Just sharing (the munchies)!

MOVING

2011-10-05T21:35:00.001+08:00

Hi, guys

I'll be moving to Tumblr. Please update your links to http://kamunchies.tumblr.com

Thanks and I hope you still visit!

Baked Fish in Parchment: Ginger garlic soy variation

2011-04-22T22:59:00.003+08:00

I love making baked fish in parchment. There are endless possibilities to the different flavors you can infuse with the fish, and it is so incredibly easy and fast to make! Sometimes what I do is I divide the fish fillet into smaller pieces, put different seasonings on each fillet and wrap them individually for a variety of different "flavors" to choose from. In this recipe, I chose a ginger garlic soy (and onions and herb) combination to flavor the fish. The ginger can come off a little strong, so remember to take it a bit easy on the salt and pepper!

Ingredients:

White fish fillet like Dory or Tilapia

Salt and Pepper

Chopped Ginger (either finely chopped or in small strips)

Chopped Onions

Minced garlic

Rosemary or Thyme

Olive Oil

Light Soy Sauce

Parchment paper or baking sheet big enough to wrap the fish

Asparagus (optional)

Directions:

Rub the fish fillet with a bit of salt and pepper
Put it on parchment paper
Rub ginger, garlic, onions, rosemary/thyme on top
Put asparagus on top
Drizzle with olive oil and splash with a bit of soy sauce
Bake at 240C for 10-15 minutes
Serve with hot, steamed rice
Enjoy!

Eggplant, Tomato, and Cheese Sandwich

2011-04-21T18:01:00.003+08:00

This is an easy and healthy sandwich even both veggie and semi-veggie lovers (meat lovers, maybe add a slice of ham if you like!) inspired by a sandwich my friend had made me one time, which is great for any time of the day.

Ingredients (serves 1)

3-5 thin eggplant slices

3-5 thin tomato slices

1 small onion, sliced

olive oil

black pepper

oregano (fresh or dried will be fine.. you just need a little)

2 slices bread

any or all of the ff cheese: white cheese, american style cheese slice, guyere, mozarella

ready made tomato garlic dip/spread (I like the Bravo! brand)

Directions

1) saute onions, tomato, and eggplant slices with dash of black pepper and oregano in olive oil until onions caramelize, and tomato and eggplant are cooked --a bit of burnt edges even. set aside.

2) spread tomato garlic on both slices of bread

3) put the cooked onions, tomato, and eggplant on the bottom bread slice.

4) put the cheese/s on top of the onion, tomato, and eggplant

5) top with other bread slice

6) toast or grill for 3-5 minutes or until the cheese melts and bread begins to brown

Enjoy!

Deep fried pork in chili garlic salt

2011-04-13T23:05:00.006+08:00

Hi, all! It's been so long since my last update, but as the saying goes, "better late than never", right? I've just been so busy, really. I hope you understand. I was actually so surprised to see that the site viewing counter rise to 6,500+ views! It's amazing. I never expected to have so many readers. Thank you so much to each and everyone of you. To make it up, here is a very good recipe I'm sharing with you! I hope you like it!

You know those deep fried pork in that yummy chili oil things in a lot of Chinese restaurants? For dinner today, I tried to make it myself, and voila! I succeeded. There's still some room for improvement, of course, but it definitely was real tasty! My family and I enjoyed it a lot.

Ingredients

1 inch ginger (peeled)

1/2 kilo pork ribs

rock salt

black pepper

1 egg (beaten)

3 small red chilis, sliced

4-5 garlic cloves, minced

Marinade

soysauce (just enough to cover the ribs, but not too much the ribs can swim in it)

half a lemon or 2 calamansi (juice)

salt, pepper, ginger

Coating (mix together. 1.5 cornstarch: 1 garlic powder: X chili powder)

cornstarch

garlic powder

7 spice powder/spicy chili powder

Directions

Put the ginger, ribs, and a dash of salt in a pot of water and boil until the ribs are tender.
Take out the ribs and ginger from the pot and put aside. You may discard the water.
Marinate the ribs in soysauce, some lemon/calamansi juice, salt, pepper, and the remaining ginger for atleast 40 minutes
After the 40 minutes are up, dip the marinated ribs in the beaten egg and coat with the coating
Fry this in medium-high heat, enough to get the coating crispy and light brown. Put aside.
Discard 3/4 of the used oil from the pan/wok, lower heat.
When the pan/wok is no longer so hot, saute 1-2 tbsp of rock salt, chili, garlic. until garlic begins to brown and the oil begins to evaporate.
If oil is too little, add a little bit more, put heat to medium and then mix in the ribs and some of the remaining marinade. Don't be afraid to add more salt, pepper, or spice powder, if you want!
Toss in pan/wok until ribs turn a darker shade of brown (but before it burns, of course!).
Serve with some vinegar and RICE!

What's great with this recipe is you can use the same style of preparation to other meat like chicken or fish or even tofu (but for tofu, fish and chicken fillet cuts, no need to boil anymore since it cooks quickly)! Enjoy! :)

Easy Yakitori

2010-08-28T15:25:00.004+08:00

Yakitori is one of my favorite snacks which I also sometimes eat with rice as a heavier meal for lunch or dinner. Making yakitori is easy enough, but this recipe makes it even easier! You'll just need the following:
Ingredients

Your choice of the meat - boneless and skinless chicken breast/thigh, chicken skin (you can use the one you've pulled off the chicken breast/thigh), pork belly, bacon
Vegetables like leek, green bell pepper, asparagus, shiitake or button mushrooms **
Wooden skewers (shorter ones are better; yakitori is not usually served on very long skewers)
Ready-made Kikkoman Teriyaki sauce*
Powdered ginger (for marinating) **
Half a lemon **
Container for marinating
Grill (coal or gas grill is best for a smokier taste)

*I used ready-made teriyaki sauce because based on my research on yakitori recipes, the components of teriyaki sauce is very similar to yakitori marinade
** optional

Directions

You first cut your meat into bite-sized pcs, about an inch wide. For chicken skin, you can just put the skewer through it right away, as if the skewer were a needle and the chicken skin, cloth.
If you're using vegetables, you can cut them into bite-sized pcs as well and alternate it with the meat, much like in the photo (chicken and leek). For asparagus, it tastes bests when you wrap it with bacon and then put it on the skewers.
Put the meat skewers in a container, dash some ginger powder on 'em, and pour some Teriyaki sauce on it. About a teaspoon per skewer would do the trick; make sure not to drown the skewers but have the meat damp enough to soak in the flavor.
Squeeze half a lemon over the skewers.
Close container and leave to marinate for 30minutes to an hour or two. Don't leave them too long or they might get too salty.
Prepare the grill
When the grill is hot (enough that a drop of the marinade would sizzle), place the skewers on it.
Grill until the meat is cooked, turning it and basting it with left over marinade/teriyaki sauce to make sure it would meat would not dry out.
Serve with a tablespoon of teriyaki sauce drizzled on the meat skewers.
Eat as is or with rice. Enjoy! :)

Spicy Tuna Sashimi Salad

2010-06-29T00:11:00.004+08:00

My friends and I always order this when we're at Japanese restaurants, so earlier today, I figured I'll try and make it myself... and I can proudly say that it tastes just as good! :D

This is a great appetizer or side dish. Here's how to make it:

Ingredients
Fresh tuna (sashimi grade) cut into small cubes
Japanese mayonaisse (Kewpie brand is good)
Togarashi (japanese chili powder)
Fresh cabbage leaves
Crushed crunchy tempura flakes*

Directions
Mix mayonaisse and togarishi together first. (Base amount on how spicy you want your dressing to be, and also never use too much mayonaisse that it will overpower the sashimi already.)
Mix the dressing with the sashimi and some of the crunchy tempura
Serve on a bed of fresh cabbage leaves, garnish with more crunchy tempura
Best served chilled!
Enjoy! :D

*To make crunchy tempura flakes, refer to this video.

Beef Teriyaki

2010-06-28T23:42:00.002+08:00

Instructions (for 4)
0.5kg Sirloin/Tenderloin cut thinly and in strips
Teriyaki sauce
2 tbsp Garlic powder
2 tbsp Ginger powder
Dash of Ground pepper
Sesame seeds (for garnish)
A griddle

Directions

Marinate beef in teriyaki sauce (just enough to cover beef, but don't let beef swim in the sauce), garlic powder, ginger powder, ground pepper for 1-2 hours
Heat griddle
When griddle is very hot, place the beef (it should sizzle a bit) until cooked. Place rest of marinade on the beef and lower heat. Wait for about 3-5 minutes and transfer to a plate.
Sprinkle with some sesame seeds, serve with hot rice.

