Overseas Pinoy Cooking

Beef and Ampalaya with Oysters Sauce , this is another popular restaurant dish. Another version is also found at carenderias it is called ampalaya con carne. The carenderia version it sautéed in soy sauce or with the addition of tausi or permented black beans. But most restaurant, Chinese restaurants in particular it’s stir fried with oyster sauce. I have been cooking this on several occasions, it’s a good alternative way of cooking your beef, see also my previous post of beef and broccoli in oyster sauce . Ingredients: 1 kilo lean beef, thinly sliced into strips 2 large size, ampalaya , split in halve de-seaded, sliced crosswise 1 medium onion, chopped 1/2 head garlic, minced 1/4 cup soy sauce 1/2 cup oyster sauce 1/4 cup cornstarch 1/2-1 tsp. sugar salt and pepper cooking oil Cooking procedure: Marinate beef in soy sauce, cornstarch and a dash of salt and pepper for 10 to 15 minutes. In a wok, heat cooking oil and stir fry beef in batches until color change t

Ginisang Sitaw at Sigarillas . Sitaw at sigarillas ( yardlong bean and winged bean ) what a combination? this two bahay kubo vegetables really go together. The Ilocanos keep them at their backyard gardens, when in season it’s a never ending source of vegetable for dinengdeng with inihaw na isda or when pork or beef is available, the Pinoy’s universal vegetable cooking method, ginisang gulay . Ginisang sitaw at sigarillas is basically the same cooking procedure with my previous post on ginisang sitaw . For best shrimp flavor the juices should be extracted from the head and shell of the shrimp. This method has been incorporated in the recipe, of course you could always use the commercially available shrimp cubes if you don’t like the extra work. Ingredients: 1/4 k. pork, diced 1/4 k. small size shrimp 2 bundle sitaw , cut into 1 1/2” length 1 bundle sigarillas , split and cut in halves 1/2 head garlic, minced 1 medium size onion, chopped 1 big size tomato, chopped 1/4

Seafood Fried Rice , the best fried rice I ever had is the Indonesian or Malay seafood fried rice or nasi goreng seafood. It is generously loaded with assorted seafood that are probably available in the kitchen at the time it was prepared. In fact it is already a meal on its own, when ever I had it at hawker centers or food courts it would already unnecessary to order for other main dish. The main ingredients of course leftover rice, sambal blacan (a sambal blacan is made of chili pounded with toasted shrimp paste) , assortment of seafood including fish meat, eggs, garlic, onioins and ketcap manis (it’s a Indonesian sweet thick soy sauce) . To my readers who have tried it during your travels to the far east, I am sure the reminiscence of the aroma of this dish in a hawkers center setting has now made you crave for this dish and all those hawker center foods be in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta or even in Johor or Batam. Here is my version of seafood fried rice. Ingredients:

Nilagang Baka with Lotus Root or Boiled Beef with Lotus Root . This caned lotus root on the Asian food section of this supermarket at our neighborhood caught my attention while looking for something to cook for dinner. Suddenly I remembered the beef nilaga with lotus root once served and cooked by my colleague’s wife when I was working in Singapore a couple of years back. That was an unforgettable dish I never thought lotus root can be cooked and goes well with our very own nilaga. I wonder if lotus is as good as potato in nilaga, then it may also be as good as gabi or taro root in sinigang . Lotus of course is popular in Chinese cuisine and even for the Malays in Singapore. Lotus root is sweet and can be eaten as fruit, sliced and stir fried, steamed or fried as sweet dessert. Tender young lotus roots are good for salads while starchy mature lotus roots are good for making soups. Lotus root powder makes wonderful thick soup and sweet dessert soup. Lotus root also has countless

Ginataang Hipon . Here is a quick ginataan seafood dish using big shrimps or prawns. Although fresh coconut is available in this part of the globe I have intentionally used powdered coconut milk on this recipe for the benefit of most of my readers who are overseas. Every ingredients on this recipe are most likely available in most cities around the world. Shrimp or prawns, pumpkins, string beans and of course powdered coconut milk. Cooking is simple, but the shrimp has to be pre-cooked or buy the steamed shrimp or prawns if available at your favorite supermarket. Remove the head and legs of each shrimp pre-steamed cook with crushed garlic and a dash of salt. Cooking method is the same as my previous post of ginataang alimasag . sauté the aromatics ingredients, add in the coconut milk let simmer for sometime and add in shrimp and vegetable. Here is the complete recipe. Ingredients: 1 k. hipon 1 bundle sitaw , cut into 2” lengths 200 g. kalabasa , cut into wedges 1/2 head

