coco crab concoction

we went to my cuzz one of the weekends and they gave us 1 big crab. it was only yesterday that we had the chance to cook the crab. crab was already boiled and we just need to add magic to it.

coco crab concoction

1 large boiled crab. quartered cleanly.
1 medium stalk leeks, chopped
2 stems celery, chopped. leaves removed
1 powdered pack of coconut cream
3 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped
2 tablesppons fresh garlic, chopped
1 small chilli pepper, chopped (add more for a fiery hot dish!)
1 tablespoon good bagoong (native salted shrimp fry)
oil

to prepare the coconut cream, mix the powdered coconut with just 3/4 cups of water. add more water if you want a thinner consistency.

in a pan, add a generous portion of oil. add chopped ginger. stir until you can smell the aroma of the ginger. add the small chilli pepper. add the garlic and saute for about 1 minute. with the garlic still a bit yellow, add the celery, leeks and the bagoong. saute for about 2 minutes.

add the prepared coconut cream and the quartered crabs. simmer for about 2 minutes.

from time to time, mix the concoction to prevent from sticking. serve with tons of piping hot rice!

fish stock

we went to market yesterday and got good fish. we found nice mahi-mahi and had it filleted.

seeing the scraps, we requested for them to be included with the fish. the butcher agreed.

we also boiled shrimps and kept the stock i used this instead of plain water.

I made a good stock with it but still don't know what to do with it.

basic fish stock

fresh fish bones
salt
celery stalk, chopped
sibot (chinese soup pack with mixed wood, herb and spices)
shrimp stock (or just plain water)
salt and pepper

boil the shrimp stock. water is ok if no stocks are ready. add all the cleaned fresh fish bones. add the chopped celery stalks. add the sibot. simmer covered for 15 minutes.

u can use the stock on any dish requiring liquids. use it instead of water. but be careful of the 'sibot'. it has a strong chinese herb flavor which might affect the flavor of the dish.

pansit salmon

as our ref is again thinning, we searched around the kitchen and checked what's available.

we went also to quiapo to look for native veggies and had concocted a meal which my mom taught me. this is the first time my hunny tried preparing the dish.

this dish is also easy to make and very fast. good for an instant welcome merienda for a group of 10!

pansit salmon
1 big can of salmon (may use mackerel as an alternate)
2 stalks leeks, chopped
2 tablespoons choppped garlic
1/2 kilo dried pansit sotanghon
1 small carrot, chopped
1/4 kilo green beans (baguio beans), sliced in 1/4 inch cuts.
1/4 kilo cabbage, sliced in 1/4 inch cuts.


rinse the dried pansit in running water and soak them for about 15 minutes to soften.
in a hot pan with oil, saute the garlic till brown. add the leeks till soft. add the carrots.
add the salmon together with the liquid.

add the pansit to soften. add water from time to time to prevent from drying.

water may be adjusted as you prefer. more water may be added to have a dish with little broth. water may also be lessened enough for the pansit to cook but still soft to the bite.

when noodles are about to cook, add the cabbage and the green beans.

serve hot with bread. this dish may be informally be partnered with rice too.

surviving on food from nowhere:creamy tuna mushroom zing

we had a good dinner last night. my hunny prepared something out of anything found in the cupboard. we found canned tuna, canned corn and canned straw mushrooms.

the creaminess just comes naturally. no milk or dairy was added but the flavor amazingly develops beautifully.

creamy tuna mushroom zing

2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 medium onion
1 medium can tuna chunks
1 medium can whole corn kernels
1 large can whole straw mushrooms
1 small carrot, chopped.

drain the mushrooms. drain the corn. add garlic to hot pan with little oil till golden. add onions and mix till soft. add the carrots. add the tuna. gently mix without breaking the tuna apart.

add the mushrooms and corn. add half the liquid from the corn kernel.

adjust salt and pepper to taste.

patola magic

patola is a native vegetable with tough skin which may cut pristine skin.

peeling it is a bit tricky as you have to slice off the tough ribs from the fruit. but once removed, it reveals a soft light green fresh with soft seeds inside.

