Pancit Lomi

Lomi or Pancit Lomi  is a Filipino - Chinese dish made with a variety of thick fresh egg noodles of about a quarter of inch in diameter, soaked in lye water to give it more texture.  Because of its popularity in the eastern part of Batangas, there as many styles of cooking lomi as there are eateries, panciteria or restaurants offering the dish.  Variations and quality are therefore very common.

1/2 k. of lomi noodles
1 c. of diced cooked chicken meat
1 carrot, julienned
1 c. of diced leeks (white and light green parts only)
7 c. of chicken broth (unsalted)
2 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp. of cooking oil
1 tbsp. of finely minced garlic
1 onion, halved and sliced thinly
1/2 tsp. of sesame seed oil
salt and pepper to taste

Heat a casserole. Pour in the cooking oil. Saute the garlic and onion until fragrant. Add the julienned carrot and stir for 30 seconds. Add the chicken meat and continue cooking over high heat for another 30 seconds. Pour in the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add the egg noodles and simmer for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the leeks. Pour in the beaten eggs in a thin stream, stirring continuously. Turn off the heat and stir in the sesame seed oil. Serve hot.

Courtesy of Casa Veneracion (Filipino Recipes)

Maja Blanca with Corn

Maja Blanca is a Filipino dessert made primarily from coconut milk.  Also known as coconut pudding.  It is usually served during fiestas and other holidays, especially Christmas.

I made it yesterday morning just for our snack here at home! :)

4  cups coconut milk
1  cup cornstarch
14  oz. condensed milk
3/4  cup fresh milk
3/4  cup granulated sugar
15  oz. whole sweet kernel corn
5  tablespoons grated coconut

1.  Pour the coconut milk in a cooking pot and bring to a boil.
2.  Add the sugar, condensed milk, and whole sweet kernel corn then stir until all the ingredients are evenly distributed.
3.  Simmer for 8 minutes.
4.  Combine fresh milk and cornstarch then whisk until the cornstarch is diluted.
5.  Pour the fresh milk and cornstarch mixture in the cooking pot and stir thoroughly.
6.  Allow to cook while stirring until the mixture reaches your desired thickness.
7.  Pour the  mixture in a serving tray then arrange and flatten the top using a flat tool such as wooden spatula.
8.  Cool down then refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
9.  Garnish with toasted grated coconut.
10.  Serve cold.



courtesy of Panglasang Pinoy

Tempura

Tempura is a Japanese dish of seafood or vegetables dipped in batter and deep-fried.

My mom made it earlier for our lunch...... I love it! :)



1/2 kilo fresh shrimps

1 cup all purpose flour, sifted

1 cup water

1 egg, slightly beaten

1/4 tsp. salt



Shell shrimps, slit the back and open butterfly fashion. Devein and wash thoroughly. Dry. Set aside in a cool place. In a bowl, prepare the batter by combining water, egg, flour and salt. Stir 5 times. Mixture should be lumpy. Dip shrimps in the batter and deep fat fry. Serve hot with Tempura sauce.

Tempura Sauce

1/2 cup hot water

1 piece bouillon cube

2 tbsps. soy sauce

1 tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. vetsin

1 tsp. ginger, grated

2 tbsps. radish, grated



Combine all ingredients together and serve with tempura.

Shrimp Sinigang

Sinigang is a Filipino dish famous for the variety of ingredients. The Filipino's resourcefulness is best seen in his preparation of sinigang.  The choice of pampaasim or souring agent is vast - kamias, sampalok, tomatoes, ripe guavas, young pineapple or even kalamansi juice.  Sinigang often  incorporates fish, pork, beef or shrimp.  This time we will use Shrimps for our recipe!

2  cups rice washing or water
15  pieces kamias
1  small onion, sliced
1  tomato, sliced
2  pieces radish, quartered
1/2  kilo shrimps
1  bundle kangkong, cut into 2" lengths
1-2  pieces siling haba
salt or patis to taste

Put half or rice washing or water in a pot.  Add kamias.  Cook until tender then mash.  Add onions, tomatoes and remaining rice washing  Bring to a boil then add the radish.  Add shrimps, kangkong ang siling haba.  Let boil for 2 minutes.  Season to taste.

Courtesy of The Maya Kitchen

Maruya (Banana Fritters)

Maruya (Banana Fritters) is a Philippine delicacy of fried bananas dipped in batter, usually served sprinkled with sugar. It is a popular street food too and it is one of the favorite snack of the Filipinos.

