A Traditional Filipino Dessert: Leche Plan

Organic eggs are being sold in the town market today and my sisters workplace (their coop farm) started to produce them, the other day she came home with two trays of organic eggs, she was asked by our mother to order and buy them. Organic eggs are a bit expensive compared to free-range eggs, but as it says they are healthier to eat because the chickens were fed with organic feeds and no antibiotics used in them.

Having too many eggs at home, my mother decided to cook leche plan, so she asked me to wash her large steamer and as she started cracking the eggs, I have noticed, she can't separate the yolk and the whites properly, so I told her that I will do it. I have mastered separating the yolks and the egg whites because I have been doing that for almost five years in Korea, when preparing J's meal after work.

As my mother mixing the ingredients, she asked me to buy another can of condense milk in the store as well as cream, but since the latter isn't available, when my BIL came home they went to town to buy it. Instead of using the gas range we used charcoal to steam the custards.

Leche Flan is a popular and easy-to-make Filipino custard dessert. It is made-up of eggs and milk with a caramelized sugar on top.

Ingredients:

• 12 egg yolks
• 1/4 brown sugar
• 3 cans of condense milk (306ml each)
• 1 can of creamdensada (410ml)
• 1 pack of Nestle All Purpose Cream (250ml)

Procedure:

1. Create a mixture by mixing the egg yolks (with one egg whites), condense milks, creamdensada, a little bit of sugar and all purpose cream
2. Add some brown sugar at the traditional oval llaneras and preheat them until the brown sugar burnt
3. Add the mixture at the llanera and steam them until cook
4. Let it cool and refrigerate

The leche plan we made was very sweet and smooth in texture, it was just a little bit hard to remove them upside down from llaneras that's why they have cracks.

Sinigang na Tilapia in Real Tamarind Soup

Cooking is one of the things I enjoyed the most, I cooked with passion that I can't leave the food I am cooking even for a few minutes in my mother's irritation. LMAO

Anyway, I have been cooking for a few days already, and it was only today I decided to share what I have cooked. Contrary to what is normal, where sinigang is usually a pork, I have cooked Sinigang na Tilapia in real raw tamarind fruit today.

Sinigang is a Filipino soup or stew characterized by its sour and savory taste most often associated with tamarind. It is one of the more popular viands in Filipino cuisine, and is related to the Malaysian dish singgang. Wikipedia

Chicken Cooked in Coconut Milk with Okra

Cooking is one of the things I enjoy the most when I have plenty of time, but now a days, I seldom cook at home because today, it is my younger sister's duty to cook at home, it has been the norm since I left the house for another life many years ago.

It was been years, so what's ironic, how your family forget that you know how to cook and you was the one who cooked for them way back then.  I am flabbergasted every time my mother will tell people that I don't know how to cook, so I have reminded her every now and then that I know how to cook and if I don't know how to cook, who cooked their food way back then when my younger sister was still little? I reminded her again and again, that the spaghetti recipe that my sister is cooking when there is occasion was from me.  Then she will rephrase it that I am lazy to cook that she starved when she is left in my care, I guess she called it starving when I order food she like in a restaurant instead of cooking late, that I gave her money to buy snacks in town in her gladness.

[Forgot to make it presentable before snapping a photo]

Anyway, two days ago my sister wasn't able to cook the viand because she is running late in her work. With this, she left the cooking to us, to me. It was nearing lunch so I started cooking, and your guess is right as mine. My mother went to the kitchen instructing me what to do, so I stopped, and told her I know what I am doing, she should stop teaching me so she left.

Lunch time. My mother keeps complaining that my cooking was too oily but as I can see she enjoys it, my father says maybe I cooked it for too long but he didn't complain with the  taste, he ate a lot too. I told them, the coconut we've used is quite old and that viand was cooked differently from the normal "Filipino Chicken Curry"

My brother in-law was being silent, but as what I am seeing he is enjoying the food because he ate  a lot, maybe because it was cooked differently from the cooking he used to know growing up, he is the one who finishes the viand and my sister even blurted out when she came home from work that he seems enjoys it.

Cassava Suman - Sumang Kamoteng Kahoy

It was been a long time since I have no update with my food blog, maybe because I don’t cook anymore.  I was asking my younger sister to look after this blog but she is not interested, I was giving it to her since she was the one who does the cooking which mean she can write better about the food.

