CLASSIC RESTAURANT FRIED RICE

Fried rice comes in many forms and taste. Filipino fried rice has a more garlicky taste. I tried to fry my rice once using ginger as one of my main ingredients and it taste differently from the regular fried rice and I like it's exotic taste. But unfortunately I was the only one who appreciated it. My family like to eat the regular stuff made by sauteing garlic and for the flavoring either salt or soy sauce to give that reddish glow. You know much like that soy sauce T.V. commercial of Manny Pacquiao together with mom Dionisia.

Anyway this one is more westernized with its green peas and carrot and I tried this so many times. My wife called it "chao fan" after the fried rice of Chow King because I added minced or cube pork. This fried rice is a bit yellowish because of the egg. Try this sometimes the kids would love it.

Ingredients:

1 cup green peas fresh or packed
1 cup carrots cut into small cubes
3 cloves garlic (minced)
2 eggs (beaten)
1 cup pork (cubed or minced)
1/2 teaspoon salt
pinch of ground pepper
seasoning (optional)

Procedures:

In a small saucepan boil 1 cup of pork minced or cubed. When done take the pork then boil in the pork stock 1 cup of green peas and 1 cup cubed carrot. Heat a wok and saute garlic till it turns a bit brownish add the pork stirring constantly then add beans, carrot and rice. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then add the egg slowly while stirring the rice to make the absorption evenly. When everything is cooked and the rice turns to to a light yellow color turn off the heat then serve. Best serve for breakfast together with longganisa, tocino or tapa and even with fried fish like tinapa, daing or even tuyo.

HAPPY EATING!!!

CHICKEN CURRY

This is one dish that I like, not only to eat but also to cook, it's one of my fave. Made this one last March 19, 2013 for our lunch.

You know there are so many ways to cook this dish. But the one I'd like most is using coconut milk extract to boil the ingredients and adding pineapple tidbits to the whole dish thus enhancing the sweetness of the coconut.

Some people like to pre-fry their chicken and potatos to make it looks appetizing. But I don't. I just want to put them all into a saucepan and boil the lot. Here's how I do it.

 Ingredients:

2-3 tbsp. oil

3 potatoes, peeled and quartered

1 lb. chicken, cut into serving pieces

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 large onion, sliced thinly

1 tbsp. fish sauce (patis)

3 tbsp. curry powder

salt and pepper

1 cup coconut 1st extract (kakang gata)

2 cups coconut 2nd extract

1 small can of pineapple tidbits

3 long green pepper (siling berde panggisa)

Procedure:

In a shallow saucepan pour 2nd extract of the coconut milk, add garlic, onion, chicken and fish sauce. Cover and bring to a boil. Season with curry powder, salt and pepper. Stir for 2 minutes. Lower the heat; add bell peppers and potatoes. Simmer for 3 minutes or until half done. Add the coconut 1st extract or kakang gata together with the pineapple tidbits and simmer again for another 7 minutes or until the coconut is well cooked. Remove from heat. Serve hot.

HAPPY EATING!!! 

VEGETABLE STEW WITH PORK IN OYSTER SAUCE

Rummaging through the vegetable shelf of our refrigerator I saw a bundle of baguio beans, 2 pieces of chayote and carrots which has been there for more than a week. There was also some pork barbeque which was not consumed just enough to supply the meat for my recipe. I was thinking of cooking pancit bihon but tomorrow my family will also be cooking pancit (noodle) and spaghetti for my son-in-law's birthday. So I decided to make a stew from some overstaying veggies and leftover pork barbeque, actually the barbeque was pan fried not grilled but with barbeque marinade.

Ingredients:

1 clove garlic minced
1 onion sliced thinly
4 tomatoes sliced
1 thumb size ginger minced
20 baguio beans sliced
1-2 carrots diced
2 chayote sliced into bite size cut
1/2 kilo pork cut into cube
2 tablespoon oyster sauce
3 cups water or pork stock
3 tablespoon of patis (fish sauce)
1 teaspoon of ground black pepper
1 teaspoon any food seasoning (optional)
salt to taste

Procedure:

Saute garlic until brownish then put onion until it becomes translucent followed by tomatoes and finally ginger. Stir-fry the baguio beans, carrots and chayote for a few minutes together with the first ingredients and add the fish sauce while stir-frying. Finally, pour water or pork stock add also pepper, seasoning and the oyster sauce and put the pork as well then let boil. Once in a while check if vegetables and meat are tender enough to eat.

HAPPY EATING!!!

GINATAANG SITAW AT KALABASA

I made this "Ginataang Sitaw at Kalabasa" or "String Beans and Squash cooked in coconut milk" last week which is one of my favorite dish. I like the sweet taste of coconut milk together with the saltiness of fish sauce and the hotness of long green pepper. Actually I cooked this food every month just to be reminded of the taste of the "kakang gata" (first coconut extract). Although there are other dishes which has coconut milk as ingredient, this is the most among my favorite of coconut dishes including "Laing" and "Bicol Express" to name a few.

The basic method of cooking this dish is as simple as A,B,C. It involves either sauteing the garlic, onion and ginger then boiling the rest of the ingredients. Or just simply boiling all the ingredients together till they're done or stewing them. But this is the way I do it which is the simplest, boiling or stewing all the ingredients.

Ingredients:     

3 cups cubed kalabasa (squash) 
3 cups sitaw (string beans) 
¼ kilo pork belly, small cubes 
1 cup first coconut extract 
1 cup 2nd coconuts extract 
¼ cup bagoong alamang (shrimp paste) 
3 long green peppers (siling panggisa) 
1 large onion, chopped / 4 cloves garlic, minced 
2 tbsp. minced ginger 
salt and ground pepper to taste.

Procedures:  

Pour 2nd coconut extract in large pan, add ginger, garlic, pork, onion, bagoong, and pepper. Mince 1 or 2 green peppers if a spicy dish is desired / Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly to avoid curdling of coconut cream. Add string beans after another boiling drop the cubed squash into the pan and let simmer for another 5 minutes. Finally add the thick coconut cream or the 1st extract and season with salt and pepper.. Cook until vegetables are done.

HAPPY EATING!!!