Garlic Fried Rice (Sinangag sa bawang)

Who would not love the smell of fresh garlic from your garlic rice being cooked in your pan?  Just the smell of it makes one's tummies hungry.  This is the easiest and simplest sinangag that anyone could cook without any fuss.

  My father would always cook garlic fried rice for us using the day old rice we have in the fridge.  He would toast the rice first a bit before adding the oil and toasting the garlic.  The best treat for us would be the real toasted part of the fried rice, the ones which would get stuck at the pan.  My father would scrape them and shape them like small sausages. My siblings and I would eat them in a flash.  That's how yummy it is. 

This is actually my father's recipe as I remember it.

Igredients
4 cups day old rice
6 pcs of mashed and minced fresh garlic
salt to taste

Procedure
Mix the salt thoroughly with the rice.  You can use your hands if you like or use a spoon.
Heat a pan.
Toast the rice and make sure to stir it every now and then until is half way cooked (just when it's starting to change its color).
Put the rice on the one side of the pan.  Pour oil on the clean side of the pan and toast garlic. 
When the garlic is starting to go brown in color.  Mix the rice with it and cook for at least 3-5 minutes more.  Have a spoon of rice and taste if it suits to your liking.
Serve hot with garlic granules on top.
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TOCILOG (Tocino-Longganisa-Sinangag)

I actually had no idea that tocino in the Carrebean is not cured at all but just fried until it's crispy and added to another dish.  They would also use the backfat though just like the tocino we make in the Philippines.

The one we have in the Philippines is made thru curing for a number of days using brown sugar, saltpeter (salitre), anise wine, and annatto water.  Saltpeter or salitre is actually potassium nitrate similar to the ones used in fertilizers and medicines.  It has been used as a food preservative since the middle ages when freezers or refrigeration were not present yet.  I was really scared to use it since I have read somewhere any wrong dose would have detremental effect to anyone.  I decided to just stay away from it then.

Traditionally, to-ci-log dish is served during breakfast but I would love to eat them any time of the day which I am sure that other Filipinos do too.  Tocino's best partners on your plate would be garlic rice and sunny side up eggs plus fresh tomatoes.  My husband loved this meal that he had second helpings.

Ingredients
1/2 K pork (I used pork loin chops with the fat on)
1/2 C brown sugar
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp anise wine
2 tbsp soy sauce (light one)
2 tbsp annatto water (from soaking atchuete seeds)

Procedure
Mix all the ingredients except the pork in a bowl. 
Add in the pork and make sure that the mixture is infused in the meat all throughout.  Use ziplock or a bigger container with lid and shake until the meat is fully coated with the curing mix.
Cure the tocino for 1-2 days in the fridge before frying.

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Beef Soup Bones Mami

When I went to NSO, Quezon City years ago, I noticed this karinderia on wheels just across BIR.  It was lunch break and there were lots of people rushing to make their move in crossing the street. In a flash the rolling karinderia was full of customers.  I went near the place just to see what's there and I've found they're selling lunch meals and one of these was the Beef Mami.

I suddenly got transported in time in Sagrada.  Way back when we were still young, I remember there was a small table across the street from our house selling meals and the best seller was beef mami.  It was really delicious!

I don't  know why we weren't able to cook this dish in the house but instead we settled for those instant mami noodles.   I still prefer the homemade one with fresh veggies and lots of garlic. 

Craving for mami occupied my mind and tummy so I had to tell my hubby to get me some noodles.  I already have all the ingredients so it's not going to be a problem.

Cooking mami is just cooking nilaga except that you sautee onions and garlic for the first and just boil the onions with the meat for the latter.  Star anise is just optional so if you don't want the aromatic strong flavor of anise just don't add them.  My husband immediately knew that anise was in the soup.  He loved the soup and that made me real happy.

