Special Beef Salpicao

Beef Salpicao is one of those dishes that taste great without too much preparation and without the fancy ingredients. You can actually do away with the marination, but it will result to a much tastier dish if you left it for at least two hours.

This dish is great with rice, or as a side dish while drinking that ice cold beer.

Here's what you need to get from the grocery:

1/2 Kilo cubed beef sirloin
3 tablespoons minced garlic (or more)
1 teaspoon salt
Paprika
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
5 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce




The cooking instructions are pretty straight forward:
1. Marinate the beef. Combine salt, pepper, paprika, garlic, olive oil, and beef and let it stay for at least two hours. Keeping it overnight would be best.
2. In a hot pan, add oil then saute garlic. Add the marinated beef and sear until beef turns brown. Make sure all sides are uniformly cooked.
3. Add the oyster sauce and Worcestire sauce. Continue cooking until the liquid dries up a little.
4. Add the butter and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more.
5. You may opt to add chili flakes to give the dish an extra kick.

You can also add more olive oil or butter if you don't want your dish too dry. Guaranteed to satisfy your cravings.

Pork Humba

I grew up eating Pork Humba, a Visayan version of adobo. It tastes differently compared to the regular adobo because of a distinct sweetness from Pineapple juice (or brown sugar in some recipes). Pork legs/knuckles or "pata" are also typically used in this dish.

Here are the things that you will need:

½ kilo pork belly or pata
1/2 cup Pineapple juice
Onion, diced
Garlic, minced
2 tablespoons salted black beans
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup vinegar
1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
½ cup dried banana blossoms
2 boiled eggs, sliced
2 pieces dried bay leaves
1 teaspoon whole peppercorn 




And here's what you need to do:
1. Saute onions and garlic.
2. Add pork and cook until browned.
3. Put-in the soy sauce, vinegar, peppercorn and bay leaves. Simmer until the pork is tender. This may take about 45 minutes to an hour, in slow fire.
4. Add pineapple juice to keep the sauce from becoming too dry
5. Add the salted black beans, dried banana blossoms and brown sugar
6. Simmer for about 5 more minutes
7. Serve with the sliced eggs.

Some people find it easier to use a pressure cooker instead of slow cooking this dish. While it's a lot faster, the taste could be sacrificed. If you are okay with that, you can simply combine all ingredients (except the beans, banana blossoms, sugar and eggs) and pressure cook for about 20 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients afterwards.

Pork Chops Braised In Milk

The dish sounded a bit weird when I first heard about it. Pork chops and milk. But I just had to try it. Luckily, the ingredients are readily available. I also had no difficulty cooking it in the limited time that I had this morning.

What you need:
4 boneless pork loin chops
salt 
fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups milk
2 tsp. butter
2 tsp. vegetable oil
1 tbsp corn starch
garlic




And here are the instructions:
1. Pound pork chops slightly using a mallet or something heavy/blunt. 
2. Season with salt and pepper, and let stand for at least 15 minutes.
3. Optional: you may opt to dip the pork in breadings/batter
4. Fry pork until golden brown on both sides. Add garlic and continue cooking for a minute.
5. Pour in 1 cup milk and cornstarch (preferably mixed in the milk)
6. Cook in slow fire for about 20 to 30 minutes
7. Add milk as needed (don't let the dish go dry)
8. Season with salt/pepper as needed

The result was actually a nice dish perfect for lunch. You can also change it up a bit by adding mushrooms and perhaps something green (like basil or parsley). I used non-fat milk because that's the only milk I had in the fridge. Hopefully that made the dish a little healthier. Who am I kidding? I should have trimmed the fat off the chops!

Super Crispy Lechon Kawali

I should really steer clear from fatty food, and Lechon Kawali is definitely on top of the list of "things to avoid." But who can resist this tasty and crispy pork treat? No matter how hard I try, I end up ordering this dish at a restaurant or getting it from a party buffet table.

And as luck would have it, a good friend of mine was kind enough to share her family recipe for Lechon Kawali. Must be my lucky day!

Here's what you need:
1 Kilo pork liempo
Salt 
Pepper
Onions
Garlic
Bay leaf

You need sufficient prep time to get the best results:
1. Boil water with sliced onions, garlic, bay leaves, pepper and salt.
2. Add the pork liempo and cook until meat is tender. Around 40 minutes should do it.
3. Let the meat cool down.
4. Rub a generous amount of salt all over the meat.
5. Freeze (preferably overnight) until ready to cook.




Two options for cooking this dish:
Option 1: Deep fry until golden brown and crispy. 
Option 2: Use your Turbo Broiler, cook meat at 325 degrees for 40 to 60 minutes (until desired doneness is achieved)

Serve with lechon sauce, or with a combination of Soy Sauce, chili sauce and Vinegar.

