I took out my old mechanical ice shaver from storage. I'm going to make some Halo Halo this weekend. I bought it for 2,500 pesos at shop in Divisoria in 2004. I used it for a small Halo halo stand I put up in the old BF Ruins night market. It's a rugged piece of machinery. It just needs a bit of cleaning up with hot water and soap, then some wd40 on the gears. I will post the results after the cleanup.

Ingredients:

1/2 kg Chicken Liver
1 cup unsalted Butter (not margarine or butter spread)
1 cup finely chopped white onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup fresh milk
1/2 cup chopped hard boiled eggs (about 2 - 3 pcs )

Optional :
1 cup rendered chicken fat (in place of butter)
1/2 cup bacon bits (add this when frying the liver)
Thyme, Basil, All spice -  less than 1/4 tsp, depending on your preference.

Procedure :

1. Wash chicken liver in water then let put in a bowl with fresh milk. Let it stand for 10 minutes, make sure each liver is drenched in milk. This neutralizes any left over bile.
2. Sautee onion in oil or butter until translucent, set aside.

3. Remove liver from milk then sautee chicken liver in butter until slightly browned. Avoid overcooking the liver, it should be cooked thoroughly but not dried out. It should be easy to mash with a fork.
4. Mix all ingredients in a food processor. You can either puree or blend it depending on your preferred consistency.  If you don't have a food processor, mash liver first then mix all ingredients thoroughly in a bowl.
5. Store in a mold or in a shallow jar.  Let mixture cool then cover tightly and chill in refrigerator for a few hours.
6. Serve as a spread or filling on lightly toasted bread. It's great on soda crackers too.

A few tips :
- the finer the blending consistency the harder it is to scoop out of the processor
- if the mixture clumps in the food processor, add more melted butter or chicken fat.


Until next time!

A bit busy with work and school work this week (I am playing catch up via UPOU). I leave you with this curious picture of ham legs from a store in Catalonia. 

I decided to clean up my lair today and I found this empty box of Pastel. It was given to me about a month ago. Pastel is a yema filled pastry whose texture is similar to ensaymada. A very light and fluffy bun with a solid burst of yema inside. I enjoy it with plain black coffee.  If you're traveling south of the country, try to pick some up. They are also available in some native specialty stores.

This is the basic version of sinaing na tulingan. It is a staple dish in Batangas due to the availability of fresh tulingan in the markets. As a kid visiting my cousins in Batangas, we would eat this dish with rice sopped in kapeng barako and a dipping sauce made from tamarind vinegar.

Tulingan is a small to medium sized fish from the tuna family. You can also substitute sliced tuna (or  Tambakol) in this recipe. Since this is a simple recipe, the freshness of the ingredients are critical. Good sinaing na tulingan when cooked right will not fall apart when served.

Ingredients

1 kg medium to small sized tulingan
1/2 cup dried kamias or 1 1/2 cup sliced fresh kamias
1 cup water
3 tbsp sea salt

I prefer to use clay pots for sinaing na tulingan. We have a traditional palayok and a modern earthenware pot. A regular metalware cooking pot will also do the job, but I find it easier to do slow cooking in clay pots. If you don't have a clay pot, use the thickest pot you have.


Sinaing na tulingan uses a lot of salt, and the juices left after reduction of the broth is aptly called "patis". This goes well with rice and chopped tomatoes.

Procedure :

1. Clean the fish, remove gills and guts then chop off tail.

3. In a pot, place kamias then the tulingan. Arrange it in a layer so that the kamias is on the bottom of the pot

4.Pour 1 cup water and then top with salt. (put an additional 1/2 cup of water if you are using dried kamias )

5. Let this simmer for 1 hour at least on the lowest possible flame. Do not allow it to boil over.  You may turn the stove off once the broth is reduced to around 1/4 of its volume.

If you are cooking larger batches, it is recommended that you put banana leaves between layers of fish so that they won't stick together.

Fried pork fat is an optional ingredient. You can add this at the start. The pork fat adds flavor to the dish. If you were lucky enough to purchase fat tulingan (depending on the season), then you will notice the patis will be oilier and more flavorful. 

