hunny's pack lunch: corn and sausages

i woke up early today and made a good pack lunch for my hunny. this is a simple dish done in a nick of time. all ingredients are readily available anytime.

corn and sausages

2 pcs. chicken cheese sausages
1/2 cup fresh corn kernels
1 stalk leek, sliced
butter
egg

prepare the sausages. remove from wrapper. in a pan, add 1 cup of water. simmer the sausages for about 5 minutes.

while waiting for the sausages to simmer, slice the leeks and prepare the corn.

remove the sausages from the pan and drain the pan. heat up the same pan until dry. add 2 tablespoons of butter. add leeks. saute until limp. add the corn. saute till corn is done. set aside.

on the same pan, pan fry the sausages for about 2 minutes.

on the same pan, add 2 tablespoons oil. carefully crack the eggs on the pan and fry the egg sunny side up. fry till the desired doneness is achieved.

pack the sausages and corn at the bottom of the box. place the fried egg on top of the sausages and corn gently.

serve with garlic fried rice.

this pack lunch can be done in one pan only which saves you time cleaning.

easy amps

we had ampalaya (bitter gourd) last night. this one is very basic but doubly delicious. the taste of ampalaya is learned. first taste is a bit bitter but you'll later enjoy and seek its unique flavor.

easy amps

1 large ampalaya
1 large tomato
1 medium white onion
1 egg

cut the ampalaya lengthwise. remove the seeds and gently scrape off the thin white fibers attached to the flesh. cut into thin semi-circular strips. chop the tomato and onions.

in little oil, saute the onion and tomato till limp. lightly beat the egg and add to the saute while stirring. put the ampalaya into the saute. add little water and simmer till the ampalaya is half cooked. texture of ampalaya should be shiny, soft but with a little crisp to the bite.

add salt and pepper to taste.

passports, DFA, and fixers

we renewed our passports last friday afternoon and got them today. I can say that the government is efficient on their passport processings. everything is on time and fast.

a very minor drawback is the lack of posted instructions. but this is not a big factor as you can freely ask the security personnel and DFA employees for assistance.

No long lines were present when we renewed.

Releasing is ultra fast as you just go to your designated window, show your claim receipt and the passport is in front of you.

just keep in mind that there are MILLIONS of fixers blocking your way to the main entrance. JUST IGNORE THEM. they have TONS OF TRICKS to lure you into their trap. just be firm and ignore their instructions and proceed empty handed to the DFA main entrance.

once inside, you are now free from hassles, no fixers, no noisy people, only persons who has real businesses inside.

in the compound are complete facilities. you can get your passport pictures, photocopy your old passports, buy black pens, clear plastic pouch for photos, paste, staplers and free application forms. YOU DON'T NEED THE SERVICES OF FIXERS OUTSIDE.

Just go in the DFA entrance straight and then you are now ready for all your needs inside the compound under a cool shade without the high service price given by fixers.

chicken sale'

we made a chicken sale a few days back. this is a native dish from pampanga usually prepared during the rainy weather. It uses a native herb sale'. this is looks like a long green grass but with a flavor similar to fresh ginger and a hint of vanilla.

Sale' is the native variety of lemon grass.

chicken sale'

1/4 kilo chicken, cut into serving pieces.
two generous stalks sale'
1 tablespoon crushed garlic
1 medium onion
cooking oil
salt, fish sauce and pepper

smash the sale with the back of the knife to awaken the flavor and juices. in a hot pan, saute the sale' for about 2 minutes until the flavors are released. remove the sale' from the pan and set aside.

in the same pan using the same oil, saute garlic and onions. add the chicken. add about 1 liter water. put back the sale into the stock. simmer till the chicken is tender. remove the sale again and discard.

add the green papaya and simmer for about 15 minutes till the papaya is translucent and soft. add fish sauce or patis to add saltiness. adjust salt and pepper to taste.

serve piping hot.

red salted eggs

one of our company's clients visited our office. they brought salted eggs. these are duck eggs, boiled, dipped in salted clay mixture for several days and colored red.

best salted eggs are from pateros, a town 30 minutes away from manila.

these eggs are usually eaten with fresh tomatoes together with fried fish.

bamboo shoots and chili tops

we had a nice native home dinner. we had fresh bamboo shoots from pampanga. we call this locally as 'labong'. this is a different delicacy as you harvest the bamboo when the plant is still about 1 foot high.

the bamboo shoot has a very distinct young bamboo aroma and very good texture. the secret to this dish is to add as much oil you can add and never add water while cooking.

bamboo shoot and chili tops

1 kilo slivers of bamboo shoots
1 cup young chili leaves
1 medium onion, sliced
1 head garlic, chopped
1/4 cup ground pork
1 cup oil
crushed chicharon (pork rind)


heat the oil. add the garlic till golden. add the onions. add the ground pork. saute till it changed color.

add the bamboo shoots. saute for about 4 minutes. bamboo will absorb most of the oil and will be shiny and crisp.

add the chili leaves and chicharon. heat through for about 3 minutes. serve with rice.

tahong chips

my hunny brought some tahong chips. these are mussels prepared in chip form for snacks.

it is probably made from finely chopped boiled mussels, flour and some basic spices like salt, pepper and msg. they are mixed together, rolled flat and baked...or fried then drained.

chips doesn't look swell as color resembles yellow greenish dog poo.

taste is also not that recommended. tastes like fish flavored pig feeds.