Gyoza

2010-06-28T23:23:00.004+08:00

Ingredients (makes about 25+)
250g ground pork
4 cloves garlic minced
1/2 small red onion minced
1/2 tbsp ginger powder
2 tbsp spring onion or chives, chopped into small pieces
1/4 cabbage cut into small pieces
gyoza wrappers
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp soysauce
1 tbsp sesame oil

Directions

Mix all the ingredients together very well with spoons or your hands
Using a spoon, get a bit of the mixture and place in the middle of a gyoza wrapper
Using your fingertips, wet the edges of the gyoza wrapper a bit and fold it in half, with the mixture in the middle. Seal the wrapper by making small pleats at the edges or the tip of a fork.
Repeat until all the mixture is used up.
Place the gyoza dumplings in a large NON STICK frying pan (don't crowd the pan too much; leave some space between the dumplings) on medium high heat.
After about 2 minutes, pour some hot water in the pan; just enough to cover half of the dumplings.
Put heat on high and cover the pan with a lid until water evaporates
Put a bit of oil on the dumplings before it sticks too much on the pan
When one side of the gyoza becomes brown, transfer to a plate, brown side up.
Serve with gyoza dipping sauce or plain soysauce + a bit of hot water
Enjoy!!!

*Storage
If you can't finish all the pieces of gyoza, you can place some of the uncooked ones in a tupperware, seperating each layer of dumplings with wax paper. Place in freezer and it will last for a few days up to a week or so. :)

Philly Cheese Steak

2010-06-13T19:30:00.006+08:00

Super tasty and easy to make! :)

Ingredients (serves 4)
24ounces beef sirloin cut into very thin strips
1 large onion or 2-3 regular sized onions, chopped
1 small can button mushrooms, mushrooms sliced
4 cloves garlic minced
1 small bottle Cheezwhiz or Cheezwhiz with Pimiento
2 American cheese slices (the one for sandwiches) and/or porvolone
Some cream cheese
Some butter
Worcestire sauce (sp?)
Salt & Pepper
4 italian bread buns (with a crisp crust like cibatta)
Bacon strips cooked crisp (optional)
Red bell pepper cut in slices (optional)

**You don't have to use so much cheese actually. The important cheese ingredient is the CheezWhiz. :)

Directions

Toss beef sirloin with salt and pepper and a few dashes of worcestire sauce. Set aside.
Saute onions, garlic, mushrooms, bell pepper in olive oil.
Saute the sirloin when the onions and garlic start to soften
When sirloin, mushrooms, bell pepper are cooked, and the onions and garlic nicely caramelized, take it out from the pan.
Slice buns in half and spread some butter on them.
Put some of the sauteed ingredients on one half of the bread + some bacon, and liberally some cheezwhiz on it. On the other half of the bread, spread some cream cheese, then put some more cheezwhiz, porvolone, and half of the American cheese slice on it. Put "cheesy" bread on top of the sirloin, mushrooms, etc.
Heat in oven for 5-10 minutes. *If you are bringing it to work or wherever, wrap it in wax paper first before you heat it, so the cheese/s won't be too messy.
ENJOY! :)

Tempura/Gyoza Dipping Sauce

2010-06-03T21:39:00.003+08:00

You know that different kind of warm sauce we dip tempura or gyoza in? Not salty enough just to be soysauce, not sweet enough to be something sugary, or sour enough to be vinegar. It has a distinct taste, and it's pretty damn good. You can actually buy it in most Asian supermarkets; I find the Kikkoman brand one to be good. You just have to heat it a bit.

One day I found myself making some tempura and since I don't do this THAT often, I decided to try and make my own dipping sauce. It doesn't taste as authentic as the ones you can try in Little Tokyo, but it works pretty good too (just a little stronger) and is great with gyoza. Here's how I made it:

Mix 1 cup hot water, 1 tbsp rice vinegar, and 2 tbsp light soysauce

Chili Beef Stir-fry

2010-05-31T19:24:00.002+08:00

Got the recipe from an Asian Recipes cookbook, but I decided to make a few changes, which made the dish even better! Haha

Ingredients:
500g Beef steak cut into strips
Carrot cut into strips
Brocolli
Some snowpeas
2 Red bellpepper
1 onion chopped
1 small can baby corn
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 tbsp Sesame seeds
1 .5-2 tbsp chili flakes (or more)
Sesame Oil
1 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro

Sauce (Mix in a bowl)
2 tbsp Soysauce
1/2 cup beef broth (or diluted beef buillion)
1 tsp chili flakes
1 tsp cornstarch (optional - only if you want your sauce a little thicker)
1.5 inch grated ginger
3 cloves garlic chopped
1 tsp vetsin

Directions:

Mix beef with a pinch of salt & pepper + sesame seeds, put aside
Saute garlic and onion in sesame oil
When garlic and onion have begun to soften, stir-fry beef for about 3 minutes. Remove and set aside
Add a dash more sesame oil, stir fry vegetables for about 3 minutes.
Pour in sauce, chili flakes, cover wok and let simmer for a few minutes
Return beef to wok, mix with veggies, cover wok again, and let simmer for about 2 minutes
Transfer to serving plate and then sprinkle cilantro over it.
Serve with noodles or hot rice. :)

Crispy liempo (pork belly)

2010-05-16T22:43:00.003+08:00

Possibly one of the easiest recipes for pork belly, that you can make even in the comfort of a small studio apartment! (Serves 2)

Ingredients

2 slices pork belly; each cut in half (you can also use a chunkier cut, but that will be harder to fry)
2 cloves garlic
salt & pepper
ginger powder
5 or 7 spice powder (chili powder works fine too)
1 tbsp soysauce

Directions

Boil pork belly until tender and the blood has oozed out (10-15mins)
Rub the pork with salt, pepper, ginger powder, spicy powder
Pour soysauce on the pork
Leave it for like 30 minutes to an hour
Prepare a frying pan and fill it with about enough oil to cover half of each belly slice
Put in garlic
When oil is very hot (put stove on medium high heat) fry each side of the belly for a few minutes, until pork browns and belly skin has become crispy (it will bubble a little). WARNING: BE CAREFUL frying this, because the oil will be splattering quite violently. Use a splatter shield and/or long tongs while frying to avoid hot oil from hitting your skin
Discard the garlic
Take out pork from the pan and serve with vinegar on the side, rice, and ENJOY! :)

Pineapple Fried Rice

2010-05-16T22:14:00.001+08:00

I first tasted Pineapple Fried Rice in Singapore at the hawkers beside Esplanade, and for dinner today, I finally got around to making it. Based on my research and personal taste, here is how I made pineapple fried rice (good for 2-3):

Ingredients

Left over fried rice (4-5 cups)
1 can pineapple chunks with juice
3 medium sized shrimp (cut into little pieces)
1 and a half chinese chorizo (sliced)
a bunch of cilantro (dried or fresh)
3 cloves garlic
1 egg
1-2 tsp shrimp paste
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp soysauce
2 chili pepper sliced (more or less depending on how spicy you want it to be)

Directions

In a wok, saute chorizo, garlic, chili, shrimp paste in a little oil
When chorizo's cooked, add the shrimp
When shrimp is pinkish, add in the rice
Mix it all together in the wok then add in the contents of the pineapple chunks can (including the juice)
Keep mixing the rice and then put in the contents of the egg
Mix, mix, mix, and when the rice isn't too wet anymore, add in the chopped cilantro
Mix, mix, mix, then add fish sauce, soysauce
Mix, mix, mix, and then serve! :)

Brunch! :)

2010-04-27T14:42:00.003+08:00

To celebrate the 3000th hit mark, I decided to make something special for my family! One of my favorite meals --brunch! Here I have some steak, grilled tomatoes, pork&beans, and scrambled eggs. I would've cooked some sausages, bacon, potatoes, and served it all with toasted bread and marmalade, but my parents still wanted to eat rice (we're Asian), so it would've been too much if I cooked more meat. Anyway, this here is pretty easy to make!

You just need: (serves 1)
Good quality steak, about 0.5 or less inches
small can of baked beans in tomato sauce (pork & beans)
1 small tomato, sliced
1 egg, beaten
salt and pepper
rosemary; dried or fresh
butter
griddle and/or frying pan
olive oil

Directions:
1. Prepare the steak by rubbing it with some salt, pepper, and rosemary. Spread a bit of butter on it too, and just let the flavors sink in by putting the meat in a small tupperware or ziplock.
2. While the steak's enjoying its rub (haha), make the scrambled egg first: mix a dash of salt and pepper in your beaten egg, fry in hot frying pan with oil. While doing this, heat griddle.
3. When scrambled egg is done, put on serving plate.
4. When griddle is hot, pour a bit of olive oil on one side and put on the tomatoes
5. On the other side of the griddle, grill the steak 5-8 minutes on each side (if you have a small griddle, feel free to do this in batches)
6. When the steak is almost done, melt some butter on it.
7. As for the tomatoes, you'll know it's done when there are small burn marks on it already.
8. Put the steak and grilled tomato slices alongside the scrambled eggs.
9. Heat beans for about 30 seconds to a minute in the microwave or a pan.
10. Serve everything either with toasted bread or rice! :)

Enjoy!

