Ginataang Gulay

Ingredients :

1/2 kilo langka meat (raw, washed and cleaned)
3 pieces laurel leaves
1 tablespoon leeks (chopped)
1 small red onion (diced)
? cup dried fish (flaked)
2 cups coconut milk (1st extraction)
1 cup coconut milk (2nd extraction)
Pinch of salt and pepper


Instructions :

1. In a deep casserole, boil langka meat until tender.
2. In another casserole, saute onion, leeks, laurel leaves and dried fish.
3. Add in langka and pour in coconut milk (1st extraction).
4. Bring up to a boil for 5 minutes.
5. Lower heat and simmer for another 5 minutes.
6. Season with salt and pepper.
7. When cooked, pour in coconut cream of 2nd extraction and cook for 3minutes.
8. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Bam-i (Noodle dish)

Ingredients :

1 (2 lbs.) fryer chicken, cut up
1/2 cup dried tengang daga (black woodear mushroom)
8.8oz sotanghon noodles, soaked in water just to soften a little, drain
2 tbsp. canola oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, sliced
patis (fish sauce), salt and pepper, to taste
1 pkg. (14oz) canton noodles
2 tbsp. minced cilantro
1 hard-cooked egg, sliced
(Cooking Measurements)

Procedures :

Boil chicken in enough water to cover.  Simmer until tender.  Cool and shred chicken meat.  Save about 6 cups of chicken broth.

Soak tengang daga in hot water for 15 minutes and then slice.  Set aside.

Sauté garlic and onions in hot oil.  Add sliced tengang daga, 6 cups chicken broth and seasonings.

Bring to a boil.

Stir in canton for 3 minutes and then add sotanghon, shredded chicken meat and cilantro.  Cook for 8-10 minutes.

Check the doneness of the noodles (be sure not to overcooked and it will become soggy).

Garnish with slices of hard-cooked egg.

Makes 8 servings.

Laing (Taro Leaves cooked in Coconut Milk)

This Laing recipe or Bicol laing is a dish indigenous to the Bicol province.
Rich and creamy, it's made from dried taro or gabi leaves and coconut milk.

In the Philippines, we would buy fresh gabi leaves, separate the leaves from the stalks and dry the leaves under the sun for a couple of hours before we can use them.

Drying takes out the uncomfortable palate texture or kati the taro leaves give when you eat them.

The most practical and convenient way to go about this is to buy the packaged dried taro leaves.

Available in Asian markets, they're ready to use and just reconstituted with the coconut milk during cooking.

YOUR SHOPPING LIST:
Dried Taro Leaves
Pork loin or shoulders
Coconut Milk
Long Chili Peppers


IN THE PANTRY:
Garlic
Onion
Salt
Ginger
Sauteed Shrimp Paste(Bagoong Alamang)
Cooking Oil

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups Dried Taro Leaves
1/2 pound Pork loin or shoulders, boiled and cut in strips
2 cans Coconut Milk
1 piece Long Chili Peppers, cut in strips
3 cloves of Garlic, minced
1 medium Onion, chopped
1 teaspoon Salt
1 thumbsize Ginger, cut in strips
2 tablespoons Sauteed Shrimp Paste(Bagoong Alamang)
1 tablespoon Cooking Oil for sauteing
PREPARATION TIME : 10 minutes

COOKING TIME : 20 minutes

1 Saute the garlic, onion and ginger in cooking oil. Add the pork and cook for 2 minutes.

2 Add the rest of the ingredients and let it simmer for 15 - 20 minutes, stirring from time to time.

3 Cook until the taro leaves have fully absorbed the coconut milk and almost rendering fat.

4 Serve with rice.

(Learn more about COOKING RICE, THE FILIPINO WAY.)

BENG'S TIPS

For those who don't like eating a chunk of ginger can just shred it instead of cutting in strips.
When buying coconut milk for cooking a savory dish, look for one with 0(zero) sugar content on its Nutrition label. You would not like the hint of sweetness for savory dishes.
You can use peeled shrimps with this dish if you want. Add them during the last couple minutes of cooking so it doesn't get rubbery and tough.

Adobo Recipe

There are probably 500 ways to cook adobo but the one that is most familiar to the children is the adobo with vinegar and soy sauce. I call it my classic adobo recipe because I also cook white adobo.

Ingredients:
1 kilo pork shoulder or loin cut in 1/2 inch cubes (variation: use half chicken and half pork)
1/3 cup vinegar
2 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
4 cloves crushed garlic
1 small bay leaf
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup water
2 Tablespoon cooking oil

Direction

1. Combine all ingredients except cooking oil and let stand for at least 30 minutes. The longer the marination, the more flavorful.
2. Simmer covered for 1 hour or until meat is tender. Stir occasionally and make sure meat does stick to the pan. Liquid will reduce and thicken. Drain and keep sauce to the side.
3. Heat cooking oil in a pot. Brown the meat on all sides. Transfer to a serving dish.
4. Pour off the remaining oil from the the pot. Add the sauce in number 2 and cook for two more minutes while scraping off some of the meat that adhered to the pot.
5. Pour sauce over meat. Serve hot.

