Pork tinola
A soup served as a main entree in the Philippines, tinola is traditionally cooked with chicken, wedges of unripe papaya and sili leaves. Papaya tends to get mushy and I don’t like that in my soup. So, I cook tinola with chayote instead. Should it be chicken tinola every time? No, of course not. [...]
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Kare-kare
A rich stew of ox tail, leg or tripe and a variety of vegetables in a sauce flavored and thickened with roasted ground peanuts (peanut butter is just as good!) and toasted rice flour.
Another way to prepare kare-kare is to cook the vegetables separately in a small amount of water. Place cooked vegetables in the [...]
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Pinoy chili
Small beef cubes, red kidney beans, garlic, onions, tomatoes, bell pepper, bay leaf, hot chili pepper and tomato paste are cooked slowly over very low heat to blend the flavors. Chili con carne is best accompanied by garlic-buttered toast sprinkled with freshly chopped parsley.
It’s always more convenient to use canned beans. The trouble is that [...]
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Pork menudo
Spanish in origin, menudo is similar to cocido, except that no chorizo de bilbao, (spanish sausage) is added. Menudo is a rich dish with sauce thickened and flavored by finely chopped onions, tomatoes and bell peppers. The acidity of the tomatoes and tomato paste is tempered by the sweetness of raisins.
Unlike pork meat, pork [...]
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Nilagang baka : boiled beef and vegetables
Nilaga means boiled; baka means beef. Nilagang Baka, or boiled beef, is a fairly easy dish to prepare. It only involves one basic process–boiling. To be more specific, the boiling involved in cooking Nilagang Baka refers to slow cooking.
A succuessful Nilagang Baka dish has three basic features :
1. a very good broth;
2. fork tender beef; [...]
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Pork tongue asado
Pork tenderloin and rolled pork loin are commonly used in cooking “asado”. So, I wanted to be different; I used pork tongue. I did it before, but as the base for a fried rice recipe. This time, I cooked it as an entree. The basic ingredients and techniques are the same as the fried rice [...]
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Bistek : Filipino Beef Steak
Steak, of course, is as American as apple pie. I’m not a huge steak fan, although I enjoy an occasional filet mignon (no gravy, I always feel it detracts from the flavor of the steak) with mashed potatoes and buttered vegetables. My kids prefer ostrich meat and lamb chops to steak. It’s my husband who’s [...]
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Speedy’s picadillo
Traditionally, picadillo was cooked with either beef AND chayote, or beef AND potatoes. My father (who was a really fantastic cook) used to make both versions, depending on which vegetable was available. So did I, until a few nights ago when I just felt that beef AND chayote was already too boring, while beef AND [...]
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