Grilled Teriyaki Fish

2010-04-19T21:01:00.008+08:00

For this recipe, you'll need the following (serves 3-4):

1. 3-4 pieces of good quality fish like Salmon or Gindara cut ala steak or steak fillet. (It's better to use fish with the skin on, so there will be a less chance of the fish breaking into pieces while being cooked or transferred from grill to plate.)
2. a small grill or griddle
3. rock salt and ground black pepper
4. 5.5 tbsp of teriyaki sauce
5. 1 tbsp of powdered ginger
6. 2 tbsp of lemon/lime juice

Directions
1. In a small bowl or tupperware, sprinkle the fish with a dash of rock salt and ground pepper, followed by the powdered ginger, lemon/lime juice, and 3 tbsp of teriyaki sauce. Cover container and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes. Make sure to turn over the fish in the middle of the marinating time.
2. Heat grill and brush with oil
3. When grill is very hot, lay down the fish steaks side by side. Grill only 5-8 minutes/side, so that the inside of the steak is still a little slippery and pink (if salmon is used). While grilling, baste using teriyaki sauce left in marinade container.
4. Transfer to a plate (be careful while doing so, if using skinless, boneless steak fillet, or else fish might break!)
5. Pour the 2.5 tbsp left of teriyaki sauce onto fish while it is hot.
6. Serve with a bowl or plate of hot rice, and maybe even a side of vegetables!

Enjoy! :)

Chinese BBQ Ribs

2010-03-24T11:51:00.004+08:00

This recipe very, very easy and very, very tasty. I got it from the internet and just modified it a little. You just need the ff:
1. Pork Spareribs
2. Water
3. Chinese BBQ sauce
4. Garlic 3-4 cloves
5. 1-2 inch worth of ginger, sliced
6. Chili flakes/tobasco sauce (how much depends on how spicy you like it)
7. Salt & Pepper

Directions:

Boil the ribs with ginger and some salt until soft
Discard water and ginger (or you can use the broth for some other soup; up to you)
Saute garlic and then brown the ribs' sides
Take out ribs
In the same pan, add Chinese BBQ sauce (enough to coat ribs), chili flakes/tobasco sauce and mix with the garlic
When it simmers, put back the ribs and use a tong to rotate them so that they will be coated with the sauce (you can use a brush too, but I warn you Chinese BBQ sauce is very sticky, so that may be a little difficult)
Simmer for about 10 minutes when ribs have absorbed the sauce
Serve with hot rice! :)

Sweet and Sour Fish

2010-03-06T20:38:00.005+08:00

Sweet and Sour Fish is very, very easy. You just need to fry a fish which has been seasoned with salt and pepper. When it's done, set it aside, and prepare the sauce. I don't know how to make sweet and sour sauce from scratch, so I just used a ready made one (our household uses Mama Sita) --the one you mix with water. Instead of water though, pour in the contents of a pineapple cocktail can. Mix it and simmer with the pineapple bits, sliced carrots, sliced onions, and red bell pepper. When it's a little thick (after about 10mins or so), pour over the fish and tada!

Upcoming!!!

2010-03-06T19:30:00.003+08:00

So how'd you all like the kansi? I got so many hits after posting that recipe and I'd like to thank you! Hopefully you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Tonight for dinner I learned how to make sweet and sour fish and vegetable spring rolls. I'll be posting the recipes soon enough!

In the meanwhile, I'm planning on making Sticky Chinese BBQ Pork Ribs and Bonchon in the days to come! I'm doing some research now, and it doesn't seem so difficult to make afterall! :)

Kansi

2010-02-22T20:13:00.004+08:00

Hi, guys! I know I haven't updated for a while; I've been quite busy. I hope this one can make it up to all of you though, it's a very worthy first post for 2010.

This is a dish I first tasted when I lived with my cousin in Virginia. Her husband is a Filipino from Bacolod and his relative, Carmel, who is also from Bacolod made some Kansi for us during one of our parties. Kansi is an Ilonggo recipe that is sort of like a cross between Bulalo (beef bone marrow and vegetables soup) and Sinigang (sour pork soup). Carmel was kind enough to share the ingredients with me, and tonight for dinner, I finally got around to try and put it together. Here's how:

Ingredients
1.Beef Bones (3-5lbs) and/or Beef Shank (3-5lbs)
2.Lemon grass (2 stalk)
3.onion (1 medium)
4.Fresh ginger (1/2 cup, sliced)
5. 1 long hot pepper
6.Atchuete powder(1 Tablespoon)
7.sinigang mix (2 Tablespoon or to taste)
8.Canned Green Jackfruit (1 can)
9.salt & pepper (to taste)
*I also added some garlic to the recipe and tomatoes, and used fresh green jackfruit (sliced) instead.

Directions
1. Saute garlic and onions
2. Add beef and ginger into the pot and pour just enough water to cover most of the meat
3. Leave it to boil for about an hour, thirty to two hours
4. Lower heat to simmer, add more water into the pot until meat is completely submerged
5. Mix in sinigang mix, salt, and pepper (I used about half of the pack of sinigang mix since I liked it more sour)
6. Mix in pepper (add more if you want it to be spicier)
7. Put in sliced green jackfruit
8. Leave to simmer until jackfruit is cooked and beef is very soft
9. When it's almost done, put in lemongrass (tie it into a knot) and atchuete for color
10. Simmer for about 10 minutes and serve with hot rice.

I'm not sure if my version was as good or as authentic tasting, since it's still up to the cook to blend proportions up to his/her liking, but I loved it when I ate it, so you might too!

Bacon-wrapped Ribs

2009-12-17T02:58:00.003+08:00

This is one of the easiest yet tastiest (and also probably unhealthiest) dishes I have ever made. And this I'm proud to say is something I came up with all on my own. I was just thinking, bacon and ribs - how can you go wrong right?

Ingredients

Emeril's rib rub
Ground pepper
Vegetable oil
Hot sauce
Pork Ribs
Bacon
Baking/cooking Foil

Directions

Wrap bacon around each pork rib and lay in a glass baking container (leave some space between pork ribs)
Brush ribs with a little vegetable oil
Smother each rib with Emeril's rib rub, ground pepper, and hot sauce
Cover container with foil, and marinate for 1-2 hours
Bake in oven at 350F for 1hr 45 mins up to 2 hours
In the last 15 mins before it gets done, take the foil off the container
Take out the oven, let it cool for a bit
Serve with lots of rice, mashed potatoes, and maybe even some roasted veggies!
ENJOY!!! :)

Fresh Salsa

2009-12-17T02:52:00.003+08:00

Goes great with chips, fish, and even steak! Also very, very easy to make.

Ingredients
3 Fresh tomatoes - diced
1-2 red onion - diced/chopped coarsely
1 half lemon slice
1 jalapeno(sliced)/1 tbsp chili flakes/any chili you like
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions
Mixe together in a bowl, cover with cling-wrap, leave in fridge for atleast an hour (or a day if you want the flavors to blend together better), ENJOY!

Nilagang Baka (Boiled beef soup)

2009-12-09T13:57:00.003+08:00

This nilagang baka recipe is a mix of my Tagalog and Cebuano heritage. I hope you like it!

Ingredients
1/2 kg Beef ribs or beef cut into 1 inch cubes. If they are attached to bone, better.
2 potatoes, quartered
Bokchoy
String beans
Carrots (optional)
3 inch long ginger cut into pieces
1 Knorr beef bouillon (sp?) cube
Black pepper
Salt
"Patis" (Fish sauce)
2 whole onions chopped
4-5 cloves garlic crushed

Directions

Boil meat, ginger, garlic, and onions together for about 45 minutes on medium high heat.
Lower heat a little and then crush and dissolve beef cube into the soup
Add dash of salt and pepper (salt less than pepper)
Add about 1/4 cup of Fish sauce (more if you like it a little saltier)
Add carrots and potatoes
Boil for 30-45 minutes
Add in bokchoy and stringbeans
Simmer for 15-20 minutes (more if you want your veggies soggy, less if you want them a little crisp)

Perfect for a cold day! Enjoy! :D

Crispy-Coated Pork Belly/Chops

2009-12-09T13:44:00.007+08:00

Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside!

Ingredients
6-8 pork belly cuts about 2-3 inches long each or .5 or less inch thick pork chops

Marinade:
Soy sauce
Salt and Pepper
5 cloves Garlic, crushed

Coating mixture:
You can use ready-made breading like Mama Sita's or make your own with
1.5 cup cornstarch, 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup water, 1 egg, salt & pepper, garlic powder, dried thyme or rosemary, and a dash of paprika

Directions

Marinate meat for 45 minutes or more (can be left overnight)
Fill pan with enough oil to cover atleast half of the meat cut; put on high heat
Dip meat (one by one) in coating mixture
When oil is hot, fry the meat. Leave each side of the meat in the oil until the coating browns and becomes crispy.
When this happens, lower heat to medium and leave meat there for a few minutes to ensure that it will be fully cooked.

ENJOY! :D

My version of Daeji Galbi (Korean grilled pork ribs)

2009-12-01T12:21:00.003+08:00

Ingredients:
8-10 Pork spare ribs, cut
Sesame seeds

Marinade (mix together; enough to coat ribs):

1/2 cup soy sauce
1 cup sesame oil
5 tbsp sugar (more if you like your ribs sweeter)
1/4 to 1/2 cup tobasco sauce (more if you like your ribs spicier. I also recommend chili flakes although in a lesser quantity, because chili flakes are much hotter than tobasco)
1 and a half inch ginger root cut into pieces
1 onion finely chopped
5 cloves garlic minced

Directions:

Marinate ribs for atleast 40 minutes up to overnight.
I didn't have any coal for grilling and for this recipe, I don't recommend pan grilling, so I opted to bake the ribs instead. Sprinkle with some sesame seeds and bake the ribs in a baking or glass pan at 350F until pork ribs are cooked, crispy looking on the outside, and very soft and juicy in the inside. That will take about 1 hour and 45 minutes to 2 hours.
Serve with rice! (You can also cut up some chili peppers and sprinkle on top if you like some extra spice.)