Sinaing na tulingan is a dish that's tastier the day after it's cooked. Store it in a glass jar, porcelain bowl or the clay pot itself. Never use plastic containers as the fish taste will stick to the plastic.

I hope you enjoy cooking this recipe. It is one of the simplest and tastiest pinoy dishes and has been elevated to the status of comfort food for a lot of home sick pinoys.

Until next time!

Kamias / Kalamias is a commonly used souring agent in Philippine cuisine. We have a small kamias tree at the back of our house that never seems to run out of fruit.  It is one of the ingredients for Sinaing na Tulingan (which I have simmering  on the stove as I write this post). I'll post the recipe once it's done. 

Ingredients:
1 kg pork kasim (shoulder cut)
1 tbsp whole pepper
3 pcs star anise
4 pcs laurel leaves
4 cloves garlic
1 medium size red onion
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup white sugar
3 cups water
3 tsp corn starch
salt to taste

Procdure:

1. Slice pork lengthwise; around 3-4 inches thick.

2. Brown the cut pork in a pan with a bit of oil

3. Pour water, soy sauce, sugar and remaining ingredients into casserole. Stir well to dissolve sugar.

4. Place browned pork in braising liquid.

5. Set fire to low and let pork simmer in braising liquid. It should take 1 to 1 1/2 hour for the pork to cook properly. Check from time to time if there is enough liquid. Add 1/2 cup water if required. Turn the pork over from time to time.

6. Take pork out from braising liquid and set aside for 5 minutes.

7. Mix cold water and 3 tsp of corn starch in a cup.

8. Strain remaining braising liquid and pour into a pan. Add corn starch and water mixture.

9. Set fire on low heat and stir the mixture in the pan until the desired thickness is reach.

10. Slice pork into thin strips. Pour sauce over sliced pork or serve sauce in a bowl for dipping.

11.  Garnish with parsley (optional)

Enjoy with heaps of steaming white rice.

I've adjusted the amount of soy sauce used for this recipe as I found the original one too salty for my taste. If you want to add or decrease the amount of soy sauce, make sure you replace it with the same amount of water.

As an additional step you can roast the pork in the oven at 300 degrees centigrade for 5 minutes to caramelize the exterior before slicing.

Til next time.

Cooked pork asado for lunch. It turned out ok. The braising liquid and asado sauce were a bit salty for my taste. The pork came out perfectly though. Posting recipe soon. I'm starting to appreciate slow cooked / braised foods more.

I stumbled on a post for Hainanese chicken rice on one of the blogs I read regularly,  I wasn't familiar with the dish so I googled up and a found few sites and a wikipedia entry for it. It seemed like a simple dish to make. Most of the blog posts I read reflected a fondness for the dish. It is considered a signature dish of Singapore similar to how Adobo is considered a Philippine dish. Since most of the ingredients are available locally, I decided to give it a try. I googled up a few recipes and studied the process on how to cook it. I used the ingredients common to most of the versions I found.

Hainanese chicken is cooked via poaching. Poaching is not a commonly used cooking method in Philippine cuisine and this added to my curiosity about the dish. My initial attempt at poaching resulted in an undercooked chicken. If this happens to you, don't fret, just put the chicken back in the steaming water and let it cook for 10 minutes more. You can also microwave it. I nuked the undercooked chicken in the microwave on high for about 5 minutes. It turned out palatable but slightly dry.

I cooked two chickens at the same time since I planned to bring one of them to my fiancé’s house. Measurements aren’t exact, but I'll try my best to post an estimate of how much I used.

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken -  I used 2 medium sized chickens, around .9 - 1.1 kg weight range
1 cup sliced ginger - I used up around 1.5 cups of ginger for two chickens, so 1 cup should be more than enough for 1 chicken
4 cloves of garlic
1 cup chopped scallions or spring onion - I bought 2 bunches from the hypermart, and used both up. So 1 bunch per chicken should work
1 bunch lemon grass / tanglad - this was an additional ingredient suggested by my mother, you can remove this if its not available.
1 cup rock salt -  I used it for flavoring and cleaning the chicken's skin.
1 tbsp chopped parsley
3 cups ice cubes
1 med sized cucumber
2 semi ripe tomatoes
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp cooking oil
Soy dip
Fine Chili sauce 
(I was suppose to make chili garlic dip but I opted for the bottled version)

Procedure:
1. Get a handful of salt and rub it on the chicken's skin. Scrub skin then rinse with water. Repeat process until the chicken's skin is smooth and clear of dirt and fine feathers.