When they went to town a week ago they bought cassava for ₱20.00 per pile, it was cheap since it is cassava season. We are initially planning to just boil the cassava in coconut milk but since my father had a few heads of coconut we made a "suman" out of the cassava.  Suman is a native Filipino rice cake (kakanin) that consists of grated cassava, brown sugar, and coconut cream. The mixture is wrapped and sealed individually using banana leaves.

Ingredients

• grated cassava
• 1/2 kg brown sugar
• wilted banana leaves for wrapping the suman

Cooking Procedure

1. By using a cheesecloth, squeeze the grated cassava to remove the juice from it and after combine the grated cassava, brown sugar and grated coconut in large mixing bowl.
2. Get a portion and put over the wilted banana leaves then roll and wrap properly.
3. Arrange them in a  pot, and boil them with water or coconut milk until done.

Milk Fish Cooked in Sour Tamarind Soup

The other day we had milk fish in sour soup but instead of using tamarind powder, we used raw tamarind. The tamarind was bought in the local market, there's plenty of fresh vegetables since it is market day.

Ingredients:

Milk Fish, Tamarind,  Green Pepper, Onion, Vegetables (Ladies Fingers, Eggplant, String Beans and Water Spinach)

Procedure:

1. Separately boil the tamarind to create sour soup, then squeezed the tamarind to get more juice out of it
2. In a new pot, use the sour soup and add the vegetables, simmer a little
3. Add the fish, green pepper, onions and let it cooked for 5 minutes
4. When it is almost cooked add the water spinach and seasoned with salt to taste
5. Serve with hot rice

Crabs in Coconut Milk (Ginataang Talangka)

A few days ago someone came by selling crabs, they were fish out from the river in our barangay. They were sold for P20.00 per dipper and since there's only small left in the pail, the seller gave it all to us.  They got a lot of crabs when it rained and the water came down from the mountain, they prepared traps for the crabs.

The crabs were cooked first in a hot wok without adding water or anything. Then they were cooked in coconut milk with papaya and moringa leaves as garnishes. This dish is really superb, I can't stop myself from eating a lot of rice,  any food cooked in coconut milk is really my weakness.

Ingredients:

Crabs, garlic, , salt, moringa leaves, papaya, coconut milk, turmeric

Procedure:

1. In a large pot put the crabs and add the coconut milk from second extract of grated coconut
2. Add the garlic, salt, turmeric and pepper and let it simmer
3. Then add the papaya, as well as the coconut milk from the first extract of the grated coconut
4. Cooked it for few minutes, and when it is nearing to be cooked add the moringa leaves
5. Serve with steamed rice, enjoy!

Mung Beans in Coconut Milk Recipe (Ginatang Monggo)

One of the best thing when you are living in the province is you can get things for free, it is either from your own garden or from neighbor's backyard. The other day we decided to cook monggo beans or mung beans in coconut milk, we had two head of coconuts from a neighbor.  Mung beans is a high source of protein, fiber, antioxidants and phytonutrients and  have some huge health benefits to offer, including helping to lower high cholesterol levels and protect against heart disease.

Ingredients:

Mung beans, garlic, onions, salt, moringa leaves, coconut milk

Cooking mung beans in coconut milk is very simple, all you have to do is boil the mung beans in second milk extract of grated coconut and once the mung beans are cooked, you can start adding the ingredients as well as the first milk extract from the coconut.

Afritada with a touch of Menudo

Meat is seldom to be found on our diet, we usually prepared vegetables and fish but this time is different.  From the meat keep in the fridge we had “Afritada with a touch of Menudo".

Ingredients:

Meat bones, afritada powder, green peas, potatoes, salt, pepper, garlic and onions, oil

Procedure:

• Heat cooking oil in a pan or wok.
• Saute garlic & onion.
• Add the pork. Simmer until tender.
• Add the Afritada mixed powder, simmer and let it boil
• Add the potatoes. Simmer until potatoes are tender.
• Add the grean peas, salt to taste,  black pepper and the hot dogs
• Remove from heat & transfer to a serving bowl.
• Serve with hot steamed white rice. Enjoy!

Chopsuey with Chicken Liver

One of my favourite vegetable dishes to eat is Chopsuey, it was a Chinese cuisine adopted by the Filipinos.  We have been planning to prepare this dish for dinner but we always forget to buy chicken liver in the local market.

When we are finally able to buy the missing ingredients, we had it. Instead of buying vegetables separately we bought mixed vegetables for chopsuey for P10.00 per plastic, it was already expensive compare those times where they only cost P5.00 per plastic.