Enjoy!!!

Chocobanana Fudge Milkshake

2009-11-24T11:44:00.002+08:00

Serves 1-2

Ingredients:
4 scoops chocolate fudge ice cream
1 ripe banana, sliced
1.5 vanilla soy milk (regular milk is fine too)
Whipped Cream
Chocolate syrup
Cookie

Directions:
Blend in shake maker or blender until smooth
Pour in a clear glass
Decorate top with whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and either a chocolate chip or oreo cookie.

Enjoy! :)

Pork Sinigang

2009-11-24T11:24:00.003+08:00

Perfect for a rainy or cold day! This is a Filipino dish called Pork Sinigang which is a sour pork soup. :)

Ingredients:
Pork ribs
Chopped onions, garlic
Eggplant sliced
Green beans (sitaw)
Tomatoes quartered
Kangkong or spinach
Sliced radish
Sinigang na Sampaloc mix (available in Filipino or Asian food markets or groceries)
Green chili (optional)

Directions

Saute chopped onions and garlic in medium heat
When they have begun to caramelize, put in the pork ribs and leave until sides have browned and blood has begun to ooze out
Add a cup of water; not enough to cover all the ribs and simmer for 2o minutes
Mix in half of Sinigang na Samaploc mix, simmer again for 20 more minutes
Fill in water, enough to cover ribs and boil in medium heat for about 1.5 hour until pork is soft and cooked thoroughly.
Mix in what is left of the Sinigang na Sampaloc mix. Keep adding if you feel it is not sour enough for you. (I sometimes use 2 packets for 2.5+ lbs of meat)
Lower heat, add in all the vegetables and leave to simmer for 10-20 minutes, until vegetables are softer. The longer you leave it in, the soggier it will be, so if you like your veggies a still a little crisp, simmer only 5-10 minutes.
Slice open the green chili to give your Sinigang a little kick, if you like.
Mix in low heat for about 5 more minutes.
Serve with a cup of rice. Enjoy! :)

Kaldereta

2009-11-11T10:09:00.006+08:00

Ingredients:
Beef cut into about 1 inch cubes
Water
Carrots (peeled and cut into about 1 inch thick pieces)
Potatoes (peeled and cut into about 2-3 inch thick pieces)
Red Bell Pepper cut into strips
Tomatoes, quartered
Peas (optional)
Salt and pepper
Lots of garlic chopped
One onion chopped
Italian seasoning (optional)
Mama Sita's Kaldereta mix

Directions

In a pot, saute garlic and onion on medium heat
Lay the beef cubes on the garlic and onion, turning them over until all sides have browned
Sprinkle with salt and pepper
Put the lid on the pot, lower heat, and leave for around 10 minutes
Put heat on medium again, add water* and boil
When it is boiling, add potatoes, carrots, and tomatoes.
When meat is tender, add Mama Sita's Kaldereta mix
Stir until mix has dissolved properly.
Lower heat, add a dash of Italian seasoning and put in the bell pepper and peas.
Simmer until sauce has become a little thick (for about 15-20 minutes)
You can also put some tobasco sauce or chili if you like it spicy.

Enjoy! :)

**For ratio of mix to water to meat, read the back of the Kaldereta mix packet

Spam and Cheese Omelette with caramelized onions, garlic, herbs, and tomatoes

2009-10-17T12:39:00.007+08:00

Serves 1-2

Ingredients:

3 eggs (beaten) with a pinch of salt and pepper
chopped tomato
an onion (although if you're using an american size onion as opposed to Asian sizes, then just 1/3 will be good)
3-4 cloves garlic finely chopped/grated
4 slices spam cut into strips
grated or diced quickmelt or your favorite cheese, as long as it does not smell too strongly
dried herb mix like McCormick salt-free all purpose

Directions:

Saute onions and garlic over oil with spam until onions caramelize (they soften and become more translucent), and then set aside.
Mix chopped tomato, dried herb mix, 3/4 of sauted onions and garlic with the beaten eggs
Put pan to medium high heat and then spread out mixture on pan evenly
When eggs begin to cook/harden, put the cheese, remaining onions and garlic and spam on one half of the pan (see photo:)
Lower heat
When eggs have become opaque, fold it in half using a spatula (and maybe a fork/spoon too for extra support) to cover part with spam, cheese etc.
Wait for about 3 minutes and then lift omelette onto a plate.
Picture below shows what it looks like inside.

ENJOY! :D

Muffin- cake Parfait

2009-10-16T04:55:00.002+08:00

This is a great way to use left over muffins and/or cake (that are, of course, still good enough to eat). You just need the following:
1. A muffin and/or slice of cake
2. All purpose cream
3. Ice cream
4. A clear glass

Now I didn't put any particular flavors in because there are just so many different combinations you can put together. You just have to figure out the right combination for you. For this particular parfait, I used a chocolate chip muffin, a slice of banana moccha cake, and vanilla chocolate ice cream.

Directions:

Fill out the bottom of the glass with some cut up muffin and/or cake. Just push it down to make a layer in the glass.
On top put about half an inch of cream. This will be the second layer in the glass.
Put another layer of muffin/cake, and just keep alternating until you fill three-fourths of the glass.
Put the glass in the freezer or chiller for 30 minutes up to an hour at most (don't leave it in too long or else the cream will get too hard)
When the glass has chilled, put a few scoops of ice cream on top.
Serve with a pirouette (champola/chocolate stick) or your favorite fruit/s and/or syrup on top.

Jobelle's Awesome Chicken

2009-10-13T08:55:00.004+08:00

This is a recipe shared to me by my Jobelle, called "Jobelle's Awesome Chicken". Vain as it may sound though, it is pretty awesome! It's a simple chicken recipe but is very tasty and healthy.

Ingredients:
Boneless chicken breast
Olive oil
Dried/fresh basil
Garlic
Very little lemon/calamansi
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Just marinade the chicken in the olive oil, basil, garlic, and salt & pepper. Make sure to rub that marinade in the chicken and leave the chicken in there for about 30 minutes to an hour. Then add a few dashes of lemon. There aren't any measurements written here, but don't be afraid to put a lot of olive oil, basil, and garlic. More garlic, more yum (just don't burn it).

Now use a griddle and put on medium heat, using the garlic and olive oil from the marinade. When the garlic begins to soften, add the chicken and the rest of the marinade. Pan-grill until cooked! That is when chicken becomes completely opaque and begins to brown.

Serve with a side of salad! YUM! :)

Steak!

2009-10-06T12:27:00.004+08:00

I'm in the east coast right now, and for a little more American type dinner, I cooked steak and potatoes. Still served with rice though, of course, I am still Filipino afterall.

This is a very simple yet tasty recipe for a steak. You need the following
Ingredients:
1. Quality beef steak about half or so inch.
2. Worcestire sauce
3. Coarse ground black pepper
4. Salt
5. Garlic powder
6. Butter
7. Baby potatoes
8. McCormick all-purpose seasoning or your favorite blend of herbs (rosemary goes well with steak)
9. A few cloves of garlic
10. Zip lock bag big enough to fit your steak
11. Griddle (a frying pan that's used for grilling over the stove)

Directions:
1. Soften the meat by beating it lightly with a meat hammer or any hard object. You can put the meat in the ziplock before doing this, so the meat juice won't fly around.
2. Rub both sides of the meat with pepper, salt, and garlic powder. Don't coat the meat with it, just apply enough for the meat to absorb it all. About a teaspoon or so of the pepper > salt and > garlic powder put together for about 3 inches long steak.
3. Put the meat back in the zip lock and splash some Worcestire in there. Just put enough to coat the meat, don't drown the meat in the sauce.
4. Close the ziplock, while taking out the air from the bag. Wrap the plastic around the meat so the marinade will set in. Leave for about 20 minutes or more.
5. Heat the griddle, put on medium heat. Melt butter on it, then saute garlic, a few dashes of the McCormick seasoning/your favorite herbs, and potatoes (potatoes take a long time to cook, so if you're in a hurry, it's easier to microwave it first for 3-5 minutes and then saute in the butter). When potatoes are about to cook, put it on the less hot part of the griddle.
6. Put the heat on high and put meat on the griddle. Leave until sides brown and have grill marks.
7. Lower heat to medium and leave meat on, depending on how you like it. The longer you leave it on the more "done" it's gonna be, and leave it just for about 10-15 minutes and you get it rare.
8. Serve the meat and potatoes on a plate, and pour the butter and drippings from the pan on it.

Enjoy!!! :D

Happy Sausages

2009-09-25T17:43:00.005+08:00

I was bored one day and decided to have some fun with my food. It's not really a recipe, recipe; it's just another way to present a snack we all like to eat: sausages/hotdogs! This one I call happy sausages inspired by the octopus designed sausages in bento boxes!

You just need a couple of sausages or hotdogs, preferably bite sized. Defrost them, and then make a + shaped cut (but only til half of the sausage; don't cut all the way) on one side of the sausages. Get your pan and fry them til they brown, and the + shaped cut will make your sausages look like they have legs! Slice some cheese and fashion them into eyes and a mouth for your sausage. Stick 'em on the sausage (they'll stick because of the oil), and then design with ketchup, mayo, and mustard!

