Pork adobo sa gata

This is my current favorite. I add dessicated coconut to make up for the lack of body of canned coconut milk.

Ingredients:
1kg pork liempo with a good amount of fat (loin)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 tbsp blackpepper
1 head garlic crushed
1 bay leaf
1 can coconut milk
1/2 cup dessicated coconut
water
1 tbsp sugar

1. Put pork, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, pepper, water, and bay leaf in a pan;
2. Boil in medium heat until half the water has evaporated or until meat is tender (You can add more water if longer boiling time is required);
3. Take out the pork from the sauce;
4. Sprinkle sugar over pork then fry until brown in hot oil;
5. Put back in the sauce;
6. Add coconut milk and desiccated coconut; and then
7. Simmer until sauce is thick.

Technorati tags: Filipino+recipes adobo+sa+gata adobo Filipino+food

Vietnamese Cold Spring Rolls

This is a very simple recipe to make and always a big hit at dinner parties. You can also use a pack of pre washed salad if you are really in a hurry, omit the rice noodles and use chicken pieces instead of shrimps. It really doesn't matter so much what you put inside the rolls because the sauce is the key.

Ingredients:

12 rice paper wrappers, large, round
2 carrots cut into strips
4 oz rice noodles
1 cup bean sprouts
24 cooked shrimps
1/4 cp mint leaves
1/4 cp basil leaves
12 lettuce leaves

Spicy peanut dipping sauce:
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsps roasted peanuts
a bunch fresh coriander (cilantro)

Directions:

1. Cook the rice noodles as directed in pack. Drain, rinse with cold water and drain well. Set aside.
2. In a large plate soak the rice paper wrappers (one at a time) for about 45 sec. in warm water and then drain water.
3. Place one lettuce leaf over the surface of the rice paper. On the bottom half of the roll, place a part of the noodles, bean sprouts, carrots, cilantro, basil leaves, 2 shrimps and 2 mint leaves.
4. Fold the bottom of the rice paper over the vegetables. Tuck in the sides and continue to roll.
5. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

Dipping sauce:
Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend until peanuts are chunky. Try not to puree the peanuts.
Technorati tags: vietnamese+spring+rolls appetizer recipes

Fish Curry

What I like about Zurich is you can find exotic ingredients needed for international cooking easily. Let me share with you my fish curry recipe:

Fish curry

2 lbs fish fillets
2 tbsps ginger powder
2 cloves garlic
4 tbsps mustard seeds
4 bay leaves
1/2 tbps coriander powder
2 onions
red chili to taste
1 tbsp cumin seeds
3 tbsps turmeric powder
salt to taste
2 tomatoes cut into cubes
water

1. Grind onions, ginger, bay leaves, red chili, mustard seeds, cumin seeds together.
2. Marinate fish in salt, turmeric garlic.
3. Deep fry fish then set aside.
4. Saute ground spices and tomatoes.
5. Add water covering the the sauted tomatoes. Simmer until conserved.
6. Add fish and simmer for 5 minutes

Technorati tags: fish+curry Indian+recipe

Fluffy Pancakes

Due to the absence of hotcake (pancake) mixes in Switzerland 4 years ago, I was forced to invent my own pancake recipe. When I arrived, there were only 2 groceries feeding the whole Swiss population of 8,000,000, Coop and Migros. Thanks to the EU, Switzerland was forced to open it's doors to new groceries and new kinds of foods, like the American pancake (vs the french crepe which is paper thin)!. Now, it is possible to find pancake mixes in Coop and Migros but I don't need it anymore because I have found the perfect pancake recipe.

Pancakes are made from flour, baking powder, eggs, milk, salt and butter. When you prepare pancakes using a pancake mix, you would need to add eggs, milk and butter. This means that when you buy a ready-mix, all you are buying actually is flour, salt, baking powder and the recipe!

Injected by the Americans into Filipino cuisine, pancakes have become a big Filipino favorite!

Pancake

11/2 cup flour
3 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tbsp vanilla
2 tbsps oil
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk

1 tbps oil for frying

1. Beat all ingredients together with an electric mixer (or by hand if you want) until smooth.
2. Heat non-stick frying pan add 1 tbsp oil.
3. Using a tissue paper spread the oil evenly into the pan (also remove excess oil).
4. Cook about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake.

