Sinigang

Sinigang na Baboy (Pork)

This week we will focus on different kinds of Sinigang Dishes. Sinigang is a type of Filipino Soup/Stew which has a distinct sour taste, it is cooked by using a souring agent like Sampalok/Tamarind, Bayabas/Guava, Kamias (Cucumber Tree native from South East Asia). Older people say that they cook Sinigang because before there is no refrigeration and they have to prepare a dish which doesn't spoil fast, and due to it's sour component Sinigang is a dish which doesn't require refrigeration and has a longer shelf life than other dishes.

Sinigang can be cooked with varieties of meat like pork, beef, fish  & seafood. It also involves with a lot of veggies like water spinach, radish, tomato, okra etc... 

Sinigang na Baka (Beef)

Sinigang na Hipon (Shrimp)

#sinigang #pilipinoexpress

Sinigang na Bangus (Milk Fish)

Black Pepper (Paminta)

Black Pepper (peppercorn) is a common spice in the culinary world, a dish is not just complete without this amazing a bit spicy-earthy flavor. It also has other varieties like White, Pink, Green, Orange and Red Pepper, I am not joking I am also surprised lol.

Peppercorns (dried black pepper) are, by monetary value, the most widely traded spice in the world, accounting for 20 percent of all spice imports in 2002.

#blackpepper #pilipinoexpress

Adobong Tahong (Muscles)

Adobong Tahong (Muscles) is another variety of the seafood adobo dish. Taste really good and if you love seafood this will be one epic dish for you.


Ingredients

• Tahong/Muscles 1/2 Kg or if you can buy Muscles that are already shelled
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 5 - 6 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 1 small ginger (minced, this is a must)
• 1 medium onion (chopped)
• 1 red chili
• 2 pcs bay leaf
• salt and pepper to taste

Procedure

• boil muscles in 2 cups of water with a pinch of salt
• wait for the muscles to open
• drain muscles, peel them off the shell
• saute garlic, onions and ginger (let them brown)
• add in the muscles, cook for a minute
• add soy sauce and vinegar, let it boil
• add bay leaf, chilli, salt an pepper
• let it simmer for about 5-10 mins until sauce thickens
• Ready to serve

 #musclesadobo #adobongtahong #pilipinoexpress

Adobong Hipon (Shrimp)

Adobong Hipon or Shrimp Adobo has different varieties, it can be cooked the traditional way without chiles, sugar but those additional ingredients gives extra flavor to the dish and the dish will even taste better with them, some also add coconut milk but this time we will stick with the traditional way with some extra options of chili and sugar which really compliments the dish.

Ingredients

• 1/2 Kgs Shrimp/Hipon (cleaned, shelled [optional], but retain the head that's where the flavor is)
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 5 - 6 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 1 medium onion (optional, but i like onion it gives extra flavor)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp of sugar (optional)
• 1 - 3 whole greed chili (optional)
• 2 bay leaf

Process

• saute garlic and onions, let them brown
• add shrimp cook for a minute
• add vinegar and soy sauce, let it boil
• add salt, pepper and sugar
• cook for another 2mins
• add bay leaf and chilis
• let the sauce thicken and your Shrimp Adobo, Adobong Hipon is ready to serve. 

#adobonghipon #shrimpadobo #pilipinoexpress

Garlic (Bawang)

Garlic (Bawang) is a staple in Filipino Cuisine, almost every dish we cook has garlic on it. Normally we use garlic for our dishes and it doesn't feel right if we don't use it, the flavor it brings to our food is extraordinary, we use it to stir fry, to marinate, on salads, on pastries you name it, Garlic is really serves an important role on our cooking. It also reduce the fishy/stinky tastes on some variety of meat/fish products. 

Some of us also eat it as it is (without the skin of course), helps lower our cholesterol, also considered as an anti oxidant. Did you know that Garlic was used as an antiseptic to prevent gangrene during World War I and World War II. Some even say it fights bad spirits or even aswangs/blood suckers as we call it in the Philippines. :)

#garlic #garlicisheart #pilipinoexpress

Adobong Pusit (Squid)

Adobong Pusit/Squid is known for its black color because of the ink, 1st time I had this dish I do not want any part of it because it's all black, but after the 1st bite I ended up with a whole lot of dishes to wash. lol So lets start.

Ingredients

• 1/5 Kg of Pusit/Squid, Cleaned and Ink seperated
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 5 - 6 Cloves of Garlic
• 1 Small Onion 
• 1 1/2 tbsp of minced ginger (this is a must!)
• 2 pcs Bay/Laurel leaves
• A pinch of Salt and Black Pepper
• Red Hot Chili, chopped (optional but this really compliments the dish)
• A stalk of celery, chopped

Process

• Saute garlic, onion & ginger, let them brown
• Add Squid, let it cook for 2mins (don't overcook because squid will be chewy)
• Add vinegar and soy sauce cook for another 2mins
• Add ink and bay leaf, let it simmer for about 5-7 mins (low heat)
• Add salt and pepper to taste, finally add red chiles (optional)
• Don't forget the celery
• cook for another 2mins and its ready to be devoured... Enjoy :)

#adobongpusit #squidadobo #pilipinoexpress

Seafood Adobo

An awesome dish for hungry peeps out there, especially the ones who loves seafood... :) It may vary between Shrimp, Muscles or Squid, sometimes crazy people love to experiment (me for example) I combined the best of all worlds.