Taste Variation
1. Use all the ingredients except the Soy sauce.
2. Add more garlic, salt and vinegar instead. This is what we call the white adobo.
3. Add 1 more tablespoon of sugar if you desire a sweeter taste.
4. Add more vinegar if you want your adobo to keep longer.
5. Adobo tastes better a day after it is cooked because all the ingredients and flavorings have seeped in.

Baked Tahong

Note: If you have High Blood Pressure, do not eat too much tahong!

Ingredients:

1 kilo fresh large Tahongs or Mussels.
1/2 cup butter. (don't use margarine, not good for your health).
6 cloves garlic, minced.
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese.
1/4 cup bread crumbs

Cooking Procedure: 

Soak the Mussels/Tahong with water for at least an hour to get rid of the dirt inside the shell. Then drain it and place it on a pan with no water, cover and cook over moderate heat. When shells opens up, drain it and remove the top shell.

Melt the butter then add minced garlic. Stir for few minutes. Brush each Mussels/Tahong meat with the mixture, top with grated cheese and cover with bread crumbs.

Arrange Mussels/Tahong on a baking sheet. Bake in pre-heated oven with a low heat (250F).
Bake it for 10 - 15 minutes.

Chicken Curry

Ingredients:

2 Lbs. Skinless & Boneless chicken breast cut into 2 cubes

1 Can coconut creme (14oz.)

1 Tbs. Patis (fish sauce)

1 Medium onion (diced)

1 ½ Cups of green and red bell peppers cut into bite sized pieces

1 Cup Celery cut in ¾ inch pieces

5 Jalapeno peppers (stems removed)

3 Potatoes (quartered)

¼ Cup ginger (julienned)

4 Cloves of garlic (smashed)

¼ Tsp. freshly ground peppercorns

½ Tbs. Crushed pepper flakes (optional)

4 Tbs. Cooking oil

For the Curry Powder:

½ Tsp. Cumin

½ Tsp. Caraway

½ Tbs. Whole White Peppercorns

1 Tbs. Coriander

¼ Tsp. Nutmeg (powder)

½ Tsp. Turmeric (powder)

Procedure:

For the curry powder: Begin by roasting all whole spices (cumin, caraway, white peppercorns, and coriander) for 1 minute on high heat. Once they are roasted, pound them using a mortar & pestle or electric spice grinder if you have one. Set aside.

For the chicken breast: Lightly season chicken with 5 Tbs. cooking oil and a pinch of salt & pepper. Mix well and brown on all sides and set aside.

For the potatoes: Brown potatoes on all sides with 5 Tbs. of cooking oil. Set aside.

Cook garlic until golden brown using the remaining cooking oil you used to brown potatoes and chicken. Add the onions when the garlic is golden brown and let them cook until soft.

Add the ginger once the onions are soft and stir it well. Allow the ginger to cook for one minute and then add the chicken you browned earlier.

Let the chicken breast saute for one minute and season it with patis. (fish sauce) Next, add the spices you roasted and pounded earlier along with the ground Nutmeg and ground Turmeric.

Stir well for half a minute and add the coconut creme. Stir coconut creme, return the cover, and allow it to simmer for 10 minutes. Lower your heat and stir coconut creme intermittently during the ten minutes to avoid scorching the coconut creme.

After 10 minutes add the potatoes, stir well, and let the potatoes cook for 5 minutes. After that, add the celery and allow it to cook for 5 minutes before adding the red and green bell peppers.

When the celery is cooked, add the red and green bell peppers and again let it cook for 5 minutes.

At this stage, you can do your taste test and adjust accordingly by adding more salt and pepper if needed. After that, you are ready for your last and final ingredient which is the 5 Jalapeno peppers. Serve Chicken Curry with white steamed rice.

Kalderetang Kambing (Goat Caldereta)

Ingredients :

1 1/2 kilos goat meat, cut into chunks
1 potato; quartered 
1 carrot; cut in 1 inch chunks or slices
4 cloves garlic; pounded
1 onion; chopped
1 can liver spread or ground liver
1 tomato; quartered
1 can tomato sauce
15 green olives (stoned or pitted)
1 tablespoon pickles
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 grated cheese
1 bell pepper; sliced
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
2 stems kinchay (celery); chopped
2 laurel leaves
1/2 cup soy sauce
Cooking oil
MSG (optional)