Chicken Curry Pasta

You know the feeling of making something special or different on a Sunday? Yeah.. That’s what I felt when I made this dish. Lol. So most of the time we partner curry with rice so why not with pasta? The next thing I know, I was already at the farmer’s market, gathering the ingredients. Lol.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. chicken (regularly cut)
450g. spaghetti pasta
1 large potato (cubed)
1 large carrot (cubed)
1 medium red bell pepper
2 tablespoon oil
1/2 cup string beans
3 tablespoons curry powder
1/4 cup milk
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1 medium onion (chopped)
Salt and pepper
1 cup pasta water

Method:

1. Cook pasta per package instructions – Al dente. Drain and set aside. Keep a cup of pasta water.

2. In a sauce pan, heat oil and sauté garlic and onion. Add in the chicken, let it cook (15 – 20 minutes)

3. Stir in curry powder and pasta water. Continue to cook for 3 minutes (low heat).

4. Add in the potatoes and carrots. Cook until tender.

5. Place the bell pepper and string beans. Pour in the milk and let it simmer until the sauce thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste.

6. Toss in the spaghetti pasta until everything is covered with sauce. Serve.

Enjoy!

Crabs In Coconut Milk

Mom and I went to the market and found some crabs being sold. I seldom cook this because most of the time you need to use your hands to eat this and I’m not into using my hands to get that crab meat but I love how it tastes so most of the time I only eat the vegetables. Lol. My mom decided to buy it because it’s my friend’s favourite and her’s too! My friend and Mom really jives on this food.

Here is another Filipino dish I would like to share with you. There are a lot of ways to cook this. But this is how I learned it from my Mom and our helper who’s from the southern part of the Philippines known for cooking basically any food with coconut milk and tons of chilis! Lol.

Ingredients:

1kg. blue crabs
1 medium grated coconut
1 cup squash (cubed)
2 cups kangkong leaves (water spinach)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1 large onion (chopped)
1/4 cup ginger (thinly sliced)
3 finger chilis
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons cooking oil

Method:

Prepare the coconut milk

• There are two kinds of coconut milk that you need to extract from the grated coconut. (1) “Kakang Gata” or the first extraction of coconut milk. It’s thicker, creamier and most pure coconut milk. (2) “Gata” which is the second extraction of coconut milk, less creamier or thicker than the first extraction. 
• Pour 1/2 cup of warm water into the grated coconut and let it settle for 10 to 15 minutes or until the water is tolerable to be touched.
• Using your two hands, grab a handful of grated coconut and try to squeeze out the coconut milk (Kakang Gata). Set aside. If you’re having difficulty giving a force into it, you can use a really clean thin kitchen towel, tie it up and squeeze the cloth.
• Return the squeezed coconut into the bowl and pour in another 1/2 cup water (it doesn’t have to be warm) and again squeeze out the coconut milk on another container. This is the second extraction (Gata). Set aside.
• Proceed to cooking the crabs!

1. Rinse the crabs thoroughly.
2. In a large wok, heat 2 tablespoons cooking oil. Add garlic, onion and ginger. Sauté for 1 minute.
3. Add the crabs. Add in the second extracted coconut milk (Gata). Cover and let it simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes.
4. Add in the squash. Cover and let it cook for 5 minutes or until squash is cooked.
5. Add fish sauce and ground pepper according to taste.
6. Place the kangkong and chilis on top and pour in the first extracted coconut milk (kakang gata). Cover and let it simmer for another 5 minutes.
7. Serve it with steamed rice.

Enjoy!

Pork with Tofu and Eggplant Binagoongan (Shrimp Paste)

Pork and Eggplant in Shrimp Paste

Mom got us some shrimp paste that she bought when she was in a vacation somewhere up north. I suddenly craved for something salty yet sweet. So I went to the market and bought some meat and tofu. I love tofu. If there’s gonna be an ambassadress for tofu, I should be the one! Lol. It doesn’t matter how you cook it – fried, steamed, grilled or even boiled, I will eat it! Lol.

This recipe is another famous Filipino dish. Primarily you need a shrimp paste which is made from fermented ground shrimp mixed with salt. You can find shrimp paste on any asian store as it is a really famous side dish mostly for the southeast asian cuisine. More often than not they are already bottled and pre-cooked or flavoured. But on this dish, I used a fresh one or the “pinkish” one because I want to be the one to flavour my paste. Lol.

By the way, you don’t necessarily need salt on this because the shrimp paste itself is salty enough to season or to give taste to the whole dish. So you may want to carefully check the amount of shrimp paste to put.