Adobong Pusit (Squid)                   Adobong Hipon (Shrimp)

Adobong Tahong (Muscles)

Ok enough talk.... Next posts will be recipe's for each particular dish.... Stay tuned.

#adobongdagat #seafoodadobo #pilipinoexpress

Vegetable Adobo

Ok...... I hate to do this because I'm a meat lover but let's not be selfish guys, some people just don't eat meat, but don't worry my non meat eating friends, this dish is for you.

Ingredients

• 2 pcs Tofu
• 2 Medium sized Carrot
• 2 Medium sized Potato
• 1 Stack of Water Spinach (kangkong)
• 1/2 cup White Vinegar
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup of Soy Sauce (The measurement varies depends on how dark you want your Adobo to turn out)
• 4 Cloves of Garlic (crushed)
• 1 Whole Medium Size Onion
• 2 Tbsp of Black Pepper 
• 2 pcs Bay Leaf

Process

• Cube each tofu, carrot & potatoes in bite size pieces
• Now this is important, fry the tofu, potato and carrot until they all have a brown crust. I suggest you do this separately for each ingredient because you don't want the other ingredients to be over cooked or raw, also it will help you if you add flour on your tofu but that is optional.
• Saute garlic and onion, add the carrot and potato, saute them for about 5 mins.
• add the vinegar, soy sauce & pepper. Bring to a boil.
• now add the water spinach, make sure you chopped them evenly so they will cook evenly.
• Cover for about 5 mins, add the tofu & bay leaf. Mix everything. Cover for another 5-10 mins until water spinach is cooked but not soft, you want some crunch on it.

I tell you this is very good, the 1st time I tried this dish I was very surprised about the taste it brings. I hope you can try it one time. Enjoy :)

#adobonggulay #vegetableadobo #pilipinoexpress

Pork Adobo

Pork adobo, I can describe it as simply the best.

The process of cooking is the same on all Adobo's, but a lot of people like to add some twists on their dishes, this time we will stick to what is traditional.

Let's start with the ingredients.

• 1/2 kg Pork Belly (Again you can use whatever part you want)
• 1/2 cup White Vinegar
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup of Soy Sauce (The measurement varies depends on how dark you want your Adobo to turn out)
• 4 Cloves of Garlic (crushed)
• 1 Whole Medium Size Onion
• 2 Tbsp of Black Pepper

Process

• Saute garlic and onion, add pork when the garlic is brown, now let the pork have some color before adding the vinegar. 
• After the vinegar is added let it cook for about 5mins and then follow it up with the soy sauce & pepper.
• Let it simmer for about 15-20 mins until the pork is tender and sauce is thick.

There you have it a classic Pork Adobo. Enjoy.

#porkadobo #adobongbaboy #pilipinoexpress

Chicken Adobo

The very popular Chicken Adobo.

I don't know how to start but there are several ways on how to cook this dish.

Marinated Chicken Adobo

• I think this is the best of all, don't get me wrong all of them are very good but I really like this one because the flavor is fused deep inside the chicken not just the outside part.
• Let's start with the ingredients.

• 1/2 kg Chicken Wings (You can use any other parts of the chicken)
• 1/2 cup White Vinegar
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup of Soy Sauce (The measurement varies depends on how dark you want your Adobo to turn out)
• 4 Cloves of Garlic (crushed)
• 1 Whole Medium Size Onion
• 2 Tbsp of Black Pepper
• 2 pcs Bay Leaves aka Laurel (this is optional some people don't like Bay leaf but it is really good w/ this dish)
• Process
• Wash and let the chicken wings dry out this will help the chicken to absorb all the marinade.
• Combine vinegar, soy sauce, 1 tbsp pepper and 2 cloves of garlic in a bowl. Leave it for about 1-2 hours
• After 1-2 hrs saute the remaining garlic and onion, add the chicken when the garlic is browned. Do not add the marinate yet just the chicken.
• When the chicken is slightly browned add the marinade, let it cook for another 10 mins, do not forget to stir it every 2mins.
• Now add the remaining black pepper & bay leaf (as a whole, don't crush it) simmer it for about 10-15 mins, until the sauce thickens.

#chickenadobo #adobongmanok #pilipinoexpress

Adobo

Adobo has been cooked countless times on Filipino households, most of us will associate this as our

National Dish but its not official, I even have friends outside the Philippines who requests it every time they visit the country. Every house hold has different versions some adds ketchup some adds chiles some even mixed them all up, but nothing can beat our Mom's & Grandma's cookin' right? It's like nostalgia every time I taste a good cooked Adobo dish, brings me back to the childhood days.

They say that Adobo started way way back even before the Spaniards colonized the Philippines, Food historians say it is a way of preserving food by stewing using vinegar.

Anything that is cooked with soy sauce, vinegar, black pepper is highly classified as an Adobo but there are different types of Adobo Dishes ranging from Pork, Chicken, Seafood's & sometimes veggies depends on what your taste buds prefer.

 There are also different ways to cook Adobo, some prefer it with a thin sauce, thick sauce, dried sauce, some add veggies like potatoes, water spinach (kangkong), carrots, tofu, etc.. As I've said it depends on what your taste buds prefer and who you cook it for.

I think I am talking too much... lol My next post will be all about Adobo Dishes so stay tuned.

#adobo #adoboisheart