Rellenong Manok

....Estimated cooking time: 2 hours

Rellenong Manok Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken, deboned with shape kept

• 2 tablespoons calamansi juice

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce

• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
  Stuffing

• 1/2 kilo ground pork

• 1/2 cup bacon, diced

• 1 cup ham, diced

• 1 can Vienna sausage, drained and sliced

• 1/4 cup sweet green peas

• 1/4 cup carrots, minced

• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs

• 1/4 cup pickle relish

• 1/4 cup raisins

• 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated

• 5 whole eggs, beaten

• 1/2 cup butter

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• Salt and pepper to taste

Rellenong Manok Cooking Instructions:

• Marinate chicken in calamansi juice, soy sauce and sugar.

• In a bowl, mix all stuffing ingredients well.

• Stuff the chicken in all parts.

• Sew the cavity opening and truss the chicken.

• Wrap chicken in aluminium foil.

• Heat oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake breast-up for an hour or until chicken is cooked.

• Open the foil an rub chicken with butter and put back in oven until golden brown

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Chicken Curry

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...Estimated cooking time: 40 minutes

Chicken Curry Ingredients:

• 1 Kilo chicken cut to pieces

• 2 to 3 pieces of potatoes, quartered

• 2 to 3 pieces of carrots, cut to pieces

• 1 big red bell pepper cut into 1"x1" squares

• 1 big green bell pepper cut into 1"x1" squares

• 2 mid-sized onions, chopped

• 1 bulb of garlic, minced

• 1 thumb-sized ginger, pounded then sliced

• 2 cups coconut milk

• 2 to 3 tablespoons of curry powder

• 1 teaspoon chili powder or minced chili (optional)

• 4 tablespoons cooking oil

• Salt and pepper to taste

Chicken Curry Cooking Instructions:

• In frying pan or wok, fry the cut chicken until light brown. Next, fry potatoes and carrots, set aside.

• In a sauce pan, sauté garlic, onions and ginger in cooking oil for 2 minutes.

• Add the chicken, coconut milk, curry powder and chili powder. Simmer for 10 minutes.

• Add potatoes, carrots and continue to simmer for another 5 minutes or until tender.

• Add red and green bell pepper, salt (about 1 tablespoon) and pepper to taste.

• Serve hot with steamed rice.

Cooking Notes:

• Coconut milk may be canned from the grocery store. When using fresh coconut, milk grated coconut meat with 1/2 cup of water, then set aside. Again, milk the grated coconut milk for the second time using 1 1/2 cups of water. While cooking, use the 2nd milking first, then add the 1st coconut milk near then end of cooking -just after putting the potatoes and carrots.

• Use fish sauce (patis) instead salt when available.

Chicken Pastel

...Estimated cooking time for this chicken recipe: 1.5 hours

Chicken Pastel Ingredients:

• One 1 1/2 kilo chicken, cut in pieces

• One can (14 ounces) Vienna sausage, sliced

• 3 potatoes, diced

• 1 carrot, diced

• 1 up mushrooms, cut in half

• 1 green bell pepper, sliced in strips

• 1/2 cup sweet peas

• 1 onion, minced

• 1/4 cup grated cheese

• 1 cup margarine

• 2 cups chicken stock (broth)

• 1/2 cup evaporated milk

• 4 tablespoons soy sauce

• 1 lemon extract (juice)

• 1 egg, beaten

• Salt and pepper to taste

Pie Crust

• 2 cups flour

• 1/2 cup corn oil or vegetable oil

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 cup of water

Chicken Pastel Cooking Instructions:

• In a bowl, marinate chicken lemon juice and soy sauce for an hour.

• In a skillet, melt margarine and brown chicken, set aside.

• Sauté onion, bell pepper an mushrooms then add chicken broth. Simmer for 15 minutes then add potatoes, carrots, sweet peas, sausages, grated cheese and milk. Continue cooking for 10 minutes. Salt to taste.

• Transfer to a baking dish.

• Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

• On a bowl, combine the flour, salt, cold water and oil. Mix into a ball.

