Overseas Pinoy Cooking

Ginataang Sugpo at Kalabasa, Prawn and Pumpkin in Coconut Milk . Using kalabasa on most of our seafood ginataan dish is not new. Kalabasa adds a creaminess and color to seafood ginataang dish . Today I used kalabasa to my ginataang sugpo the result was great, I did not only created a yummy dish, I did also cooked a colorful and visually appealing ginataang dish . To break the monotone of orange color I have also added some eggplant which is equally great for ginaataang dish. For the coconut milk I used canned coconut cream. Cooking is straight forward if you have already cooked ginataang dish before this one is fairly easy. Here is the recipe of my Ginataang Sugpo at Kalabasa, Prawn and Pumpkin in Coconut Milk . Ingredients: 1 kilo medium size small or medium sized prawns, shelled, leave tails 1/4 small sized pumpkin or squash, skinned, de-seeded, sliced thinly into small triangles 1-2 medium sized eggplant, cut into thin slices 2-3 pieces red or green chili,

Ginataang Canned Smoked Tuna with Spinach . This dish may not look as colorful or not visually appealing but mind you it is as good as any Vegetable Ginataang dish . I have been using baby spinach as an alternative vegetable on a lot of my vegetable dishes that I have cooked here in Australia . Baby spinach are readily available in most supermarkets even on remote mining Town where I am now located. Ginataang Canned Smoked Tuna with Spinach came about when I was looking for something that require less ingredient, easy to prepare and can be cook in less than 20 minutes. I am sure the ingredients should be available in most supermarket where ever you are including the spinach. As I said cooking is definitely easy, here’s how I cooked my Ginataang Canned Smoked Tuna with Spinach . Ingredients: 2 bags of 120 grams baby spinach 1 small can/140ml canned coconut cream 1 small can/125 grams canned smoked tuna slices 2-3 cloves garlic, peeled, crushed, chopped 1 thumb size

Pork Sisig, Mama Sita’s Mix . Making sisig should be dead easy just mix all the ingredients and quickly toss in a wok or served in a hot plate. The hard part is preparing the meat ingredients which requires two stages of cooking not including the actual making of the sisig . First the meat, usually pork face and ears for pork sisig are boiled, then drained dry, the second stage is usually grilling or roasting the boiled pig face and ears, at this point you may be already considering why not just buy a sisig dish in a restaurant to save time and effort. Hold on the hardest part is yet to come, chopping the grilled meat this involves a lot of labor and especially if you are aiming for a nice uniformed diced meat. Would Mama Sita’s sisig mix make cooking sisig easier? Not really, the mix is just a concoction of sisig spices and seasoning . You still need to pre-cook and chop your usual ingredients and cook or prepare the sisig as pet the instructions or as per your own method

Lamayo Breakfast . Lamayo in Palawan is a fresh dangit that is butterflied and marinated with vinegar, garlic and some crushed pepper. It is similar to the daing na bangus , marinated bangus of Dagupan and Manila . Similarly it is either deboned or with the bones, but most will be deboned. Lamayo is one of the must have and must take home food when you visit Palawan. It is usually served for breakfast and comes vacuum packed as a take home pasalubong. Lamayo in the Visayas or in Palawan, in particular is the process of preserving fish or fish preparation. Usually dangit are used for lamayo , but it can be applicable to any other similar fish or bangus as in bangrus lamayo . Lamayo in their vacuum  sealed bags if kept on freezer can last for months or a year as stated on the labels. But for sure in my opinion it would not last a couple of days or would be cooked straight away on most Pinoy homes . Lamayo , similar to daing na bangus are crispy fried and served

Pinoy Seafood Jambalaya . To my understanding Jambalaya is the Louisiana version of the Spanish Paella , cooking method is done to suit the ingredients that are available locally in Louisiana , including ingredients that are native to Louisiana, like the Andouille sausage and Tasso Ham . Cooking Jambalaya is more similar the Pinoy version of Paella or Arroz Valeciana , compared to cooking an authentic Spanish Paella which take a lot of cooking stages and off course a lot of time and using the right pan called paellera . Both Jambalaya and our Pinoy version of paella are cooked with an ordinary deep pan. To understand the origins and how Jambalaya is cooked I have included on this post a video which I thought the author have effectively explained in details and with cooking example of his version of  Jambalaya . How to Make Jambalaya / What is Jambalaya? For my version of Pinoy Seafood Jambalaya I just incorporated my cooking method of Seafood Paella. Obviously I do n

Kalderetang Giniling na Baka, Ground Beef Kaldereta . Ground meat either beef or pork, or in combination cooked with tomato sauce with potato extenders is one of the popular Pinoy eatery food simply named giniling , literaly means ground (meat). There are countless versions from the nuclear red ketchup laden carinderia giniling to the basic ginisa with garlic, onion and tomato version. Today I like to share a more extravagant version of the lowly giniling, Kalderetang Giniling na Baka complete with most of the ingredients of a regular meat kaldereta . This kaldereta is cooked from the scratch meaning without the use of any kaldereta mixes. Cooking my version of Kalderetang Giniling na Baka, Ground Beef Kaldereta may be a bit complicated because I used a lot of ingredient, but as long as everything is on hand before starting to cook you won’t go wrong, remember cooking recipes are just a guide on your measurements and cooking steps. Quantities, times and steps may be ad

