Overseas Pinoy Cooking

Ginataang Pitik, Slipper Lobsters in Coconut Milk is one special dish that I am sharing today. Pitik-pitik as we call them the poor cousin of lobster. When in season they, like the crabs usually come out on water surface during the night. I know this for the fact that I used to worked offshore on the oil and gas industry, we build those offshore oil and gas rig structures like our Malampaya Structure in Palawan. Slipper lobsters for some reason would come up floating on the water during the night. The sea is literally full of pitik and all we had to do is scoop them out with a basket net, any of my seamen brothers out there would attest to this especially those who have been to the Arabian Gulf. All we have to do was cook them under the heat of a large mercury bulb. But today I thought they are also good cooked guinataan style. Ginataang Pitik cooking method is basically the same with my Ginataang Alimasag , here is the recipe. Ingredients: 1 kilo slipper lobster 2 ...

Halabos na Alimasag,  Steam Crabs  is a special dish to most Pinoys including in our home for the reason that crabs are more expensive than the other seafoods . Halabos is a method cooking or steaming shelled seafoods with its own juices. It is usually seasoned with just salt and garlic with 7up or sprite as an option. I have about a kilo each of blue crabs and green grabs I just purchased from the local seafood cooperative market which I cooked halabos style . Just looking the vibrant atomic red color of steamed crabs indicates a fiesta meal to enjoy. Crabs are best eaten with bare hands . Halabos na alimasag is serve with vinegar garlic dip spiced with hot chili peppers. Here is the recipe of my simple Halabos na Alimasag, Steam Crabs . Watch out your cholesterol level. Ingredients: 1 kilo blue or green crabs 1/2 garlic crushed 1/2 cup 7up or Sprite salt to taste Cooking procedure: Remove the belly flap of each crab and was thoroughly...

Sinigang na Sugpo at Alimasag is one special seafood dish that I have been planning to do for quite some time now. Till now I have not tried cooking crab sinigang style, today I have finally cook prawn and crab sinigang combination. I have to visit several Pinoy stores for the vegetable ingredients. I have found okra and kangkong however there are no radish. As a subtitude for the radish I used the small round with red skin radish which are always available in most supermarket here. Eggplant was also available at my local supermarket but they are pricey. My Siningang na Sugpo at Alimasag came out great thanks for the fresh ingredients. The sea food I used was bought from the seafood cooperative market. Here is the recipe of my Sinigang na Sugpo at Alimasag. Ingredients: 1/4 kilo large size prawns 1/2 kilo green or blue crabs, cut in half 1 bunch radish, sliced 1 bunch kangkong , trimmed 2 small size eggplant, sliced crosswise 6-8 pieces okra , sliced crosswise 1 large siz...

Ginisang Kalabasa at Talong . I would like to share another favorite vegetable soup dish, it is similarly cooked with ginisang mungo . This soup vegetable dish is made up of sautéed squash, eggplant and ampalaya. I was not able to find any ampalya at the time of my cooking but then if you love ampalaya then you can either use ampalaya fruit or leaves. The dish is also cooked with pork and shrimps. Tinapa flakes may also be used similar to the usual ginisang mungo. Here is the simple resipe of ginisang kalabas at talong. Ingredients: 3 cups sliced squash 3 medium size eggplant, cut into strips 1 medium size ampalaya , cut into strips 1 cup diced cooked pork 1/2 cup small size cooked shrimp 3 cloves garlic chopped 1 small size onion, chopped 1 small size tomato chopped 1/4 cup fish sauce salt to taste cooking oil Cooking procedure : In a sauce pan sauté garlic, onion and tomato and stir in the pork and shrimp. Add in fish sauce and stir cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add in 3 to 4 cups of wate...

Spicy Chili con Carne is a popular spicy ground beef dish. My version is on the very hot side but if you cannot take the extra heat just reduce the chili ingredients to your preference. To allow the flavors to infuse together the dish is best serve the day after. But if you cannot wait that long just let the dish to cool down until the sauce thickens a bit. Chili con carne is popular garnish for hot dog sandwich serve with a lot of cheese and pickled relish. However to us Pinoys this is one yummy vian ( ulam ), serve with a lot of rice. Enjoy. Ingredients: 1/2 kilo ground beef 1 small can (300g) cooked red kidney beans, drained 1 medium size red bell pepper, diced 1/2 head garlic, chopped 1 large size onion, chopped 2 large size tomato, chopped 2 tbsp. tomato paste 2-3 red/green chili chopped 2 tbsp. dried parsley flakes 1/2 tsp. dried oregano flakes 1-2 tbsp. dried chili flakes 1/2-1 tsp. cayenne/chili powder 1 tsp. paprika 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce 2-3 pieces bay leaf 2 tbsp. ch...

