Overseas Pinoy Cooking

Dried Fish is always associated with breakfast in our household. Of course most often this is the tuyo or tinapa with vinegar or tomato dip. I have always loved dried fish for breakfast one of my favorites is daing na espada (dried hairtails). Up in Ilocos this is one of the more popular dried fish. The Ilocanos just grill them in live charcoal and serve with sukang Iloko (Ilocos cane vinegar). Perhaps I should make a post also on grilled dried fish. Now going back to fried dried fish it is always best to rinse the dried fish before frying not only for removing dirt that might have contaminated the dried fish but also to reduce the saltiness. It has to be thoroughly drained and even pat dry with paper towels if necessary. Dried fish are should be fried quickly they will cooked very fast. Do not over fry most of us tend to over fry dried fish, they would look limp and floppy when they are still hot but once it cool down it will be stiff and crispy.     Ingredients: 1 packet...

Street food are food that are sold at street by food peddlers these could be a hawker using bilaos carried on top of their heads, bamboo basket, push carts, bicycles or those two metal containers balanced on bamboo poles on their shoulders and all types of improvised portable containers to carry their merchandise or side walk vendors from a makeshift or portable stall and side walk eateries. It also includes pasalubong of various native delicacies peddled at airport, seaport, bus or jeepney terminals. Most street food is sold as barbecue, fried, boiled or steamed ect. These are usually finger food, snack, fast food or even fruits and drinks. They are most often exotic but they are also an adaptation of western food or any foreign food. There is a wide array of street foods categories from candies and nuts to quick snacks and refreshments and even to a full selection of viands or meals. Pinoy street food names have been evolving thru the times and base on locality they are most...

Ginataang Pusit . I have been yearning to cook this dish for sometime now. I do have several squid dish now on the archives. This addition is my version of ginataang pusit I have been cooking like this ever since. There is not much recipe for ginataang pusit in the net. I have made several searches before, hoping to find how the Bicolanos cook their ginataang pusit. The dish is common in Bicol they also add some vegetables in the dish. I wanted the dish as cream white as possible to have a better visual appeal so I have discarded the ink sack and the eyes which gives a dark tint. I know the real flavors of a good squid dish are from the ink so should you wish to have the inks you could always add them. Enjoy. Ingredients: 1 kilo large size posit, squid 1/2 head garlic, crushed 1 mediuml size onion, chopped 1 thumb size ginger sliced 1 1/2 cup coconut milk powder 2-3 pcs. sili, chilli, chopped 2 tbsp. peppercorns, crushed 2-3 stalks spring onions, chopped 2 tbsp. vineg 3...

Fresh Fruit Juices are very refreshing and a natural quencher. I love fruit juices I mean the natural un-adulterated or pure real juice. There is nothing more refreshing than the natural sweetness, flavors and aroma of fruits. It is next to impossible to find fresh pure juices at most Metro Manila food outlets and drinks stalls or kiosk. On several occasion I did try on a several kiosk at a mall most are even carrying popular brands and at popular restaurants I always end up with sugar and ice on the drink with lots of coloring and perhaps a spoonful of fruit puree or might even just a fruit essence. One exception is buko juice it is probably because of the abundance of coconut in the country. I could not forget that trip to a place in Mindanao where a piece of buko is P1.00. May be due to economic reason real pure fresh juices are not common to Pinoys compared to other countries. In Singapore pure fresh fruit juices are available at hawker centers or food court, a glass of w...

Fried Asuhos . Most of the times asuhos has been mistaken as dilis , they are probably in the same family of fish. I usually make kinilaw with asuhos they are more convenient to prepare compared to their smaller cousin. I have not actually made a post on kinilaw na asuhos for the reason that most of the fish sold at the market here are frozen should I manage to find fresh asuhos I will definitely post a kinilaw. I do have the paksiw na asuhos on the archive. I wanted to have a crispy fried asuhos, I have made a similar post with this recipe using dilis. Click here . The recipe is basically the same except that I use more coating on each fish for the reason that I wanted the fish crisp on the outside and succulent in the inside. It was good especially with a vinegar, garlic and chili dip. Here is the recipe it is straight forward try it and enjoy. Ingredients: 1 kilo big size asuhos 1/4 c. kalamansi juice 1 cup corn starch salt and pepper cooking oil Cooking procedure: Remove gill...

Beef Menudo is a dish every Pinoy in the Middle East has come to love. Menudo is of course best with pork but being in a place where pork is not readily available we substitute the pork ingredients with alternative meat. Beef menudo is one of the best sellers of most Pinoy restaurant and eateries here in Abu Dhabi in fact I have tried it my self on several occasions. It is equally as good however the meat and liver are firmer compared to pork that’s why cooking time have been adjusted to give more time to cook the beef to an acceptable tenderness. Beef menudo is leaner also how ever if you prefer you could always use beef with more fats. The recipe is almost the same with pork menudo, here is how I cooked it. Ingredients: 1/2 kilo beef, cut into cubes 1/4 kilo beef liver, cut into cubes 6 pcs. beef sausage, cut into cubes 1 large bell pepper, cut into squares 2 medium size potato, cubed 1 medium size carrot, cubed 1 medium size onion, chopped 1/2 head garlic...

