Overseas Pinoy Cooking

Inihaw na Talong at Okra are my favorite vegetable side dish for barbecue or anything inihaw or grilled meats or seafoods . They are grilled side by side with the barbecued meat or grilled fish. And to complete the dish it is served with KBL the Ilocano acronym for kamatis (chopped tomatoes), bagoong (salted anchovies) and lasona (chopped onions). When ever I am at home with my family, I always try to have a barbecue with the family during the weekends. This is the time when every member of the family is at home. We normally have our barbecue lunch outdoor and eat with our hands. The magic word is “kakain sa labas”, which is to most Pinoy means to have a meal out in a restaurant. But to my family its and outdoor barbecue meal. Ingredients: 6 medium size talong , eggplant 12 pieces okra , lady finger 2 medium size tomato, chopped 1 small size onion, chopped bagoong na isda , salted anchovies Cooking procedure: Grill each eggplant until skin is charred, let cool...

Grilled Pork Loin . My doctor advised me to refrain from fatty foods including pork, but she did told that I could have lomo or loin with fats trimmed. I was craving for inihaw na baboy , liempo in particular but I am not allowed and it’s a big “ no-no ” for me, so I have to settle for the grilled pork loin.  The marinade is basically the same with my previous grilled or barbecued recipes. For sure it’s not a 100% fats free meal but this is the leanest part of the pork. Ingredients: 1 kilo pork loin, 2 pcs. about half kilo a piece 1 cup 7-Up or Sprite 1/4 cup kalamansi juice 1/2 cup soy sauce 1/2 head garlic, crushed 1/4 cup brown sugar 3 tbsp. worcestershire sauce 2 tbsp. hot sauce salt and pepper to taste Knorr Liquid Seasoning Cooking procedure: Wash pork loin, remove any traces of blood. Drain in a strainer. I a plastic container with lid mix all the marinating ingredients. Coat pork loin with the marinade then arrange side by side, cover and ma...

Pansit Miki Gisado . Often times flat egg noodles are hard to find at most Metro Manila supermarket. For some reason noodle racks of these supermarkets are overfilled with canton and bihon noodles, it seems that Metro Manila dwellers are only able to cook these two types of noodles, pansit canton or pansit bihon that’s why other types of noodles are most of the time are not available. When ever I want to have or to cook noodles other than bihon or canton I have to visit the supermarkets that cater to the well-to-do families. On these groceries most likely you could find varieties of noodles both imported and local. On this recipe I needed a flat miki noodles, it is basically a flat egg noodles. I used a similar Vietnamese egg noodles called mi trung, they are packed in balls at 500g a bag. It doesn’t matter what brand it is if this noodle is not available at your location, any flat noodle would do you could also use the Vigan miki noodles . Of course cooking times is adjusted accordin...

Sautéed Broiled Eggplant . There is a very popular eggplant with egg scrambled/omelet Ilocano dish called poqui-poqui . Here is another version with out the egg it is as good as well. More often life in the province when I was a kid is hard. There are times when we can not even afford to have eggs in the dinning table. We just settle to what ever available vegetables at our backyard vegetable garden. Vegetables are just cooked boiled or steamed together with the rice, (Click here ) or broiled over the fire of cooking pot of rice. When oil is available at our kitchen we could have a sautéed vegetable dish. And this sautéed broiled eggplant was and always been one of my favorite. I love the flavor broiled eggplant where its juices are caramelized during the stir cooking process. Try this dish and I am certain you’ll enjoy it. Ingredients: 6 medium size eggplant 2 medium size tomato, diced 1 medium size onion, diced salt cooking oil Cooking procedure: Grill each eggplan...

Dinengdeng , Green Leafy Version . The Ilocano dinengdeng is a versatile dish for the reason that it could be cook with what ever vegetable that is available or in season. From root vegetables like the kamote or sweet potato, to the colorful vegetable flowers like the bulaklak ng kalabasa or squash floret . Dinengdeng is a vegetable boiled with fish bagoong dish that is topped with what ever available broiled or fried fish. The cooking procedure for this green leafy version is basically the same from my previous post. Click here and here . I just used more of the green vegetable tops and leaves. I have also added squash flowers which was available at that time. Ingredients: 1 big bowl of combination but not limited of the following leafy vegetables with upo and talong. malunggay  fruits, skinned, cut into 2” lengths strips malunggay  leaves, removed from stem upo , cut into wedges eggplant, cut into 2” lengths strips kamote  tops, leaves...

Daing na Bangus . As mentioned in my previous post on daing na talakitok , this daing is not the usual salted and sun-dried daing or tuyo . Small to medium size bangus are cut split open and marinated with vinegar and plenty of garlic, black pepper, salt and some versions with a little sugar. Daing na bangus is one of the most popular way of cooking bangus. It is easy to prepare and convenient to cook for a nutritious Pinoy breakfast. Ingredients: 4 small to medium sized bangus 1/2 cup vinegar1/2 head garlic, chopped 1/2 tsp. sugar salt and pepper cooking oil Cooking procedure: Prepare the fish or ask your fish monger to prepare. Cut at the back along the bones of each bangus leaving the belly intact, open up and spread flat. Remove gills and innards, wash and drain. Place the fish in a deep container with lid. combine all the marinating ingredients except the cooking oil. Thoroughly coat the fish with the marinade and leave to marinate in the refrigerator overni...