Katsudon

2009-09-08T21:24:00.003+08:00

First of all, I would like to thank the 1000+ people who have visited my food blog! Knowing my blog has been visited by so many people makes me very happy. Thank you!

Here is a recipe to celebrate! It's very simple, but I read online that Katsudon is usually eaten before a big test as "katsu" is a homophone of the verb 勝つ katsu, meaning "to win" or "to be victorious". And well, I don't have any tests or anything (my 1st term in senior year of college has just ended actually), but I hope to continue to feel victorious in the sense that people will continue to visit my blog.

Anyway, enough of me blabbing! Here is the recipe for one serving of Katsudon:

Ingredients:
1 Tonkatsu cooked and ready! A chicken fillet can also be used as substitute instead of pork (chicken katsu is called Torikatsu, if I'm not mistaken).
1 egg
1/4 leek sliced diagonally
1/2 onion sliced
50ml water
1/5 tsp powdered dashi (I use Ajinomoto brand dashi found in most Japanese sections of the grocery. Market Market in the Fort has many varieties of powdered dashi)
1 tbsp kikkoman soysauce
1 tbsp mirin
1 tsp brown sugar
1.5 cup of rice put in a rice bowl big enough to fit your Tonkatsu

Directions:

Mix water, dashi, soysauce, mirin, and brown sugar and put in heated pan
When mixture begins to be hot, add onion
When the mixture is boiling and onion has begun to be transluscent, add your Tonkatsu
Beat egg lightly and pour over mixture and tonkatsu
Put some of the leeks on the Tonkatsu
Cover the pan for about a minute, or until your egg has reached your desired consistency.
Slide everything onto a bowl of rice.
Serve and eat while hot! :)

*Thanks to the Cooking with Dog show for some tips!

The Meatlover's Pizza Sandwich

2009-09-08T18:17:00.004+08:00

Ok, so I haven't been posting much recently. I've just been so busy! Anyway today I was craving for a slice of pizza, but we didn't have any at home and I didn't have enough money to buy, so I decided to just make something kind of like a pizza. I call it, the Pizza Meatlovers Sandwich! Now the picture doesn't look so appetizing; I just used a 2 megapixel camera phone since my DSLR's with my brother, but trust me, it is reeaaal good.

Ingredients:
2 slices of bread (regular sandwich bread is fine, cibatta is better)
Ketchup (regular flavor. NO Tamis-Anghang or Banana ketchup for this)
Ground black pepper
Basil (can either be fresh or dried)
Quickmelt cheese and or mozarella
Feta/white cheese in herbed olive oil (optional)
1 Green olive (optional)
2-3 slices spiced Ham
1 and a half big strip of Bacon
1/4 of onion

Directions:

Spread ketchup on one side of both bread slices (don't be frugal, but don't put too much that the bread will get soggy)
On one bread slice, put lots of slices of your cheese, crumble about two-three small feta cubes, and put about half a teaspoon of the herbed olive oil over it.
Slice the onion and green olive and put these on the same side of the bread as the cheese/s and ketchup
Add a pinch of pepper
And add, if using fresh basil, slices of 1 leaf. If using dried basil, just a dash
Fry the spiced ham until it begins to brown
Fry the bacon until the meat is reddish brown and the edges crispy
Add on the meat on the bread
Cover with the remaining slice
Grill sandwich in a sandwich griller until bread has browned with grill marks, and cheese has melted. *
ENJOY! :)

To make it meatier, feel free to add sauteed ground pork or beef, pepperoni, or whatever your favorite meat is! Just remember not to use too many salty types of meat or else the pizza sandwich will become too salty.

*If you do not have a sandwich griller, I guess you can use the oven toaster and toast the sanwich for about 5 minutes.

"Brich": The ultimate breakfast sandwich

2009-07-29T02:49:00.003+08:00

Inspired by a similar concept my friends and I tasted in Baguio, I decided to make my own, smaller version of it. I call it the "Brich" which is short for breakfast sandwich. It's basically a sandwich made up of my favorite breakfast foods.

For bread, I used pancakes (which I made just by following the instructions on the box) which I spread some butter on. In between the 2 pancakes, I just put some ham, salami, bacon, scrambled egg, lettuce, and cheese (just the plain square cheese slices available in supermarkets --I like Anchor brand the best). I spread butter on the top pancake and poured some maple/pancake syrup on the whole thing. I would've put cornflakes and maybe even some peanut butter or jam, but when I made it I was just going to eat it as a snunch, so I didn't want it to be waaay too rich. I mean, it's rich and heavy enough already.

The brich goes well with a glass of milk, water, or orange juice. Although I recommend water because I think the brich already seems fattening, and extra sugar won't be needed haha

Korean Beef Stew

2009-07-03T23:32:00.004+08:00

Ingredients:
beef short ribs or the beef part used in kaldereta, cut about 2 inches thick
2 carrots peeled and chopped into half moons
1 onion
garlic
2/3 soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin
1/2 cup water
about a tsp of ginger
about a tsp of sesame seeds
sesame oil
4 tbsp sugar
salt and pepper to season
Chili peppers

directions:
1. Boil beef until soft (about 15 minutes)
2. While waiting, mix the soy sauce, mirin, water, ginger, crushed garlic, a dash of sesame oil, sugar, chili pepper
3. Take the beef out of the boiling water
4. Sautee onions and carrots and then after a while, sear meat
5. Lower heat and add mixture
6. Simmer until meat is very tender (around 20 minutes)
7. Before it is done, add some sesame seeds and mix it in the pan.
6. Serve!

Kimchi Fried Rice

2009-07-03T23:30:00.001+08:00

I first encountered Kimchi Fried Rice at Kaya Restaurant. It's great with flavorful dishes because the spice in the rice can balance it out, and it's actually really easy to make!

Ingredients:
1 small bottle kimchi
2-3 cups of rice
2 eggs

Directions:
1. Heat some oil in a frying pan or a wok
2. Sautee some of the vegetables from the kimchi bottle
3. Add rice, mix together in pan
4. After a few minutes, pour in the remaining kimchi juice
5. Mix until it is not too wet
6. Crack the eggs onto the rice and mix until cooked together

Voila! :D

Tuna Croquettes

2009-06-16T00:18:00.001+08:00

I may have designed it too look like a small crab (or atleast tried to haha), but the picture is actually of tuna croquettes. Croquettes are very easy to make, and you can pretty much fill it with any meat or vegetable you like. I actually wanted to put some chicken and mushrooms in this one, but I got too lazy so I used tuna instead! Here's what you need to make about 4-5 croquettes:

Ingredients:
1 can of 150g tuna flakes (i prefer hot and spicy century tuna)
1.5 really big potato
1/4 of a carrot, diced into small cubes
1 onion finely chopped
Panko
Flour
2 eggs (1 beaten)
Salt and pepper

Directions:
1. First boil the potato (need not be peeled)
2. When the potato is boiled, mash it and add a tsp of pepper and a pinch of salt
3. Break an egg into it and mash together
4. Let the mashed potato cool.
5. While the potato is cooling, prepare tuna, carrots, and onion.
6. Sautee carrots and onion using about 2 tbsps of the oil from the can of tuna
7. Throw out the rest of the oil or save it for some other dish.
8. When the carrots begin to soften and the onion begins caramelizing, add the tuna flakes
9. As they cook together, break the flakes into smaller pieces
10. Saute for about 5 minutes until the tuna, carrots, and onions are no longer so wet
11. Mix have of the contents of your pan with the mashed potato.
12. Roll mashed potato into a small ball the size of your palm. As you do this add a bit more tuna+carrot+onion in the ball and roll again. Repeat process until there is no tuna and mashed potato left.
13. Dredge the balls in the flour, dip in the beaten egg, and then coat with panko. Repeat till all balls are coated.
14. Put oil in a pan, about an an inch thick.
15. When it is hot enough (you will find out if you put a bit of panko in the oil and it sizzles and floats), fry one side of a potato ball.
16. As it fries, press it down with the spatula so that it kind of looks like a little 1 inch pancake.
17. When the bottom part is brown and crispy, flip the potato.. well now it's a flat-ish circle haha
18. Repeat until all the balls are done!
19. Serve either with tartar sauce/mayonaisse or Tonkatsu sauce! :D

! Warning Do NOT try to make the croquette too big, unless you have some kind of cool cooking device or if maybe you're using a deep fryer, because it will BREAK.

Tonkatsu

2009-05-24T16:54:00.001+08:00

Hi guys! It's been a while since my last update; I've been enjoying my summer vacation way too much! I hope you enjoy this post though, it's a recipe on how to make Tonkatsu.

