Fish Fillet in Tausi

I'm proud to share this recipe with you because I know you'll enjoy it. You can use almost any kind of white-fleshed fish. Me, I like to use cream dory fillets for it's taste and texture as well. Many don't like to use this kind because of it's unavailability and it's high price. I recommend using tilapia fillets as a worthy substitute. Just make sure you choose the black-skinned one for it is more succulent and more flavorful.

Fish Fillet in Tausi
What you'll need:

• 1/2 kilo cream dory fillets
• 1 cup tofu, cubed and fried
• 2-3 tbsp tausi (fermented black beans)
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 med onion, sliced
• 1 2" ginger, cut into strips
• 1 small green bell pepper, julienned
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp cornstarch, dissolve in
• 1 tbsp cold water (slurry)

How to:

1. Saute onion, garlic and ginger in a little oil.
2. Add tausi and oyster sauce. Add water and mix well. Bring into a simmering boil.
3. Turn the heat down into low and add the bell peppers, fish and fried tofu.
4. Cover and let cook for 10 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water if necessary.
5. Stir in the slurry and stir to thicken the sauce.
6. Remove from heat and serve. Enjoy!

Elsie's Congee

I want to name this dish for my friend who ask me to make a series of vegetarian recipes. At first, I really don't know how to make a congee with no meat whatsoever. You know us Filipinos, we love our lugaw with everything and anything. I don't know what to use to make this dish tasty without any source of meat flavor. Finally, my good friend Chef Antonio suggested that I use vegetable stock for the base and mushrooms as meat substitutes. I got to be honest with you. At first, I don't think this will taste good at all but I'm wrong. IT'S PERFECT! Top with some roasted peanuts and it becomes heavenly. I love this recipe so much that I'm thinking to become a vegetarian myself. Special thanks again to Chef Antonio Madriaga for the knowledge.

Elsie's Congee
What you'll need:

• 1 cup short grain rice, washed
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 4-5 cups water
• 5-6 pcs shitake mushrooms, softened in hot water and sliced
• 1 3" ginger, peeled and chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 med head broccoli, cut into small florets 
• 1 tbsp scallions, finely sliced
• 1/2 cup roasted peanuts, crushed or chopped
• salt to taste
• 1 egg (optional)

How to:

1. Place rice in a pot with vegetable stock and ginger. Boil over high heat for 1 1/2 hours. Add water when necessary and stir occasionally to prevent burning.
2. Add the mushrooms and carrots. Season with salt according to taste. Simmer for 3 more minutes.
3. Lastly add the broccoli when the congee is almost done. If you want to use an egg, add in the egg and stir with a fork until it breaks.
4. Remove from heat and serve with chopped peanuts on top. Enjoy!

Bean Sprout Spring Roll ( Lumpiang Togue)

This the first of many recipes dedicated to Ms. Elsie Phillips. She's a vegetarian, so I'm making a series of recipes focusing mainly on vegetables, tofu and other non-meat products. This is actually hard for me because most of you knew that I'm a carnivore by nature. This first recipe is a Filipino favorite specially with lugaw (congee) or in my case, rice. The dip is simple to make, just mix together 1 part soy sauce, 1 part white vinegar, some crushed garlic, some chopped onions and some ground black pepper and it's done. Add some chillies if you like. Try this: if you want your dip to have some nice kick, try using the brine of the Guillano sliced jalapeno instead of vinegar and cut the soy sauce by half. I know, thank me later.

Bean Sprout Spring Roll (Lumpiang Togue)
What you'll need: 

• 1/2 kilo fresh bean sprouts, washed and drained
• 2 cups sweet potatoes, sliced into 1" strips
• 1 cup string beans
• 1 cup tofu, crumbled
• 1/2 cup carrots, sliced into 1" strips
• 1 med onion, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• spring roll wrappers or rice paper for wrapping
• oil for deep frying
• salt & pepper to taste

How to:

1. First, saute onion and garlic in a small amount of oil until translucent. 
2. Add the sweet potatoes and carrots. Saute for a minute.
3. Add the remaining vegetables and tofu. Pour a little amount of water to help it simmer.
4. Season with salt and pepper according to taste.
5. Simmer for 1-2 minutes or until half-cooked. Remove from heat and drain the liquid in a strainer.
6. Let it stand and cool for an hour before wrapping.
7. Wrap spring rolls by placing 1-2 tbsp of the vegetables in the wrapper and close the sides. Roll to make a small log. Close the edge with egg white or water.
8. Deep fry in oil until golden in color.
9. Serve with dip and enjoy! 

Pork Sinigang

Okay, most of you may know how to cook this very popular Filipino dish but I'm posting this for someone close to my heart who's pregnant right now. This is a tamarind based soup with meats and veggies, good for nourishing  that angel inside her. Hope this helps her soothe the back pains and other pregnancy related discomforts. So, here it goes. This one's for you, sweetie.

