Overseas Pinoy Cooking

Kalderetang Bangus is one of the 101 ways on how to cook bangus. To make our cooking life easier I used the usual kaldereta mix. The only hard part is frying the milkfish, I have to warn everyone when frying milkfish expect a lot of oil splashes. The best method is fry the fish in a non stick frying pan with generous amount of oil and a clear glass cover, so that the fish can be viewed with out removing the cover. Once the its ready to flip the fish or done just remove the frying pan from heat let cool down a few minutes before flipping or removing the fish. Instead of the usual potato I used kamote . I also used generous amount of cheese, I know most Pinoy loves cheesy sauce. Here is the recipe of my version of Kalderetang Bangus. Ingredients: 1 big size milkfish, about half kilo, sliced. 1 large size sweet potato, sliced 1 packet kaldereta mix 1 medium size green or red bell pepper, julienne 1/2 tsp. red chili flakes 1 cup grated cheddar cheese 1/4 head garlic, chopped

Lechon Macau , here is my version of lechon Macau using pork rasher. Fresh pork rasher, pork belly cut into about 2” by 1” rectangle are always available here at Woolworth Supermarket.  I was planning to make some  lechon kawali  but I run out of oil, instead I end up making this lechon Macau. Seasoning is simple just rub the pork with Chinese five spice powder, pepper and salt. Here is my version of Lechon Macau. Ingredients: 1 kilo pork rasher, pork belly 2-3 pcs. star anise 1/2 head garlic, crushed 2-3 pcs.bay leaf Chinese five spice powder salt and pepper Cooking procedure: In a pot place the pork and add water to cover the meat up to about 1”. Add the star anise, garlic, bay leaf and about 1 tbsp. of salt. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes or until just tender. Remove from pot drain and let cool down. Using a fork prick the pork skin all the way down to the meat layer. The skin should be pricked as close as possible. Rub the skin with salt,

Menudo with Baked Beans , I heard a lot about this dish. This version of menudo uses baked beans as extender. For my version I did not add hotdog I though it is no longer necessary with all those baked beans.  Cooking is basically the same with the usual menudo but instead of thickening the sauce with cornstarch, just add the baked beans at the last minute of cooking. Another unusual ingredient is the addition of green peas. Here is the recipe. Ingredients: 1/2 kilo pork, cut into small cubes 1/4 kilo pork liver, cut into small cubes 1 big can baked beans 1 medium size red bell pepper, diced 1 large size potato, cut into small cubes 1 medium size carrot, cut into small cubes 1/2 cup green beans, pre-cooked 1 medium size, chopped 1/2 head garlic, chopped 2-3 pcs. bay leaf 1/4 cup soy sauce 1 cup tomato sauce 1/2 cup raisin 1 tsp. sugar salt and pepper cooking oil Cooking procedure: In a sauce pan sauté garlic and onion, add in pork and stir coo

Shrimp with Green Peas , I love the blend of colors of this dish. This is not only visually appealing it is yummy as well. It’s another quick and easy dish, I used fresh pre-cooked and shelled shrimp for this recipe. To make the dish different I added turmeric and paprika. I also add some snow peas for additional vegetables. If fresh shrimps are not available frozen shrimps is a good alternative. Here is the recipe. Ingredients: 1/4 kilo pre-cooked and shelled shrimp 1 small size red or green bell pepper, diced 1/2 cup pre-cooked green peas 1 cup snow peas, trimmed 1-2 pcs. red chili, sliced 1/4-1/2 tsp. turmeric powder 1/4-1/2 tsp. paprika powder 1/4 cup cornstarch 1/4 head garlic chopped 1 tsp. grated ginger salt and pepper cooking oil Cooking procedure: Heat wok until it start to smoke, add about 2 tbsp. cooking oil. Add in garlic and ginger, stir cook for about half a minute. Then add in the vegetables and stir cook for 2 to 3 minutes, remove from wok an

Chicken Stirfry with Hoisin Sauce is one simple chicken dish that is quick easy and delicious. The dish is made up of chicken strips marinated with soy sauce and cornstarch stirfried with Hoisin sauce and oyster sauce. For an added kick I added some red chili on the stirfry but it can be omitted especially if there are children to feed. Because the cooking time of this dish is just quick, I suggest that a very fresh chicken meat should be used. Typical with my other stirfry recipes this similarly is as easy here is the recipe. Ingredients: 1 skinless chicken breast, cut into strips 1 green or red bell pepper, julienne 1 small bundle spring onion, cut into 2” in length 1-2 pcs. red chili, sliced 1/2 head garlic, chopped 1 thumb size ginger, cut into thin strips 2 tbsp. Hoisin sauce 2 tbsp. oyster sauce 2 tbsp. soy sauce 2-3 tbsp cornstarch salt and pepper cooking oil       Cooking procedure: Place chicken in a big bowl, mix in soy sauce and cornstarch and let marinate for 10