Tortang Carne, Ground Meat Omelet . I have made a post on tortang carne norte sometime back. I used same frying technique for this tortang carne recipe, I giant thick omelet. Unlike corned beef which is ready to eat, ground meat has to be cooked first before mixing with the beaten eggs. Basically the meat is just sautéed with minimal ingredient i.e. garlic onion, salt and pepper with a touch of soy sauce and lots of diced potatoes for that distinctive Pinoy taste. If you’re a novice with frying omelets and/or you like to flip over, for easier cooking you could always fry in small scopes at a time. Ingredients: 1/2 ground pork or beef 6 large size eggs, beaten 1 pc. medium size potato, diced 1/2 head garlic, minced 1 medium size onion chopped 1/4 cup soy sauce salt and pepper vegetable oil Cooking procedure: In a pan, sauté garlic and onion. Add ground meat and stir cook for 2-3 minutes or until meat turns to golden brown. Add soy sauce stir fry for 1-2 minut

Pancit Bihon Guisado, Pansit Canton Guisado . We Pinoys have our own version of noodle dish we call it pansit . Noodles is associated with the Chinese. Pancit is an innovation and adaptation from the Chinese noodle cuisine. It is fast and easy to prepare and cook, for this reason it is cooked on order at most restaurants or panciterias . In fact, pancit is derived from the Chinese Hokkien word “pian i sit” , which means something conveniently cooked fast. A birthday celebration is not complete with out pancit . Pancit bihon and canton guisado or even mix are favorite dish on birthday celebrations, it represents long life. It is usually served with bread slice or pandesal , and even with rice as a viand. Here are the recipes for bihon guisado, canton guisado and mixed pansit guisado . Basically the ingredients and cooking procedure are the same, except that there are ingredients that are best with either bihon or canton. Pansit Bihon Guisado Ingredients: 150

Tinowang Tanguige, Tinowang Isda . Here is another tinowa recipe, I have already posted a tinowa recipe using pampano fish with kamote tops sometime in September 2007. Now I have made it more simple, with out the kamote tops and using tanguige , now you can enjoy just the simple flavor of the fish soup. If you have been in Cebu, tinowang isda is a must have, there are restaurants and carinderias that offer a variety of fresh fish choices. Ingredients are very simple, fresh fish, best ones would be tanguige, lapu lapu, maya maya or other white fish. The most important ingredient is the tanglad or lemongrass and is available in most Asian section of supermarket. Just boil fish, tanglad with some ginger onion, tomato and garnish with leeks or spring onions. Ingredients: 1 k. tanguige slice (about 3-4 slices) 1 thumb size ginger, sliced 1 medium size onion, quartered 2 medium size tomato, quartered 2 stalks lemongrass 1 bundle leeks, cut into 2” length salt

Adobong Kangkong . Kangkong is a versatile vegetable on its own. It is usually of of the vegetable ingredients of sinigang and pinakbet , Kangkong is also  cooked with bagoong alamang , ensalada , crispy fried, atsara ect. and of course Adobong Kangkong . When I was working in Singapore, kangkong was a regular dish, it is one of the popular dish at hawker centers . In fact I love how they cooked it is called "kangkung sambal" it's stir fried with samba l ( Sambal is a sauce paste made up of chilies, garlic, tomatoes, shrimp paste, etc.). Compared to Adobong Kangkong, it is extremely hot and spicy. Kangkong is usually served as side dish for fried or grilled dish. Ingredients: 1 big bundle kangkong, trimmed, separate the stalks from the leaves 1/2 head garlic, peeled, crushed 1 small size onion, peeled, chopped 1/4 cup soy sauce 1/4 cup vinegar 1/4 tsp. peppercorns, crushed cooking oil Cooking procedure: In a sauce pan, stir-fry garli