1/2 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 - 4 ripe saba or cardaba banana , peeled and sliced lengthwise or sliced and shape it like a hand fan
2 cups oil
flour, for dredging
sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk


1. In a bowl, sift together 1/2 cup flour, baking powder and salt . Add milk and egg, beat until smooth.

2. Heat oil in a frying pan (or a large saucepan ) over medium heat.

3. In batches, roll banana slices in flour and dip in batter. Fry in hot oil until golden brown.

4. Drain on paper towels. Roll in sugar.

5. Serve and enjoy!

Lumpiang Shanghai

Lumpiang Shanghai or Spring Rolls is a dish made up of ground pork or beef, minced onion, carrots, and spices with the mixture held together by beaten egg. It is usually served with sweet and sour sauce which attests to the Chinese influence.

1/4 kilo ground pork
1/8 kilo shrimps, chopped
1/4 kilo cup finely chopped singkamas
1/4 cup finely chopped carrots
1 clove garlic, minced
1 egg, slightly beaten
3 tablespoons chopped onion
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
pinch of pepper
lumpia wrappers or spring roll wrappers
oil for frying


Sweet and Sour Sauce:

1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup water
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
2 tablespoons cornstarch dispersed in
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon oil

Combine all the ingredients for lumpia filling. Wrap in lumpia wrapper in long, thin shapes. Deep-fry in hot oil until golden brown. Drain. Cut into shorter lengths before serving.

In a saucepan, combine all the ingredients for the sauce. Boil until thick. Serve with lumpia.

Courtesy of The Maya Kitchen

Fried Chicken Wings

Here's a Filipino style fried chicken wings and it is similar to fried adobo except this does not have vinegar and bay leaf. This is a very simple and easy recipe that we could prepare anytime at home.

I prepared it last night for dinner and we loved it! It is best to eat it with hot steamed rice! Yummy!







Chicken wings
Soy sauce
Garlic, minced
Calamansi or Lemon juice
Tomato catsup
MSG
Cooking oil for frying
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Clean the chicken wings and cut into two parts if desired. Marinate the chicken about 2 or more hours in the above mixture of soy sauce, garlic, calamansi juice, tomato catsup, salt, pepper and detain, taking care to rub minced garlic on surface of chicken pieces.

2. Turn chicken several times in marinade. Drain the chicken pieces and fry in deep hot fat until golden brown.

3. If desired, dredge in flour first or roll in powdered bread crumbs, before frying. Serve with catsup.

Courtesy of Panlasang Pinoy

Cuchinta or Kutsinta

Cuchinta is a popular Filipino delicacy. It always teamed up with "Puto" and can be served on any occasion. It is an orange or brown rice cake and it is good with freshly grated coconut.

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups water
1 teaspoon lihia (lye)
few drops of yellow food color (optional)
grated coconut

Boil water for the steamer. In a bowl, blend all the ingredients except grated coconut. Mix until smooth and free from lumps. Strain. Half-fill muffin pans. Steam for 10-20 minutes. Cool for 5 mintues then remove from the pans. Serve with grated coconut.

* Lihia or Lye is a liquid concentrate from the ashes of a wood stove. It is used in making kakanin (rice cakes) like cuchinta, suman and pichi-pichi to improve their texture. Its addition also enhances the color of food.

Courtesy of The Maya Kitchen

Fried Rice

This is a basic recipe for fried rice that you can add to as desired. If adding other ingredients, increase the number of eggs to 3.

1 - 2 spring onions, as desired
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste
4 tablespoons oil for stir-frying, as needed
4 cups cold cooked rice
1 - 2 tablespoons light soy sauce or oyster sauce, as desired
hotdog, chorizo, ham, bacon, mixed vegetables such as peas, carrots, corn (optional)


Wash and finely chop the green onion. Lightly beat the eggs with the salt and pepper.

Heat a wok or frying pan and add 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, add the eggs. Cook, stirring, until they are lightly scrambled but not too dry. Remove the eggs and clean out the pan.

Add 2 tablespoons oil. Add the rice. Stir-fry for a few minutes, using chopsticks or a wooden spoon to break it apart. Stir in the soy sauce or oyster sauce as desired.

When the rice is heated through, add the scrambled egg back into the pan. Mix thoroughly. Stir in the green onion. Serve hot.

