cream and top it off with another layer of the cream.  Repeat this procedure until you have your desired height.  This is where your personal style comes in.  If you want a more compact cake, apply the cream mixture thinly and stack more layers; if you want a creamy cake, stack less layers and apply more cream.  Once you are satisfied with everything, top the cake with drained fruit cocktail.

Dissolve the gelatin powder in boiling water.  Make sure to follow the instructions on the sachet.  Cool the mixture slightly while making sure that it is still fluid.  Scoop small volumes of the gelatin mixture and pour over the fruits.  The purpose of adding gelatin is to ‘cement’ the fruits together so they don’t fall apart when you take a slice of the cake.  Once the gelatin cools to room temperature and solidifies, chill the cake for at least six hours.

In the photo:  I tried using a trapezoid-like container for the cake.  Though I ended up with a delicious slice, take note that some of the gelatin ran off on the sides and soaked some parts of the cake.  I also used more layers of Graham crackers and less cream in between.  Notice that the cake is compact and you can’t easily distinguish each layer.  There are actually ten layers of Graham crackers on this cake!

Pinatisang Baboy

Pinatisang Baboy

(Pork Cooked in Fish Sauce)

Ingredients:

½ kilo pork, cut into cubes

10 cloves of garlic, minced

1 medium bulb onion, chopped

6 tablespoons fish sauce

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 table spoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon black pepper, ground

2 tablespoons cooking oil

2 dried blades of bay leaf

Cooking Instructions:

Mix the following in a pot: pork, white vinegar, soy sauce, ground black pepper, half of the minced garlic, and four tablespoons fish sauce.  Marinate for 30 minutes.  Cook in low flame and stir occasionally.  If the mixture dries up and the pork is still not tender, add water.  Continue cooking in low flame until the liquid is reduced and the pork is tender.  Remove from the stove.

In a pre-heated pan, pour in the cooking oil and sauté the remaining garlic until medium brown.  Toss in the onion.  When the onion is tender, add the remaining fish sauce (approximately two tablespoons).  Stir in the cooked pork mixture from the pot.  Put the bay leaf.  Stir and let it simmer in a covered pan for not more than five minutes. 

This recipe will serve up to four people.

Additional Notes:  You may reduce the amount of fish sauce that you will be using.  Every fish sauce sold in the market has its own characteristic saltiness.  Jufran Thai fish sauce was used in this recipe.

Turon na may Keso

Turon na may Keso

(Cheesy Banana Spring Roll)

Ingredients:

4 medium Saba banana, peeled

4 tablespoons brown sugar

8 pieces spring roll (lumpia) wrapper

cheddar cheese

cooking oil

Cooking Instructions:

Slice the banana into two lengthwise.  Cut the cheddar cheese such that its width is almost half of the sliced banana.  Sprinkle brown sugar on both sides of the banana before placing on a piece of spring roll wrapper.  Place the cheddar cheese next to it and roll them together (see Additional Notes).  Fry in cooking oil until golden brown.

This recipe will serve up to four people.

Additional Notes:  These are additional instructions on making the spring roll.  Lay the wrapper on a clean plate.  Place the banana and cheese on one side of the wrapper, usually the side closest to you.  Cover the banana and cheese using the edge of the wrapper, then roll them together.  Halfway through, fold the left and right edges towards the center then roll all the way through.  Moisten the final edge with water to seal the contents in.  

Ginisang Gulay sa Oyster Sauce

Ginisang Gulay sa Oyster Sauce

(Sautéed Vegetables in Oyster Sauce)

Ingredients:

300 g eggplant, sliced

300 g string beans, cut to pieces

¼ kg ground pork or beef

5 tablespoons cooking oil

1 tablespoon fish sauce

6 to 10 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium bulb onion, chopped

1 medium red bell pepper, cut to strips

60 g oyster sauce

2 tablespoons ground black pepper

Cooking Instructions:

On a heated frying pan, brown the sliced eggplants.  Do not put oil.  Remove eggplants from the pan.  Put oil in the pan and throw in the string beans.  Stir fry until slightly tender.  Remove the string beans while draining the oil back into the pan.  Put the ground pork or beef and fry until brown and crispy.  Put the meat on one side of the frying pan to make room for the spices.  Toss in the garlic and sauté until medium brown.  Add the onions and stir until slightly tender.  Add fish sauce and mix in the meat.  Stir for a few minutes.  Add the eggplant, string beans, red bell pepper, and ground black pepper.  Stir in the oyster sauce.  Mix well for not more than three minutes.

This recipe will serve up to three people.

Additional Notes:  Do not fry the eggplants in oil.  Eggplants absorb oil and you may end up adding more oil just to fry the eggplants properly.  Once the eggplants are cooked, the oil is released and you will end up with a very oily dish.  Do take note that you may add more oyster sauce than what was indicated here.  However, too much oyster sauce may make your dish very salty.