It is a bit expensive as compared to other local chips. my recommendation is for you to buy the smallest sized pack just for you to taste it. but eat it to have fun in a cool party????? NO WAY!!!!!!!!!!!

san luis pasalubong

it is customary that when you go to the province here, the old folks would give you something for you to bring home.

last sunday, we went to san luis. my mother in law gave me stuff wrapped in plastic. i asked her what it was but she declined to say what was it.

back home, we had it for dinner. it was a nice pork ribs stewed in soy and with lots of duck liver!

Ima had remembered that i need to beef up on iron and liver is a good source. almost half of it was liver, prepared specifically for me! I love Ima.

merienda buffet at Partyland

we went to pampanga last weekend. we had a late lunch and had the chance to go to sm san fernando. we found Partyland. this is a kapampangan restaurant who's original branch is at san fernando dolores.

we had a good buffet. for only 109 pesos, we had an unlimited supply of puto and dinuguan, pansit canton, pansit palabok, spaghetti, tokwa't baboy, banana turon, palitaw, guinataang bilo-bilo, goto and halo-halo.

very promising was the guinataang bilo-bilo. they added some anise seeds into the gata which added an exquisite flavor making it unique from a local guinataan merienda.

successful operation

kuya olan just had his operation. he got his gall bladder removed.

he's now on his way to recovery. i hope he gets better...

catnap

i stole a few minutes of my time on my lunch break.

i had a 15 minute catnap.

i think i heard myself snoring.

then i woke up.....refreshed!

ralph lauren and gucci

we went to bambang, manila and went through the old stuff for sale. we got a good bag in good condition. one for me and another for my hunny.

i got a green plaid original ralph lauren bag. i'm now using it for office.

my hunny got a nice black leather gucci bag.

all are in good condition. all for just P1,100.00 (20 US$) only.

pangat

the good thing about going to the province is that you go back to manila with packed food given by the old folks and the family.

last night, we had chicharon and mechado which are all coming from last weekend's gathering.

this is a nice fast dinner after a good day's office hours and a tiring grocery round-up.

louise christening

i was chosen as the ninong of my niece Louise. We got there a bit late but enough to catch the blessings for the child.

Usually, christenings here are celebrated with an abundance of fiesta food. They killed a pig just to serve the guests.

They had prepared mechado, morcon, chop suey with liver, caldereta, chicharon, pata tim and leche flan as dessert.

A few weeks back, I was checked for having low blood and low in sugar. Good thing they served the vegetables with liver. I had a feast of liver that day which I terribly need. The leche flan covered my needs for extra sugar.

herb tuna panini

yesterday i had a nice sandwich. originally, it was a tuna pan de sal sandwich of my hunny. she brought the four pandesals to Subic but forgot to eat it. stored in her bag, the bread got flatten.

Now i brought the same pandesals in the same plastic packaging but now it's flat. i coined the name: herb tuna panini as it now looks like one!

herb tuna panini

herb butter (soft butter with chopped garlic, basil and dill)
pan de sal
canned tuna in oil

spread generous amounts of herb butter on the pandesal. drain the tuna. add the chunky tuna on the pandesal. place the pandesal in a nice plastic bag. hide it in your office bag. go travel to subic. forget about the pandesal. at night, put the flattened pandesal in the ref. on the next morning, bring it to work and enjoy it on meal time!

treasured pearl

we heard mass yesterday for our wednesday novena. Fr. Bob McConaghuey celebrated the event. On his prayers, he assured us of one thing:

A treasured pearl will be given by Jesus from now till August of next year that will definitely change our lives for the better.

(Mt 13:44-46)

surviving on food from nowhere: bean sprout pansit canton

a couple of days back, we had sauteed bean sprouts for dinner. we had good left-overs from it and had it for lunch today but with an exceptional addition: pansit canton. Pansit canton are dried flour noodles that is available here anywhere.

bean sprouts pansit canton

vegan bean sprouts (from my previous blog)
2 cups pansit canton
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
long leaf coriander, chopped
olive oil

on a hot pan, saute the chopped garlic in olive oil until golden brown. add the dried pansit canton. add half cup of water to rehydrate the dried noodles. stir heavily to evenly soften the noodles. add the chopped coriander generously to the noodles. adjust salt. add soy sauce if you like.

on a plate, spread the cooked pansit canton. top the noodles with the vegan bean sprouts. serve hot!

vegan bean sprouts

last night, we decided to go vegan. but this is the worst time to buy veggies as storms are coming. vegetable crops are being destroyed by the rain. cost of the crops are shooting up high.

going through the suparmarket, only a few vegetables remain at a stable price. the others doubled their usual cost. bean sprouts, or togue, costs the same as before. perhaps, these are just grown in green houses which are safe from the dreaded rain.

vegan bean sprouts

1 kilo bean sprouts
1 medium carrot
2 cups chopped cabbage
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 medium onion
parsley
1 stalk celery


wash the bean sprouts in clean water. drain and set aside.

in little olive oil, saute garlic till brown. add onions and chopped celery. saute till half tender. add the carrots. heat through for about a minute. add the cabbage. saute till cabbages are half limp. add the chopped parsley. add the cleaned bean sprouts. mix in high heat until the bean sprouts are crunchy tender. add salt and pepper to taste.