Crispy Pata Ingredients:

• 1 Pata (front or hind leg of a pig including the knuckles)
• 1 bottle of soda (7Up or sprite)
• 1 tablespoon of salt
• 2 tablespoons patis (fish sauce)
• 1/2 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon of monosodium glutamate (MSG)
• 4 tablespoons of flour
• Enough oil for deep frying
• Enough water for boiling

Crispy Pata Cooking Instructions:

• Clean the pork pata by removing all hairs and by scraping the skin with a knife. Wash thoroughly.
• Make four to five inch cuts on the sides of the pata.
• On a deep stock pot, place the pata in water with soda and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Then add the baking soda and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes.
• Remove the pata from the pot and hang and allow to drip dry for 24 hours. An alternative to this is to thoroughly drain the pork pata and refrigerate for a few hours.
• After the above process, rub patis on the pata and sprinkle flour liberally.
• In a deep frying pot, heat cooking oil and deep fry the pork pata until golden brown.

Crispy Pata Dip Sauce:

Mix 3/4 cup of vinegar, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 cloves of crushed garlic, 1 head of diced onion and 1 hot pepper. Salt and pepper to taste.

Beef Kaldereta Ingredients:

• 1 kilo beef, cut into chunks
• 1 big can (350g) liver spread or ground liver
• 5 onions, minced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 tomatoes, sliced
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 3 green peppers, diced
• 3 red peppers, diced
• 4 pieces hot chilli peppers, minced
• 3/4 cup grated cheese
• 2 cups beef stock or water
• 1/4 cup cooking or olive oil

Kaldereta Cooking Instructions:

• In a casserole, sauté: garlic and onions in oil. Then add tomatoes, red & green pepper and chilli peppers.
• Add in the beef, tomato sauce, liver spread and water or stock. Salt to taste and let simmer for at least 1 hour or until the beef is tender.
• Add cheese and olives (optional) and continue to simmer until the sauce thickens.
• Serve with plain rice

Cooking Tips:

• Instead of beef, goat's meat (kambing) can be used. If goat's meat is used, marinate the meat in vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper for at least 15 minutes.
• For a special kaldereta, do not use water or beef stock. Use an equivalent weight of onions to the beef (1 kg of onions : 1 kg of beef). The onions will serve as water to the dish.

Menudo Ingredients:

• 1/2 kilo pork (cut into small chunks)
• 1/4 kilo pork liver (cut into small cubes)
• 5 pieces chorizo Bilbao (also cut in small pieces)
• 4 potatoes (peeled, cut in small cubes, fried)
• 1 green and 1 red bell pepper (diced)
• 1 cup chickpeas
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 cup pork or chicken stock
• 2 teaspoons of patis (fish sauce)
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 1 tablespoon atsuete oil (optional)
• 3 tomatoes (diced)
• 1 small head of garlic (minced)
• 1 medium size onion (diced)

Menudo Cooking Instructions:

• In a pan or wok, heat cooking oil and atsuete oil.
• Saute garlic, onion. Then add the pork, liver, chorizo de Bilabo, tomatoes, bell pepper, paprika, patis and the stock.
• Cover and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the pork is tender.
• Add the chickpeas, potatoes and raisins. Boil of another 2 minutes.
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve hot with white rice.

Ingredients

• 1/2 kilo egg  noodles (bihon)
• 1 medium sized chicken breast, boiled & shredded
• 1/4 kilo pork pigue or kasim, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large onion, minced
• 1 small cabbage, shredded
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 medium carrot, julienned
• 1 celery stalk, sliced thinly
• 4 tablespoon cooking oil
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup uncooked shrimps, shelled and de-veined (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

1. Place the egg noodles in a clean basin and immerse in water to soften.
2. Heat the oil and stir fry the garlic and onion until soft in a large frying pan.
3. Add the pork and stir fry for about 3 minutes or until cooked.
4. Add the chicken, shrimps and vegetables and continue stir frying until the shrimps turn pink and the vegetables are half cooked.
5. Add 1 cup of the chicken broth and soy sauce and boil for about 1 minute.
6. Remove half of the ingredients from the pan and set aside as topping for the noodles later.
7. Remove the noodles from the soaking water and add to the ingredients remaining in the pan.
8. Mix constantly until the noodles are cooked and dried.
9. If it becomes dry before the noodles are cooked, you can add the remaining broth as needed.
10. Flavor with salt and pepper to taste.
11. Arrange the cooked noodles in a big serving dish and put the topping.
12. Serve with slices of calamansi.

 

 

Chicken Panang Curry

Ingredients:

2 pieces of chicken breast, cut in small pieces

1 Tablespoon oil

1 can of coconut milk

3 Tablespoons Panang curry paste

2 Tablespoons fish sauce

6-7 kafir lime leaves (shred into small pieces)

2 Tablespoons sugar

3 Tablespoons water


Method:

1. Cut the chicken in small pieces. In a skillet, add oil and cook the chicken until brown and half way cooked.

2. In a saucepan on medium high heat, add the curry paste and sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and the curry is fragrant. Slowly add the coconut milk and stir until incorporated. Then add fish sauce and water. Mix well. If it's too thick, add more water. If it's too salty, add some sugar to counter balance.

3. Add the chicken and let it simmer until the chicken is fully cooked.

4. Few minutes before it's done, add the kafir lime leaves.

5. Serve with jasmine rice and enjoy.

Spring Rolls

10 spring roll wrappers, Oil for frying
1 egg, beaten

For filling
½ kilo ground pork
1/2 cup finely shredded carrot
1/2 cup shredded spring onions
1 oz cellophane noodles, soaked for 30 minutes if needed

For seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
Pepper to taste
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp water ( if needed).

1. Heat wok and add oil and when smoking stir fry all of the filling ingredients for a couple of minutes.

(If you want, but I used not to fry it, I do it directly)

2. Stir in the seasoning ingredients and continue to cook until mixture is thickened. Remove to a bowl and allow cooling for at least 4 hours before wrapping.

3. To make the spring rolls place a wrapper on a work surface with a corner facing you. Place about 1 1/2 tbsp of filling across the centre. Wrap the corner firmly over the filling, then tuck in the two side pieces to close the ends, and then continue to wrap. Seal the edge with a bit of the beaten egg. Don't overfill them or they will come open in the frying. Repeat until all of the wrappers are filled.

4. Deep fry in moderately hot oil for 2-3 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Drain Will and serve hot.

 

Chopsuey Recipe

Chopsuey or Chop Suey is a dish made-up of meat (chicken or pork) and seafood (shrimp or fish) cooked with different kinds of vegetables. This dish is considered to be of Chinese origin but there are claims that Chopsuey is of American – Chinese origin that was made famous by Chinese immigrants in America.

 

In the Philippines, Chopsuey is a common dish and considered to be one of the top vegetable dishes. The local variation includes chicken liver, shrimp, and seasoned vegetables.

I usually thicken the sauce of my Chopsuey to bring out its Chinese influence. Do you prefer it the same way? Let me know what you think by commenting on the box below this post.

Let’s discuss ideas and share our knowledge to our “kababayans”.

Try this delicious Chopsuey recipe!