Tonkatsu is a Japanese dish; "ton" meaning pork, and "katsu" for cutlet. It's one of the easiest dishes to make and here is how:

Ingredients:
Pork cutlets or pork chops de-boned
Flour
Beaten egg
Panko (Japanese bread crumbs) with a pinch of salt and pepper
Salt and Pepper
Tonkatsu sauce*

Directions:

Season the pork cutlets with salt and pepper
Put the flour, beaten egg, and panko in separate bowls
Coat the pork cutlets by dipping it into the flour, egg, and panko (in that order)
Heat some oil in a fryer to medium high heat (you'll know it's hot enough when you put some panko in, it floats to the surface, and makes a slight sizzling sound)
Fry both sides of the pork until it is golden brown
Cut each cutlet into about an inch thick strips (as seen in the photo)

! Remember not to get the oil TOO hot (smoking) because you'll burn the panko and the pork will either get burned too or won't be cooked thoroughly. You can do this by lowering the heat to medium when you notice that the pork is almost done.

*Tonkatsu sauce - my favorite tonkatsu sauce is the Bulldog brand. It can be bought in most supermarkets in the Japanese food section or Asian groceries. You can also make your own by mixing the following:
Ketchup, Worcestire sauce (ratio 2:1),
a pinch of sugar,
and a pinch of chili garlic (more if you like it sweeter or spicier)

Chicken Teriyaki

2009-04-29T00:06:00.006+08:00

Finally, here is my recipe for chicken teriyaki, as inspired by the many cooking websites I visit frequently, the Japanese food(my favorite cuisine) I've eaten, and what I've seen on TV.

Ingredients:
4-5 chicken breast fillets or boneless chicken thighs cut into about an inch thick strips
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce*
some vegetable oil
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch (or more depends on how thick you want your sauce to be)
salt and pepper
water

Directions:
1. First mix your sugar and teriyaki sauce.
2. Pour some of it on your chicken; just enough to coat the chicken well. Don't drown it. Then add a pinch of salt and about 2 tsp pepper. Massage it all into the chicken and let it marinade for about 20 minutes to an hour.
3. Meanwhile mix what's left of the teriyaki sauce + sugar mixture, cornstarch, and about 1/4 cup of water. The cornstarch will help the sauce thicken and the water makes the teriyaki sauce less strong.
AFTER MARINATING...
4. Drizzle some oil on the pan and let it go to medium heat.
5. Put in the pieces of chicken and cook until all sides are opaque and even a little brownish (about 4-5 minutes)
6. Then add the teriyaki mixture sauce. Leave it there, stirring the contents of the pan together until the sauce begins to thicken and bubble. It will do this faster, as well as cook the chicken more thoroughly if you put a lid on the pan. Just make sure to check every now and then and stir. Your sauce and chicken then would look a like this:

7. It will be done when the sauce is thick enough and the chicken is thoroughly cooked.
8. Serve chicken on plate with the sauce drizzled on top, or on top of rice with some sauce drizzled on top. Or if you're a little obsessive compulsive, put your sauce on the
side and that'll be fine too! Enjoy! :)

*TERIYAKI SAUCE
Teriyaki sauce can be bought at any local supermarket. I recommend the Kikkoman brand. If you can't find any ready made sauce you can also make it yourself by mixing together the following ingredients:
1/2 cup light soysauce
1/2 cup mirin
2 tbsp sugar

Very simple stir-fry vegetables

2009-04-28T23:46:00.005+08:00

Dinner was great! As I wrote in my previous post I did make chicken teriyaki and cooked vegetables as a side dish. I'll get to the teriyaki soon enough, but for now here is my recipe on how to make a very simple, healthy, yet tasty stir-fry vegetable dish that works great on the side or a even a snack!

Ingredients:
1/4 round cabbage sliced into strips
1 carrot sliced into thin strips or those thin half circles
sesame oil
vegetable oil
fish sauce (patis)
light soysauce
pinch of salt and pepper
crushed garlic (depends how 'garlicky' you want it to be)
1 red onion sliced

Directions
1. Heat some vegetable oil in your skillet (not too much; you're not going to deep fry anything)
2. When the oil is hot, add in the red onions and garlic. You know the oil's hot enough when the onions and garlic make a soft sizzling sound.
3. Put in your carrots and just mix them together.
4. After about 2 minutes, put in your cabbage. Let it stay on top for a minute or so to absorb the flavors of the onion, garlic, and carrots.
5. Finally, add a pinch of salt and pepper, about 2 tsp. of sesame oil, and 2-3 tsp of fish sauce/patis, and a tsp. of light soy sauce
6. Mix and keep mixing them together, so all that flavor can go around until the vegetables cook. You'll know it's cooked when the cabbage starts to turn transluscent and soft.

Enjoy! :D

Hey guys!

2009-04-28T15:04:00.004+08:00

Hi guys! Today one of my school mates actually texted me asking about the chicken parmesan I put up on my site. It makes me happy that people actually do get to look around this lil' old blog of mine! So far I have had 500+ hits and that's not so bad for a site that's not advertised much! I'll be making some chicken teriyaki later tonight for dinner, so expect a post for its recipe soon after. I've made grilledteriyaki FISH before, but with homemade teriyaki. Too bad though that the fish broke into pieces because I just used ordinary fillet and not the steak kind. Also, my sauce wasn't as thick as the ones in the restaurant. It tasted pretty good but didn't look it haha! Hopefully my chicken teriyaki later will be better! I'll be using some ready-made teriyaki sauce made by KIKOMAN. I think I'll be cooking some vegetables and toge as a side dish too, if we have any in the fridge.

I'm thinking of making videos with me making my recipes someday. I don't think I'll have enough time this summer; I'll be busy next week with org stuff for school, and then after I'm flying off to Boracay for the World Youth Alliance camp. Oh and I still need a better looking kitchen! Plus my family or our helpers shouldn't be home then because I'm sure they're going to watch me, and that'll just make me feel awkward. Hahaha! If I do end up making videos someday though, I'll be posting them all here too! So I hope you can check that out. :)

Kebabs

2009-04-25T14:45:00.003+08:00

Wow it's been quite a while since I've last uploaded anything on here. I've still been cooking, but the uploading part... well I've been busy a lot with university. Thank god it's the summer break now! I'm so happy! So anyway, for today's recipe I'm sharing with you how to make kebabs. It's not the traditional kebabs that one can buy at Mr. Kebab or other Persian restaurants. This one is a mix of the different recipes I found over the internet with a touch of my choice herbs and spices.

Beef tenderloin/any soft beef part cut into cubes
Zucchini cut into circle-y things
Tomatoes (not the big ones that can be seen in commercials of tomato sauce)
Red onions

Marinade: (Just mix together)
Lotsa crushed garlic
2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
thyme

Directions:

Marinate the beef in the marinade for about an hour or so
Then on a skewer/bbq stick just stick in a small red onion, a tomato, and some beef cubes
When the grill/griddle is very very hot, put the stick on and baste with the marinade for a minute or so on both sides (just to sear the outside and get those nice burn marks)
Move it then to a less hot area of the grill/griddle (not leesssssssss hot; just on medium heat) until the meat is cooked, which if the size of your cubes are similar to the ones on the photo (you can infer by comparing it to the size of the tomatoes, zucchini, and onions beside it), is in about 15-20 minutes; depending if you want yours rare, med
Do the same to the zucchini slices

Fish and Chips

2009-03-27T17:47:00.003+08:00

This recipe I got from Jamie Oliver's show, Oliver's Twist, which is one of my favorite cooking shows on television. It's really easy to make and I've made it a little bit my own by adding on my own dip, a few more ingredients, and using milk instead of beer (which is mainly because I didn't have beer at the time haha)

Ingredients:
1. 4 Fish fillets: something nice and firm but not steak-y (I recommend lapu-lapu, dori, or tilapia)
2. Salt and pepper
3. 1 cup Milk
4. 1 cup regular Flour
5. Cayenne pepper
6. 2 egg whites, whisked until white and sticky
7. 2 Potatoes (or more if you want a lot of chips!)
8. Dijon mustard
9. Mayonaise
10. Lemon/calamansi

Directions:
For the Fish
1. Season the the fish fillets with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper
2. Mix together the egg whites, flour, milk/beer, and season with a bit more of salt, pepper, and cayenne.
3. Dip the fish fillets into the mixture
4. Fry in hot oil about an inch thick to ensure crispiness. Each fillet will be done in about 5 minutes.

For the chips
1. Peel the potatoes (I like to leave a little skin on)
2. Cut into wedges or thin strips or discs, it's up to you
3. Blanche in oil
4. When the fish is all done, you can re-fry the potatoes again in the now very hot oil so it will be nice and crispy.

For the dip:
Mix mustard to mayo (2:3) with a pinch of pepper

Serve together, seasoned with salt and pepper, with mustard and lemon juice on the side.

ENJOY!

Grilled Sea Bass and Asparagus

2009-03-05T22:53:00.006+08:00

So here is what I cooked for tonight's main course! I was initially planning to cook the fish ala Jamie Oliver's beer fish and chips, but realizing that my mom bought these large and very fresh sea bass steak fillets, I felt that it would be better to just make something a little fancier. Haha!

So this recipe is really very easy. Let me get to it.

Ingredients:
Sea Bass steak cut into about an inch thick fillets (like in the photo)
Dried or fresh rosemary
Asparagus
Salt and pepper
Butter
Marinade

Now for the marinade, I just used Selection ready-made Lemon and Garlic marinade*. I poured it on the asparagus and sea bass fillets, just enough to get them coated --not really super drenched, and then rubbed the fillets with salt, pepper, and rosemary herb. Then I left the asparagus and fillets in the fridge for about 40 minutes. You can leave it there for longer, of course, if you like.

