“Talaba” means oyster. "Talaba" remains to be popular seafood in the Philippines, in spite recurring threats of red tide and water pollution. But in some protected cities and islands far from Manila, “talaba” is safe to eat every day, all year round. Mostly eaten raw with “calamansi” or vinegar, but many prefer it baked or grilled.
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Pipino = Cucumber
“Pipino” is cucumber in Filipino. This vegetable is typically used in ensaladas (salads). A salad composed of “pipino” slices dressed with vinegar, salt and pepper, is the easiest and most popular dish using “pipino”.
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Isda = Fish
“Isda” means fish. With all the thousands of islands comprising the Philippines, “isda” is the most popular protein in the country.
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Kamatis = Tomato
"Kamatis" means tomato. "Kamatis" is a popular ingredient in many Filipino dishes such as menudo, mechado, afritada, etc. It's also typical used in simple salads, dressed with soy sauce or "patis" (fish sauce), ...
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Prawns in Curry Coconut Milk
(Chicago) - Fresh prawns are bit expensive here in the US, even in Manila actually. It’s not something that you can cook anytime you want –only reserved for special occasions. Other than the price, it’s not advisable, medically-speaking,...
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Tap – Si – Log
(Chicago) – Does it ring a bell? All Pinoys recognize this acronym. For those who are not aware, this stands for Tap-a (dried/cured beef), Si-nangag (fried rice) and it-Log (egg). Perfect breakfast; maybe lunch or dinner. Whenever you want it...
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Dimsum Galore at Jing Fong
(New York) – Dimsum used to be a Sunday ritual to me. Not anymore. With Sunday specialty brunching becoming very popular and appropriate (referring to Bloody Marys, Bellinis and Mimosas that cure hangover, just a personal belief and no scientific claim)...
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Chicken Adobo
(Chicago) - Almost every Filipino household brags about their specialty adobo dish. Almost every region in the Philippines claims to hold the most authentic version of adobo. I heard at one point the government commissioned a group of veritable Filipino chefs to standardize the recipes of the most popular Filipino dishes, including adobo of course, to boost its standing against the other world cuisines. Whatever success or failure it attained, I never heard about that initiative again.
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Embutibol
(Chicago) – Embutido is a Filipino meat loaf. It is meat mixture formed in a foot-long log, wrapped in foil, steamed and served in slices. Some cook it twice by pan frying the embutido slices to gain some color and crunch. So if you are serving embutido in a party, your Filipino guests knows exactly what to expect. In my last house party, I thought of serving embutido with a little twist to make it more appropriate for a cocktail settings. Instead of making it look like meat loaf and steaming it, I formed it into small balls and roasted in the oven. I dribbled ginger-scallion oil to turn up…
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Hot and Spicy Bicol Express
(Chicago) – Pork belly and coconut milk? This combination is a no-brainer –one of my all-time favorite Pinoy dishes . The spiciness and creaminess of this dish make it perfect with rice. And any dish that makes me eat humongous amount of rice is an ultimate comfort food for me. This is one of them. Hope you like Bicol Express too! 🙂 Ingredients: 3 lbs Pork Belly (Liempo), cut into small pieces 2 tablespoons cooking oil 14 oz (400 ml) coconut milk 3 large poblano peppers, seeded and sliced thinly 1 jalapeno peppers, seeded and sliced thinly 1 tablespoon garlic, minced 1 large onion, chopped 2 large tomatoes, chopped 1…
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The Spanish in Us: Pork Afritada
(Chicago) – There’s always something Spanish in every Filipino. It is evident in the last names of most of us, in skin color of a few, in religious belief of the majority, in facial structure, in politics, in public festivities, in architecture, in our alphabet and in many other aspects of our lives. With the Philippines under the rule of the Spaniards for more than 300 years, we have them in our system, in our veins and even in our palate. Our food is almost Spanish. “Fritada” means fried. Afritada is made up of browned pork (or any meat) simmered in fresh tomatoes and finished with oven-roasted (browned) tomatoes, onions…
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Pinoy Menudo
(Chicago) – One of the major (major! :)) effects of food blogging to me is that my appreciation of Filipino food has grown significantly. How many times I denounced my homeland cuisine whenever I was asked if Filipino food was my favorite cuisine. I gave bulls**t reasons such as Filipino dishes are oily, unhealthy or whatever crap. I am guilty as charged, like many others. No matter how often we deny or shy away from Filipino dishes, we crave for it; we long for those crispy skin of lechon and crunchy, yet juicy lechon kawali. Well, if you’re a Filipino and you grew up with your “nanay” or “lola’s” cooking,…
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Top Chef S5: New York Ep02
The hip Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg is the culinary battleground for this fifth season of the Bravo hit, as another crop of 16 contestants undergo numerous cooking challenges in a bid to become the titular Top Chef. Hosted by Padma Lakshmi and supervised by head judge Chef Tom Colicchio, the addictive series shows the nitty-gritty of what it takes to succeed as a chef in the pressure-filled restaurant business. (Excerpt from Netflix)
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Top Chef S5: New York Ep01
The hip Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg is the culinary battleground for this fifth season of the Bravo hit, as another crop of 16 contestants undergo numerous cooking challenges in a bid to become the titular Top Chef. Hosted by Padma Lakshmi and supervised by head judge Chef Tom Colicchio, the addictive series shows the nitty-gritty of what it takes to succeed as a chef in the pressure-filled restaurant business. (Excerpt from Netflix)
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Bread Pudding with Cognac Sauce
(Chicago) – I still remember my Lola (“grandmother”) gathering the stale pan de sal from the previous days’ breakfast. She brought out the llaneras (oval metal baking pans) to be used as mold for her impromptu bread pudding. I never actually saw how she made it, not even the ingredients she used. I was too young to meddle in her affairs in the kitchen but I remember I was in the living room, basking in the fragrance coming out of the oven and awaiting a warm slice of bread pudding. This recipe is not a remake of my Lola’s recipe. There is no way I could unearth the exact mixture;…