Pancit Canton and Bihon with Beef and Broccoli is a tweaked version of the Pinoy pancit. For those who are looking for a variety in cooking the Pinoy pancit , here is a version using beef. Usually Pinoy pancit seldom used beef for sahog. This noodle stir fry is easy to prepare with minimal ingredients. I used baby broccoli for this recipe, they cooked quickly. For the beef I used beef tenderloin. For more variety I used a combination of pancit canton and bihon, but any Pinoy noodles will do. Here is the recipe. Ingredients: 1/4 kilo canton noddles 1/4 kilo bihon noddles, soaked in warm water 1/4 kilo beef sirloin, sliced thinly 1 bundle baby broccoli, split in half, stem thinly sliced, 1 small size onion sliced 1/2 head garlic, sliced thinly 1/2 cup soy sauce 1/4 cup oyster sauce 2 tbsp cornstarch salt and pepper cooking oil   Cooking procedure: Place the beef in a big bowl, mix in half of the soy sauce and cornstarch and let marinate for at least 10 to 15 minutes. In a wok stir fry

Sopas is a Pinoy pasta soup dish made up of usually macaroni elbow with sautéed chicken and pork, flavoured with milk. To most Pinoy this is a comfort food, especially during the cold rainy seasons. Sopas is serve as a breakfast and a merienda dish. It is usually available in karinderias, office and school canteens. It is now winter on this part of Australia the temperature usually drops to a single digit, even though there is no snow it is still really chilly specialty to us Pinoys who are used to tropical climate. Sopas is just the right food to enjoy during this Australian winter seasons. Here is how I made my sopas, enjoy. Ingredients: 2 cups macaroni elbow pasta 1/2 kilo chicken thighs 1/4 kilo pork 1 cup mixed vegetables 1 small bundle, spring onion, chopped 1/2 head garlic, crushed 1/2 head garlic, chopped 1 small size onion quartered 1 medium size onion, chopped 1/4 cup fish sauce 1/2 cup evaporated milk 1 tsp. peppercorns salt and pepper

Adobong Tahong is one alternative method of cooking mussels. Frozen mussels are usually available in most part of the word but sometimes we Pinoys are hesitant on buying them for the reasons that we are used to eating them fresh from the shells. Today I will share to you my version of adobong tahong. I used frozen mussels but fresh one is fine as long as the shells are removed. The only set back is when mussels are overcooked they tend to be rubbery, so avoid cooking them to long. But for adobong tahong we have to settle for the little rubbery texture, for me I don’t mind as long as they are not that bad and its best to have a little chewiness on them. It may be a bit troublesome to find good quality of mussels in Metro Manila but sometimes you could find them at big supermarkets. Here is the recipe of my Adobong Tahong . Ingredients: 1/2 kilo mussel meat 1/2 head garlic crushed 2-3 slivers ginger 1-2 red chili, sliced 1/4 cup vinegar 1/4 cup cooking oil 2-3 tbs

Sweet and Sour Ham with Pineapple is one appealing and delicious way to cook left over ham. I have a block of honey cured ham that has been sitting in the ref. for sometime. I didn’t know what to do with it until I have seen the pineapple slices in can when I was at Woolworths. I though they will make a good sweet and sour. I am sure a lot of Pinoys who likes sweet food will love this. I also have a bottle of plum sauce lying at the cupboard so that was perfect. Cooking is easy and fast, any selection of sweet and sour vegetable is fine for this recipe. Here is how I cooked my Sweet and Sour Ham with Pineapple. Ingredients: 2 cups cube leftover ham 6 slices canned pineapple, cut to pieces, reserve syrup 1 medium size carrot, cut into cubes 2 medium size green/red bell pepper, diced 1 small bundle spring onion, cut into 1 1/2” in length 1 large size onion, diced 1/2 head garlic, chopped 1/2 cup tomato sauce 2 tbsp. plum sauce 1 tbsp. Worchester sauce

Nilagang Mani is cheap snack that perhaps every Pinoy loves. Boiled peanuts are popular street food in Metro Manila. It’s a common to see peanut peddlers pushing their cart with big can of peanut still being steamed by portable kerosene stove on a busy intersection. I was craving for boiled peanut then I realized that I have some unpublished photos of them. This one is over due I forgot about it. I cooked them during my last stay in Manila, I have bough two kilos of fresh raw peanuts from a wet market near our home. They were still covered with the dirt which I tough was intentionally sold that way to add more weight. Cooking boiled peanuts seams simple and easy but mind you it’s a bit tricky. Boiling seems forever and add generous amount of salt, enough to penetrate the peanut shell. Here’s how to boil peanuts. Ingredients: 2 kilos peanuts in shells 3-4 tbsp. salt Cooking procedure: Wash thoroughly the peanuts until all the clinging dirt are removed. In a big pot plac