* - If you want to make your own lemon and garlic marinade though, it's just made of olive oil + lemon + lots of crushed garlic/garlic powder + pepper.

Now we grill! For this recipe, instead of using an electric griller or a real with coal griller, I opted for a ridged griddle.

Directions:
1. Put some butter on the griddle. This will serve as your oil and add some extra flavor.
2. When the griddle is hot (you'll know when the butter begins to bubble/pop), go on and place the fillets and asparagus!
3. Grill each side until ridge marks begin to form and the meat turns a beautiful white with a brownish tint from the butter. This will take around 15 minutes total, depending on whether you like yours rare, medium rare, medium well, or well done. I recommend medium well. Just the right amount of rawness inside the meat, but also with that little burned-ish taste on the outside! Haha! For the asparagus, just take it out when it begins to soften.

Enjoy! :D

Chef's Salad

2009-03-05T22:44:00.004+08:00

Today I made dinner again. This time my mom and dad ate too! I made chef's salad and grilled sea bass; the recipe of the latter in the next entry.

I like salads, but usually we have the salad bar type of thing going on in our house where our helpers just lay out the lettuce and have the sliced veggies and the different dressings, and it's up to us to mix and match. I like that too, but frankly I was getting a little tired of it already and really, I just wanted eggs in my salad! So then I decided to make this one.

Ingredients
Romaine/Iceberg Lettuce
Hard boiled eggs (sliced)
Cheddar cheese cut into small cubes
Tomatoes (sliced, if it's a big one)
Carrots and cucumbers* (cut into strips)
Crushed Bacon and/or croutons
Your favorite 'mayo-based' dressing. I recommend Low-fat Caesar dressing or Thousand Island.

Directions
Toss everything together and top with crushed bacon and/or croutons! Add a little pepper too and voila! :)

Brocolli Parsley Carbonara

2009-03-04T00:52:00.003+08:00

My parents and my brother weren't in to eat dinner at home; so instead of reheating some food from the fridge or eating galunggong which I wasn't in the mood for, I decided to make and eat some pasta! I talked to my friend, Marg, about what would be nice to try and cook for the night, and she suggested this eggplant pasta she tried in the Avenetto restaurant in the Fort; however, she couldn't describe it well enough and I haven't tried it either. I decided to choose something else. Looking through the pantry I found that I had some ingredients perfect for carbonara! Now although I've seen and helped some friends make carbonara for a few times before, I've never cooked it myself, so looking through the internet, mixing and matching different carbonaras to what I had at home and my personal taste I came up with this recipe... and it was good! Here's how to make it:

Ingredients:
Spaguetti/Fettucini/your favorite pasta
Sausage cut into small pieces (this is supposed to be bacon but we didn't have any bacon that time)
Brocolli
Parsley (about a handful)
Garlic (3-4 cloves)
All purpose cream
Quickmelt cheese grated or cut in small chunks
Milk
1 egg (optional)
Butter
Salt and pepper

Directions
1. Melt about half a stick of butter in a pan. When it is very hot, add the sausage bits.
2. Fry sausage in the butter until it begins to crisp.
3. Lower the heat, and then add in the brocolli. (Don't put in too much. I actually just added brocolli because I felt guilty that my sauce was going to be so rich.)
3. Add in the cream and milk (about 1:2 ratio)
4. When the sauce starts to simmer, add in the cheese (1 cream: 1 cheese)
5. Let the cheese melt and stir so that all will mix together well.
6. Add the chopped parsley (just about a handful) and the egg(egg is optional)
7. Mix in the chopped garlic
8. Stir all together for a few minutes and season with salt and pepper.
9. Pour some over cooked pasta, sprinkle a bit of parmesan on top and tada! :D

Mozarella Sticks

2009-02-22T22:30:00.003+08:00

I love mozarella sticks. As a snack, on pasta, as an appetizer... It's just so yummy and comforting! Recently I saw Giada do this on tv and I tried to do it myself. It's not so hard after all!

Ingredients:
Mozarella cut into sticks
Panko (bread crumbs)
Egg
Parmesan
Salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Whisk egg in a bowl.
2. Mix panko and some parmesan, salt, and pepper in another bowl.
3. Dip sticks into whisked egg and then into the panko. Repeat until the cheese is fully covered.
4. Put cheese sticks into a tupperware and put in the freezer for about 2-3hours or even up to a day.
5. Heat oil in a frying pan.
6. When oil is very hot, fry the cold mozarella sticks until they are crispy.

Voila! Best served with a salsa dip or marinara sauce. :D

Chicken Parmesan

2009-02-22T22:13:00.003+08:00

I try to make dinner for my family once every few weeks. Today I made this for dinner along with mozarella sticks, the recipe of which in my next post. :)

Ingredients:
Pasta
Chicken Breasts
Parsley
Carrots diced into tiny, tiny pieces
Garlic, Onions
Canned whole peeled tomatoes
Tomato Sauce
Tobasco/Hot sauce
Salt, pepper, sugar, cayenne pepper
Mozarella Cheese
Panko (bread crumbs)
Parmesan Cheese
Whisked egg

Directions:
For the chicken
1. Rub chicken with salt and pepper.
2. Dip in egg and then the bread crumbs which are mixed with a bit of salt, pepper, and parmesan.
3. Repeat process until all the breasts are covered well.
4. Fry in high heat until golden brown, and then put aside.

For the sauce
1. Saute garlic, onion, and carrots until they all soften. (a handful of each except garlic > onion and carrots)
2. Then add the can of tomatoes and some tomato sauce. (1:1)
3. Put in the chopped parsley (less than handful, more than a few pinches)
4. Add salt, sugar, peppers to taste
5. Put in tobasco sauce!
6. Simmer until sauce thickens
7. Blend together in a blender until sauce is no longer too chunky

Chicken parmesan
1. In a pyrex, put in the pasta and mix it with the sauce.
2. Place cooked chicken breasts on top.
3. Grate lots of mozarella and parmesan on top of the whole thing
4. Bake in 350 F for 15 minutes or until cheese melts.
*In my case, I ran out mozarella so I didn't get to put too much into it. The more the better though, so don't hesitate in covering even the whole thing with the yummy cheese.

Chix and Cheese in Bacon

2009-02-10T00:08:00.003+08:00

Ingredients:
Chicken Fillet cut into thin slices, slightly flattened with salt and pepper
Cheese
Saute'd Garlic and onion
Roasted red pepper (from a can is fine)
Bacon

Put one ingredient on top of another in this order:
Bacon, chicken fillet, cheese, garlic and onion, and red pepper --> ROLL (bacon will be like your wrapper) and put on a bbq stick. GRILL. :D

For remaining peppers, feel free to grill them... They become nice and sweet :D

Buffalo Chicken Wings

2009-02-09T22:52:00.002+08:00

Ingredients
Chicken wings with wing from mini drumstick thing separated (Healthier option would be breast fillets cut into strips)

*Marinade in:
HOT SAUCE. The more the spicier
Salt and pepper (don't be afraid to put it in there)
Cayenne pepper powder
Pepper flakes

Buffalo wings sauce
Butter > sweet chili sauce
Salt and pepper, cayenne pepper
Spicy sili cut into small pieces/crushed and/or pepper flakes
Diced garlic

Directions

Bread chicken wings (optional) and then fry on medium to high heat oil until cooked and crispy in one pan. Take out wings and set aside.
In the same pan, leave only little of the used oil and then melt butter in it.
Saute garlic until it begins to brown
Add the sweet chili sauce, peppers, and a little salt
Add the crushed/cut spicy sili and/or pepper flakes
Stir on low heat til it begins to simmer.
Mix sauce and chicken together and voila!

You can use a ranch dressing dip or blue cheese dip with this. :)

Murdered Hotdogs

2009-01-19T21:54:00.004+08:00

I remember eating and making this snack ever since I was a little kid. Making it my own by adding a few more ingredients, I've also discovered that aside from as an afternoon merienda, it also goes great with a bottle of cold beer.

Murdered Hotdogs
(Serves 1-2)

Ingredients
2-3 hotdogs sliced into small pieces (either all meat or red; doesn't matter)
regular ketchup
1 medium to large onion
hot chili/chili powder/hot sauce/red chili flakes (the more the spicier)
cooking oil
parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions
1) Heat the oil in a pan, and then saute onion and hotdog pieces.
2) Add some chili, keep frying
3) After around 2-3 minutes, add ketchup (about half a cup --more if you're big on ketchup) and chili
4) Mix together in pan til ketchup begins to simmer.
5) Sprinkle with a bit of parmesan and serve! :D

Tom Yum!

