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

F.O.B. Fridays ~ Korean Inspired BBQ Chicken Drumsticks

It's been a while since I've done F.O.B. posts so here's a dish I prepared for my family yesterday... yup marinade and all!

Refer to my previous post for the marinade recipe:
http://cathyelpedes.blogspot.com/2014/08/korean-inspired-bbq-marinade.html

Ingredients:

2.5 lbs chicken drumsticks
BBQ marinade

• pour bbq marinade in aluminum tray and arrange chicken pieces in it, allow to sit at least 4 hours. For more flavor and best results let marinate overnight.

 
 
• preheat oven to 375° then when ready place the chicken in the oven and let cook for 50 minutes.
• set a separate timer to go off after the first 25 minutes and baste the chicken pieces with its own juice and some of the marinade.
• continue to cook for the remainder of the time.
• when time is up, turn off the oven, remove the chicken and place on counter top covered with a sheet of aluminum foil to tent for 10-15 minutes. 

Cover with foil for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Plate, serve... Enjoy!! 

Korean Inspired BBQ Marinade

Summer to me means BBQ, grilling and quick meals. But if you're a working mother like me it's always practical to have something prepared ahead of time for easy cooking, not to mention something you can make yourself at home instead of buying something ready in a jar just to be stored in the frig for months on end. Here's my recipe on a Filipino BBQ marinade with a twist! The most common components in Asian marinades are soy sauce, sugar and garlic... this here is inspired by the taste of Korean short-ribs, yet still keeping true to the Pinoy flavors.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp garlic, minced or store bought readily minced
1x1 inch piece of ginger
1 medium onion,  diced
1 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup water
1 tbsp sesame seed oil
1 tbsp roasted sesame seeds
1/3 cup brown sugar or 1 can (15.25 oz) Crushed Pineapple in 100% juice
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 ground black pepper

*Note: good for 2.5-3 lbs of meat

Ingredients

(Before) not only for added sweetness but also a tenderizer

 

(After) then add the rest of the ingredients

Voila!... Ready for any meat!

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!

Spicy Sesame Broccolini

Here's another quick and simple veggie dish I prepared today for dinner, I'm so glad I actually had the time to film it to show you how this was made step by step. 

Ingredients:
2 packs broccolini or sweet broccoli
2.5-3 tbsp Oyster sauce
1 tsbp Hoisin sauce
3/4 tbsp sesame seed oil
1 tbsp chili garlic sauce
toasted sesame seeds
2 tbsp hot water

2 packs broccolini

sauce mix

Watch and learn...

Pan Fried Pork Chops with Sautéed Asparagus

This dish is all about the plating and I got my inspiration from a seafood dish I had at Sir Francis Drake in San Francisco during my husband's company late Christmas party back in January. The dish I had was a piece of salmon steak atop some mashed potatoes and asparagus with some kind of tomato reduction sauce.

Here's what I did to achieve this plate of savory perfection:

Sautéed Asparagus

Here's an easy and simple veggie dish anyone can make. You can dine on this alone or as a side to another entrée like poultry or seafood.

Ingredients:

bundle of asparagus

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp Canola oil

1 cup whole grape tomatoes,  rinse and slice into halves

juice from a lemon

1/2 chicken cube

Salt and pepper to taste

• after you've cleaned and trimmed the ends of the asparagus, in a saucepan filled half way  blanch in boiling water that has been seasoned with salt and half chicken cube for 3 minutes.

• transfer into a bowl filled with ice water to stop the cooking process.

• using the same saucepan, clean and set back on heat to melt the butter then add the canola oil. Sautée garlic till lightly brown, add tomatoes, asparagus and lemon juice. 

• sprinkle with a pinch of salt and stir gently with rubber spatula, cook for a couple minutes but not till tomatoes wilt. 

• plate, season with pepper & parsley, serve and Enjoy!