Breaded Pork Chop is another pork dish that is normally served at carinderias and most likely your canteen. They are popular also in fast food restaurant. Most Pinoy love this dish with a lot of banana ketchup as a dipping sauce and some like them hot and spicy and prefer chili sauce for the dipping sauce. The original recipe call for coating the pork chop with bread crumbs and deep fried until crispy. I didn’t have the bread crumbs at that time so used all purpose flour instead. The breading is basically the same with my Kentucky fried chicken , I simply rub the pork chops with salt and pepper and let stand for at least 15 minutes before coating. Here is how I cooked it. Ingredients: 1 kilo pork chops 1 tsp. garlic powder 1 egg, beaten 1/4 cup fresh milk 2 cups all purpose flour salt and pepper cooking oil Cooking procedure: Rub pork chops with salt and pepper and let stand for 15-20 minutes. Beat egg and add in milk in a big bowl, in another big bowl, mix flour, baking powder, gar...

Buko Salad . I wanted a pure buko salad with out any sweetened fruit or any other ingredients added, but I was persuaded that buko salads are better if the other usual ingredients are added including the diced buttermilk cheese. I still call this sweet dessert buko salad even though a can of fruit cocktail, kaong , nata de coco and canned sweet corn was added and of course the diced buttermilk cheese. I kept the other ingredients at minimum compared to the usual buko fruit salad . What ever version I love buko and or fruit salads so with most Pinoys. Ingredients: 6 cups  buko  meat, scraped into thin strips 2 cups fruit cocktail, drained 1 cup sweetened  kaong , drained 1 cup sweetened  nata de coco , drained 1 cup sweet corn, drained 1 cup thick all purpose cream 1 block buttermilk cheese, cubed 1 cup condensed milk Method: Combine and mix thoroughly all the ingredients in a big bowl. chill in a refrigerator until ready to serve. See...

Sitaw at Tokwa . Few months back I posted a recipe of a dish called asparagus with tofu . It’s a great dish no question about it but asparagus is not your everyday vegetable. They are rarely found in regular vegetable market, they don’t come cheap either. On that recipe I used also a premium firm tofu to match the asparagus being a premium vegetable as well. Now adopted a similar dish using regular ingredients that are available on most vegetable wet markets and of course much cheaper. Sitaw at tokwa uses string beans that are probably available in your own backyard vegetable garden and the regular tokwa which is normally used in your favorite tokwa’t baboy . Here is how I cooked it. Ingredients: 1 big block firm tokwa, cut into thick strips 2 bundles sitaw, string beans, cut into 2” length 1 thumb size ginger cut into thin strips 1 medium onion, sliced into rings 1 small size red bell pepper, julienne 1/2 head garlic, minced 1/2 c. oyster sauce 1 tbsp. soy sauce 2 tbsp. cornstarch sa...

Tuna Carbonara . The Pinoy carbonara has evolved into a sweet and creamy white sauced spaghetti dish. This probably because of our Pinoy sweet spaghetti which have come to love by our kids and most of Pinoy. Out of curiosity I did tried the carbonara served on most fastfood courts on several occasions. These versions are creamy sweet, they use a lot of sugar and commercially sold cream. Not unless you eat at authentic pasta or spaghetti restaurant you are missing the true taste of the real carbonara. Carbonara is normally topped with bacon tidbits, garnished with mixed Italian herbs (marjoram, basil, rosemary, oregano, parsley, thyme, ect.) For the sauce beaten egg is mixed in the pasta right after turning the heat off. Here is my version using canned tuna chunks instead of the usual bacon. Ingredients: 1 kilo spaghetti, cooked 2 small canned tuna chunk in oil 1 pack carbonara cream mix 3 large size egg, beaten 1/2 head garlic, finely chopped 1 medium size oni...

The Vigan Royal Bibingka is not the usual puffy bibingka that everybody is familiar with. It is a sticky rice cake closer to a cross of tikoy and cassava cake. Long before the commercialization by the bibingka bakers of Vigan, bibingka then were baked in circular clay pot lined with banana leaf under flaming charcoals and covered with sheet iron on top with flaming charcoal for even cooking. Click here to see the royal bibingka recipe. Vigan Royal Bibingka Original Recipe by Overseas Pinoy Cooking When I was a kid I used to help my grandma prepare and cook homemade bibingka in our backyard during Christmas and other special occasions. The batter is made up of glutinous rice flour with egg, sugar, milk, and margarine. It is then topped with finely grated cheddar cheese during the last few minutes of cooking but this was an option. Now the commercialized versions are baked in gas ovens using modern baking materials and packaging. To my knowledge Tongson’s was...