2009-01-13T18:32:00.009+08:00

Here is how to make Tom Yum soup.
Ingredients:
-Shrimp and/or squid
-Green chili (sliced on one side about thrice. The more slices and chili, the spicier)
-Tom Yum paste* (30g to every 500g of water)
-Tomatoes cut so that it kinda looks like potato wedges (sorry I don't know what that cut is called haha)
-Pechay/Leafy vegetable
-Fresh or powdered coriander
-Bunch of lemongrass
-Onion leaves (cut)
-Onions, garlic, a little ginger (all chopped)
-Salt and pepper

Directions:
1) De-shell and de-vein shrimp. Don't throw shells just yet. For squid, just slice ala-calamares
2) In a heated pot, saute the garlic and onions with 1/4 amnt of water (total amnt of water depends on how much soup you want.. just keep in mind the tomyum paste to water ratio). Add the shrimp heads in soon after.
3) When shrimp heads begin to change in color, add another 1/4 of water along with the ginger. Boil for a few minutes. Then take out the shrimp heads (which by then should be very orange already)
4) Add the remaining 1/2 of the water into the pot with the tom yum paste, shrimp, squid, tomatoes chili, and vegetables
5) Mix in the coriander and onion leaves as the water is boiling, put in a dash of salt and pepper to taste.
6) Soup is ready when the shrimps have turned pink and and squid has become firm. Put in the bunch of lemon grass when you are about to turn off the fire.
7) Wait for it too cool a little bit and then serve! :)

*Tom Yum paste
You can purchase tom yum paste in most Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Singaporean, Thai etc groceries. If not, what I do sometimes is I just mix tamarind powder (sinigang mix is fine too), curry mix, and patis (fish sauce) in a 1:1:1 ratio. I also add more coriander --this time fresh than when I use the tom yum paste.

Singapore and Philly cheese corned beef

2009-01-07T19:08:00.008+08:00

So I just got back from my Singapore trip last January 2. It was awesome over there! The shopping, the sights, the nightlife, and of course, the food. On the left I've made a collage of some of the dishes I tried over there. My favorite is the Cereal Prawns which is the biggest one in the collage. It's fried prawns and cereal that is very crispy and slightly sweet. It's so good that even the shells can be eaten! I tried the dish over at Hawkers near Esplanade and of all the food I have tried in my stay there, that is the most unforgettable one! In a good way! We ate it with pineapple rice, another tasty treat, grilled stingray, and Tom Yum soup. The last two had quite the spices, so I wouldn't recommend it for those who mind sweating a bit and getting their tongue a little burned. I would gladly come back though. :D I have yet to try cooking it myself, but watch out for that. I will try some day soon.

Some other goodies really worth mentioning are the buffet breakfast over at the Singapore Zoo which made me forget that we went there for the animals and not the food haha, the spicy Mcwings over at Mcdonalds which was so juicy and slightly spicy, the swedish meatballs at IKEA which surprisingly went great with the sweetness of the linden(sp?) berries, the Sing ice cream sandwich sold in the streets which was great, especially because it didn't melt as fast as I expected, and the "BBQ Shabu Shabu" in Pasar Oleh Oleh, Bintan, Indonesia. Well I included it with the Sing food already because Bintan is very Singaporean; the currency used to pay for stuff there is even SGD. Tiger Beer, the Singaporean counterpart of my country, Philippine's "San Miguel/RedHorse" is lighter than I thought it would be. It's good though.. 'swabe'. It reminds me a little of Cerveza Negra, but lighter. Bintang Beer of Indonesia is quite like Cerveza too, but it feels very watery and thin. San Miguel Strong Ice and Red Horse are still on top for me. :)

For more info on these dishes, check out my flickr account over at http://flickr.com/photos/kamums

Meanwhile, let me go on with the recipe I will share with you today. Wanting to make a philly cheese steak sandwich since before I left for Singapore, I decided to finally make one when I got back. Unfortunately, we still did not have any good tenderloin/sirloin or any beef cuts for that matter so I settled with what I found in the pantry --corned beef.

PHILLY CHEESE CORNED BEEF
Ingredients
1 small can purefoods corned beef
1 red onion
1-2 cloves garlic
cheeze whiz
2 slices bread
olive oil

1. Heat a little olive oil in pan
2. Sautee chopped onion and garlic
3. Put on high heat, and then add corned beef
4. Keep on pan until corned beef is dry and begins to crisp
5. On one slice of bread, put the corned beef. Make sure to include the little burnt pieces stuck to the pan --those are the crunchiest, yummiest corned beef parts
6. On the other slice, spread on a rich amount of cheeze whiz
7. Put slices together, grill in sandwich griller or toast. :)

Lazy Chili

2008-12-23T01:19:00.002+08:00

I made this for dinner some time ago in March and had to make do with whatever we had in the pantry, hence the lack of beans and other traditional ingredients. I recommend this for lazy people who don't have the time to make the perfect blend of cumin and other spices and buy ingredients not sold in the local mini-grocery or market.

Lazy Chili
Ingredients:
Ground beef or pork
Mushrooms
Tomatoes
Onions
Garlic
Red pepper
Spicy red or green pepper
McCormick Chili con Carne seasoning dissolved in about 1 cup water
Cheese
Salt and pepper

First, saute onions, garlic in oil. Add the peppers next, then the mushrooms and then the tomatoes. When you can start to smell the flavor, put in the ground meat and cook it. Season it with salt and pepper while cooking. When it is cooked, add the dissolved McCorming Chili Con Carne seasoning. Mix it well and then cover the pot with a lid. Keep the fire going until it starts to thicken. Serve with cheese on top and Tortillas or plain white rice. Really also great as a dip for chips on movie nights with friends. :)

Banananutter

2008-12-22T04:40:00.004+08:00

Perfect for a midnight snack or those days when one is in need of sweet comfort food.

Banananutter
Ingredients
1 Banana
1 Bar of favorite chocolate (not too sweet)
1 1/2 tbsp peanut butter

Put banana in the freezer and leave it there for about 20 minutes to an hour. Right before you take it out, microwave the peanut butter and chocolate until they melt. Take out cold banana, slice into small circles and mix with the hot peanut butter and chocolate. Sprinkle some nuts on it (cashew or peanuts will do) and you're done! Best served with a scoop of vanilla or coffee ice cream.

Parmesan Tempura w/ Lemon Butter Garlic sauce

2008-12-21T20:33:00.005+08:00

Something I cooked up for dinner on the 30th of November. My mom had bought some shrimp to eat for dinner, but sick of having to eat it simply steamed and with garlic and vinegar like it's usually prepared around here, I decided to take the challenge.

I didn't have enough time to go shopping for gambas ingredients so I decided to just modify tempura. I'm still thinking of an interesting name for it (feel free to post your suggestions!), but until then I'll just call it what it is:

Parmesan Tempura with Lemon Butter Garlic sauce
Ingredients:
Shrimp, de-shelled and de-veined
Flour/cornstarch/panko breadcrumbs for the coating
Parmesan cheese
1 egg
Salt and pepper
Butter
Finely chopped GARLIC (a lot.. maybe 4-5 cloves depends on how strong you like the taste of garlic; i like it really garlicky)
Lemon/Calamansi juice to taste

Let's begin with making the sauce. Heat a pan and put in about 2-3 sticks of butter until it starts to melt. Sautee your garlic in the butter and then when the garlic starts to brown, add in the lemon/calamansi juice to taste. Leave it on low heat for about a minute or so just to let the tastes combine. When that's done, pour 3/4 of the sauce (including the garlic) into a small bowl.

Now marinade the shrimp in salt and pepper for about 15 minutes or more, just so the taste sets in (you can of course do the salt and pepper step before making the sauce to save time). Crack the egg into a bowl and the mix the coating with parmesan cheese in another bowl. Dip the shrimp into the egg and then into the coating mixture and set aside.*If you want to do this in an easier, faster way, just dip all the shrimp in the egg and then put it in zip lock bag containing the coating and then just shake it, much like the Mcdonald's shakeyerfries thingamajig. Heat up the same pan used for making the sauce and use the 1/4 left of the sauce in it as your oil. When it is hot, fry the shrimps until the tail turns pinkish red and the coating is crispy. By then the remaining garlic from the pan would turn crispy as well, so take that and put on top of the shrimp when serving. Oh and for the sauce, either just mix it all together with the shrimp, or serve it on the side as a dip like in the photo (above).

Tada!

Crunchy Tuna Melt

2008-12-21T19:49:00.001+08:00

When I wake up more than 1 hour after lunch, I usually end up cooking up my own lunch or... "snunch" (snack that serves as my lunch). Today was one of those days, and my snunch was a Crispy Tuna Melt sandwich. I just thought of this today, but the inspiration for the crunch I got from a bar/resto near my school where my friends and I hang out a lot. Here's the recipe:

Crispy Tuna Melt
*Makes for 2-3 sandwiches

Ingredients:
1 small can hot and spicy century tuna
1 red onion chopped up
1 tomato chopped up
1 egg
1 pack skyflakes, or whole wheat crackers (depends on how crunchy you want your tuna melt to be)
mayonaise
quickmelt cheese
Bread slices

First, heat the pan with 1/4 of the oil from the can of tuna. Sautee the onions until they begin to caramelize, then add the tomatoes and the contents of the can of tuna. Keep sautee-ing until the oil begins to evaporate and then add the egg. When they all begin to cook together, break the crackers into small pieces and mix in the pan. Turn off heat after about a minute or two.

While waiting for the contents of the pan to cool a bit, spread some mayo on the bread slices. Then add some cheese onto it, and then finally, the contents of the pan. Put on some more cheese slices, and then finally complete the sandwich with the other bread slice. Grill or toast the sandwich until brown and serve!