embutido.jpg

Lasang Pinoy 14: Embutido

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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.

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Iska
I am not a professional cook. My only claim to having a culinary background is a short stint as my dad’s teen ‘sous chef’ in his carinderia ages ago. Dad ran small eateries since I was a young kid - serving standard ‘turo-turo’ food ranging from the likes of menudo, adobo, pritong isda, dinuguan, binagoongan, bopis, munggo, pinakbet and giniling to merienda fares like goto, ginataan, pancit bihon, halu-halo and saging con yelo.

My father, a farmer in his hometown before working his way to becoming an accountant, definitely influenced my cooking in a lot of ways than I thought. My siblings and I were raised in a backyard full of fruit trees and vegetable garden. We spent weekends and the summer breaks running around with ducks, chickens, goats and pigs. I had wonderful memories of gathering eggs, butchering chickens, selling vegetables and the sweet aroma of preserved fruits. But my love for art led me to a degree in Architecture. Just few months after getting my license, I went abroad and lived independently at age 23. Definitely no maid, no cook, and a totally different food culture. Along the way I met lots of friends and spent what seemed a lifetime learning new tricks and recipes.

Now living in Auckland, I am a work-from-home mum who juggles time between work, fun and family - in pursuit of work-life balance. No matter how busy I am, I love the idea of cooking for my family. My blog chronicles home cooking greatly influenced by life outside my home country from Southeast Asia to Beijing and Auckland. And most of the time, being busy also means easy (sometimes quick), affordable meals.

17 thoughts on “Lasang Pinoy 14: Embutido

  1. 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…

  2. haha! me too, I had to scroll back up to inspect the shape of your embotido closer :D 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.

  3. 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?

  4. @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.

  5. Hi Iska,

    I’ve been looking for embutido recipe for quite some time. Thank you for posting this.

    Lol! I wouldn’t have noticed.

  6. 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!

  7. 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).

  8. 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…

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  10. 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! :)

  11. 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. :)

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