Courtesy of About.com

Pinakbet (Mixed Vegetables)

Pinakbet or Pakbet is a popular Filipino dish. The basic vegetables used in this dish includes native bitter melon (ampalaya), eggplant, okra, tomato, string beans and squash. It is usually cooked until almost dry and shriveled; the flavors are accentuated with bagoong or shrimp paste. And it is never stirred while cooking instead the pot is shaken to toss the vegetables without making the ampalaya bitter. It is considered as a very healthy dish.

1 cup cubed pork liempo
oil
2-3 tablespoons bagoong or shrimp paste
1 cup water
1 medium-size ampalaya, quartered
3 pieces round eggplant, quartered
5 pieces okra, halved
4 pieces tomato, sliced
1 small onion, sliced
1 small ginger, sliced

Brown the pork in a little oil. Set aside. Boil the bagoong and water. Put the pork and the rest of the ingredients. Simmer until vegetables are done.

Turbo Chicken with Fresh Garlic and Rosemary

We prepared this dish in our Nutrition and Food Safety and Basic Food Preparation and Presentation month - Day 2 ( Caregiver Training ).

The ingredients for this recipe are simple and procedure is easy to follow. This dish exudes a wonderful aromatic flavor.

2 whole chickens
1 head garlic, pounded
1 tablespoon coarse salt (add more if needed)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fried minced garlic (optional)


1. Split chickens into half length-wise, then pound to flatten. In a small bowl mix the garlic, salt, and pepper and rub thoroughly inside and outside the chickens. Put fresh rosemary sprigs inside the cavities.

2. Rub olive oil all over the skin and sprinkle some dried rosemary leaves on top. Allow to stand for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 350F.

3. Arrange the chicken pieces in a pan lined with foil. Bake in over or turbo broiler for 45 minutes, ir until done, turning the chicken pieces every 15 minutes and basting them with fat and cooking juices that collect in the pan.

4. Or, if not in a hurry, bake chickens in 325F over for 1 hour on one side and another hour for the other side, skin side up, basting occasionaly with the pan juices, for more tender chickens.

5. Arrange on a serving platter, and sprinkle fried garlic on top. Pour pan juices over the chickens before serving.

6. If desired serve with roasted potatoes.




* In our preparation, we prefer not to split the chicken into half when we baked it just for the sake of our presentation. :)

Watermelon Basket

A rich variety of shapes and colors makes this light dessert very appealing. Suggested fruits include banana, apple, papaya, pineapple, honeydew melon and grapes.

1 medium watermelon
2 cups diced fresh or canned fruit
1/2 cup sweetened orange juice
grated cheese (optional)

1. Cut a thin slice from the bottom of the watermelon so it will sit flat ( don't cut into the fruit ).

2. Make zigzag wedges on watermelon. With a sharp knife cut watermelon following the outline.

3. Scoop out all the flesh with a melon baller, trying to remove as many seeds as you can.

4. Wrap the empty watermelon bowl in a plastic wrap to keep it moist.

5. Refrigerate until ready to fill with fruits. Use fruits with a variety of shapes and colors.

6. If using canned fruit, drain fruit well and discard syrup. Combine watermelon balls with other fruits.

7. Drizzle orange juice on fruits. Spoon fruits into prepared watermelon basket.

Herbed Loin of Tuna

Here is one of the recipes we tried during our Caregiver Class. It is a mouthwatering Asian tuna dinner fit for any table..

Prep time: 15 minutes    Cooking time: 1 hour    Yield:  4-6 servings

1/2 kilo whole loin of tuna

oil

juice from 1 lemon

1 onion, choppeed

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/2 cup chopped parsley

1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 lemon, sliced thinly

salt and pepper to taste

1.  Preheat oven to 375F.

2.  Make a shallow cuts on the top and sides of the fish.

3.  Spread some oil on a baking tray.  Place the tuna and drizzle with the lemon juice.

4.  In a bowl, combine the onion, garlic, parsley, tarragon, salt and pepper.

5.  Fill the shallow cuts on the tuna with this herb mixture.

6.  Pour the wine over the fish.  Sprinkle the remaining herb mixture all over the fish.  Top with lemon slices.

7.  Cover the pan with foil and bake the fish for about 40 minutes.  Uncover and baste with the pan juices.  Continue baking until done.

* Serve it with Red Wine.