• On a flat surface, roll flat the pastry and cover the chicken pastel mixture and seal the sides by pressing on the edges. Remove excess pastry.

• Punch small holes on the pastry to let out steam during baking then brush with beaten egg.

• Bake until golden brown (about 15 minutes)

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Fried Chicken

....Estimated cooking time: 45 minutes

Fried Chicken Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 kilo chicken, cut into pieces

• 1/4 cup of white vinegar

• 5 cloves of garlic, crushed

• 1 cup of water

• 2 cups cooking oil

• Salt and pepper to taste

Fried Chicken Cooking Instructions:

• In a pot, simmer chicken in vinegar, garlic, water, salt and pepper.

• Remove just before the chicken is fully cooked.

• Strain off liquid.

• In a frying pan or wok, heat oil and deep fry the chicken until golden brown

• Place on paper towel to remove excess oil

• Serve hot with rice and sliced cucumber or atchara on the side

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Beef Tapa

...Estimated preparation & cooking time: 30 minutes

Beef Tapa Ingredients:

• 1/2 kilo lean beef, thinly sliced

• 1/2 cup fish sauce (patis)

• 1/4 cup refined sugar

• 3 teaspoons salt

• 1 head garlic, crushed and minced

• 1 teaspoon ground pepper

• 1/2 cup cooking oil

Beef Tapa Cooking Instructions:

• Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl

• Marinate for at least an hour or keep in the refrigerator overnight.

• In a large wok, heat cooking oil.

• Fry the marinated beef for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

• Serve hot with steamed rice or fried rice.

Serving Tip:

Beef tapa goes great with any of the following:

• Atchara (pickled green papaya).

• White vinegar with hot chili peppers

• Sliced red tomatoes.

• With fried egg and fried rice (Tapsilog

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Pork Sinigang

....Estimated cooking and preparation time: 1 hour

Pork Sinigang Ingredients:

• 3/4 kilo Pork, cut into chunks

• 3 tomatoes, sliced

• 2 onions, diced

• 5 cloves of garlic, minced

• 100 grams Kangkong (river spinach)

• 100 grams String beans

• 2 pieces horse radishes, sliced

• 3 pieces gabi (taro), pealed

• 2 pieces sili pag sigang (green finger pepper)

• 200 grams sampalok (tamarind)

• 3 tablespoons of patis (fish sauce)

• 1 liter of rice wash or water

Sinigang Cooking Instructions:

• Boil sampalok in water until the shell shows cracks. Let cool then peal off the shells and with a strainer, pour samplalok (including water) into a bowl. Gently massage the sampalok meat off the seeds, strain again.
• In a pot, sauté garlic and onion then add the tomatoes. Let simmer for 5 minutes.
• Add pork and fish sauce then add the rice wash. Bring to a boil then simmer for 15 minutes then add the gabi. Continue to simmer for another 15 minutes or until the pork is tender.
• Add the horse radish and simmer for 10 minutes then add the string beans, kangkong and sili (for spice-optional). Let boil for 2 minutes.
• Serve piping hot.

Sinigang Cooking Tip:

• Instead of sampalok fruit (tamarind), you can substitute it with any commercial souring seasoning like Knorr sampalok seasoning or tamarind bouillon cubes for this pork sinigang recipe.

Sweet and Sour Pork

...Estimated cooking time: 45 minutes

Sweet & Sour Pork Ingredients:

• 1/2 kilo pork loin, sliced into pieces

• 1 small can pineapple chunks

• 1 large onion, quartered

• 1 red & 1 green bell peppers, sliced into strips

• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce

• 3 tablespoons of peanut oil

• 4 tablespoons of cornstarch

• 3 tablespoons of ketchup

• 1 tablespoon of sugar

• 1 teaspoon of salt

• 3 cloves of minced garlic

Sweet and Sour Pork Cooking Instructions:

• In a pot, boil pork in 2 cups of water with 1/2 teaspoon of salt until tender, then drain (keep the pork stock for later).

• Mix 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and soy sauce then coat the pork with the cornstarch mixture.

• Fry the pork in a skillet until golden brown, set aside.

• Dissolve the remaining 2 tablespoons of cornstarch on 1/2 cup of pork stock - set aside.

