Paksiw

Paksiw is a process of cooking fish or meat using mainly vinegar and garlic plus some other herbs and spices like onion, ginger, chilli etc...

Either meat or fish can be use in a Paksiw dish, though most of the time we use fish like Bangus.

(Milkfish), Tilapia, Galunggong (Round Skad) because this variety of fish's can easily be found on our local wet markets but we can use any other type of fish that we prefer.

They said that our ancestors use the dish Paksiw as a form of preserving food, because back in the day we do not have refrigeration, we don't want our food to spoil so vinegar will act as a preservative and our dish will have a longer shelf life than other dishes.

Paksiw is best eaten with patis (fish sauce), bagoong (fermented fish/shrimp).

#paksiw #paksiwisheart #pilipinoexpress

Tuyo (Dried Fish)

Tuyo, a very common Filipino Breakfast. I don't think you would be considered a Filipino if you

haven't eaten/tasted this amazing food. Before our ancestors use to "sun drying + salting" as a way of preserving food so they can get ready for the long rainy season. Drying can be done in different varieties of Fish and Seafood but the most popular is the one that you can get from "Sari-Sari Store" (Mini Store or sometimes smaller), you can get a pack of Tuyo for only 5.00 PHP, a pack has 3-4 pcs depending on the size, when I was young the pack contains 5-6 pcs of Tuyo.

I can still remember when I first ate Tuyo, it was early morning getting ready for school and I smell something bad (its like a stinky odor) coming from our kitchen and honestly I lost my appetite but I have to eat otherwise I would starve. So there is this Tuyo and Eggs (sunny side up and scrambled) plus there is also a saute'd tomatoes, I can see my older brother devouring the dish so I was really curious of what it taste and there I go. I ate about a whole pack that day, and it was really good, I can tell you every time I eat the dish I remember that first morning that I had it, a real nostalgic moment for me. 

How I eat tuyo? All I can say that the only left part is the tiny tail. lol

Best eaten with Fried Rice, Egg (sunny side up or scrambled), Vinegar/Saute'd Tomatoes. I prefer all of them because they all compliment each other.

Vinegar Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of Vinegar (White Vinegar)
• 3 Cloves of Garlic (minced)
• 1 Small Onion (minced)
• 1 Red Chilli (optional) chopped small
• A pinch of salt and black pepper
• Just mix all the ingredients together and its ready

Saute'd Tomato

• 4 Medium Sized Tomato (diced in small parts)
• 3 Cloves of Garlic (minced)
• 1 Onion (minced)
• 1 Red Chilli (optional) chopped small
• 1 Small Egg
• A pinch of salt and black pepper
• Procedure
• In a hot pan, put Oil (Vegetable or Olive)
• Saute Garlic and Onions, until brown
• Add Tomatoes, saute for another 2-3 mins
• Add 1/4 cup of water, bring to a boil
• Simmer and keep on mixing until tomatoes dissolve on the mixture
• Add Red Chilli, cook for another 2-3 mins
• Add Egg, keep mixing until egg is cooked

#tuyo #driedfish #driedfood #tuyoisheart #pilipinoexpress

Sinigang na Baka (Beef)

All I can say about Sinigang na Baka (Beef) is that you need a lot of patience to wait for it to cook, but the wait is worth every second. There is a saying that "Patience is a Virtue", well that would really apply on this dish. lol

Ingredients

• 1 kg of Beef Shanks (w/ meat)
• 1 Large Radish (Labanos) - Chopped
• 2 Large Onions - Sliced
• 2 Large Tomatoes - Sliced
• 1 Stack of String Beans (Sitaw) - Cut (2" length)
• 5pcs of Large Okra - Cut in 3 parts
• 3 - 4 pcs of Taro Root (Gabi) - Cubed
• 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
• 750ml 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 750ml of water, bring to a boil
• Add the Beef Shanks, Cook for about 20 - 25 mins (Or until the meat is tender)
• Remove or skim the floating scum that is on top of the pot, this is a must for me
• Now add the Taro Root/Gabi, Cook for another 10mins
• Mash half of the Taro Root/Gabi this will thicken the broth and it will give extra flavor, another must for me.
• Add onions, tomatoes, long green chili/finger chili and radish, Cook for another 5mins
• Add salt, pepper and Tamarind Mixture, Cook for another 10mins
• Add the string beans, cook for another 10mins.
• Add Okra, cook for 5mins (low heat)  
• 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 :)  

*NOTE: You may add additional water if needed.

#sinigangnabaka #beefsinigang #pilipinoexpress