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!

Sausage Stir-Fry

If you know world history, one would know how many years the Philippines was colonized by Spain – 333 years. The spanish influence has remained strong this day that spanish cuisine is still being served on every Filipino table. Among of these is the Longaniza or spanish sausage which is a popular breakfast food in our country and most of the time we cook it by frying and pairng it with egg and fried rice. So this time I thought of stir-frying it and adding some vegetables since I got a lot of snow peas to dispose. Lol.

There are several varieties of longaniza in our country as each region produces its own flavour. However most longaniza falls under two varieties, the sweet (hamonado) and garlicky (derecado). For this recipe I used a hamonado variety.

Ingredients:

Longganisa hamonado (sweet sausage; diagonally sliced)

15oz. snow peas

1 medium red bell pepper (julienne)

3 cloves garlic (minced)

1 chili (chopped)

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons oil

Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Stir-fry in a large wok the garlic, chili and sausage in oil until sausage is almost cooked. Add in the sugar and salt/pepper according to taste.

2. Add snow peas and bell pepper. Serve with fried rice.

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!

Sweet Peas And Misua Soup

Misua with sweet peas

I found a lot of sweet peas in the fridge and I thought of cooking it before it spoils. I also found a leftover bell pepper on the fridge so might as well include it on my menu. Lol. I made a soup as I was feeling cold. This soup can actually be partnered with a rice. Lol. We Filipinos just love rice with any food. Even our desserts are made from rice! Lol.

Ingredients:

5oz. Misua (thin Chinese flour noodles)

250g ground pork

4 cups water or broth (pork, beef or chicken)

1 medium potato (diced)

150g sweet peas

1 small red bell pepper (diced)

2 whole eggs (medium)

2 cloves garlic (minced)

1 medium onion (minced)

Fish sauce

Black pepper (ground)

2 tablespoons cooking oil

Method

1. In a pot, brown the pork, add in the onion and garlic, sauté.

2. Add in potato. Pour in water or broth. Cover the pot and let in simmer for 5 minutes.

3. Stir in the red bell pepper, sweet peas and misua noodles. Season (fish sauce and ground pepper) according to taste.

4. Turn off the heat and break the eggs into the pot. Stir until eggs are set.

5. Serve  hot.

Enjoy!