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!
Below is the mandarin version with the help of our interpreter and friend Ate Vi (Jiang Wei Li a.k.a. Vivian) who’s now waiting for my adobo and Pinoy spaghetti recipe. I tried posting everything in Chinese but outside China your system may not have the necessary font. (Check out my very 1st recipe in Mandarin text for Chinese internet users. I am seriously planning to make a Chinese version of this blog.)
I will be posting soon a recipe written in Chinese as few locals requested. And hey, don’t laugh at the shape of my embutido if it reminds you of anything. I was in such a hurry. (I-justify daw ba?)
Note:
I did the coloring and added the basket of gulay to the Maria Clara logo by Mike.
lol! if you didn’t mention it, i wouldn’t have noticed…ching! of course the all time party food embotido…never tried doing this myself! tedious entry you have here mare, congrats! ako kya…tsk tsk tsk…
Bravo Iska! I’ve never ventured into making embutido from scratch. Should I try? What ya think?
haha! me too, I had to scroll back up to inspect the shape of your embotido closer
I like embotido at parties, but never tried making it at home. Yours look delicious!
I hate I missed posting for this round LP. I didn’t get to visit the LP blog until Mike posted the announcement which was just a few days before the deadline. I have a recipe ready though, I still might post it just so I won’t break my LP 100% attendance.
intriga ako sa Chinese green raisins mo, Iska! picture naman. And I *love* the Chinese characters, kahit hindi ako marunong bumasa. haha. Yes to the Chinese version, please!!! Minsan nga eh ife-feature kita sa NoodlesandRice, hokey?
@ces & JMom: ewan ko ba but i do thibk the shape looks funny hehehe next time i wil try shaping it with a tin can. ako din JMom, i dont wanna break my LP attendance kaya kahit busy isingit ko sya.
@Zita: hey try it. it’s not really tedious. simple lang naman gawin. and if u cook few pieces for lunch or dinner, just fry the left over for breakfast or serve em cold. dba bawas trabaho
@stef: yan po i posted a separate entry for the chinese green raisins.
Hi Iska,
I’ve been looking for embutido recipe for quite some time. Thank you for posting this.
Lol! I wouldn’t have noticed.
So easy to follow! Pwede palang i-steam ‘to. Hehe. Ignoramus over here. I’ve been bookmarking your recipes left and right! I hope I get around to trying them!
I love embutido but lagi ko pa rin siyang ipiniprito pagkatapos i-steam. Siguro naghahanap pa ang katawan ko ng dagdag cholesterol mula sa oil (lol).
Iska, it’s not easy to make embutido look appetizing but you did! I’ve tried and mine looked like dead meat…
I have to try your recipe. .In Bulacan there was an embutido where the cook used Ma-ling luncheon meat …masarap din yon…
i copied and printed this! I hope to be able to make it for the holidays!
You are very talented! You made me feel like doing embutido right nowwwww…lol
hello iska! I arrived at your blog when I tried to find filipino recipes at google. Your site is amazing. Dadalaw po ako dito ng madalas.
And even if I understand chinese, parang mabilis pa rin intindihin ang version mo. way to go! 
It’s nice that you’re bringing a touch (or more aptly a taste) of home even if you’re far away from home.
Thanks for sharing the recipe. I hope you don’t mind me printing it out so I can try this recipe myself.