Kitchen Confidentials - Leftovers: Pork Sisig

When you're  pressed for time and cannot prepare a decent meal for the day but you need something on the table rapido, bust out with them leftovers and don't  feel bad about it! :)

It'll take some jazzin up with items you may already have at home in your refrigerator and pantry, a few minutes of your time and Voila! You've got a revamped dish that might just be 'Mom and Pop cafe' worthy!

Last night's leftover: 

Pork Sisig

I placed a single serving amount of leftover Sisig on a plate with a scoop of rice garnished with a couple pinches of crispy fried garlic flakes, topped with one sunny side up egg and cracked black pepper. Prior to plating I reheated the Sisig stove top on a skillet to render the excess fat, discard this. I like to serve this with a side of chili garlic sauce dipping and a tall glass of ice cold water - Sisig is best when heat is mild to moderate spicy. 

Kitchen Confidentials - Salmon Sinigang

In most Filipino kitchens rarely would they run low on onions, garlic, tomatoes or ginger; toyo (soy sauce) and/or patis (fish sauce) - good God I think we have bags of these that would last us the whole month. Not to mention some sort of "sour soup"  (Sinigang) base powder. 

This morning I did an inventory check of the pantry and saw that I was still good with the "usual suspects", the only thing I had to do was find out from my tribe which kind of Sinigang they wanted - beef, pork or fish.

Since it's been a while this is what they requested...

The usual suspects:

1 large onion, sliced
1/2 cup sliced ginger
3 medium tomatoes, chopped into 8 piece wedges each
Tamarind soup base
patis
salt (if needed)


Accessories:


Tamarind leaves, 1 pack (1/2 lb.) 227 g
Okra, 12 pieces
Petchay, 1 bag - cleaned and trimmed of white stalk, green leafy part only
*optional: Banana pepper for spice


The Culprit:

3.5 - 4 lbs. Salmon head + cheeks

Beach/Coastal Theme Mini Cupcake Platter

Running out of party ideas on dessert presentation? Need something not too time consuming, cute, fresh and inexpensive? If you're hosting a beach or coastal theme party and need to give your dessert bar some love... here's how I put this little set up together ---

my own creation for my sister's bridal shower

 

  

What you'll need:

• brown sugar (for sand), the amount depends on the quantity of cupcakes and platter size
• cupcakes (homemade, catered or store bought) topped with Aqua colored icing or any color of your choice
• seashell mold
• white chocolate chips or candy melts 
• food coloring
• small seashells for added decoration
• shallow plastic party platter/tray

What to do:

Follow the instructions on how to make white chocolate candy or refer to other recipes online how to achieve this, just add in a swirl of food coloring before pouring into the mold and allowing to harden. Stick to the color of your motif. This is the only step that will need a little bit of time :)

In a party platter, pour the brown sugar in and spread thoroughly, pack down if you wish. This represents our sand element.*Note: add white sugar if desired to give a more lighter sandy look.

Arrange the mini cupcakes, white chocolate candy shells and real seashells on top of the brown sugar, avoid overcrowding. Set on serving table covered with linen or any material that presents a classic beachy feel.

Other tips:

You may also include a few starfishes, conk shells, tea light candles (consider battery operated ones if there are children around to avoid fire hazard) and such as added decor to your tablescape! A lantern can also give that authentic coastal touch to the overall presentation.

 

Have fun and enjoy the rest of the Summer!

Pork Nilaga

This dish is near and dear to me as it was the first I've ever cooked without my mom's guidance or her telling me what to do next. In my sophomore year in college I dared to cook this for my housemates and I'm pretty sure it wasn't as awesome at the time, but since then and several pots later... this is how I cook pork Nilaga for my family now ---

Ingredients:
5 garlic cloves
1 medium onion, cut into quarters
1 pork cube
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp whole pepper corn
1/4 cup patis (fish sauce)
2 tsp sugar
2 yellow potatoes, cut into quarters
1 pack (approx. 2.75 lbs) pork shoulder country style ribs
1 small cabbage head, roughly chopped
10 cups water, for soup

 

Load pork into an 8 Quart pot or any large pot you have, cover in water, set heat on high and bring to a boil.

When it starts to boil, the fat and protein will surface to the top, skim off as much as you can and toss. Adjust heat to low, add in the garlic, onion, whole pepper corn, pork cube and patis. Cover and let this simmer for about 35 minutes or till meat is tender.

Then add the chopped potatoes, bump up the heat to medium-low, add salt and sugar, let boil and simmer for 8-10 minutes slightly covered.

Turn off the heat, add in the cabbage, mix well and set aside from heat.

one of my "go to" comfort meals rain or shine!

F.O.B. Fridays ~ Split Mung Bean Soup

When I was a kid I never did like "munggo" (mung bean soup), I always thought it was yucky, grainy, looked weird and murky. I realized that my first experience eating this dish wasn't pleasant so all my bad thoughts stuck with me till a couple years later. I ate this again (can't remember where) and was surprised that it actually tasted good.... really good! I took a good look at the soup and at the same time each spoonful I put in my mouth I tried to get a sense of the difference. Then it hit me! This was smoother in texture because there was less skins on the beans and floating in the soup.

{note to self}

That gave me the idea to cook this for my family now with the attempt to remove the skins. But one day while I was at an Asian grocery store walking down an aisle, I spotted on the shelf a packet of yellow mung beans. At first I thought it was a different type of mung bean altogether but it was the same bean just skinless and split into halves (happy dance). Since then I've been using this type of packaged mung beans when cooking this soup.

Here are the ingredients:
1.5 cup split Mung beans
1 3/4 lbs. pork belly
1.5 tsp minced garlic
1 medium onion, diced
2 medium tomatoes,  sliced into wedges (8 per tonato)
1 sweet pepper or banana pepper
1 pack (0.5 lb) frozen pepper leaves, thawed
Kosher salt
3 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup Patis (fish sauce)

1 tsp sugar

ground black pepper to taste

*optional: malunggay (horseradish) leaves are an alternative leafy greens for this soup dish.

PREP & PRECOOK BEANS:
Soak the mung beans for at least 1 hour. Rinse and boil in 3 cups water in a small pot, simmer on low for 10-12 minutes or until beans are cooked. Water will have reduced to the volume of the beans and will appear almost mushy. Turn off heat and add 1 tsp salt, mix well and set aside. 

PREP AND PRECOOK PORK BELLY:
Cut pork into half inch (or one inch if you prefer) pieces. Saute with 1 tbsp canola oil in a deep sauce pan on med-hi heat, season with 1 tsp salt, stirring occasionally while meat is still pink or pale in color. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes. Then adjust heat to low and cook till a golden brown color, stirring frequently. Spoon out about half of the rendered fat or oil and proceed to sauté the rest of the ingredients.

BEFORE (stir occasionally)

AFTER