Ingredients
1 k beef soup bones
1 beef broth cube
3 star anise (optional)
1 medium onions, minced
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1 tbsp fish sauce (or to taste)
1 bundle spring onions, minced
1 chinese cabbage, shredded
4 hardboiled eggs
pepper to taste
egg noodles
garlic granules (toppings)

Procedure
Tenderise the beef bones thru boiling.  Add the beef cubes.  The water you add would depend on how much you would like your soup be.  Add salt (just enough to your liking) and star anise  .  Set aside the meat and broth.
Sautee onions and garlic in a wok.  Put in the beef bones.  Pour in the broth and boil.
In a bowl, put some cooked noodles, shredded chinese cabbage and sliced eggs.  Pour the beef soup and put some beef on your bowl.  Top with garlic granules.
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Pinoy Bistek (Filipino Style Beef Steak)

One beef steak that I would always love to eat is the Pinoy Bistek that most Filipinos I'm sure would know how to cook.  It was my father who taught me how to cook this dish when I was just probably still in High School or Elementary.  I am not really sure but I know that I was quite young then.

This is also my nanay's favorite...so whenever she's here in Queensland, she would always request for bistek.  We normally use the calamansi or calamunding for the sauce mixed with soy sauce.  It's difficult to find this certain type of citrus fruit so we would use the fresh lemon juice extract instead.  To make the taste similar to the bistek we were used to have, I have to add a bit of vinegar.

Ingredients
2 pcs thin slice beef steak cut
juice of one lemon
1/2 c soy sauce
1 tbsp vinegar
1 medium size, onions, cut into rings
3 cloves garlic, crushed and minced

Procedure
Marinate the beef with soy sauce, lemon juice and vinegar for 10 minutes.
Heat a pan and sear the beef on both side. Remove the beef and set aside.
On the same pan, sautee onions and garlic.
Put in the beef. Make sure that both sides are infused with garlic and onion juice. 
Pour in the marinade to the pan. Simmer for a few minutes.
Serve hot with rice.

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Easy to Cook Italian Beef Steak

This is an easy to cook beef steak recipe that I have made.  I would usually do an Italian steak using pork chops but there's no more pork in my freezer so I ended up cooking the beef one.

Amazingly, the taste is quite good.  It's an honest to goodness dish that I'm sure you and your family will enjoy eating.

Ingredients
2 beef round steak cut
2 tbsp italian seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

Procedure
Marinate each side of the steak with olive oil, salt and pepper and the italian seasoning for an hour. Make sure that you pat each side with your palm to make sure that the marinade is infused inside the meat.
Use a non stick pan in frying.  Do not put oil anymore in the pan since the steak has olive oil.
Cook the beef to your liking. 
Click this ---> steaks for your guide to cooking steak

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Easy Bake Chewy Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies

Who doesn't like chewy chocolate chips? Everybody loves them! And it's always best to make homemade ones that buying those in jars.  This recipe that I did, has this nice chocolaty goodness in it.  I guess the more chocolates the better.  You see the family is chocolate lover...not a chocoholic though.

This particular type of cookie is actually a drop cookie (meaning you just have to drop a spoonful or so in your baking sheet and the heat in the oven will do the rest).  It originated in the US and has distinctive ingredients that you wouldn't miss --- chocolate chips.  There are so many recipes of this cookie in the internet and cookbooks. Some have nuts and others have oatmeal.  I prefer to add oatmeal though...convincing myself that this cookie is healthy...haha! According to a cookie book that I have read before, it was accidentally discovered by Ruth Graves Wakefields in 1930 in Whitman, Massachusetts. I should try to find the original recipe and I will share it with you after I tried it.

Anyway, here's the recipe.

Ingredients
2 1/4 c plain flour
1/2 c cornflour
1/2 c quick cooking oats
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 c butter, melted
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c white sugar
350 g chocolate chips
2 large eggs (or 3 medium ones)

Procedure
Cream the butter and the sugar in a big bowl.  Add one egg at a time.
Sift flour, salt, baking soda and cornflour in a smaller bowl.  Add the oats and mix well with hands.
Slowly add the dried mixture to the butter - sugar - egg mixture.  Do it a little at a time to make sure that everything is well blended and the dough would not stick to your hands. 
Put in the chips and mix well with a wooden spoon.
Shape the dough into a size of a golf ball or a little bigger than that.
Bake in 10 minutes at 180C or until the cookies are barely brown.
If they get brown in color the cookies would be quite tough when they cooled.
Remove from oven and let the cookies rest for awhile. When they are not too hot, put the cookies in the cooling rack.

