Chicken and Pork Vermicelli

Chicken and Pork Vermicelli is a healthy and hearty dish which is rich in nutrients and history. It originated from China and is adapted to suit the Filipino palate. It is believed to bring long life (noodles are not cut prior to cooking) and is served at birthdays and special occasions. Though not necessarily a believer of that, we love this dish very much.

Ingredients:
1/4 kg sotanghon (glass noodles)
1 onion, chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, crushed and finely chopped
1/4 kg lean pork, diced
1/4 kg chicken breast, sliced
1 carrot, sliced thinly
100 g string beans, sliced diagonally
6 pcs shiitake mushroom, sliced
3 cups water
2 chicken stock cubes
2 tbsp soy sauce to taste
spring onions for garnish
fried shallots for garnish
vegetable oil for sautéing

Procedure:
1. In a bowl of hot water, soak the vermicelli for about 15 minutes. Set aside.
2. In a wok, sauté the onions and garlic in oil. Add the pork and chicken and cook until tender.
3. Add in the vegetables and stir-fry until half-cooked.
4. Pour water and drop in the stock cubes. Let it simmer. Drain the vegetables and meat from the soup mixture and set aside.
5. While the soup is simmering, drain the vermicelli from the water and transfer it onto the simmering mixture. Season with soy sauce.
6. Stir continuously over low heat until the liquid is almost absorbed by the noodles or until cooked. Add half of the drained vegetables and meat and mix well.
7. Serve in a platter, top with the remaining half of the vegetable-meat mix and garnish as desired.

Cheers,
Jane

Pork Nilaga

Nilaga literally translates to “boiled” in Tagalog. It’s a very simple stew of pork, and some vegetables, seasoned with salt and pepper. Nevertheless, it is packed with a savoury soup. To further enhance the flavor of this dish, we usually eat it with a condiment of fish sauce and calamansi. Folks, here is my recipe for a Filipino classic, Pork Nilaga.

Ingredients:

1 kg pork ribs

1 bunch green beans

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into large cubes

2 corn, cut in about 2” slices

1/2 cabbage, sliced into three

Whole pepper corns

1 medium onion, sliced thinly

Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Boil the pork ribs in a saucepan of about five cups of water. Add a pinch of salt, and a few peppercorns, and the sliced onions. Let it simmer until pork is tender.

2. Add the sweet potatoes and corn.

3. Once the first batch of vegetables are cooked, add the green beans and cabbage. Let it simmer a bit and then turn off heat.

Serve hot with white rice.

Cheers,

Jane

Ginisang Mais

Here’s a recipe, actually one of my favorite dishes of all time. It’s healthy, packed with rich flavor, and most of all, delicious!

Ingredients:

4 pcs fresh corn, removed from cob

6 pcs string beans

1 cup pork, sliced into small pieces

1/4 slice medium sized pumpkin, cubed

1 onion, minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp shrimp paste

1 tbsp oyster sauce

salt to taste

cooking oil for sautéing

Procedure:

1. Pour cooking oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Fry the pork until golden brown. Set aside in the wok.

2. Sauté the onions and garlic. Add the shrimp paste.

3. Add the corn. Simmer until corn is almost ready.

4. Add in the pumpkin and string beans. Bring to a boil and reduced heat when the veggies are almost cooked.

5. Season with oyster sauce and salt to taste.

Serve hot with steamed rice.

Cheers,

Jane

Sweet and Sour Pork

Here’s another sweet and sour recipe. This time around, it’s Sweet and Sour Pork. That’s all the goodness of crispy bite-size chunks of breaded pork with a tasty sweet and sour sauce!

Ingredients:

1 kilo pork loin, cut into small pieces

1 cup flour

1 fresh egg, beaten

1 red and green capsicums, cubed

1 medium-sized onion, chopped

1 large carrot, sliced diagonally

Salt to taste

For the sweet and sour sauce:

4 tablespoons brown sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons tomato ketchup

1/3 cup white vinegar

1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

2 teaspoon cornstarch, diluted in 5 teaspoons of water

Procedure:

1. Season the pork loin with salt. Roll it over the beaten eggs then dredge it in flour before frying.

2. Deep fry the pork pieces until the coat turns golden brown. Set aside.

3. Whisk together the sugar, ketchup, vinegar, and soy sauce in a small bowl.

4. In a wok over medium heat, pour this sauce mixture and bring to a boil.

4. Add the cornstarch, stirring constantly until the sauce becomes thick.

5. Add in the red and green bell peppers, carrots and the onions. Let it simmer until the veggies are ready.

6. Put in the deep-fried pork, and simmer for another 2 minutes.

Serve hot with steamed rice.

Cheers!