• Sauté garlic and onions on oil, then add the bell peppers, pineapple chunks (including the syrup), ketchup, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the dissolved cornstarch. Stir until sauce thickens.

• Pour over fried pork then serve with rice.

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Morcon

...Estimated cooking time: 2 to 3 hours.

Morcon Ingredients:

• 1 kilo beef, sliced 1/4 inch thick (3 pcs.)

• 1/4 kilo ground beef liver

• 200 grams sliced sausages or ham

• 200 grams pork fat (cut is strips)

• 3 hard boiled eggs, sliced

• 100 grams cheddar cheese in strips

• 100 grams grated cheddar cheese

• 2 onions, chopped

• 5 bay leaf (laurel)

• 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper

• 1/2 cup vinegar

• 2 teaspoon salt

• 2 cups of water

• 2 meters thread or string (for tying)

Beef Morcon Cooking Instructions:

• Spread and stretch the sliced beef on your working table.

• Arrange the filling on the sliced beef: sausage strips, cheese strips, sliced eggs, pork fat and some ground liver.

• Roll the sliced beef with all the filling inside and secure with a thread or string.

• Repeat the procedure for the two remaining beef slices.

• On a pot, place the beef rolls and put the water, the remaining ground liver, grated cheese, chopped onions, bay leaves, ground black pepper and salt.

• Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for one hour.

• Add the vinegar and continue to simmer of another hour or until beef is tender.

• Slice the beef morcon, arrange on a platter and top with the sauce/ gravy poured on top.

Cooking Tips:

• A spoon or two of flour can be added to water to thicken the sauce.

• Instead of boiling in a pot, you can use a pressure cooker for faster cooking.

• Optional: Garnish with olives before serving.

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Pork Kilawin

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Pork Kilawin Ingredients:

• 1 kilo pork

• 1/3 cup soy sauce

• 1/2 cup Vinegar

• 2 medium onions, chopped

• 4 cups of water

• 1 teaspoon salt

Pork Kilawin Cooking Instructions:

• In a casserole, put pork in water and some salt.

• Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes or until the pork is tender and the skin is soft.

• Remove pork from water.

• Slice the pork into bite sized pieces while still hot.

• Place in a bowl and add vinegar, soy sauce and chopped, uncooked onions.

• Serve immediately!

Crispy Pata

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Preparation & drying: 4 hours to 1 day

Estimated cooking time: 20 minutes

Crispy Pata Ingredients:

• 1 Pata (front or hind leg of a pig including the knuckles)

• 1 bottle of soda (7Up or sprite)

• 1 tablespoon of salt

• 2 tablespoons patis (fish sauce)

• 1/2 tablespoon baking soda

• 1 tablespoon of monosodium glutamate (MSG)

• 4 tablespoons of flour

• Enough oil for deep frying

• Enough water for boiling

Crispy Pata Cooking Instructions:

• Clean the pork pata by removing all hairs and by scraping the skin with a knife. Wash thoroughly.

• Make four to five inch cuts on the sides of the pata.

• On a deep stock pot, place the pata in water with soda and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Then add the baking soda and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes.

• Remove the pata from the pot and hang and allow to drip dry for 24 hours. An alternative to this is to thoroughly drain the pork pata and refrigerate for a few hours.

• After the above process, rub patis on the pata and sprinkle flour liberally.

• In a deep frying pot, heat cooking oil and deep fry the pork pata until golden brown.

Crispy Pata Dip Sauce:

Mix 3/4 cup of vinegar, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 cloves of crushed garlic, 1 head of diced onion and 1 hot pepper. Salt and pepper to taste.