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Easy Chicken Curry

Curry is actually an English word which believed to get its origin from the Tamil word "Kari" which means sauce with its components --veggies and /or meat cooked in spices.

 It is interesting to note that as early as mid 17th century, merchants had been selling this mixture of spices to the members of the British East India Company although it is also said that the word "curry" had been used already in 1390 even before India has contacts with Britain. (source:wikipedia). 

If your are familiar with India history, you would know that India was occupied and ruled by the British government for a long time until Mahatma Gandhi started his peaceful revolution and India got its independence.  India was divided into two after it won its freedom - Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan which up to now has not resolved the problem between them. 

Well anyway, back to curry, the spices which are found in a curry mix would be fennel, mustard, cumin and tamarind pods. This mixture had been popular even before the birth of Christ.  Later on, hot chilli peppers were added to it.  It later became popular all throughout Asia.

I had my first taste of curry when we went to Green Leaf Resto in SM city North EDSA.  It was not as strongly hot as I was expecting.  I actually enjoyed eating it even if I didn't really like the aroma of the dish.  When I came to Australia, my husband bought tins of curry mixes (green and red ones).  That's when I found out that he's a curry lover. 

Here is the recipe that I have made up myself.

Ingredients
1/2 k chicken breast, cut into pieces (depends on how big or small you want them)
1 tin Thai Green Curry soup base
1 medium onions, diced
1 tbsp garlic, minced
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 capcicum, sliced diagonally
1 medium carrot, diced
1 potato, diced
1 small tin green peas (optional)
1 tin coconut cream (or fresh ones from the coconut first squeezed juice)
fish sauce to taste

Procedure
Pour fish sauce onto the chicken and marinate for 15 minutes.
Sear the chicken.  Remove from fire. 
Sear the potatoes and carrots.  Remove from fire.
Sautee onions, garlic,tomatoes and capcicum in a wok.  Put in the chicken, carrots and potatoes.  Stir.
Pour in a cup of water.  Let it boil.
Pour in the curry sauce.  Let it boil. Stir.
Lower the fire.
Pour in the coconut cream. 
You can add more water or cream if the curry is quite strong to your liking.

Note:  If you want to use the curry powder instead of the ready mix soup base in tin, just add 2 tsp of the powder, small piece of ginger (ground), and small piece of turmeric (yellow orange ginger).  You can also add other veggies if you like.

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Sauteed Tomatoes and Eggs

You might be wondering why I am making two egg dishes in a meal.  One eggs with onions and this sauteed tomatoes and eggs.  You see, the first one is my husband's favorite and the latter is my favorite so I had to do two egg dishes. 

In our house in Bulacan, we would always partner this with tuyo (dried salted fish) and the tomato-egg dish balances its saltiness which makes it more wonderful to eat.

Here is my version.

Ingredients
3 eggs
3 pcs big red ripe tomatoes, minced
1 medium onions, minced
1 tbsp garlic, minced
2 stalks spring onions, chopped
1 chicken broth cube
Magic Sarap (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure
Sautee onions, garlic, and spring onions.  Add the tomatoes and caramelise in medium heat. 
Put in the chicken broth cube, magic sarap and salt and pepper to taste.
When the juice of the tomatoes come out, turn off the heat.  Put in the eggs and mix well.

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Egg & Onion Omelet

One quick and easy egg dish is eggs and onions omelet.  If you're on the go and will be late for work or school, this one is the dish that you can do without any fuss.

When we were still kids, my father would always make this dish for us but of course without the ginisa mix and chicken cubes.  The best thing about it aside from the nice taste, it stretches the eggs' size because of the onions.  One of the cheapest no fuss dish to the max.  I think all Filipinos would know how to cook this one.

I introduced this dish to my husband on our first few weeks together in Australia.  He didn't know that you can cook eggs this way.  He even asked me what do you call this omelet dish.  Well, I just told him, eggs with onions, short, simple and sweet haha!  He digged in and loved it!  From then on, he would always ask " Can we have eggs and onions please?"