Jane

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Big, juicy, tender and tasty meatballs in a rich sweet and sour sauce, this is what this dish is all about. I used the same recipe for the Lumpiang Shanghai. You can get the recipe here. But instead of wrapping the pork mixture, I made meatballs. Fried it until golden brown and set it aside. The second part is making the sweet and sour sauce. And here’s what you will need.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons brown sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons tomato ketchup

1/3 cup white vinegar

1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

2 teaspoon cornstarch, diluted in 5 teaspoons of water

1 red bell pepper, cut into squares

1 green bell pepper, cut into squares

1 medium-sized onion, chopped

1 large carrot, sliced diagonally

Procedure:

1. Whisk together the sugar, ketchup, vinegar, and soy sauce in a small bowl.

2. In a saucepan over medium heat, pour this sauce mixture and bring to a boil.

3. Pour in the cornstarch mixture, stirring constantly until the sauce becomes thick.

4. Add the sliced carrots. Let it simmer for about 2 minutes.

5. Add in the red and green bell peppers and the onions. Let it simmer until the all veggies are ready.

6. Put in the fried meatballs, and simmer for another 2 minutes.

Serve hot with steamed rice.

Enjoy!

Jane

Pinakbet

The basic ingredients of this dish are local vegetables and shrimp paste, so even when one veggie is missing or you either use meat or seafood, you will still have that “pinakbet” vibe. It is very Filipino, from the manner of cooking to the ingredients employed. Usually it involves squash, eggplant, lady fingers (okra), and bitter gourd to say the least. But even having only half of the vegetables required, I decided to prepare Pinakbet the other day. And here is the result.

Ingredients:
1/4 kilo pork, sliced into small bite size pieces
4 to 6 pieces prawn
1 large egg plant, sliced
6 to 8 pieces okra
1 piece onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 tbsp shrimp paste
1 cup water
cooking oil for frying

Procedure:
1. In a skillet, fry the pork until golden brown. In the same pan, sauté the garlic and onion.
2. Add the shrimp paste and cook for about 5 minutes. Pour in water and bring to a boil.
3. Check pork if tender then add the vegetables and prawns. Let it simmer.

Serve hot with rice.

Cheers,
Jane

Lumpiang Shanghai

As the name implies, it is the Filipino version of Chinese Spring Rolls. A popular dish which is commonly included in a typical Filipino buffet, may it be weddings, birthdays or a fiesta. It can be a cocktail, a side dish, or when paired with rice, pasta or noodles, the main course itself!

No wonder it's one of our all-time favorites. Even my daughter Ashrie fell in love with this simple dish because of its crisp outer shell and chewy, juicy core.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs ground pork
1 whole egg
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup onions, minced
1/2 cup carrots grated
1/2 cup prawns, minced (optional)
1/2 cup Chinese celery (flat leaf parsley) finely chopped
2-3 tablespoon soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste
spring roll wrappers
cooking oil (for frying)

Procedure:
1. Mix the ingredients in a bowl (except for the cooking oil and wrappers). Season with a little bit of salt and pepper and mix well. You can do a sampling at this point by taking about a teaspoon of the mixture, forming it into a small patty and frying it in oil. Just to test if it needs adjustment in seasoning.
2. Lay a wrapper on a plate and wrap about a teaspoon of the filling. Brush the end of your wrapper with a little bit of water to seal the roll.
3. Deep fry your spring rolls for about 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Short of spring roll wrappers and you still have the filling mixture? You can pan fry the filling as burger patties or as meatballs. And remember to fry only what you can consume in one serving as it is best served while hot and the wrappers are still crispy.

Cheers,
Jane

Baked Minced Meat Omelette

For my first recipe, I am sharing a classy take on the famous Filipino dish Tortang Giniling. Usually pan-fried and sometimes fried between banana leaves for easy flipping. However, my version does not include the dreaded flipping because it is baked like a pie.

Here are the ingredients:

500 grams minced meat

1 large carrot, diced

1 large potato, diced

1 medium-sized onion, minced

Quarter of medium-sized cabbage

3 cloves garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

Vegetable oil for sautéing

4 eggs, beaten

Cheese for topping (optional)

Parsley flakes for garnish (optional)

  

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

2. In a skillet, sauté garlic and onion.

3. Add in the carrots and potatoes.

4. When the potatoes are already half-cooked, add the meat. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Add the cabbage.

6. Set this aside and let it cool.

7. In a mixing bowl of beaten eggs, pour in this cooled mixture. Stir until all the ingredients are incorporated.

8. Transfer the mixture into a pie baking dish. Top with cheese and bake it for about 30 minutes or after a successful toothpick test.

9. Garnish with parsley flakes.

Serve hot with rice with your favorite condiment. Alternatively, you can eat it as a cheesy meat and vegetable pie.

This can serve 6 to 8 persons.

Cheers!

Jane