Cooking chopseuy at home is easy as 1, 2, 3

Ingredients:

Mixed vegetables (carrots, cabbage, beans and spinach), chicken liver, oil, onion, garlic, salt

Procedure:

1. Saute the garlic and onion
2. Put-in the chicken liver and let cook for few minutes
3. Add the mixed vegetables, cover the pot and fry for 5 minutes or until vegetables are cooked
4. Add cup of water and bring to a boil and let it simmer,
5. Sprinkle salt to taste
6. Serve hot. Share and Enjoy!

Banana Plantain Cooked in Coconut Milk

The other day, we decided to cook medium ripe banana plantain in coconut milk, my mother initially wanted to have the banana plantain boiled but since we have one coconut from the hill that my Uncle owned I have suggested to have it cooked with coconut milk. It was been a long time since I have eaten this food and I am craving for it.

My sister sliced the bananas in slices and boiled it with the second milk from the grated coconut, and when it was boiled and dried a little she added the first milk from the coconut and a little sugar and I told her to add a pint of salt for better taste.

Yummy snack!

Sautéed Bean Sprouts

On summer months where fields are dry planting mongo beans is one of the best options of many farmers in our area. My father had planted a few in the small piece of land his farming and a few weeks ago he already had a harvest.

For a change just merely by boiling and sautéing the beans we decided to soaked some mongo beans and let them grow and when the beans sprouted, we sautéed vegetable with it.

Making this dish is so easy all you will need to do is sauté the ingredients and add a little seasoning to enhance the flavor and you are done.

My Ingredients:

• 1 cup of mongo sprouts
• Chicken strips
• Mixed vegetables (carrots, cabbage, beans and turnips) this can be bought in the public market for ten pesos per small packed.
• Garlic, onions, oil, salt, black pepper and etc.,

Procedure

1. Saute the garlic and onion, add the strips of chicken and mixed vegetables
2. Add the mongo bean sprouts and chicken broth and cook for 3-5 minutes.
3. Season with salt (as needed) and pepper, and turn off the heat.
4. Serve with rice, best with boiled egg aside.

Chicken Cooked in Coconut Milk (Chicken Curry)

Chicken curry is one the Filipino food I missed living abroad, when you live in a country which is not tropical like Philippines, coconut is not easy to find. Although there is some coconut milk in can but the effect and result isn’t the same of fresh coconut milk. They are tending to be more oily and sweeter, it looks like they are more appropriate to use in cooking sweetened rice or rice cakes.

The other day, my mother asked us what we would like to eat so I suggest chicken cooked in coconut milk or chicken curry. It was been a long time since I had it, so we bought chicken and a piece of coconut.

Chicken curry can be cooked in variety of ways or with different ingredients but normally in the province chicken curry is cooked with raw papaya.

Afternoon Snack for the Family: Camote Cue

One of the popular snack foods in the Philippines that you can also find being sold in the street during the afternoon is Camote cue, deep fried sweet potatoes with caramelized sugar which is either white or brown sugar.

During the afternoon, there is someone selling snacks around the neighbourhood but there are days that she failed to show up so we decided to prepare our own afternoon snack. We bought sweet potatoes in the public market when it was market day; it is a day where most farmers are selling their fresh crops and vegetables in cheap prices.

Sweet potatoes are sold per heap or pile, each pile cost P20.00. So much cheaper than being sold in Korea eh, when we are living in Korea we always buy sweet potatoes when we shopped because it is part of my husband’s diet food and it normally cost around P200-300 pesos per small bag.

Ingredients:

Sweet potatoes, brown or white sugar and oil

Cooking camote is very simple like how simple the ingredients are, you just need to peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into small round pieces and deep fried them and when they are little brown add some sugar and mixed them carefully and cooked them until the sugar is caramelized. It was best to serve with cold soft drinks to drink.

Tip: Banana Cue is cooked the same way!

Easy Way to Cook Taghilaw

One of my favorite viand growing up is "Taghilaw" but we seldom have it in our dinner table because of scarcity. I only tasted it during birthdays, wedding, thanks giving celebration and when I  have no packed lunch and have to eat student meal. The other my sister cooked "taghilaw" I can't help it but to eat a lot until my stomach ache of fullness. Haha

Ingredients:

Pig intestine, vinegar, salt, black pepper, garlic, onion, calamansi, oil

Cooking taghilaw is very easy,  you just have to mix all the ingredients and sautéed it and add more seasoning according to your taste.