Ingredients
3 eggs
2 medium onions, minced
ginisa mix
1/4 chicken cube
salt to taste
Procedure
Beat eggs.  Add the rest of ingredients. Mix well.
Fry on medium heat. 
Serve with ketchup or vinegar and fish sauce dip.

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Spring Rolls with Rice Vermicelli Noodles (Lumpiang Shanghai the healthier version)

I would always make spring rolls or lumpiang shanghai for my husband and he would always bring some to his friend at work. It has always been a blockbuster.  They both love the taste and the crispiness of the spring rolls.

Spring rolls are usually eaten on spring season/festival in China, hence the name.  They are well known appetizers in Asia especially the eastern and southern parts.  The versions are various depending on what place you are from.  They could be made from mince meat, seafood or veggies. 

Spring rolls has always been a favorite of my family.  They are always present in all occasions.  I have never been to a party in the Philippines without seeing lumpiang shanghai on the table.  In our town, it is easy to prepare them since you don't really have to mince the ingredients manually.  You can just go to your favorite suki meat vendor at the market and they could mince everything for you using their heavy steel or metal (?) mincer.  Here in Australia, I had to do everything manually since I am always forgetting to get that multi-function chopper at K-Mart or Harvey Norman.  I should have told my husband to get that $10 chopper at Harvey Norman online sale, geez!

Well anyway, this time,  I have altered the ingredients similar to the one that we had at a resto in Charleville,Queensland.  It was Jenny, a Filipina friend, who told us that they had this nice spring rolls and that we should really try them.  Unfortunately, when she took us in the resto, there were just a couple of rolls left (must be their best seller) so we just got one each.  I shared a bite with my hubby.  They were actually good!  The difference from the ones that I am used to make is that they had noodles and had more veggies. 

I was searching for the origin of spring rolls and I have found out that this particular one with the noodles has its origin in Vietnam.  Due to lack of resources (financially), their spring rolls are mostly made from veggies and sometimes lacking in meat. 

Ingredients
100 g green beans (baguio beans), sliced diagonally
1 medium size carrot, julienne
200 g cabbage, shredded
200 g potatoes or sweet potatoes, cubed
2 medium size onions, minced
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1/4 k pork (lean), thin strips
1/4 k mixed seafood (any of your choice)
2 tsp knorr or maggie savour seasoning
1 tbsp fish sauce (or to taste)
Spring roll wrappers (lumpia wrappers)
150 g rice vermicelli noodles

Procedure
Sautee onions and garlic.  Put in pork meat and seafood mix.  Stir until cooked. 
Add the seasonings (savour, fish sauce).  Stir.
Put in the veggies and add 1/2 cup of water.  Boil a bit. 
Put in the rice noodles and stir. 
Remove from fire.
Cool the filling.
Wrap just like the way you do with spring rolls or lumpiang shanghai.
Fry at low fire. 
Serve with your favorite dip.

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Spiced Cinnamon Bread Pudding with Dried Apricots and Sultanas

As I have promised, this is my second installment of my Bread Pudding series.  This one is different from the first one.  The texture is not as soft as the Pinoy Bread Pudding recipe but it's a bit firmer because of the amount of bread added to the mixture. 

In this recipe I have used a dozen of pieces of bread instead of 6 to 7.  I also added condensed milk and brown sugar instead of white to add a sweet taste to the pudding (a treat to those who have sweet tooth).  I thought my little daughters wouldn't like it but I was surprised to see them eating this one without making any fuss.  Even my hubby said this recipe that I have created is really good.  I think this would make me more inspired in experimenting with the ingredients...as long as my tasters are loving my pudding recipes.
Ingredients
3 c fresh milk
1/2 c condensed milk
1/3 c brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
12 pcs stale bread (cubed)
1/2 c raisins
1 c dried apricots (or any dried fruit of your choice)
80 g  butter, melted

Procedure
Soak the bread in the milk (fresh and condensed) for 30 minutes.  Mash with a big metal spoon to make it smoother.
Put in all the other ingredients in the soaked bread and blend well.
Caramelise sugar in a saucepan and pour onto a grased square pan.
Pour the batter onto the square pan.
Steam-bake in a preaheated oven at 180C for 40 minutes to an hour.

