I got inspired (and green with envy) when I saw Mike’s new WP theme. I’ve been looking for an alternate theme for months and I thank my lucky star I found this! I’m so happy I only have few things to tweak. Love that navigation tab above. Anyways, here’s another gulay guisado Pinoy-style (Philippine-style sauteed vegetables). Continue reading Sitao Guisado
We went to a newly-opened hangar-size Carrefour branch and saw pre-soaked clams that looked pretty clean. I miss mom’s cooking so I decided to grab some for that day’s dinner. Yeah my first halaan (clam) soup in Beijing! I still soaked them for an hour or two at home just to be sure. Continue reading Clam Soup
Stef got curious with the Chinese green raisins I used for my embutido. I still have half a packet and took a photo for her.
De ja vu? Maybe just like me you also saw Mike’s mooncake box from Shangri-la Manila.
It’s a week-long vacation here in Beijing and the house is overflowing with mooncakes from Consultants and Suppliers. (Oh no! Not because of the Mooncake festival but it is China’s National Day.) This year the Mooncake Festival or the Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 6th of this month when the moon is at its brightest for the entire year. Go here to read its legend.
Only few Filipino dishes with Spanish influence made it to our dining table as everyday food when we were young. Aside from the obvious budgetary reasons, my parents were never huge fans especially those thick, rich stews with tomatoes that are usually fiesta material. If there is anything ‘Spanish’ in what we cook then it is what JMom calls the holy trilogy of Filipino cuisine – the technique of sauteing garlic, onions and tomatoes with oil that I never realized came from the Spaniards.
For this month’s LP event A La Espanyola, I decided to cook embutido instead of the obvious holy trilogy. Embutido or the Pinoy meatloaf is still considered a luxury dish to date and as common as lechon and leche flan in any feast gathering. Here is a recipe based on one that came from my HS Home Economics book. We had few cookery demos at school to reinforce practical cooking at home and it’s one of those that I tried. I read it once and then cooked it as I follow my heart. Now I prepare the occasional rolls whenever I have the precious time.
My embutido in Beijing has a little twist though. I used Chinese chorizo instead of chorizo de Bilbao (or sausages/hotdogs) and Chinese green raisins instead of the common brown raisins. Fear not… everything turned out quite well. The seemingly alien ingredients add extra sweetness to the meatloaf. Scrumptious and fab!
For some reason bistek is commonly known as the Philippine version of the western-style beef steak. As for me I couldn’t find any similarity unless of course other people’s bistek is different from what I learnt from my folks. Nevertheless I love this dish – saucy, tangy what with the kalamansi flavor and oh so appetizing I couldn’t stop getting myself few more cups of extra rice to go with it.
The good thing about this Pinoy steak is that you don’t have to buy the most expensive parts like those from the loin. Not everyone can afford it anyway so the much less expensive and less tender but usually more flavorful are just fine. Cut the beef thinly and always remember to pound each slice lightly with the back of a kitchen knife to tenderize, and of course a little over than just few minutes of cooking time. It’s also a famous carinderia recipe.
Server problem is gone (Whew!). Back to normal way of blogging though I kinda like what I did with my last post. I think I’d do it again for the recipes next time. Hmmmm…. I used to sulk for not finding a can of corned beef here in Beijing but lo! The neighborhood Russian store always saves my day. I took the liberty to go through the canned goods section and found this can shown below. I couldn’t read a character but that cow logo somehow made me think it’s gotta be corned beef. (I bought a similar can months … Continue reading Russian Brand Corned Beef
Yeah it’s been a while I know. I’ve been really busy meeting submission deadlines, a larger than usual pile on my table that I only had time to write about Lasang Pinoy. And of course a lot of extracurricular activities not to mention the amount of time I spent updating the links in this blog.
So let’s get back to what I think I do best… whipping up some quick recipes with my limited time and whatever I find inside the pantry. Ahh I found this bottle of Chinese marinade. What’s in it? Only the Chinese knows but I spent few renminbi for it. Here’s what I did with it on chicken wings and few spices.
Choosing a dish that is definitive Pinoy for LP’s 1st year anniversary (hosted by Stef) is quite tough that it took me this long to come up with an entry not to mention a busy month packed with traveling and … Continue reading Bagoong Alamang at ang Unang Anibersaryo ng LP
Ex-colleague Ces‘ LP theme is truly interesting especially for us who live abroad. For more than a decade, my eating habits include appreciating foreign cuisine through dining out on a regular basis and Pinoy cooking at home as the craving for lasang Pinoy will never go away. I blogged about quite a few fusion recipes before and since I am here in Beijing I had the urge to share one with Northern Chinese influence for LP12. I could easily whip up a quick Chinese-looking stir-fry dish that would still taste distinctly Pinoy. Since one won’t find a Filipino store around … Continue reading LP12 – Starry Nilagang Baka
Creamy or soupy, munggo (mung bean) is definitely Pinoy soul food. Cold rainy days and we just love it with fried fish. Summertime and it is still munggo that we crave for. There are also many ways to enjoy it as it could be paired with just about anything – from fried bangus (milkfish) or tilapia and tuyo (dried salted fish) to adobong manok at baboy. You may also add in hibi (dried shrimps), use pata (pork leg) for a flavorful broth or just plain monggo soup sprinkled with chicharon pork cracklings. And just like sinigang na baboy, the veggies I include in it depends on what’s available. Back home, talbos ng ampalaya (bitter gourd tendrils) is a runaway favorite, even dahon ng malunggay (moringa leaves). In Beijing, I can only play around with talong, sitaw and ampalaya (string beans, eggplant and bitter gourd).
Mix it with home-made chicharon. . .
Top it with fried daing bought from a tiangge (flea market) at the Worker’s Stadium that tastes exactly like it’s from Manila.
As A likes it, creamy with Chinese chorizo. Oh well I never tried that before until now and it turned out surprisingly delicious!
One of A‘s favorite – lechon kawali (crispy deep-fried parboiled pork belly)! Every time I come across a pork dish A loves, the words ‘sinfully delicious’ come to my mind. Oh well so much for man’s carnivorous nature. Ingredients for … Continue reading Lechon Kawali
When it’s summer in the Philippines, everybody thinks of halo-halo – a mixture of sweet beans, macapuno (sweet coconut meat), langka (jackfruit), pinipig (toasted and flattened glutenous rice), saba banana, sago (pearl balls) and sugar, filled with crushed ice and milk, and topped with ice cream, ube (sweet yam) and leche flan. Not me. I’ll pick saba con hielo over any other pinoy dessert on any given day. Call it whatever you like – minatamis na saging, banana with ice, saging con yelo. I just love this stuff.
Whenever we crave for siomai or dim sum, we go to our favorite Cantonese restaurant. Not so fond of Beijing jiaozi (Northern Chinese dumplings) so I was so ecstatic to find Karen’s famous basic siomai recipe. Go check it out. I followed what was written there (except I didn’t have singkamas) including making my own wrappers. Here’s my 1st attempt – not perfect (yet) but I’m posting it anyway. Those in the photos taste good! How come I find them not perfect? 1. I don’t think they look good. I need to know how to wrap them nicely. Did few … Continue reading Siomai and Fried Dumplings