Mechado

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Estimated cooking time: 1 hour

Mechado Ingredients:

• 1 kilo of beef cut into chunks

• 1/8 kilo of pork fat cut into strips

• 4 onions, peeled and quartered

• 5 medium potatoes, quartered (optional: fried)

• 1 medium sized carrot, sliced in 1/2" sections

• 2 red bell pepper, sliced

• 2 cups beef stock or 2 bouillon cubes dissolved in water

• 3 bay leaves (laurel leaves)

• 1/4 -cup vinegar

• 2 cups tomato sauce or 1/2 cup tomato paste

• 1 cup soy sauce

• salt & pepper to taste

Mechado Cooking Instructions:

• Cut an incision on the beef chunks and insert a pork strip in the middle (mitsa)

• In a casserole, combine the beef (with the fat), tomato sauce, soy sauce, bay leaves and beef stock. Bring to a boil and simmer until the beef is almost tender

• Add the vinegar and let boil for a minute or two

• Add the potatoes, onions, carrot, and bell pepper

• Let simmer until potatoes and carrots are cooked - occasionally stir to thicken sauce

• Serve hot with white rice

Beef Mechado Cooking Tips:

• Pressure cook the beef with the beef stock for faster cooking time.

• Fry the potatoes before adding to the casserole.

• Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil and stir when the mechado dish is almost done for added flavor.

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Roasted Chicken

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Ingredients:

• 2 kilo dressed chicken (broiler)

• 2 cups of lemon grass (tanlad)

• 3 tablespoons of cooking oil

• 2 tablespoons of salt

Cooking Instructions:

• Make sure the chicken is clean with no remaining small feathers and no insides.

• Wash thoroughly and pat dry with a paper towel

• Rub the whole chicken with cooking oil as well as the inside cavity.

• Next apply salt all over, again, including the insides.

• Fill the cavity with lemon grass

• Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit

• Place the chicken on an oven rotisserie.

• If you don't have a rotisserie put the chicken on an elevated rack on a baking pan - breast side up (so the bottom of the chicken does not touch the baking pan).

• Bake for 1 hour or until the chicken is golden brown. When you prick between the chicken thigh and body and the juice runs clear (not bloody) the chicken is done.

• Serve with mashed potatoes, rice or corn on the side.

Roasted Chicken Cooking Note:

• If baking at 325 degrees Fahrenheit, bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours in the oven.

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Kare Kare

Ingredients:

• 1 kilo of beef (round or sirloin cut) cut into cubes, beef tripe or oxtail (cut 2 inch long) or a combination of all three (beef, tripe and oxtail)

• 3 cups of peanut butter

• 1/4 cup grounded toasted rice

• 1/2 cup cooked bagoong alamang (anchovies)

• 2 pieces onions, diced

• 2 heads of garlic, minced

• 4 tablespoons atsuete oil

• 4 pieces eggplant, sliced 1 inch thick

• 1 bundle Pechay (Bok choy) cut into 2 pieces

• 1 bundle of sitaw (string beans) cut to 2" long

• 1 banana bud, cut similar to eggplant slices, blanch in boiling water

• 1/2 cup oil

• 8 cups of water

• Salt to taste

Kare Kare Cooking Instructions:

• In a stock pot, boil beef, tripe and oxtails in water for an hour or until cooked. Strain and keep the stock.

• In a big pan or wok, heat oil and atsuete oil.

• Sauté garlic, onions until golden brown, then add the stock, toasted rice, beef, oxtail and peanut butter. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Salt to taste.

• Add the eggplant, string beans, pechay and banana bud. Cook the vegetables for a few minutes - Do not overcook the vegetables.

• Serve with bagoong on the side and hot plain rice.

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Kinilaw

...Kinilaw means to “cook” in vinegar. It’s not really cooking since there is no heat involved. But soaking fish or some other seafood in a strong vinegar solution turns the meat opaque and gives it a texture of having been cooked.

Why do Filipinos love curing fish and meat? Specifically, with the use of vinegar? I was re-reading F. Sionil Jose’sPo-on a couple of months ago and the description of how the Filipinos preserved their food during the 19th century gave me some insight. The operative word is preserve–vinegar and salt are preservatives. Hence, they are used in many of our traditional dishes like adobo, tapa and kinilaw.

There are a variety of fish that can be used for makingkinilaw. Tuna, tangigue or tanigue (sea bass), talakitok(cavalla) and lapu-lapu (grouper) are only some of them. I used yellow fin tuna for my kinilaw.