Note:  If you decide not to put caramelised sugar on the pudding, just bake it for 30 to 40 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean when you poke on it.

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Pinoy Bread Pudding

My first of my bread pudding series.  A delightfully steam-baked breadpudding that will melt in your mouth.

What do you do with old bread sitting on your kitchen benchtop or freezer?  This has always been a problem in our house.  My husband tends to buy lots of bread not realizing that we still have plenty at home.  Most of the time, we would just feed the birds in the back lawn with bread...worst they would end up in the bin.  Each time we do this, I can't help but thinking of those in the Philippines that would not even have the money to buy a loaf of bread or tasty (as they are called famously in the Philippines). 

I remember the tasty bread at Caroline's Bakeshop at the town center in Hagonoy.  I have always loved them until the size gets smaller and smaller but the price gets bigger and bigger.  It is interesting to note too that every Christmas and New Year, no matter how much or how small or big these breads are, the Filipinos would always buy them.  Most tables won't be complete without them during these celebrations.  People would even resort to panic buying just to make sure that they would get some.  Funny, whenever I went to the town center years ago, all I could see were tasty breads.  I must say that they are that popular.

There is not really a fixed recipe for a bread pudding and anyone can create theire own recipe.  The only basic ingredient in all the recipes would be the stale or left over bread.  You can be as creative and adventurous as you can be.

Ingredients
3 c milk (fresh or evaporated)
2 cups (7 pcs) white bread,cubed
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 c sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 c jackfruit or any fruit that you like
3 eggs
4 tbsp melted butter

Procedure
Heat up 3 c of milk until bubbles form.  Remove from fire. 
Add the cubed bread and soak them for 40 minutes.  Mash the bread with a big metal spoon to make the mixture smooth.
Put in all the other ingredients (except the fruits) and blend well.  You can use an electric mixer if you want. 
Fold in the fruits ( I used jackfruit by the way).  Set aside.
Caramelise 1/2 c sugar and pour onto a loaf pan or round pan.  Pour the batter mixture onto the baking pan.  Make sure that you grease the side of the pan before you do this.
Put the bread pudding pan on top of a bigger pan.  Pour hot water (about 1 inch deep) onto the bigger pan. 
Steam - bake for 1 hour in a preheated oven at 180C.

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Spicy Chicken Wings Adobo

This is first of the recipes that I would make for my Adobo series in my foodblog so please enjoy reading, cooking and eating. 
The Philippines is an Adobo Nation.  If I am ask what is my mother country's national dish, I would definitely say adobo without batting an eyelash.  Adobo is a Filipino dish that I think has the most variations...depending from the family you come from, town or province or region you come from.  No adobo dish will taste the same.  Each one has her/his own version.  My husband would always tell me, "how come this adobo is different from the adobo you last cooked? and from the other adobos that you cooked?"  Gee, I have no answer for that haha!  What I have learned from my husband, adobo should not be cooked with vinegar overpowering the taste of the dish...he said it would kill the adobo taste.  So this time, I made sure that I take note of all the amount of each ingredient that I would add to my adobo dish.  I have also decided to add a kick to it ...adding hot chilli flakes!  There result is quite delicious.  I suggest that you try this next time you decide to cook adobo.

Ingredients
1/2 k chicken wings
1/3 c vinegar
1/4 c soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp knorr or maggie savour
1 tbsp hot chilli flakes
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1 tbsp garlic, granules
1 medium onions, sliced into rings

Procedure
Mix all the ingredients except onions and minced garlic and the chicken.  Marinate the chicken in the mixture for an hour.
Heat oil in a non stick pan.  Fry the chicken until golden brown. 
Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
Sautee garlic and onions. Put in the chicken. Cook for 5 minutes.
Pour in the marinade sauce.  Boil the chicken until cooked.

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