'How to cook' archive

Cutting corn off the cob

Love corn muffins and corn bread? What about soups, main dishes and even side dishes that include corn kernels among the ingredients? You know, like talakitok (trevally) belly and corn chowder or buttered corn and carrots. If you’re a corn lover like me, do you use canned or frozen corn kernels? I used to go for canned corn a lot but for the past year, whenever fresh corn is available, I go for fresh. Freshly cut corn kernels are tastier and creamier. And don’t think that cutting the kernels off the cob is lot a of hard work or that it requires a lot of expertise. Oh, no! All you need are two hands, a sharp knife and a cutting board.

Marinating a whole chicken

… my husband, Speedy, cooked tequila pork loin and followed the cooking instructions in the cookbook to the letter. He needed Ziploc bags, I gave him one, and how he marinated the pork loins gave me an idea. The bags are large enough to hold a whole chicken, so, why not? It saves a lot of space in the fridge (the bags can be stacked one on top of the other), the meat need not be submerged in the marinade, and turning is a breeze — just turn the entire bag and that’s it.

How to extract tamarind juice

Unlike citrus that need only to be cut and squeezed, the traditional way of extracting the juice from the tamarind is to boil it in water and to mash the fruits to squeeze the pulp. It does entail work so a lot of people opt for the more convenient tamarind paste in jars or the powdered soup base for cooking sinigang. I used to but not anymore. I extracted the juice from a hundred grams of fresh tamarind today to cook a pot of dinuguan.

Stages in beating egg whites

There is more to baking than knowing how to mix ingredients. Using standard measuring cups and spoons; knowing the difference between loosely packed and firmly packed brown sugar or the difference between a level teaspoonful and a rounded teaspoonful; knowing the fundamental techniques like sifting, creaming, cutting and folding… Then, there’s the matter of beating egg whites. This was something I learned over many years. Back in high school, I did not have visual guides and not until I bought a tiny book with step-by-step photos of the various stages of beating egg whites did I realize why my chiffon cakes had always been rubbery instead of light and airy.

Sauteing basics

I am not a fan of ginisa (saute) mixes. First of all, they provide no added texture to the cooked food. Secondly, there are no natural nutrients found in them. Thirdly, they do not give the dish that interesting mix of colors that only real herbs, spices and vegetables can. When I saute, I start with fresh everything. Like I did this morning when I made an anchovies and egg breakfast. I will post the recipe for that later. For now, let’s talk about sauteing basics, a.k.a. how to peel garlic, chop onions and whether it’s really necessary to scoop out the seeds of the tomato.

Herb-infused olive oil

Herb-infused olive oil is great for cooking and for salads but, aside from the cost, when you buy the commercial kind, you’re stuck with flavors that the manufacturers consider popular and, ergo, easy to sell. But did you know that it’s cheaper to make herb-infused olive oil at home? Not only do you cut on cost, you can also get as creative as you wish, combining herbs and spices that suit your taste more.

How to wrap lumpia (spring rolls)

You might think it’s just wrapping and folding but there are a few tricks you might want to learn to make fantastic fried lumpia (spring rolls).

First, you need to seal in the filling so that the juices and flavors don’t drip into the cooking oil. Second, if the filling consists of raw ingredients (especially raw meat), you can’t put in too much filling because the cooking time is short — just long enough to brown the wrapper — and a thick filling will not get cooked through…

The how-to-cook series

As much as possible, I take photos of every step of the cooking to make the blog entries more instructional. Well, okay, that’s the noble way of explaining it. Perhaps, the more glaring truth is that I’m just camera obsessed. Anyway, visual guides are always good in food writing. Even with the disastrous cooked dishes, I have a myriad of step-by-step photos that illustrate various stages of cooking — chopping onions the painless way, mincing garlic without the cloves flying all over the kitchen, the stages in beating egg whites, cutting the kernels off a cob of fresh corn… You name it, I probably have a photo for it.

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House On A Hill

Pinoy food

• Kilawing gindara
• Pancit bihon (rice sticks with chicken and vegetables)
• Guinataang paco
• Biko (sticky rice cake)
• Fish and malunggay soup
• Spicy, herb-y adobong sitaw
• A soup called bachoy
• Adobong kangkong
• Chicken tinola and liver sauce
• Chicken soup a la picadillo

Experimental

• Duckling and potato salad
• Drunken chicken
• Bulalo stew
• Bangus fritters
• Chicken and asparagus fried rice
• Yellow fin tuna fillets and mushrooms stir fry
• Vegetables and eggs
• Ham and chorizo fried rice
• Radical Cabbage Rolls
• Chicken and pesto quesadillas