There’s really nothing complicated about making this wonderful Filipino dish. You season the cubed fish fillets with salt and pepper (above, left) then soak them in strong vinegar. Of course, you add some spices to perk up yourkinilaw

Ingredients :

1/4 kilo of yellow fin tuna fillets

half a head of garlic, peeled and crushed

a thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and sliced

1 white onion, thinly sliced

2 green chili peppers, cut diagonally into 1/4-inch thick slices

1 red or green bell pepper, diced

1 c. of vinegar

salt and pepper

1/4 c. of kalamansi juice

1 c. of kakang gata (coconut cream)

Cooking procedure :

Wash the fillets and trim any remaining skin and bones. Cut into one-inch cubes. Place in a glass bowl and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix well. Pour in the vinegar and mix well. Cover loosely and chill for about two hours.

Drain the fish. Add the kalamansi juice, garlic, chili peppers, bell pepper, ginger and onion. Mix well and chill for another 20 minutes. Pour in the coconut cream, mix well and serve cold.

Note: While it is more common to use red onions for makingkinilaw, I prefer the sweet white onions as they give a wonderful contrast to the sourness of the vinegar andkalamansi juice. When eating kinilaw, remember to eat each piece of fish with a few pieces of onions as well. It makes the experience of eating kinilaw really memorable

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Lechon Paksiw

...We had a lot of leftovers of Lechon (Roasted Pig). What did we do with the leftovers? Well, we cut them up to small pieces and placed them in freezer bags for storage. The following day, I cooked Lechon Paksiw which is just as delicious.

To cook Paksiw, follow this recipe:

Ingredients

1 kilo of leftover lechon meat (with skin)

1/4 cup vinegar

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup lechon sauce (Use Mang Tomas Lechon Sauce or the sauce provided by the Lechon supplier)

1/2 head garlic, crushed

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon pepper corn

1 laurel or bay leaf

1. Mix together the above ingredients except the bay leaf.

2. Boil.

3. Lower heat, simmer until the meat is tender.

4. Add more water as needed.

5. Add the bay leaf.

6. Serve Hot.

What I like about Lechon Paksiw is the skin.

Pork Apritada

...2 lb. pork, cubed

1 tbsp. macerated garlic

2 tbsp. oil

1/2 c. onion, sliced

1 c. tomatoes, chopped

8 c. water

2 med. potatoes, cubed

1/4 lb. ox liver, sliced 1 inch cubes

1 lg. red pepper

1 lg. green pepper

1 tsp. salt

Ground pepper

Saute garlic in oil until brown. Add onions and tomatoes, cook until soft. Add pork and water, let simmer until tender. When tender, add sliced potatoes and cook until done. Add liver and red and green pepper. Season until liver is done, 5-8 minutes. Serve hot

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Pork / Chicken Adobo Recipe

....Estimated cooking time: 50 minutes

Adobo Ingredients:

• 1/2 kilo pork cut in cubes + 1/2 kilo chicken, cut into pieces or

• choice of either 1 kilo of pork or 1 kilo of chicken

• 1 head garlic, minced

• 1/2 yellow onion, diced

• 1/2 cup soy sauce

• 1 cup vinegar

• 2 cups of water

• 1 teaspoon paprika

• 5 laurel leaves (bay leaves)

• 4 tablespoons of cooking oil or olive oil

• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

• Salt and pepper to taste

• 3 tablespoons water

Adobo Cooking Instructions:

• In a big sauce pan or wok, heat 2 tablespoons of oil then sauté the minced garlic and onions.

• Add the pork and chicken to the pan. Add 2 cups of water, 1/4 cup of soy sauce, vinegar, paprika and the bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or when meat is tender.

• Remove the pork and chicken from the sauce pan and on another pan, heat cooking oil and brown the pork and chicken for a few minutes.

• Mix the browned pork and chicken back to the sauce and add cornstarch dissolved in water to thicken.

• Add salt and/or pepper if desired

• Bring to a boil then simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

• Serve hot with the adobo gravy and plain rice.

Adobo Cooking Tips:

• You have the option to add crushed ginger to the onions and garlic when sautéing. Ginger adds a unique flavor to your pork/chicken adobo.

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