Tortang Talong is another mainstay at carinderias , it is simple cheap and absolutely liked by most Pinoys young and otherwise. The best tortang talong would be the ones with out any filling just with beaten egg seasoned with salt and pepper, this way you could really enjoy the succulent eggplant wrap in egg infused with the juice of the grilled eggplant. It is easy to prepare you would not even need a griller to grill the eggplant just broil them on the open flame of your gas stove until the skin is charred, let it cool and remove skin. It is very important though that the eggplants must be slit open to check for any worms inside the meat. Check out photos on my previous post on poqui poqui . Ingredients: 4 medium size eggplant 6 large size eggs, beaten salt and pepper cooking oil Cooking procedure: Grill each eggplant until skin is charred, let cool. Remove skin of each eggplant. Using a knife slit open halfway along the body of eggplant and spread out and flatten

Adobong Kambing is another simple way of cooking goat meat if you are bored with kalderetang kambing which require a lot of spices and ingredients. This dish is equally as good and it is tangy which is the main characteristic of foods cooked adobo. Being a pungent meat it should be cooked with extra spices, aromatic ingredients, a lot of chilies or almost dry. This is one of the favorite pulutan during any drinking celebration. Some people don’t like goat meat for the reason that they have not tried before or they simply don’t like the pungent aroma of the meat. But this can be overcome by proper preparation and cooking. Would you agree? Here is my version of Adobong Kambing , enjoy! Ingredients: 1  kilo kambing spareribs, cut into serving pieces, bones intact 2 thumb size ginger, peeled, sliced 1 head garlic, peeled, crushed 1 large onion, peeled, sliced 1-2 tsp. peppercorns 2 stalk, lemon grass, trimmed, crushed 3-5 pieces bay leaf 1/3 cup soy sauce 3/4 cu

Menudo is another popular Pinoy dish. It’s a dice pork meat and liver stew with lots of diced potatoes and carrots and of course hotdog or sausage. It is commonly serve at carinderias, canteens and eateries along side with guiniling. Menudo is easy to cooked and cheap as well because of all the potatoes that act as extender this probably the reasons why menudo and guiniling are common at carinderias. Some people do not like the taste of the liver especially the children that is why they shun away from menudo. Of course when prepared and cooked properly liver will enhance the true flavor of menudo, it would not be menudo with out the liver. The trick is you have to parboil the pork meat until about tender this way it would be possible to sutee the liver together with the meat with out overcooking the liver, it has to be sautéed until dry and start to sizzle for the aromatic ingredient to infuse. Menudo is no doubt one of the favorite carinderia food what's yours? Ingredients:

Oyster Mushroom and Vegetables Stir Fry . Mushroom is not that common in Pinoy cooking compared to the Chinese, Japanese or the Koreans. Once in a while you can find local varieties at wet markets when in season especially in the province for the reason that they are harvested in the wild. I still remember when my grandfather would come home with a basketful of mushroom gathered from the woods. Those local varieties, I don't really remember or know what type, my grandmother would cook it adobo style or dinengdeng mixed with other vegetables are really tasty. Just thinking about it surely brings back old memories. I am sure a lot of you would experience the same and maybe could share it, write some feedback and help me identify what are the varieties of our local mushrooms. Those fresh mushroom sold at supermarket are the cultured variety that are grown in farms, dried and canned mushroom that are normally exported from countries where they are abundant. Fresh mushroom are pro

Beef and Broccoli with Oyster Sauce . Beef in oyster sauce is a popular Chinese dish amongst the Pinoys. It comes with broccoli, ampalaya or baby bok choy . Beef sold at supermarket here in Abu Dhabi normally comes from Australia or New Zealand. For some reason I don’t understand why they are not meant for the Pinoy dishes, they taste bland when used in nilaga or sinigang. Otherwise you have to use the parts that are oozing with fats not unless you wouldn’t mind all those cholesterol. The alternate way is of course cook it with the addition of flavor enhancing ingredient like soy sauce or oyster sauce. Here is the recipe if you want a different or alternative from your regular Pinoy cooking of beef. Ingredients: 1 kilo lean beef, thinly sliced into strips 1 medium size, broccoli, cut into serving pieces, stem thinly sliced 1 big can large button mushroom, cut in half 1 medium onion, chopped 1/2 head garlic, minced 1/4 cup soy sauce 1/2 cup oyster sauce 1 tbsp. lemon juic