patola magic

2 medium patolas, skinned ans sliced in 1/2 inch rings
2 tablespoons garlic
1 medium onion
misua (ultra thin dried flour noodles)
soup stock
salt and pepper

in little oil, saute garlic and onions till done. add the patolas. add the soup stock. simmer till the patolas are tender. add salt and pepper to taste. crumble the misua and mix it directly to the stock. serve soup very hot.

eggciting eggzageration

shang ri la is selling their breads at 50% off.

this is a good buy as their breads are of high quality.

with 50% off, price is near as the regular supermarket breads.

just add a few pesos, your bread changes from plain to spectacular.


eggciting eggzageration

3 fresh eggs
raisin - walnut organic bread
herbed butter

slice the bread to desired sandwich thickness
add a layer of herb butter on both breads

combine all 3 eggs. whip lightly. add about 3 tablespoons water to add moisture. add little oil on pan. when the pan is barely hot, spread the egg evenly to form a flat egg mix.

slide off the egg on a plate maintaining its flatness. cut the egg the size of the bread. place it carefully on the bread and top it off with the other slice.

serve warm and lightly toasted.

dinner with cuzz

we had a nice dinner with my relatives in cainta.

as a starter, we had patola with misua.

for the main dish, we had good filipino food. kare-kare, pork chops and fried boneless bangus.

we later went home late at night with a very satisfied tummy.

sinigang twist

the city is just recovering from milenyo. an effect here is that the vegetables are scarce as the storm destroyed the plantations. I was looking for native pechays and kangkong but none were found in the supermarket shelves.

the only available veggies around are the chinese mustard leaves...not a regular sinigang veggie.

well... we tried it and went out unexpectedly very good!

sinigang twist

1 kilo pork ribs
1 cup sliced radishes
2 bundles chinese mustard leaves
1 cup sitaw (long string beans) cut in 2 inch lengths
1 sachet sinigang mix

boil the pork ribs until very tender. add the radishes and sitaw. boil till tender. add the sinigang mix. stir and simmer for about 2 minutes. cut the mustard leaves in 2 inch lengths. drop them into the broth. simmer for 2 minutes. serve very hot.

fish fillet milenyo

part of the food we need to cook and prevent it from spoiling is fish. we had bought salay guinto and fried them crisp.

after 4 days of no electricity, the fish is still there. to disguise the fish, we decided to do some adjustments to the fish.

fish fillet milenyo

3/4 kilo salay guinto
1 medium red onion
3 tablespoons garlic
butter

fry the fish till crisp and well done. remove the bones, head and tail. as much as possible, retain the meat of the fish in one piece. that is, one piece per side. but if you find it difficult on doing this, just remove the bones. that is enough.

chop the garlic. slice the onions thinly. melt in a hot pan a good dollop of butter. saute the garlic till brown. add the sliced onions. saute the onions till brown. this browning will caramellize the onion and will produce a distinct sweet flavor. add the fish fillet. do a good mix till the flavors have blended. add salt and pepper to taste.

lrt fire!

last night, we need to go to a clinic at UN Avenue where my brother in law got a minor operation. heavy rains cloud the metropolis with occasional gusty winds blowing its might.

along the way, the lrt we were riding on was up in smoke! panic burst out of nowhere and people were running out of the train.

good thing we got near a wall and protected my huny. in a few seconds, people were out of the train and they calmed down.

we later found out that the airconditioning system located on the roof of the train burned.

passengers transferred safely to the next available train.

surviving on no electricity and water: fish ampalaya

we were struck by the strong storm "milenyo" and had to survive the grueling 4 days of no electricity and water.

a concern is how to preserve food. one meal that was made up is the fish ampalaya.

to preserve the fish for several days without refrigeration, we fried them well done. to preserve space, we filleted them and kept the meat.

we noticed that the ampalaya is getting mature. we need to cook it fast. we cut it up in chunks and prepared a very good meal.

fish ampalaya

1 large ampalaya, seeded, cut in chunks
8 fillets of fish, fried
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons garlic, chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/4 cup dried shrimps

in little oil, saute garlic till brown. add onions and tomatos. saute till soft. add the dried shrimps. mix till the aroma escapes the pan. add the fish. add little water to keep from drying. add the ampalaya. simmer slowly till ampalaya is soft but still crunchy to the bite. serve hot.