How to cook Fried Rice using leftovers

Sometimes you run out of ideas for a meal or have some leftovers you would want to recycle in your next dish... but what?

How about making FRIED RICE!

I put this video up last year and want to share how I recycle day old food or leftovers in general into a dish that can stand alone or be served with another to complete a full meal!

Ingredients:

Garlic
Eggs
Crab meat
Beef (leftovers)
Frozen vegetables (peas and carrots)
Leftover refrigerated steam rice (mashed)
Soy sauce or Oyster sauce
Salt
Pepper
Chopped green onions
Fried garlic flakes
Sesame seeds

Lengua / Beef Tongue with Savory Mushroom sauce

OMG this is a dish I almost always make for parties or potluck and is such a hit with my friends! I always get asked "what's your recipe Cat?" ... so here it is ---

 This dish is close to my heart because my dad taught me how to cook this! Here is what I used in putting this dish together...

Cereal in your Fruit Smoothie anyone??

It was one of those days where I felt like trying something different with my breakfast smoothie and it actually worked, using cereal was a delightful substitute to instant oats in my current smoothie recipes for the morning!

what you'll need:

1/2 a banana, sliced crosswise
3-4 Large strawberries (3/4 cup) cut into quarters
3/4 cup cereal, I used Honey Bunches of Oats in this video
3/4 -1 cup milk, you can use less or more to your liking


BLEND... BLEND... BLEND...Pour into a glass and Enjoy!!

Photo post on my IG: catmac_

Corn in Sweet Rice / Ginataang Mais

This is a sweet treat that brings back memories of "mirienda" (snack or desserts) being sold by walking vendors who prepare and cook them at home and make a living by selling them on the streets, walking throughout villages and rural neighborhoods. This is Filipino comfort food at its simplest!

Preparing this with all natural ingredients is such as freshly made coconut milk/cream and corn preserves its authenticity but since living in an "instant" world where nearly everything is readily prepared, I opted to share a quick and easy version of making Ginataang Mais! 

Ingredients:
1 cup sweet rice
1 can coconut milk
1/2 can coconut cream
1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar
1 can sweet corn cream style

Pork Giniling / Torta

This is such a quick and easy dish to prepare and can literally be served in various ways - with rice, with flat leaf or red leaf lettuce as a wrap for a more healthier food option, also can be wrapped with a warm tortilla as a kind of breakfast burrito, can be filling in an omelet or scrambled eggs in your huevos rancheros.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. ground pork
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup calamansi
1/2 can tomato sauce (8 oz)
1 tbsp patis (fish sauce)
1 pork cube
2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup water
1.5 cup frozen veggies - peas and carrots (more if you prefer)
2 cups frozen diced potatoes


Note: precook ground pork seasoned with salt and pepper, to render fat and discard this.

Sinigang

Hello! I've decided to take a step into the blogger world seriously and I will do my best in updating this routinely as my work schedule permits. I will be linking videos here and there of what I have been up to and would like to share because I think visuals are important and add a little variation to the monotony of reading. I am a foodie at heart and if given the choice to choose between working full-time or part-time, I would pick part-time and utilize the rest of my day cooking and just trying out other recipes where I could incorporate into the Filipino palate creating a fusion dish but prepared and made at home! I really would like to change up or liven up dishes for my family so not to dine out too frequent which is why whenever me and my family do go out to eat, I really savor the flavors of the food and start thinking of ways to marry this with Filipino food.

 

 

 

But going back to simple and basic dishes, this is one of my faves and could be made pretty much with anything like beef, chicken, fish and shrimp.


Here are the ingredients I used for this Pork Sinigang dish:

2 lbs pork side with bone
8-10 cups water (for soup)
1 medium onion, sliced
1 large tomato, sliced
1 banana pepper
1/2 cup fish sauce
1 tsp kosher salt
packet of Knorr tamarind soup mix
1 Knorr chicken cube
Veggies: bundle of bok choy sum and green beans