2. Stuff chicken's cavity with chopped scallion, crushed ginger, crushed garlic and salt.

3. Pour water into a casserole or a stockpot, and let boil. There should be enough water to submerge most of the chicken. Knot the lemon grass and add it to the water.

4. Once the water boils, add the chicken. Let it boil for 10 minutes then set the flame to lowest possible setting and let  chicken simmer for 30 minutes. Rotate chicken halfway through the simmering period.

5. Poke the thickest part of the chicken thigh with a small knife or a barbecue stick. If the juice that flows out is clear then the chicken is ready. If the juice still looks slightly red, leave it in the water for a few minutes more. (If you have a meat thermometer, use that to check if the chicken is done) Keep chicken stock for use later.

6. If the chicken is done, remove from the steaming water and place in a bowl with filled with ice. This will prevent the chicken from overcooking and will tighten the chicken skin. This is step is crucial to keep the chicken firm.

7. Once the chicken has cooled down, remove it from the ice water bath and let it drip dry for 5 minutes. You will know the chicken is ready for chopping once it feels firmer to touch.

8. Coat whole chicken with the sesame oil.

9. Remove the ginger and scallions from chicken's cavity. This can be used to make the chili garlic dip.

10. Chop the chicken to your preferred serving size. The chicken's juices should be clear to very light pink. You can microwave the chicken if you want it well done.

11. Slice tomatoes and cucumber thinly, arrange on same plate with chicken. Garnish with whole or chopped parsley.

12. Serve chicken with soy sauce and chili dip. There are several types of dips you can use here. I'll feature additional dips on my next batch.

Chicken rice
2 cups long grain rice (basmati or jasmine)
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tbsp chopped onion
1 tbsp chopped ginger.
1 tbsp cooking oil

1. In a casserole, sauté chopped garlic, onion and ginger in a tbsp of cooking oil.

2. Wash long grained rice, drain well. Place this into a rice cooker or rice pot.

3. Add 3 cups of chicken stock and sautéed spices.

4. Stir well and let the rice cook.


Soy dip
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 tbsp chopped ginger
1 tbsp chopped scallions / spring onions

1. Add 1/4 cup broth to 1/4 cup soy sauce

2. Add about 1 tbsp of finely chopped ginger, garlic and scallions


My family loved how this dish turned out. I will definitely add this to the dishes I cook regularly.  The extra stock is also useful for cooking other dishes like arroz caldo and tinola, so save it and store it in the refrigerator. The first time I tasted this dish I didn’t expect it to be so filling. That was until I noticed how much rice I had consumed.

I hope you guys enjoy cooking your own Hainanese Chicken Rice.

Until next time!

After a few months of not getting sick, I get the sniffles today. Having a cold is annoying. My cold medicine didn't seem to be working well enough so I brought in some reinforcements.

I always loved how ginger could ease a sore throat and unclog my nose. I didn't feel like making ginger tea so I set out to make some chicken soup.

This recipe should be good for 2 servings:

1. In a small casserole pour 2 and 1/2 cups of water.
2. Once it boils add 2 tbsp of crushed or grated ginger into the water
3. Add 1 chicken boullion cube.
4. Add 4 tbsp of quick cooking oatmeal (You can add more oatmeal to make it more filling. Be careful not too add too much or you'll get a blob of oatmeal instead of soup).
5. Add a dash of pepper and a dash of turmeric.
6. Add 1/2 tbsp of oyster sauce.
7. Season with salt to desired taste
8. Turn off fire and stir well.
9. Pour into a cup or bowl and garnish with chopped spring onions / scallions.
10. You can also add some toasted garlic on top and squeeze in some calamansi.
 
Serve and Enjoy!

Ginger and the soup's warmth helps soothes cold symptoms while the oyster sauce helps make the soup tastier since you can't really taste much when you have a cold.