Pork Sinigang
What you'll need:

• 1/2 kilo pork belly, sliced into portions
• 1 cup taro (gabi), cut into wedges
• 2 cups kang-kong leaves
• 1 cup sitaw, cut into 2" strings
• 1 cup labanos, sliced
• 2-3 green chilies
• 2 tomatoes, quartered
• 1 onion, quartred
• 1 pouch sinigang mix
• 1 liter water
• patis to taste

How to:

1. Boil pork belly in water with the taro, onions and tomatoes until tender.
2. Crush tomatoes while cooking to unlock it's flavor.
3. Add the sinigang mix and let simmer in medium high heat for 5 minutes.
4. Add the sitaw and labanos. Let cook for 3 more minutes.
5. Add the remaining ingredients and season with patis according to taste.
6. Serve and enjoy!

Southern Style Barbecue Ribs

Since I've post my roast beef recipe, I decided to post a barbecue recipe. This is not like what we Filipinos are used to and the ingredients are not what we commonly use. This is a great comfort food with mashed potatoes and other fix-ins. Of course, it's best served with rice. I love this very much as much I love my daughter. It used to be a secret recipe of mine but now I'm sharing it with you.

Southern Style Barbecue Ribs
What you'll need:


11/2 kilo baby back ribs, whole or divided into portions

For the marinade:

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 scallions, chopped
• 3 tbsp sherry or brandy
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tbsp ginger, minced

For the rub:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar, dark
• 1/4 cup paprika
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1/2 tbsp black pepper
• 1/2 tbsp white pepper
• 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tbsp onion powder
• 1/2 tbsp cayenne

For the sauce/basting sauce:

• 2 cups tomato ketchup
• 1/2 water
• 1/2 apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp yellow mustard
• 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp chili powder

How to:

1. Boil ribs in salted water for 2 hours or until tender. Drain and let cool.
2. Combine marinade ingredients in a bowl. Mix well. Marinate ribs for at least overnight.
3. Remove ribs from the marinade and drain. 
4. Combine all rub ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Rub ribs with the mixture lightly.
5. In a sauce pan, combine the sauce ingredients and let boil. Simmer for 5 minutes and then remove from heat.
6. Heat up the spit and grill the ribs. Baste the ribs with the sauce occasionally.
7. Grill the ribs until done. 
8. Serve with the remaining sauce and enjoy!

*Tip: Remove the membrane of the ribs (as shown below) to let the marinade and rub penetrate the meat. 

Oven Roasted Beef

The key here is timing. Knowing when to take it out of the oven is the way to make this one perfect. I decided to keep this recipe simple and easy to do. The ingredients are simple too so that you will have no problems finding them. Most of it you already have, I guess. I wanted to give you guys the best I have and this is one of them. I haven't included any sauce or gravy in this recipe mainly because the juices of the beef will serve as the sauce but it is an option I will leave for you to decide.

Oven Roasted Beef
What you'll need:

• 1 kilo boneless chuck roast
• 1 cup carrots, sliced
• 1/2 cup onions, quartered
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 cup celery stalks, sliced
• 1 cup button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 pc bay leaf
• salt
• cracked black pepper
• olive oil

How to:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Rub chuck roast with salt and pepper.
3. Heat olive oil in a large pan and sear chuck roast until deep brown in color. Sear all sides.
4. In a ceramic baking dish, place all of the remaining ingredients to make a bed for the roast.
5. Place the chuck roast on the bed and cover with aluminum foil.
6. Put in the oven and bake for 30 - 40 minutes or until done. Remove foil halfway through cooking time.
7. Remove from the oven when done and let cool for 10 - 15 minutes before slicing.
8. Serve with your favorite side dish and serve. Enjoy!

Ginisang Munggo

It's Thursday at the time of this writing and tomorrow I'll cook this dish. I don't know why the Filipinos have this tradition of cooking munggo on Fridays but it's one of my favorites and I'm craving for it. My version is like any other recipes out there but instead of focusing mainly on the munggo, I made a few adjustments in which you will soon learn shortly. I use the type of munggo beans that have been previously cracked. It's readily available in markets and groceries. This lessens the cooking time and the task of mashing the beans. I'm getting hungry, so let's cook!

Ginisang Munggo

What you'll need:

• 1/2 kilo pork belly, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1/4 kilo prawns, shelled
• 1/2 kilo cracked mung beans, pre-boiled
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 med onion, sliced
• 3 med tomatoes, cubed
• 3 cups ampalaya leaves 
• 3 cups pork stock
• 2 cups shrimp stock
• 1 cup crushed chicharon

How to:

1. First, boil pork in salted water until tender. Drain and reserve the stock. Let cool.
2. In a separate pot, boil prawn shells for 10 minutes to make stock. Mash to unlock the flavor. Strain and set aside.
3. Fry pork in oil until golden and add garlic, onions and tomatoes.
4. Sauté in medium high heat until tomatoes are crushed.  
5. Add prawns and mung beans. 
6. Pour in the pork stock and shrimp stock.
7. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. 
8. Season with salt and pepper according to taste. *Note: Try using patis instead of MSG but it's up to you which do you prefer.
9. Add the remaining ingredients and remove from heat.
10. Serve with rice and enjoy!