Beef Meatballs Kaldereta is another innovative dish that I want to share. It is made up of regular beef meatballs cooked Pinoy kaldereta style with button mushrooms, baby potatoes, egg and flavoured with Spanish chorizo and liver spread. This is fairly easy recipe and it’s a good alternative way of cooking meatballs that are usually available in most supermarkets. For my version I used some special kaldereta ingredients, however should you prefer you kalderata version or some of the ingredients are not available then go ahead use your own cooking method of kaldereta all that is needed is substitute the regular meat with meatballs. Here is the recipe of my Beef Meatballs Kaldereta, enjoy. Ingredients: 1/2 kilo regular beef meatballs 6 small size egg, hard boiled 6 medium side baby potato, peeled 1 large size carrot, cut crosswise into 6 parts, peeled 200 grams large size button mushroom 1/2 cup pitted green olives 3-4 small size Spanish chorizo, cut diagonally 4 to 6 s...

Pork Ampalaya with Black Beans , in the tradition of beef ampalaya I would like to share a version using pork. The dish is made up of strips of pork belly instead of beef, the pork is first pre-boiled then sautéed with black beans or tausi and soy sauce before adding the ampalaya and quickly simmered with oyster sauce. The dish really turned out great probably because of the use of pork belly instead of lean pork, I would suggest using pork loin if a leaner dish is preferred. I have no hesitation recommending the dish to every one especially to those who love ampalaya. Here is the recipe of my Pork Ampalaya with Black Beans. Ingredients: 1/4 kilo pork belly, cut into thick strips, boiled 1 big size ampalaya , de-seeded, cut into strips 2-3 clove garlic, chopped 1 small size onion, chopped 1 small can fermented black beans, tausi 1/4 cup oyster sauce 1/4 cup soy sauce 1/4 cup cornstarch cooking oil salt to taste   Procedure: In a wok sauté garlic and onion until fragrant add in th...

Sinanglay na Barramundi, barramundi fillet wrapped with bok choy and cooked with coconut milk . barramundi or Asian sea bass is one of the more popular fish in Australia. On most Australian supermarkets and fish shops they are usually sold cleaned filleted without or with skin on. I love seafood and I have been thinking what is the best Pinoy method of cooking the fish. Watch the Barramundi Episode of Iron Chef America A lot of barramundi fish dishes are in my mind but but most of them I don’t have the proper material or the right ingredients. Well I guess I have to do with the available ingredients locally. For my Sinanglay na Barramundi I used skinned barramundi fillet and Chinese bok choy which is also very abundant here. It might have been better also if I have bought barramundi fillet with skin on. To make the dish I used a lot of chopped tomato, onion, ginger, some red and green chili and mixed with sampalok sinigang mix and fish sauce. The salsa is then rolled in...

Tokwa at Baboy Adobo with Oyster Sauce is another delicious version of adobo I want to share. A lot of Pinoys love tokwa but the variety of cooking it is limited of few popular dishes. Tokwa is most often used as substitute for meat in vegetarian dishes. Open times when I cook tokwa I try to innovate other cooking methods or incorporate it with other popular Pinoy dish. My version of tokwat baboy adobo is one example, this may not be new but I tweaked the dish with the addition of oyster sauce which blend well with adobo and firm tofu. Here is the recipe of my Tokwa at Baboy Adobo with Oyster Sauce. Ingredients: 1kilo pork belly, cut into large cubes 2 big blocks firm tofu, cut into large cube, fried 1/2 head garlic, crushed 1/2 tbsp. peppercorns 2-3 bay leaf 1/2 cup white vinegar 1/2 cup soy sauce 1/4 cup oyster sauce 1 tbsp. sugar salt to taste Cooking procedure: In a large sauce pan place the pork vinegar, soy sauce, peppercorns, bay leaf and a...

Mushroom and Spinach simply sautéed with pork and shrimp Pinoy style is the dish I cooked out of frustration for the limited availability of vegetables in this part of the globe. Sure there are a lot of vegetables here but the variety is limited to the like of broccoli, pumpkins, artichoke, ect. Most of the vegetables are usually the type we used in our chopsuey . Once in a while eggplant, string beans and ampalaya are available but they come extremely overpriced compared to the other vegetables. I was craving for some leafy Pinoy vegetable dish and have to make do on what vegetable that are in abundant here, my choice was spinach and mushrooms. There is nothing complicated on this recipe. The vegetables are just sautéed with all the usual Pinoy ginisa way. Here is the recipe of my Ginisang Mushroom and Spinach recipe . Ingredients: 150 grams oyster mushroom, cut to pieces 2 bunch spinach, cut crosswise 1 cup pork, boiled cut into thin strips 1 cup small size shrimp, shelled...