Technorati tags: pancake hotcake pancake+recipe hotcake+recipe Filipino+food

Barako Coffee

Barako Coffee or Coffea liberica is a rare and exotic coffee species found in the Philippines. Brought by the Spanish from Brazil in the 1800s, it now exists in only 3 countries in the coffee producing world. Barako coffee has a strong, bold aroma and a pungent, nutty flavor that I love. Unfortunately, my beloved Barako is nearing extinction. Programs trying to revitalize the Philippine coffee industry are on their way but public awareness and participation is neccesary. So, everytime I go home I make it a point to buy as much coffee as I can carry in my luggage for personnal consumption and as a gift to my coffeholic colleages and friends. Even my husband prefers Barako to Lavazza now. Nothing can compare with Barako's powerful body and smooth flavor .
Recently, I started brewing Barako the Italian way. Ninety percent of Italian households brew coffee using the Moka machine. Brewed this way, the flavor of Barako becomes deeper and more intense. It is unbeatable! It is so much better than Nespresso. The moka machine is cheap too! No need to buy a very expensive espresso machine. For 20USD (18 sfr) and a bag of Barako coffee, you will get the ultimate coffee experience. But be warned this coffee is not for the sensitive. Afterall in the vernacular, "Barako" is a term that refers to male strength, vitality and machismo.





Barako+coffee coffee philippine+coffee moka Italian+coffee

Siomai from Scratch

My craving for siomai was so great one weekend that I learned how to do siomai from scratch out of extreme desperation! This favorite is an product of chinese influence on Filipino cooking.

Dough
4 1/2 cups (500 g) flour, sifted
1 tbsp oil
100 ml water

Filling
500 g minced pork
2 tsp salt, or to taste
2 big onions, chopped
3 tsp ginger, chopped
1 tsp sesame oil
1 carrot, chopped
Spring onions, chopped

Instructions

1. Mix the flour with 100 ml of water and oil to make a dough. Knead until smooth

2. To prepare the filling, mix all the remaining ingredients.

3. Divide the dough into 2 portions and roll like a jelly roll. Cut each into 50 pieces. Flatten each piece and roll into thin circles about 2 inches in diameter. Place 1 tbsp of filling in the center of each wrapper and fold the dough over it, enclosing the filling. Pinch the edges together to seal. Makes about 50 dumplings depending on the size.

4. Steam until cooked and enjoy

Dipping Sauce

Mix the following together in a small bowl:

6 tbsps soy sauce
2 tbsps lemon/calamansi juice
Chili as desired
Dash of sesame oil
1 tsp sugar

siomai steamed+dumpling Filipino+food Filipino+recipe

Pan de Sal

It is with great pleasure that I share with you my pan de sal recipe. I worked very hard to get this one right. The first ones I made were like rocks and then after 10 more attempts I could shout-- SUCCESS! I was really obssessed in doing this correctly (read: I made it everyday until I got it just right), it didn't help that my standards are quite high. I want it to taste exactly like how they made it in the bakeshop in my hometown in the Philippines. My ultimate success was when I made it for my mother and she said that it is the best pan de sal she ever tried! Honestly, having the luxury of having pan de sal anytime I want here in Switzerland changed my life.

Pan de sal

Ingredients: 2 cups water, 6 cups flour, 14 grams yeast, 1 cup of plain bread crumbs, 1 cup of dark brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, 6 tablespoons of vegetable oil
Procedure
1. Dissolve yeast into 1/2 cup of warm water and 1 tbsp sugar. Wait until frothy. While proofing the yeast, mix & dissolve 1 cup dark brown sugar & salt into 1/2 cups warm water . Sift 6 cups of flour into large mixing bowl.
2. Fold 6 tablespoons of vegetable oil evenly into sifted flour. Add sugar & water and yeast & water mixtures to flour then add remaining 1 cup of water. Stir dough mixture with the hook of your mixer for about 5-10 minutes . The dough should be sticky. Take the dough out, clean the bowl then put oil in bowl. Place the dough back in the bowl then coat it with oil. Cover with saran wrap. Let rise until doubled in size probably about 1 hr in a warm place. Punch it down when it rises over the bowl.
3. Knead the dough on a board then flatten it to about 3/4 inch thick. Reshape it into a ball then again place dough in bowl, cover and let rise again until doubles in size.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
5. After dough has doubled in size place dough on a board then flatten dough to about 3/4 inch thick.
6. Spread dough across board. Cut dough into four columns & eight rows to yield 32 pandesal rolls . Shape each piece into a roll then roll it onto breadcrumbs and then place on a baking paper lined baking pan. Arrange all 32 pandesal evenly on baking pan.
7. Let rise until doubled.
8. Place pan de sals into 350-degree fahrenheit oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until brown.

This recipe was modified from Manong Ken's Recipe of the Month (http://www.carinderia.net)

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