Dinaldalem is sometimes referred to as Igado . Dinaldalem comes from dalem the Ilocano word for liver . The dish is made up of thin slices of pork meat and liver stewed in vinegar and soy sauce . The addition of other pork innards is very common that would make the dish more of igado but still they are regarded as dinaldalem . To extend the dish shelf life dinaldalem is cooked dry and with out the addition of vegetable ingredients. That was of course the time when refrigerator is not as common especially in rural places. I like my dinaldalem with oily sauce which goes well with rice . I also added some chick peas and green peas this will also add some flavour and of course make the this more appealing. Here is the recipe of my Dinaldalem . Ingredients: 1/2 kilo liver, slice thinly, rinsed 1/2 kilo pork loin, slice thinly 1 small size onion, chopped 1/2 head garlic, chopped 1 small can chick peas 1 small can green peas 1 tbsp. sugar 1/2 c. vinegar

Sautéed Mung Bean Sprouts . The mung bean sprouts I used on this recipe are not the usual fully grown bean sprouts (togue) instead the mung bean sprouts are only starting to germinate, the mung bean root are just about 1/4” in size and most of the bean skin is still intact. It is a similar the half grown togue sold in Metro Manila. They are available in most supermarket here in Australia, I think they are eaten as fresh as green salads. They come in small packages. I wanted to try to cook it the usual guinisang togue and determine if it can be used as substitute to the oversize bean sprouts that are also available here. The resultant dish as expected is comparable to the half grown togue. It needs to be cook a little bit longer though and have to make do with all those extra green skin which is good because they are vegetable fiber that is needed on for digestion. For the information of those who are not familiar there are two kind of togue used in Pinoy cooking the u

Beef Pares is a popular economy lunch usually served at neighborhood karenderias, office and school canteens. A reader who was looking for a perfect beef pares has ask for this recipe. I could safely say that there is no such perfect recipe for beef pares, just like the adobo there are countless ways to cook the dish. There are so many factors that are considered, like the quality of the ingredients and sometimes it really defends to economics and of course individual preference. However there is common factor beef is braised in soy sauce and sugar and garnished with chopped spring onion. Beef pares which literary means paired beef, is serve paired with garlic fried rice and soup. For my version of beef pares I made sure that the soup is as delicious as the braised beef as well. Here is the recipe of my Special Beef Pares. Enjoy. Ingredients: 1/2 kilo beef brisket, cut into large cubes 1/2 cup soy sauce 1 tbsp. sugar 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped 1 small

Thai Green Chicken Curry is another popular dish from Thailand. Green curry is one of the several type of curry used in Thailand cooking. Green curry paste is available in most supermarkets or any Asian store. Green chicken curry usually cooked with small round young green eggplants but as an alternative the regular Asian eggplant can be used. Button mushrooms and bamboo shoots may also be added for texture. Another must ingredient is the leaves of kaffir lime, it is also available in Asian stores dried or frozen. If you have tried and learned to love Thailand Tom Yum dishes or Pad Thai noodle dishes, I am very sure that you will definitely love this dish. Here is how I cooked my version of Thai Green Chicken Curry. Ingredients: 1/2 kilo skinless chicken breast, cut crosswise into serving pieces 2-3 pcs. medium size eggplant, cut into serving pieces 3-5 pcs. kaffir lime leaves 1/2 head garlic, chopped 2-3 pcs. red chili, sliced 1 medium size onion, chopped 3 tbsp

Pork and Asparagus Stirfry . This is another quick and easy to make stirfry dish. I just marinated the pork loin in soy sauce and cornstarch. Cooking method is the same with all my stirfry recipes. You can never go wrong with stirfry cooking as long as you know the basics. Meats are usually marinated with soy sauce and cornstarch. For aromatics just have some chopped garlic and thin strips of ginger. Vegetables are just stir cooked, don’t overcook then keep aside to be added after stirfrying the meats. For the sauce there are several choices oyster, hoi sin, black bean sauce etc. and they are usually available in most supermarkets. For my Pork and Asparagus Stirfry I used hoi sin sauce. Here is the recipe. Ingredients: 1/2 kilo pork loin, thinly sliced crosswise 1 bunch asparagus, cut into 2” lengths 1 small red bell pepper, cut into strips 1 thump size ginger, cut into thin strips 1/4 head garlic, chopped 1/4 cup soy sauce 2 tbsp hoi sin sauce 1/4 cup cornstarch salt and pepper cooki