Adobong Manok sa Pinya

Adobong Manok sa Pinya

(Chicken Adobo in Pineapple)

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons cooking oil

1 thumb-size ginger, cut to strips

10 cloves garlic, crushed

3 tablespoons fish sauce

½ kilo chicken breast fillet

3 to 4 tablespoons soy sauce

240 mL unsweetened pineapple juice

2 tablespoons black pepper, freshly ground

432 g pineapple chunks, drained

Cooking Instructions:

Heat the cooking oil in the pan.  Toss in the ginger.  When the ginger turns light brown, add garlic and sauté until medium brown.  Put fish sauce.  Mix until the fish sauce is reduced.  Stir in the chicken.  Cover the pan and allow the chicken to be boiled in its own juice.  Since this recipe used chicken breast fillet, boiling the chicken for five minutes is enough.  Add the pineapple juice and soy sauce.  Stir occasionally until the sauce thickens.  Add ground black pepper and pineapple chunks.

This recipe will serve up to four people.

Adobong Sitaw

Adobong Sitaw

(Stringbean Adobo)

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons cooking oil

10 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium bulb onion, chopped

3 tablespoons fish sauce

½ kilo stringbeans

½ cup soy sauce

½ cup vinegar

1 tablespoon black pepper, freshly ground

Cooking Instructions:

Heat the cooking oil in the pan.  Add garlic and sauté until medium brown.  Add the onion and stir until slightly tender.  Put fish sauce.  Mix until the fish sauce is reduced.  Add the stringbeans and soy sauce.  Cover and simmer in low to medium heat with occasional stirring.  Once the stringbeans are tender, add vinegar.  Do not stir.  Cover and just allow the mixture to simmer for at least three minutes.  Add more vinegar if necessary to balance with the saltiness of the soy sauce.  Add the freshly ground black pepper.  Cover and simmer for another minute. 

This recipe will serve up to four people.

Menudo

Menudo

(Pork and Tomato Stew)

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons cooking oil

10 to 15 cloves garlic, minced

2 medium bulb onion, minced

10 tablespoons fish sauce

10 tablespoons soy sauce

30 medium red tomatoes, seeds removed

1½ kilo pork, cut into cubes

½ kilo pork liver, cut into cubes

3 medium carrots, sliced

3 medium potatoes, cut into cubes

2 medium red bell pepper, cut into strips
10 blades dried bay laurel leaves

1 tablespoon annatto seeds (optional)

Cooking Instructions:

Mix the pork, pork liver, tomatoes, garlic, onion, soy sauce and laurel leaves in a large bowl.  Marinate for at least 30 minutes. 

Heat the cooking oil in a pan.  Fry the carrots and potatoes separately for five minutes each.  Set aside the fried vegetables.  Turn the heat to low setting.  Toss in the annatto seeds and stir for not more than a minute.  Remove the annatto seeds and toss in the garlic.  You may turn up the heat at this point.  When the garlic turns medium brown, add the onion and stir until slightly tender.  Put fish sauce.  Mix until the fish sauce is reduced.  Put the marinated mixture and cover.  Stir occasionally until the pork meat is tender.  Add water if necessary.  Once the pork meat is tender, reduce the water until the sauce slightly thickens.  Add fish sauce or soy sauce if necessary.  Put the carrots, potatoes and bell pepper.  Cover and simmer for a few minutes or until the potatoes are cooked.    

This recipe will serve up to eight people.

Additional Notes:  The annatto seeds are used to add color to the sauce.  Be careful when heating the seeds in oil, prolonged heating and high temperature will infuse a bitter taste to the food.  Some people use hot water to extract the colorant from the seeds.  Tomato paste may be used as a substitute for fresh tomatoes.

Sardinas na may Miswa

Sardinas na may Miswa

(Sardines with Misua)

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons cooking oil

5 to 10 cloves of garlic, minced

2 medium bulbs onion, chopped

2 to 4 tablespoons fish sauce

500 grams canned sardines in tomato sauce

2 bundles miswa

1 to 2 cups water

Cooking Instructions:

Heat the cooking oil in the pan.  Add garlic and sauté until medium brown.  Add the onion and stir until slightly tender.  Put fish sauce.  Mix until the fish sauce is reduced.  Add canned sardines together with the tomato sauce.  Add one to two cups of water.  Simmer for five minutes.  Add miswa.  Stir to prevent the miswa from clumping together.  Simmer for three minutes.  You may add more water depending on how thick or thin you want the dish to be. 

This recipe will serve up to four people.

