Nope. Those are NOT chunks of sinful fatty pork. With the kiddo at the school and his dad outstation… being home alone and cooking lunch for myself can be very challenging sometimes. I have to think about staying healthy to … Continue reading Eggplant and Onion Salad
Those who have low tolerance for spicy food don’t get intimidated. It may be mean looking… Continue reading Hot Chili Oil
… another quick crunchy fix for the kiddo – deep-fried calamari and spring rolls… Continue reading Crusty Calamari
Among us siblings, I am the only one who’s adventurous enough to try my Batanguena mom’s buros such as burong mustasa (pickled mustard greens) at burong tulya (pickled clams). And when the craving comes, I prepare burong mustasa exactly the … Continue reading Pickled Mustard Greens
Ever heard of quilo babi? It’s a quick and easy recipe which, I was told, is similar to the older version of Kapampangan’s sisig babi. The typical souring agent is kalamansi but lemon is just as great. Click here to … Continue reading Lasang Pinoy, Sundays: Quilo Babi
The last time I cooked sisig was about 10 Christmases ago. Hindi pa uso ang recipe online. In fact it was my first time. Of course, I am referring to the popular sisig nowadays, the kind that is synonymous with … Continue reading Sisig but ain’t Sizzling
To tell you the truth, since I arrived in New Zealand I have cooked only once – tinolang manok one dinner – with the exception of occasional bacon and eggs. My friend T and her loving husband E have the same passion for home-cooking (and dining out, too) and have made delicious meals ever since. I’ve thought of writing about dishes I’ve prepared back in Beijing – oh I have lots of food pictures in my HD – but for now, T & E‘s cooking has to make its debut in ISKAndals.com. Yeah for now I am reduced to being just the wannabe food photographer. Lemme start with her very simple but oh so delectable steamed mussels with Thai Sweet Chili Sauce.
Continue reading “Steamed Mussels with Thai Sweet Chili Sauce”
Having lived in Southeast Asia for almost a decade has made me love pickled green chili that adds a little zing to most Malay food. There I developed a little tolerance for anything spicy. And oh how I miss these … Continue reading Pickled Green Chili
I cooked mussels with lemon few weeks ago – reminiscent of quilo babi, enjoyed it very much, but still didn’t get over my sinful cravings for baked tahong. Then I accidentally googled this recipe on baked tahong without an oven and it reminded me of how my cousin did it 2 Christmases ago back in Manila. And so I came up with this tasty buttered tahong mixed with Parmesan Cheese and Italian herbs very much similar to Edwin‘s cooking suggestions.
Dreaming about baked tahong for months I bought a packet of frozen mussels but decided on trying something new. I remember reading about fried mussels or clams drizzled with lemon and so I ended up with this simple but fabulous appetizer. Ingredients: Frozen mussels 1 onion, diced 4 tbsp of crushed garlic 1 small lemon salt and pepper olive oil Squeeze lemon juice on the mussels. Take out the seeds. Sprinkle salt and pepper and stir in the diced onions. Mix thoroughly and marinate for at least an hour. Heat olive oil in a pan. Stir-fry garlic until fragrant. Add … Continue reading Mussels and Lemon
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
I know I just had offal overload last month with LP9 but this maybe a reason for us to celebrate as it is the first time I cooked dinuguan (pork blood stew) in Beijing. Why, it’s the first time I saw it available in the supermarket! Oh well I found dugo ng baboy damo (black pig’s blood) last week but I don’t think I would like to use that. I am sure a lot of things are available here we just don’t have the time to actually go out to find where. I received a tip from a reader who also resides in Beijing (many thanks to you!), about a wet market here frequented by expats. We haven’t checked it out yet so my stock is still limited to what I find in our favorite supermarkets. Actually it’s not that bad to buy from these supermarkets. Maybe a little bit expensive but most of the time the meat and produce are always fresh and in good quality.
I have few childhood memories of dinuguan. It is also a famous carinderia dish that I learned from my dad. It is exotic and may be unacceptable to some westerners. I still don’t know how the locals cook it but I am sure they have their own special way of doing so. How was I able to find it here if they don’t eat it, right? So I accidentally saw this small slab of pork blood, looked at it and saw it is clean and nice and bought it right away. Back home, we usually buy blood from newly-slaughtered pig that all you need is mash it with your own hands in prep before cooking. Here I mashed half of it with a fork and the other half I cut into cubes. Also, I wasn’t quite sure if I could do this the right way as it’s been a long while since the last time I cooked dinuguan. Luckily, it turned out quite well.
Before my son’s babysitter left I used to travel a lot to a project site in Shi Jia Zhuang, the capital of Hebei province, southwest of Beijing. 2 hours and 45 minutes by fast train, one way. A trip that long you need something to maintain sanity so we either watch a movie or read a book. Of course, before all that, read the morning news and mobile versions of our favorite websites on PDA. Here is where I found this Kapampangan recipe called quil?? (pronounced ki-loh).
Eventually this traditional meat recipe from Pampanga became one of my favorites as it is easy and fast to cook. (I didn’t time it but everything should be ready in about 20 minutes.) A working mom with a deadline and quil?? saves the day, be it minced pork or shredded chicken. You may find the original recipe here sizzling hot so good for LP6. Mine has no chili as Cean wouldn’t like it hot and spicy. An overview of quil?? is here.