Fruit Salad a Yummy Dessert

One of the sources of income of my family is selling ice and ice candies at home. During summer it is a hit but when it rains and the temperature drop people felt cold to buy but thanks to unseasoned resellers who are able to sell few bags of ice candies every day.

The other day, there’s a left over ingredients for ice candies and my mother thought of preparing fruit salad from it. We just add more milk, young coconut and cream and voila we got fruit salad. Fruit salad is my favorite dessert, that's why every time I went to a birthday or wedding party I will surely look first at the dessert table.

Chicken Tinola

One of the thing you've missed when you are abroad are food and viands. So when I went home I requested food that I am not able to eat in Korea, chicken tinola is top of my list. Chicken tinola is a soup-based dish served as main entrée in the Philippines. Traditionally, this dish is cooked with chicken, wedges of green papaya, and leaves of the siling labuyo chili pepper in broth flavored with ginger, onions and fish sauce.

It was cooked by sauteing ginger, onion and chicken and then add water to make a broth.

The Benefits of Induction Cooking

 If you are a budding chef, induction cookware and stoves provide a marvelous way for you to prepare food without the hassle of traditional heating elements. A stove equipped with induction elements uses magnetic waves to heat solid metal cookware, providing safer and more exact means to cook your food. Rachael Ray® cookware is a common brand of induction cookware, but other companies are producing these types of pots and pans, and older cast iron cookware work as well.

Induction heat cookware is typically made from pure, unalloyed metals, though induction steel cookware has become more common in recent years. Rachael Ray steel cookware is one brand that uses the superior strength and lightness of steel to trump traditional cast iron cookware. When selecting this kind of cookware, make sure that it is labeled as induction compatible. Older cast iron pots and pans respond to induction, while aluminum or copper cookware typically does not. Regardless of the composition, induction cooking is superior to other traditional heating options. An induction element heats the entire pan evenly and quickly, allowing you to have greater control over how your food is cooked. Moreover, induction elements do not become hot, so when the stove is turned off there is no risk of burns or fire.

Due to their convenience and safety, induction stoves and cookware are the option of choice in upscale kitchens, though with dropping costs they are becoming very popular with chefs on a budget too. As a developing chef, you should carefully consider these technologies when designing or upgrading the kitchen equipment.

[Image courtesy of MDeWorld/ wikimedia.org]

Sauteed Corned Beef with Potato

One of the canned goods I have missed to eat is corned beef so when I got chance I went to the Asian store in downtown  and buy few canned goods including sardines.

At home I sauteed half can of the corned beef in onion and garlic with potatoes, half only because I already ate the half  of it with plenty of raw onions.

Ingredients:

1 or 1/2 can corned beef, potatoes, dice or strip, onions, garlic and cooking oil

Cooking Procedure:

Saute garlic and onion in a cooking pan, add the corned beef and stir fry for few minutes and add the potatoes, mixed them all together and you can also add water if desire. Let it cooked until done.

Grilling Bulgogi at Home

My husband and I both love barbecue or grilled meat that's why we had a electric grill at home. It is more convenient and cheaper than going to barbecue joints/restaurant.  As we are leaving Korea soon I have asked my husband's permission to send the electrical grill to my family and before depositing it on my box we decided to grill bulgogi on Lunar New Year.

We grilled meat in our balcony to avoid smoke and stench inside our apartment.  I just open the window and put the electric grill in top of the washing machine.

Bulgogi is the most popular variety of Korean barbecue. Before cooking, the meat is marinated with a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic, and pepper. It is traditionally cooked using gridirons or perforated dome griddles that sit on braziers, but pan-cooking has become common as well. [source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_barbecue]

Sauteed Monggo Beans

With the presence of Asian store anywhere, cooking and eating food I can only eat in the Philippines is now possible to eat overseas. I have been eating sausage and ramen noodles these past few days so I decided to saute monggo beans,  I boiled the monggo beans before sauteing it.

As it was first time for my husband to see me cooking sauteed monggo, he was so in patient waiting when I am going to finished cooking. He is not concerned about the tasting the food but he is more concerned of the gas bill. Lol!

After boiling the monggo beans I saute garlic and onion and fry the pork with it. When the pork is already brown I add the monggo beans and the slop, I add more water and salt to taste. I let it boil for few minutes and I add the lettuce and let it cook for few minutes.