Ginisang Pusit

Ginisang Pusit

(Sautéed Squid)

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons cooking oil

1 thumb-size ginger, cut to strips

6 to 10 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium bulb onion, chopped

6 medium red tomatoes, sliced

500 grams canned squid in natural ink

2 to 4 tablespoons fish sauce

4 to 6 long chili (siling haba)

Cooking Instructions:

Heat the cooking oil in a pan.  Toss in the ginger.  When the ginger turns light brown, add garlic and sauté until medium brown.  Add the onion and stir until slightly tender.  Put fish sauce.  Mix until the fish sauce is reduced.  Put the tomatoes and cover.  Stir occasionally until the tomato juice oozes out of the fruit.  Pour in the canned squid and long chili.  Cover and simmer for a few minutes.  Add fish sauce or table salt if necessary. 

This recipe will serve up to three people.

Adobong Baboy

Adobong Baboy

(Pork Adobo)

Ingredients:

½ kilo pork

1 cup soy sauce

1½ cups vinegar

10 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tablespoons black pepper, freshly ground

3 blades dried bay laurel leaves

  

Cooking Instructions:

In a bowl, mix soy sauce and vinegar in a 1:1.5 ratio.  Add crushed garlic, ground black pepper, bay laurel leaves, and pork.  Marinate for 10 to 15 minutes.  Transfer in a pan.  Put the cover and cook in medium flame with occasional stirring until the liquid is reduced.  If by this time the meat is still not tender, add a cup of water and continue cooking until the liquid is reduced.

Serve with fresh tomato slices.  This recipe will serve up to three people.

Gelatin sa Gata

Gelatin sa Gata

(Gelatin in Coconut Milk)

Ingredients:

2 unflavored gelatin bars, cut to pieces

1.5 liters coconut milk (kakang gata)

8 tablespoons table sugar

1 cup dried raisins

Cooking Instructions:

Mix gelatin and coconut milk in a pot.  Boil while stirring for 30 minutes or until most of the gelatin is dissolved.  Add sugar.  Simmer while stirring for five more minutes. 

Layer the mould with dried raisins.  You may use any dried or fresh fruit except pineapple and other fruits that contain proteases.  Pour the hot gelatin mixture into the mould by passing it through a strainer.  Cool the mixture to room temperature.  Two distinct gelatin layers will form if the cooling process is very gradual.

In the photo:  Chicken eggshells were used as moulds.  This recipe can fill 15 to 20 eggshells.

Pininyahang Manok

Pininyahang Manok

(Chicken and Pineapple)

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons cooking oil

1 thumb-size ginger, cut to strips

5 to 10 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 medium bulb onion, chopped

2 to 4 tablespoons fish sauce

½ kilo chicken, cut to pieces

½ kilo pineapple chunks, drained

1 cup pineapple syrup

Cooking Instructions:

Heat the cooking oil in the pan.  Toss in the ginger.  When the ginger turns light brown, add garlic and sauté until medium brown.  Add the onion and stir until slightly tender.  Put fish sauce.  Mix until the fish sauce is reduced.  Stir in the chicken.  Cover the pan and allow the chicken to be boiled in its own juice.  Stir occasionally until the water is reduced.  Allow the chicken to be fried in its own fat.  Add cooking oil if necessary.  When the chicken turns to medium brown, put the pineapple syrup.  Simmer until the liquid is reduced.  Add the pineapple chunks.  You may opt to add ground black pepper.  Cover the pan.  Put in low flame and simmer for two to three minutes.

This recipe will serve up to three people.

Ginisang Munggo

Ginisang Munggo

(Sautéed Mung Bean)

Ingredients:

1 cup mung bean, soaked for an hour

3 tablespoons cooking oil

1 thumb-size ginger, cut to strips

6 to 10 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium bulb onion, chopped

10 small smoked fish, deboned and flaked

6 to 8 medium red tomatoes, sliced

1 cup malunggay leaves

2 to 4 cups water

2 to 4 tablespoons fish sauce

4 to 6 long chili (siling haba)

Cooking Instructions:

Boil the mung bean in a pot for one hour or until the seed slips out of the seed coat.  Do not allow the mixture to run dry.  Remember to add water from time to time.

Heat the cooking oil in a pan.  Toss in the ginger.  When the ginger turns light brown, add garlic and sauté until medium brown.  Add the onion and stir until slightly tender.  Put fish sauce.  Mix until the fish sauce is reduced.  Add the smoked fish flakes.  Stir until the fish is slightly fried.  Put the tomatoes and cover.  Stir occasionally until the tomato juice oozes out of the fruit.  Pour in the boiled mung bean and add the green pepper.  Cover and simmer for a few minutes.  Add fish sauce or table salt if necessary.  Turn off the heat and stir in the malunggay leaves.

This recipe will serve up to ten people.

