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:
- Create a mixture by mixing the egg yolks (with one egg whites), condense milks, creamdensada, a little bit of sugar and all purpose cream
- Add some brown sugar at the traditional oval llaneras and preheat them until the brown sugar burnt
- Add the mixture at the llanera and steam them until cook
- 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.
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
- 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.
- Get a portion and put over the wilted banana leaves then roll and wrap properly.
- 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:
- Separately boil the tamarind to create sour soup, then squeezed the tamarind to get more juice out of it
- In a new pot, use the sour soup and add the vegetables, simmer a little
- Add the fish, green pepper, onions and let it cooked for 5 minutes
- When it is almost cooked add the water spinach and seasoned with salt to taste
- 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:
- In a large pot put the crabs and add the coconut milk from second extract of grated coconut
- Add the garlic, salt, turmeric and pepper and let it simmer
- Then add the papaya, as well as the coconut milk from the first extract of the grated coconut
- Cooked it for few minutes, and when it is nearing to be cooked add the moringa leaves
- 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.