Shawarma. Last night after coming home late from work, I passed by at a neighborhood popular restaurant for my usual dinner of shawarma when ever I am not able to prepare dinner. The Arabic shawarma is a roast meat of lamb, beef or chicken sandwich in pita bread. It is made up of slices of meat marinated in yogurt, lemon juice, and other aromatic. The marinated meats are then skewed in a metal rod called spit. They are arranged in stacks in such a way that they form a cone of sliced meat. It is then places in front of a vertical gas flame roaster (vertical rotisserie). The meat is then roasted slowly on all sides as the spit rotates in front of the flame for a period of several hours. The cooked meats are then shaved off dropping to a circular tray, the shaved meat are then rolled in a sweet, fluffy Arabic flat bread called khubz (pita bread) together with vegetables such as onion, parsley, cucumber, tomato, lettuce, French fries, pickled turnips and gherkins and a creamy dressin...

Ukoy, Shrimp Fritter. Ukoy is a traditional dish made up of small shrimp in flour/cornstarch/egg batter deep fried into fritters. The patty of good ukoy should be really crispy on the outside and succulent in the inside. This is defendant with the use of flour and cornstarch on the batter. I wouldn’t recommend substituting it with just beaten egg otherwise you end up with a torta dish. Ukoy should be eaten right away once cooked. The best ukoy that I had are the ones sold under the bell tower of Saint Paul’s Cathedral up North in Vigan City. They are sold as street food alongside the equally popular Vigan empanada . Well we can't always travel up North then try to cook them yourself it is fairly easy. I used the fresh water shrimp, it is called ulang at our market they are suitable for ukoy because of their extended clamp compared to the normal shrimp. When fried they are very crispy, how ever you could always use the regular shrimp if they are not available. The bulakla...

Minatamis na Saging is a traditional simple merienda that I have enjoyed during my childhood when hamburgers, spaghetti or fried chicken was for the well off. Saba was always available in our backyard back then in the province. Today once in a while I have been cooking minatamis na saging for the kids. This was cooked when I made a post on Razon’s halo-halo together with my post on leche flan a few days back. The bananas are slowly simmered for about 30 minutes to achieve a rubbery gelatinous texture. It is best serve chilled and sometimes with milk. Ingredients: 12 pcs. ripe banana, saba variety, peeled 2 cups brown sugar 1/2 tsp. vanilla essence Cooking procedure: Arrange peeled banana in a sauce pan. Add sugar and fill with water till it fully covers the bananas. Bring to a boil and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the bananas are cooked and the syrup is reduced to half. Add vanilla essence during the final 3-5 minutes of cooking. Let cool and chill in the ...

Ukoy - Shrimp fritter. Made up of small shrimp in flour or cornstarch batter garnished with onion and/or spring onion, fried until crisp serve with vinegar, garlic and onion dip. Utan - Visayan boiled assorted vegetables seasoned with salt to taste and topped with buwad (sun dried fish). Visayan word for vegetacbles. Yema - A traditional sweet milk/egg jam made up of boiled condensed milk with egg yolk and flavored with vanilla. It is also made into balls coated with sugar.

Paella - Rice cooked in tomato sauce with chorizo sausage, meat and/or seafood. Is an adaptation of the Spanish Paella Valenciana. It is made up of rice cooked with sautéed chorizo, pork, chicken and/or shrimp, crab, clams or mussels in garlic, onion, paprika, and squid, salt and pepper with tomato sauce, roasted bell pepper, garnished with green peas and sliced eggs. Paella Negra - Rice cooked in squid ink with seafood. Made up of rice cooked in squid ink with sautéed shrimp, crab, clams or mussels and squid in garlic, onion, paprika, salt and pepper with roasted bell pepper, garnished with green peas and sliced eggs. Paklay - Visayan Pork offal/innards stew with bamboo shoot. Made up of sautéed pork offal/innards in garlic, onion, salt and pepper stewed with vinegar, cube pineapple and bell pepper. Paksiw na Lechon - Roast meat stew in vinegar and liver sauce. Made up of leftover pork or chicken lechon (roast) stewed in vinegar and left-over liver sauce. Paksiw na Isda - Fish stew ...

Kakanin - Traditional sweet dessert and snacks. Kaldereta - Spicy meat stew in tomato and liver sauce. Usually red meat marinated in vinegar, salt and pepper, quickly fried/seared to seal in the flavors before sautéing in garlic, onion and stewed in tomato sauce, liver paste with carrot, potato, bell pepper and chopped sili (chili). Chicken or fried fish can also be use but goat meat is best for this dish. Kalingking - Sweet potato fritters. A sweet delicacy from Batanes made up of fried kamote (sweet potato) strips in flour and sugar batter. Kamote que - Deep fried kamote (sweet potato root) slices coated with caramelized sugar served in bamboo skewer. Kandinga - Bicolano version of bopis. Kanin - Cooked rice. Kare-kare - Stew in ground peanut/rice sauce. Made up of par-boiled oxtail, oxtripe or pork hocks stewed in ground toasted rice and peanut broth until texture is almost like gelatin with puso ng saging (banana bud), eggplant, sitaw (string bean), pechay and annatto extract for...