Beef Sirloin Steak, Bistek Style . I have done this recipe using pork loin a couple of weeks back. This time I wanted to have it using beef, there are a several beef steak cut choices but I opted to choosing sirloin steak . I would recommend to choose the tender steak cuts which require less cooking. If you are sourcing your meat at Manila Wet Markets then just buy the tenderloi n and cut it crosswise to a thickness about 15mm slices. As I have mentioned on my Pork Loin Steak, Bistek Style , it is important that the beef sirloin steak or any similar cut be given sufficient time to marinate using soy sauce and kalamansi or lemon marinade.  Cooking is basically the same with my other Bistek dish , click the link below should you want to see my other Bistek Recipes in the archives. Fried Snapper Pinoy Bistek Style   Fried Salmon Pinoy Bistek Style   Tanguige Bistek Tagalog   Tuna Bistek with Eggplant   Bangus Bistek Tagalog   Bangus Belly Bistek Tagalog   Pork Bistek   P

Ginataang Tabagwang at Puso ng Saging . Tabagwang is susong pilipit in Bicol , it is usually cooked ginataang with pako . I cannot find pako instead I used puso ng saging as an alternative vegetable. I do have a similar dish posted sometime back simply called Ginataang Pilipit na Suso . I though the best alternative should have been malungay leaves, but I already have this shredded puso ng saging. Well the pako and malungay version will have to wait for now. As I have mentioned in my other similar dish post, the snails should be thoroughly cleaned which include keeping the snails in a pail full of fresh water for several hours to allow the snails to expel all the dirt and sand trapped on their shell, this will also allow the snail to expel most of their excrement. The snails also require a thorough cleaning including brushing the shells and checking the snail guts cutting the shell tip, check also for smelly which should be discarded, then with final wash with running water.

Sinigang na Manok with Banana Blossom . More often most Pinoy will cooked chicken as Tinola . Most will not try or attempt to cook chicken as Sinigang for the reason that it might not turn all right or would rather have a tinola instead of sinigang . Sinigang na Manok is as good as Pork Sinigang or Beef Sinigang . There is no special cooking method anyone who have cooked sinigang could cook also Sinigang na Manok. As to most of my Sinigang recipe I do not sauté the ingredients, sinigang is a simple boiled soup dish. For this recipe aside from the usual sinigang vegetable ingredients I also added banana blossom . Banana blossom make the soup milky and add a distinct flavor that complement the sourly taste of the broth. Here is the recipe on my version of Sinigang na Manok with Banana Blossom, try it. Ingredients: 1 kilo chicken, cut into serving pieces 1 medium size banana blossom, cut into wedges 1 medium size labanos, skinned, sliced diagonally 2 medium si

Puerto Princessa’s Chaolong, Bona’s Chaolong - Palawan Food Trip Part 2 . Chaolong is Puerto Princessa’s local version of Pho a Vietnamese noodle soup . Chaolong is a misnomer, chaolong is pork innards porridge in Vietnam but the local chaolong is a meat stew soup with noodles. Puerto Princessa is known for Vietnamese restaurant and eateries being a host a processing center for Vietnamese refugees or boat people in the past. Most of the Vietnamese have since left and to those who have opted to stay are in to chaolongan eateries all over Puerto Princessa or are in to Vietnamese Specialty Restaurants . The more popular of Puerto Princessa’s chaolongan is Bona’s Chaolong , the place is a typical eatery with wooden tables and plastic chairs along the road in an open garage setup. Expect that the place is crowded, it is frequented by locals for the reason their food are cheap. We visited the place early for a breakfast of chaolong with bread , we arrived at the pl

Adobong Puti, No Soy Sauce Adobo . This is my second version of Adobong Puti using pork and chicken. The recipe ingredients are almost basically the same with my Pork and Chicken Adobo, Adobong Puti , but I tried to cut the fat out from the pork and chicken an attempt to reduce the cholesterol. The cooking method was also tweaked to a 2 stage cooking, first the pork and chicken was braised with vinegar, salt and with the basic  adobo  aromatic ingredients, then for the second stage transfer the pork and chicken into a nonstick frying pan to caramelize the now almost  dry adobo . One Pot Classic Chicken Adobo with Atsuete Here is the recipe of my second version white adobo ,  Adobong Puti, No Soy Sauce Adobo . Ingredients: 1/2 kilo skinless pork, cut into serving pieces, 3 pieces skinless chicken thighs, cut into serving pieces, 1 head garlic, peeled, crushed 1/2-2/4 cup vinegar 1 tsp. peppercorns 3-5 pieces bay leaf salt cooking oil Cook

Best Friends, Kainan sa Valley . Every time I have a change whenever I visited major cities in Australia I tried to find and visit a local Filipino restaurant or similar eating place. My problem is I am always on the go and I would not have enough time and I could only visit one or if I have time to spare perhaps a couple, defending on their location. A couple of months back while I am in Brisbane I finally have time to visit Best Friends, Kainan sa Valley . The place is located in McWhirters Centre Food Court just across the Fortitude Valley Train Station . The train station building is connected by a foot bridge to McWhirters Center , therefore going there was dead easy if you are taking the train. Best Friends, Kainan sa Valley is an offshoot restaurant outlet of the popular Best Friends Philippine and Asian Food Store , these may be the reason, aside from the easy accessibility, that the place is has become one of more popular eating place of Filipinos in Brisbane