Tokwa’t baboy as a stew
The taste isn’t much different from the traditional tokwa’t baboy since the ingredients are practically the same. It is the texture that makes this dish unique. The thickened sauce, sticky from the broth in which the pork face was simmered, is just perfect for pouring over hot rice. I made three deviations from my father’s recipe though. 1) I omitted the salted yellow beans which my kids are not so fond of; 2) I browned the pork ears and nguso in the oven after simmering them to make them chewy rather than mushy; and, for that added color and zing, 3) I sprinkled chopped wansuy (cilantro) over the cooked dish just before serving.
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Chicken and straw mushrooms in coconut milk
It’s a variation of the traditional guinataang manok–a quickie version, that is. A panic-time version, even. There was too little time and a pack of boneless chicken thighs would thaw faster than a whole chicken. I had no tomatoes but I had both green and red bell pepper. The contents of a pack of boneless chicken thighs wouldn’t have been enough to feed five people so into the dish went a can of straw mushrooms. Despite all the limitations, this dish of chicken and straw mushrooms in coconut milk turned out fine. Actually, with my family, anything with coconut milk is considered a feast hehehe…
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Chateau Verde in U.P. Diliman
I used to go to Chateau Verde with friends but I never had a chance to bring my family there until last Saturday. We were scheduled to attend the Parent-Teacher Conference at the kids’ school in the morning and since these conferences usually last for a few hours, I thought we would finish just in [...]
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Pasta with tuyo (dried herring)
This was actually the first dish I cooked with the jar of tuyo in olive oil. The second was the pinakbet without bagoong that I posted earlier. Like I said, my intention was to use tuyo much like Italians use anchovies in their cooking. With the way both this pasta and the pinakbet turned out, I am encouraged to use tuyo the next time I make pesto. That means pili nuts (instead of pine nuts), kalamansi (in lieu of lemon) juice, basil, garlic, pepper, olive oil and tuyo as a substitute for anchovies.
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Mango wine
Three things about me: 1) I love mangoes; 2) I love wine; and 3) I love trying out new food products on the market. I was so excited when my husband came home last night with this bottle of mango wine. We love fruity wines and that’s probably why we’re such fans of Boone’s Farm [...]
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Pinakbet without bagoong
The title of the entry sounds sacrilegious, I know. Pinakbet without bagoong. Well, tough. I am allergic to bagoong (shrimp paste) and even its fish version. In fact, there are certains brands of patis (fish sauce) that do not agree with me as well. Ironically, I love the Ilocano classic dish called pinakbet–not for the bagoong-flavored sauce but for the wonderful mixture of vegetables. And I always felt a little deprived when, growing up, everyone in the family could enjoy a hearty meal of pinakbet except me.
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Fresh oyster mushrooms
Until about six or so years ago, fresh white button mushrooms were rare even in the larger and more expensive supermarkets. Although button mushroom was, and still is, my favorite among all other varieties, I could only enjoy the canned version while growing up. Actually, even today, fresh button mushrooms are not as readily available [...]
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Lamb adobo
There was a time when my family went lamb-crazy. We grilled lamb chops almost every two weeks and when we got bored with the chops, I learned to cook a whole leg of lamb and even served it once like ham. There came a point when my husband suddenly couldn’t stand the peculiar odor of lamb. And it happened when I still had a few trays of lamb chops and shanks in the freezer. I figured the best way to remove, or at least hide, the odor would be to cook the lamb as stews. The already strong-smelling adobo (some say pungent though I disagree) would be a good choice. But I still decided to take extra measures to remove as much of the odor of lamb as I could.
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