Sinigang na Baboy sa Sampalok

Sinigang na Baboy sa Sampalok

(Pork in Tamarind Soup Base)

Ingredients:

6 to 8 medium red tomatoes, sliced

½ kilo pork, cut to size

1 to 2 medium taro, peeled and chopped

1 medium radish, peeled and chopped

2 bundles pechay leaves

8 to 12 pieces unripe tamarind

2 to 4 cups water

2 to 4 tablespoons fish sauce

4 to 6 long chili (siling haba)

Cooking Instructions:

Stir in red tomatoes in a heated pot.  Once the tomatoes are tender, add pork.  Cover and allow the mixture to simmer.  Stir the mixture occasionally.  Once the liquid is reduced and starts to thicken, stir for a few more minutes then add water.  Toss in the taro.  Allow the mixture to boil.  Layer the tamarind on top.  Do not stir.  Cover the pot and boil the tamarind for approximately three minutes. 

Remove the tamarind from the pot and place in a small bowl.  Add a few scoops of the soup and mash the tamarind.  Drain the extract into the pot.  Be careful not to include the peel and seeds.  Extract two more times. 

Add the radish and long chili into the pot.  Continue to simmer until the radish is tender.  You may add fish sauce if the soup is too sour.  Layer the pechay leaves on top.  Cover and continue to simmer for five more minutes.

This recipe will serve up to three people.

Sinaing na Tulingan

Sinaing na Tulingan

(Steamed Tulingan)

Ingredients:

3 medium-sized tulingan, entrails removed

¼ kilo pork fat

½ cup white vinegar

2 to 3 cups water

2 to 3 tablespoons common table salt

5 to 10 cloves garlic, crushed and unpeeled

1 to 2 tablespoons black pepper, freshly ground

4 to 5 tablespoons fish sauce

Cooking Instructions:

Prepare the tulingan by making one long lateral incision on both sides of the fish.  Using the flat side of a knife, lightly press on the body of the fish.  Make sure not to press too hard as this could deform the fish entirely. 

Line the bottom of the pan with pork fat.  Layer the fish on top of the fat and pour in the white vinegar.  Add water until the layer of fat is completely submerged or the fish is submerged half way through.  Sprinkle some salt.  Cover the pan and allow the mixture to simmer in low to medium flame.  Remove any foam that will form.  Once the broth is cleared from foam, add fish sauce.  Continue to simmer until the water is reduced.  Add garlic and black pepper.  If the broth is too salty, balance it with vinegar.  If it is too sour, balance with fish sauce.

This recipe will serve up to three people.

Kilawing Baboy

Kilawing Baboy

(Pork Kilawin)

Ingredients:

1 kilo pork, sliced and cut diagonally

½ kilo pork liver, sliced and cut diagonally

15 to 20 cloves of garlic, crushed

4 tablespoons black pepper, freshly ground

4 blades dried bay laurel leaves

3 cups white vinegar

3 teaspoons common table salt

4 medium bulb onion, chopped

3 tablespoons fish sauce

Cooking Instructions:

In a bowl, mix the vinegar, salt, garlic, black pepper and bay leaves.  Be careful when adding salt.  You need not put all the salt at once.  There should be a balance of sourness and saltiness in the mixture.  Add the pork and liver.  Mix and marinate for at least one hour. 

Heat the cooking oil in the pan.  Toss in some garlic and sauté until medium brown.  Add the onion and stir until slightly tender.  Put fish sauce.  Mix until the fish sauce is reduced.  Add the marinated pork mixture.  Cover the pan and allow the pork to be boiled in its own juice.  Stir occasionally until the water is reduced.  If the pork is still not tender at this point, you may add water.  Once the water is reduced, you may opt to add more salt to attain the right balance between sourness and saltiness.

This recipe will serve up to eight people.

Adobong Manok sa Mangga

Adobong Manok sa Mangga

(Chicken Adobo in Green Mango)

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons cooking oil

1 thumb-size ginger, cut to strips

5 to 10 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 medium bulb onion, chopped

2 to 4 tablespoons fish sauce

1 whole spring chicken, cut to pieces

1 large green mango (manggang kalabaw or any sour variety), peeled and diced

2 tablespoons black pepper, freshly ground

2 to 4 tablespoons water

Cooking Instructions:

Heat the cooking oil in the pan.  Toss in the ginger.  When the ginger turns light brown, add garlic and sauté until medium brown.  Add the onion and stir until slightly tender.  Put fish sauce.  Mix until the fish sauce is reduced.  Stir in the chicken.  Cover the pan and allow the chicken to be boiled in its own juice.  Stir occasionally until the water is reduced.  Allow the chicken to be fried in its own fat.  Add cooking oil if necessary.  When the chicken turns to medium brown, put the mango to one side of the pan.  Cover the pan.  Put in low flame.  When the mango softens, remove it from the mixture and mash in a small bowl.  Put back the mashed mango in the mixture.  You may add two to four tablespoons of water at this point if the pan is too dry.  Add ground black pepper.  Use fish sauce to balance the sourness with saltiness.

This recipe will serve up to five people.