Kare-Kare

Kare-Kare is considered a Stew, normally an oxtail would be perfect but these days some uses lean meat, pork belly, tripe (i love this), chicken and sometimes seafood. But if you know me I would stick to the original just like paying homage to the dish.

Ingredients:

• 1kg of Oxtail, Chopped into 2" length
• 1/2 Cup of Peanut butter (unsweetened)
• 1 stack of Long Beans, cut into 2" length (Sitaw)
• 3-4 cloves of Garlic, minced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 6 tbsp of Achuete/Atsuete
• 1 Large Eggplant, Cut in half and cut into 2" length
• 2 stack of Pechay or Bokchoy
• 2 tbsp of Shrimp paste
• 4-5 tbsp of Peanut, crushed finely (secret ingredient, makes a huge difference)

 Procedure

• Oxtail Procedure
• In a large pot or pressure cooker boil the oxtail until tender, pressure cooker will only take about 45mins to an hour a normal boiling may take 1hr 30mins to 2hrs depends on the meat.
• Once meat is tender remove the meat from the broth but set aside the broth please.
• Achuete/Atsuete Procedure
• In a pan put about 1/2 cup of vegetable oil and start stir frying the atchuete until the oil turns reddish, mostly takes about 5mins
• strain the achuete and set aside the oil
• Now time to get a "wok" if you don't have one you can use a regular deep pan.
• Add half of the achuete oil and saute garlic and onions, let them caramelize
• Add the shrimp paste, saute for another 2mins
• Add the meat, saute for another 2mins
• Gently add the stock, we start at 2cups, we will gradually add the remaining stock if the dish gets dried out
• Add the peanut butter, make sure you stir it properly so we avoid clumps
• Add the beans cook for 5mins
• Add eggplant cook for another 5mins
• Add the Bokchoy cook for another 2mins
• Lastly add the crushed peanuts and again please stir the dish properly
• Let it simmer for about 2mins
• Consistency check.... If the sauce is too thick we need to add a bit of our stock.

*NOTE: Best eaten with shrimp paste as a side, chillis optional.

#karekare #pilipinoexpress

Ginataang Seafood (Seafood with Coconut Milk)

A Holy Week Special. We have a tradition here in the Philippines that we don't eat meat every Holy Week, I'm not pretty sure what will happen if we eat meat but there is nothing to lose if we follow the tradition.. :D So here we go this time we will cook Ginataang Seafood (Seafood with Coconut Milk).

Ingredients

• 1/4 kg Shrimp (do not take off the Head please)
• 1/4 kg Squid (Inked, Chopped)
• 1/4 kg Muscles
• You can add other types of seafood like Crabs, Clams, Scallops whatever is available
• 1 1/2 cup of Coconut Milk
• 2 - 3 pcs Long Green Chillies (chopped or whole)
• 3 - 5 Cloves of Garlic (minced)
• 1 Medium Onion (minced)
• 1 Small Ginger (Minced)
• Greens (you can use Chinese cabbage, Spinach, Chilli Leaves, Bitter Gourd Leaves as I've said whatever is available this dish is very diverse.)
• 1 tbsp of Butter
• 1 tbsp of Fish Sauce
• A pinch of Pepper to taste

Procedure

• Saute Garlic, Onion and Ginger in cooking oil and add the butter as well.
• Add the Muscles and Clams (if you will be using clams), let it open a little bit (this procedure is a bit tricky because seafoods has different cooking time be careful not to overcook them)
• Add Crabs if you use crabs let them change their color a bit
• Add the Shrimp, let it change color
• Add the Squid, cook for about a minute
• Quickly add the coconut milk, let it boil
• Add the Greens
• Now add the fish sauce and pepper, do not forget to taste so if it needs a little adjustment on the saltiness you can add a little more. :)
• Let the sauce thicken, will probably take about 5mins of simmering.

Everyone have a safe week :)

#ginataangseafood #pilipinoexpress

Taba ng Talangaka (Crab Fat)

Taba ng Talangaka or Crab Fat is one of the popular delicacy in the Philippines, can be used as an ingredient, condiment, side dish or on top of a steamy rice, what ever you prefer. You can buy these on your local markets but you have to be picky some crab fat that are available in the market has lesser quality than it use to have. You can sometimes hit a jackpot in roadside sellers no labels or what so ever but as I've said you need to be picky.

Applications

• You can simply put it on top of a steamy rice or you can also do a fried rice w/ crab fat.
• You can make it as a sauce for grilled fish. Just put 1 tbsp of Crab Fat, Calamansi, soy sauce/fish sauce and Chile (optional).
• You can make it as a side dish.

*WARNING: Crab fat is so rich you might need to take a little control when having it, its so deliciously addictive, please take extra caution. :D

#crabfat #tabangtalangaka #pilipinoexpress

Sinigang na Hipon (Shrimp)

Sinigang na Hipon (Shrimp), same ingredients as any other Sinigang, the only difference is that you will put the shrimps last because they cook fast.

Ingredients

• 500gms of Shrimp (Use large shrimps or you can also use prawns but shrimps have more flavor, you can remove the skin but please retain the head, all the flavor is in there.)
• 1 Medium Radish (Labanos) - Chopped
• 1 Onion - Sliced
• 1 Tomato - Sliced
• 1 Stack of String Beans (Sitaw) - Cut (2" length)
• 5pcs of Okra - Cut in half  
• 1 - 2 Stack of Water Spinach (Kangkong) - Cut (2" length, remove the bottom part which is hard just take the soft part of the Water Spinach)
• 3 - 4 pcs of Long Green Chili/Finger Chili (Siling Mahaba)
• 500g of Tamarind (You can use ready made tamarind powder or Sinigang Mixes but nothing beats the original. :D)
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 500ml of Water

Procedure

• Tamarind Procedure
• Wash and clean the Tamarinds
• Boil Tamarind in a Separately, cook until tamarind is soft
• Remove the Tamarind from boiled water (do not throw away the water)
• Get a bowl and mash the tamarinds add a cup of the boiled water
• Strain the mixture when all is mashed to remove the seeds and skin of the Tamarind
• Set aside the strained mixture of Tamarind
• In a large pot add the 500ml of water, bring to a boil
• Add onions, tomatoes, long green chili/finger chili and radish
• Add salt and pepper, Cook for another 10mins, medium heat
• Now this is the delicate part, add the strained mixture of tamarind, you need to taste it while adding the mixture, it can be too sour or less sour depending on your taste, I suggest add a little portion at a time. Bring to a boil.
• Add the string beans, cook for another 5mins.
• Add Okra, cook for 5mins
• Add the Shrimps, let them cook for 2mins (or until shrimps turn orange/pink)
• Finally add the water spinach, cook for another 10mins (low heat)
• Now the dish is ready to serve and best eaten with fish sauce as a condiment, get the long green chili's and mash it with a 2 tbsp of fish sauce. Enjoy :)  

#shrimpsinigang #sinigangnahipon #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

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