Guinataan or Binignit

Binignit or Guinataan is a warm root crop and fruit stew  from the Visayas region in the Philippines.The dish is traditionally made by Cebuanos with slices of saba, taro, sweet potato. The people in the neighboring island Leyte, usually include landang (palm flour jelly balls), langka (jackfruit), anise and thickened with milled glutinous rice in cooking binignit. The vegetables along with pearl sago is cooked in a mixture of water, coconut milk and the local landang and sweetened by muscovado or brown sugar.

It is a Filipino sweet dish which is usually served as snacks and usually prepared during the Holy Week especially Good Friday.  The soup is best served when hot.


 Ingredients:

2 pieces yellow camote or sweet potatoes (cubed)
1 piece white gabi or taro root (cubed)
1 piece ube or purple yam (cubed)
4 pieces ripe saba banana (sliced)
6 pcs ripe langka or jackfruit
4 tbsps landang or tapioca
2 cups coconut milk
1 cup coconut milk, diluted with water
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Procedure:

 

1. Place the diluted milk in a large pot and add the bananas, ube, camote and gabi. You can also save a lot of time by boiling the hard ingredients first before adding to the diluted coconut milk. 

 

2.Add the landang or tapioca, salt and sugar.

 

3.Add the langka strips and simmer until the mixture is thick and all the ingredients are tender.

 

4. Pour in 2 cups of coconut milk and adjust the heat to medium.

 

.5. Do not bring to a boil to prevent curdling of the cooking liquid.

 

6.Place in small serving bowls and serve.

Egg Omelette for Breakfast

An omelette or omelet is a dish made from beaten eggs quickly cooked with butter or oil in a frying pan, sometimes folded around a filling such as cheese, vegetables, meat (often ham), or some combination of the above. Omelettes may be only partially cooked on the top side and not flipped, even prior to folding.

Here in the Philippines, we do sometimes call it Scrambled egg.  It's one of my favorite dish not just for breakfast but also for lunch or dinner.  I always eat it with rice or bread.  Countless fillings such as onions, garlic, tomatoes, corned beef, potatoes, peppers or any possibly leftovers like ground, chopped or shredded pork and beef are used.  I prefer spring onions and tomatoes or sometimes potatoes.  Try it!  

2 eggs

spring onions, finely chopped

tomato, finely chopped

salt and pepper to taste

oil to fry

1.  Beat the eggs. 

2.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

3.  Heat oil in the frying pan and add the beaten eggs.  Cook over low heat till mixture is bit dry.

4.  Add the spring onions and tomatoes at the center.

5.  Then fold it...  flip it if you want to fry the other side or just leave as that if you want the top is partially cooked.

6.  Serve hot with plain or fried rice or bread.

Suwam na Mais

"Suwan na Mais" is one of my brother's favorite dish. My mom usually prepare this dish on weekends. This is her own version of one of the Filipino's favorite food.

Ingredients:

oil
1 ginger, chopped
1 medium sized onion, chopped
2-3 pieces corn, removed from the cob
1 piece carrot, sliced
1 piece patola, sliced
1 small squash or kalabasa, sliced
boiled pork, sliced
1 can corn kernels
salt and pepper to taste
sili leaves or alugbati (spinach vine)
bagoong (fish sauce)

Heat the oil in a sauce pan the saute the ginger, onion, bagoong and pork.  Add the pork stock. Let it boil for a few minutes. Add the fresh corn, corn kernels in can, carrot, kalabasa, and alugbati leaves. Let it simmer. Then add the patola. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

Fish Balls

We do sometimes cook fishballs at home for a snack.  FISHBALL is commonly eaten here in the Philippines and are sold by street vendors pushing wooden food carts.  The balls are served skewered  and offered with a choice of three kinds of dipping sauces: SPICY - vinegar, water, diced onions and garlic ;  SWEET- corn starch, banana ketchup, sugar, salt ; and SWEET AND SOUR- the sweet variety with lots of small hot chilis added. But there are also new "ball" varities like chicken, squid (cuttlefish), and kikiam.

You can buy fishballs in the supermarket and cook it at home.  And just make your own sauce. I prefer sweet and sour sauce.

Melt-in-the-mouth Chocolate Cake

Decadent.... addicting.. chocoholic's dream... only a few words that can describe this moist chocolate cake.  It is very much in demand during birthday parties and other special occasions!

