Amateur baker

• Carrot cupcakes
• Scones with preserved seedless plums
• Chocolate cheesecake
• Vanilla and mocha chiffon cupcakes
• Chicken pie with butter crust
• Vanilla cupcakes with cream cheese frosting
• Blueberry streusel cupcakes
• Egg (custard) pie
• Choco butter cupcakes
• Oatmeal cookies and a cookie fest

Noche Buena

• Cucumber and coconut smoothie
• Adobo, quail eggs and rice
• Fried lapu-lapu with pineapple sauce
• Spaghetti with longganisa (sausage) meatballs
• Mango cream pie
• Liver paté
• Roast duckling on New Year’s eve
• “Bibingka” and “puto bumbong”
• Pepperoni and cheese stuffed bread rolls
• Update on the noche buena blog

School lunchbox

• Butter-fried fish and corn
• Honey-lemon-ginger chicken
• Shrimps, ham and asparagus fried rice
• Roast pork and cabbage fried rice
• Sukiyaki-cut beef with Kecap Manis
• Shrimps, cabbage and bell pepper stir fry
• Herbed chicken and rice
• Chicken and asparagus fried rice
• Sauteed chicken and squash with fresh tarragon
• Tapsilog in the school lunchbox

Itlog na maalat (salted eggs)

Mallard duck eggs, the same kind used for making balut and penoy, are used for making itlog na maalat or salted eggs. I don’t know if that still holds true today or whether large chicken eggs are substituted for the duck eggs which are considerably more rare and expensive than chicken eggs.

Itlog na maalat are sold cooked–hard-boiled to be more precise. The red color of the shells isn’t natural, of course. The shells are colored to distinguish them from fresh eggs. In wet markets, itlog na maalat is sold side by side with fresh eggs and imagine if the vendor gets a little confused and gives you salted eggs when, in fact, you intended to buy fresh ones. In Pateros where making itlog na maalat is a town industry, along with balut and penoy, you can buy them before the shells are dyed. My father liked to do that but it gets confusing in the kitchen. One time when he was cooking breakfast, he picked up an egg from the fridge thinking it was one of the fresh ones, cracked it open above the frying fan and was surprised when nothing dripped. Well, nothing would–he had taken a salted egg instead of a fresh one.

Salted eggs are often cut into small cubes and mixed with diced tomatoes to make a salad that is the traditional accompaniment for tinapa or any fried or grilled fish. You don’t have to limit the salad to salted eggs and tomatoes, however. You can be a little more creative by adding fresh herbs and some subtle seasonings (recipe here).

Meanwhile, sliced itlog na maalat is a great topping for home made puto (steamed rice cakes).

If you’re a Filipino living abroad and itlog na maalat is not easily obtainable in your area, making them at home is easy enough. Manang Kusinera has a blog entry that gives the details complete with photos. Manong Ken has a simpler way of doing it.

Technorati tags: salted eggs, itlog na maalat

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In the mood for more food?

1. Ham and cheese omelet
2. Lechon con kangkong (roast pork with water spinach)
3. A Chinese lauriat
4. How do you like your French fries?
5. Roast pork loin and spicy kangkong
6. Butter-fried chicken with basil
7. No meat during Lent?
8. Shopewise’s pandan-macapuno cake
9. Gulaman, sago and Quickly pearl shakes (bubble milk tea)
10. Pechay and mushrooms stir fry