Ingredients:

1 kilo pork liempo (pork belly) cut in serving pieces1/2 cup shrimp pasteFirm tofu (cubed)
4 cloves garlic (minced)
1 small onion (chopped)
1 medium tomato (chopped)
1 chili (chopped)
1/2 cup  vinegar
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 large Chinese eggplant (cut in half inch slices)
Ground pepper or whole peppercorns

Method:

1. Pat dry tofu and fry. Set aside.

2. Place pork in a pan with just enough water and put into boil in slow heat for 30 minutes or until tender.

3. Let its oil render then start stir-frying until colour turns to light brown. Set aside.

4. Using its oil in the same pan, sauté garlic, onion, tomatoes and chili. Add the shrimp paste and stir for 5 minutes.

5. Add in the pork, vinegar, brown sugar and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Add pepper according to taste

6. Place the eggplant, stir, cover and let it cook for another 5 minutes in low heat. Turn off the heat. Place the tofu and stir. Serve.

Enjoy!

Seared Scallops and Snow Peas

Seared Scallops and Snow Peas

One morning, my mother came from the market and deliberately woke me up just to tell me she bought some scallops from her friend who sells fresh seafood. lol. I’m not sure if I should be happy or mad with her information but all I know was that I’m still sleepy and I’ll deal with it later.

But my urge for making another recipe overruled the comfortability of my bed. So I popped out of it and went straight to the kitchen. Scallop is something we, most Filipinos, do not put first on the list of our groceries or more often that not, it doesn’t make into the list at all! Lol.

So, gathering whatever ingredients I can include. Here’s what I found.

Ingredients:

8 sea scallops (dried)

1 cup snow peas (trimmed)

2 cloves garlic (thinly sliced)

1 chili (julienned)

1/4 cup peas

Scallions

1 tablespoon vegetable  oil

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Clean and pat dry the scallops. Season it with salt and pepper.

2. In a hot non-stick pan, add the butter and oil. Make sure the the pan is hot before placing the scallops.

3. Sear the scallops by placing flat-side down in the pan, 2-3 minutes per side. Do not over crowd the pan. If you are cooking plenty of scallops you may want to cook it in batches. Set aside the scallops.

4. Using the pan and oil where the scallops were cooked,  add the garlic, chili, peas, snow peas and scallions. Cook until snow peas are tender. Do not overcook. Add salt and pepper according to taste.

5. Slide in vegetable in a clean plate and place the scallops on top. Serve.

Enjoy!

Chicken Adobo

Chicken Adobo

Adobo, is, perhaps, the most popular Filipino dish there is in Philippine cuisine. It can be considered, well at some point, the national dish of the country. Lol. A lot of stories have come around about the origin of Adobo. Before the Spanish came and conquer the land for over 300 years, adobo is already being served on every table across the country.

“Adobo” means “to marinate” a Filipino cooking process of preserving a food. Our ancestors got no refrigerator on those times, so they gotta find a way to preserve their food. Originally coconut vinegar is the basic ingredient not until the Chinese traders have brought soy sauce during barter trade which eventually been used for adobo.

There are so many variants of Adobo recipe in the Philippines. In fact, every region or province has its own recipe. Including me. Lol.  I’d like to say I’m proud of my version. That’s why I am sharing it. Lol.

Ingredients:

1kg. Chicken/Pork/Lamb

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon black pepper (crushed)

1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon oregano (ground)

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves

1 red chili

2 tablespoons oil

Method:

1. In a large pot, marinate meat in soy sauce, vinegar, garlic powder and black pepper for 1 to 3 hours. Cover.

2. After marinating, add in the water into the meat mixture. Bring to boil the meat in a low heat. Simmer for 30 minutes, do not forget to stir occasionally.

3. Drain the meat and set aside the sauce to be used later.

4. Sear meat in another pot by heating the oil in medium high. Add the chili and the meat, brown its all sides. Then add the sugar, rosemary leaves and oregano.

5. Pour in the sauce and stir occasionally until the sauce has thickened coating the meat. Turn off the heat. Serve it with steamed rice and fried potatoes or camote.

Enjoy!

Spicy Green Mango Salad

 Spicy Green Mango Salad

Broccoli and Orange Buttered Pasta

One morning I found that my oranges were getting too ripe. The last thing I want to do is to throw it so I checked my kitchen if there's anything I can do apart from making a juice out of it. Lol. I found a broccoli in the fridge and thank goodness my Mom bought a pasta  the day before so I decided to make an early lunch.

 Broccoli and Orange Buttered Pasta

Sunday Kitchen Day

Cooking keeps my sanity, especially cooking whatever is left in the fridge. With all the meat consumed this holiday I opted for some fish and it happened that I still got some cream dory I bought day before Christmas.

Besides, it was Sunday. My kitchen day! Lol. I’m not sure what other recipe you can do with a cream dory apart from deep frying it. I guess the make or brake of it is with the sauce. Let me share with you my kitchen day. lol.

Prepare everything

Vietnam – Cambodia 2013 – Part 7

We drove for 5 minutes and we got into this seafood restaurant but before anything else the ocean view was so enchanting we just had to take some pictures! lol. We’re so glad that the weather was being so concurring with our trip that it didn’t rain that day. It was awesome!

Ocean view at Cay Bang restaurant