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, unsifted
3 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups cocoa powder, unsifted
2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
3 pieces eggs
1 1/2 cup evaporated milk
3/4 cup corn or soya oil
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup boiling water

1.  Grease a 13x9x2 1/4 inch baking pan

2.  Combine all ingredients together except for boiling water.

3.  Beat at medium speed, about 3 minutes, then at high speed for 2 minutes.

4.  Add boiling water.  Blend well. (Resulting mixture has thin consistency).  Pour onto prepared pan.  Bake at preheated 350F oven  for 45 minutes.  Remove pan from oven and cool before inverting pan onto cake

rack.  Cool cake completely.

CHOCOLATE ICING:

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup unsifted cocoa powder

2  300ml cans condensed milk

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.  In double boiler, over boiling water, melt butter and cocoa powder together.  Stir smooth ans free from lumps.

2.  Add slowly.  Using wire whisk, stir mixture continuously until thick and of spreading consistency.

3.  Cool icing before spreading on cake.

Guinataang Bilo Bilo ( Rice Balls with Coconut Milk )

Ginataan, alternatively spelled guinataan, is a Filipino term which refers to food cooked with "gata" - the Filipino word for coconut milk. Literally translated , ginataan means "done with coconut milk".  Due to general nature of the term, it can refer to a number of different dishes, each called ginataan, but distinct from one another. If gummy balls made of pounded  glutinous rice are added, it becomes a dish called bilo-bilo.

1 cup malagkit ( glutinous rice flour )

1 cup sugar

3 cups coconut milk. diluted with 1/2 cup water

1 cup sugar

2 cups large pearl tapioca (sago)

1 1/2 cups coconut cream

langka (jackfruit), cut in strips (optional)

1.  Blend flour and water and blend them into dough.  Shape into balls measuring 1/4 diameter. 

2.  In a large pot, bring coconut milk, sugar, and tapioca to a boil.  When tapioca turns transparent in color, add the rice balls.

3.  Add remaining pure coconut milk when the rice balls are soft and firm.  Boil for 5 more minutes.

4.  Serve hot.

Popcorn Trivia

Popcorn pops because water is stored in a small circle of soft starch in each kernel. As the kernel is heated, the water heats, the droplet of moisture turns to steam and the steam builds up pressure until the kernel finally explodes to many times its original volume.

Corn was first grown about 7000 years ago in the highlands of central Mexico, and by the first century B.C. was a staple crop of all the agricultural peoples in the Americas. One of the first uses of corn kernels was for popping.

The oldest ears of popping corn were discovered in a bat cave in New Mexico; they are over 5,500 years old.

A shortage of baking flours after World War II forced breadmakers to substitute up to 25% of wheat flour with ground popped popcorn. Over the years, popcorn also has been used as an ingredient in pudding, candy, soup, salad and entrees. 

Popcorn was actually the first food to be microwaved deliberately. In 1946 Dr. Percy Spencer of the Raytheon Corporation was experimenting with a magnetron (a new type of vacuum tube) when he noticed that the chocolate candy bar in his pocket had melted. He was curious, so he placed some popcorn kernels next to the magnetron and turned it on - the popcorn popped. After experimenting with various other food items (including an egg that exploded!), he and Ratheon realized they were on to something and continued on to develop the first microwave oven.

Threading popcorn onto a string is a very common Christmas tree decoration during tough times.

The world’s largest popcorn ball weighed 3,415 pounds and was 8 foot in diameter and 24.6 feet around. It was unveiled in October 2006 in Lake Forest, Illinois.

The “Popcorn Capital of the World” is claimed by at least six mid-western states in the United States, but the majority of popcorn is grown in Nebraska and Indiana. Texas production is on the rise.

The Chinese have another method for popping popcorn. The corn is placed into a large cast iron container and sealed. It is turned over a fire on a rotisserie. When the pressure gauge indicates its ready, they remove it from the fire, put a canvas sack over the lid and release the seal. It makes a huge boom as all of the popcorn explodes at once. (see video below)

Kernels that do not pop at the correct temperature where they should are known in the popcorn industry as “old maids”. A popped kernel is known a “flake”. The flakes come in two shapes. They are either ball-shaped cauliflower looking balls with few wings called mushrooms, or they are butterfly flakes where they have protruding wings or offshoots. The butterfly flakes have a better mouth feel, but because the mushroom flakes are sturdier, they are the ones manufacturers tend to use in packaged popcorn. One cob can produce both kinds of kernels, but they have also developed corn varieties that produce 100% of one variety.

In the same way that Girl Scouts are known for selling cookies, the Boy Scouts are known for selling popcorn as their big fundraiser.

Courtesy of Hubpages