I personally prefer the second option (turbo broiler). It's less messy, and there's a minimal chance of you getting injured while cooking. The results are also much crunchier. Also, make sure to rub a generous amount of salt over the boiled meat. You can also use black pepper for added flavor. Freezing it prior to cooking is also an important step. It somehow results in a crispier dish.

I also like to make my own sauce using 1 part vinegar, 1 part soy sauce, and lots of chili.

Bicol Express Made Easy!

I'm not sure how I acquired it, but I have a very high tolerance for spicy food. My friends tease me by saying I'm not a very good judge of what is spicy or not because I always reply by saying "it's not too spicy" (even if the dish is way above their tolerance level).

Bicol Express, therefore, is one of my favorite dishes to cook. I just love the balance between the saltiness of the "alamang" (shrimp paste) and the heat given by the jalapeno/sili. Cook it just right and you will end up with a dinner dish that could very well be a topic of discussion.

Here's what you will need:

1/2 kilo pork, sliced
Garlic, chopped
Onions, chopped
Green sili/jalapeno, sliced (depending on your tolerance level)
2 tbsps Alamang/Bagoong
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
salt/pepper
chili flakes (just kidding. The jalapeno should be enough)




First, you need to do the following steps:

1. Chop onions and garlic
2. Slice Green Sili/Jalapenos, and soak in salted water for about 30 mins. Take out the seeds if you don't want your dish to end up too spicy.
3. Saute your alamang (shrimp paste) in garlic and onion, and season with sugar if desired.
4. Prepare your "gata" or coconut milk.
5. Season your meat with salt and pepper.

Here are the procedures for cooking:

1. Saute garlic and onions.
2. Add meat, and cook until browned.
3. Add alamang, cook for a few minutes.
4. You may now add the green sili/jalapenos, and then pour in the coconut milk.
5. Simmer for 30 minutes or so, or until meat is tender. 
6. Season with salt and pepper.

Super easy, right? Here's an additional trick to make greens look "fresher:" save some jalapenos and add them in just a few minutes before serving. You can also add string beans if you want the dish to be a little "healthier."

Baked Fish Fillet In Butter Lemon Sauce

Sometimes (actually most of the time), laziness overcomes us and it becomes very challenging to think about what to cook for dinner. It's tempting to simply call the local fast food to have food delivered. Or just open a can of spam or corned beef from the pantry. 

Still, nothing beats a good home-cooked meal. Don't worry. There are super easy recipes that will only take a few minutes of your time. Try out this easy recipe for fish fillet baked in butter lemon sauce.

Here's what you need: 

Fish Filets (you can purchase frozen fillets from the grocery)

4 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

4 tsp fresh parsley

salt and pepper

Basil leaves or Parsley

Here's how to do it: 
1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Season fish with salt and pepper
3. In a separate pan, melt butter. Saute garlic for about a minute.
4. Add lemon juice, and remove from fire.
5. Place fish in baking tray.
6. Pour butter sauce on fish.
7. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until desired cooking level is achieved.
8. Top with chopped basil or parsley (for additional flavor and presentation).

Some of you may be intimidated by your oven. I used to feel that way. It took me years before I found the courage to turn on my oven for the first time. Boy, was I missing out on a lot of things. So if you haven't experimented with your oven yet, take my advice and "take the leap." Turn on your oven, and brace yourself for a world of possibilities.


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Basic Beef Broccoli

Broccoli. Ugh, right? I remember being forced to eat this as a child, and I dreaded every moment. I mean, whoever decided that this ugly little thing was edible probably did so as a practical joke. I mean, evil cartoon characters have been created in the image and likeness of this vegetable. Yep, I remember seeing a battalion of walking broccolis invading Townsville and hypnotizing all the adults in the neighborhood.

Uhhh. I probably shouldn't have disclosed that I used to watch Powerpuff Girls. Too late for that.

So moving on, it wasn't until later in life that I discovered that broccolis make great buddies with sliced beef. I started enjoying it and have gone as far as ordering Beef Broccoli in restaurants on occasion. So let's cook that today.

Here's what you need:

1/4 kg beef sirloin, sliced thinly
broccoli florets
2 tablespoons cooking oil
2 cloves garlic, very finely minced 
1 teaspoon cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tablespoon water

For the marinade
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine (I just used red wine)
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
(You may instead simply use salt and pepper to season the beef)

For the sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine (I just used red wine)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 cup chicken or beef broth




And here's what you need to do:

1. Marinate the beef: Put together the marinade ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the beef slices and stir until coated. Let stand for 10-30 minutes.
2. Prepare the sauce: Stir together the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
3. Blanch the broccoli: Boil water and add a bit of salt. Cook your broccoli for about 2-3 minutes until tender-crisp. Drain thoroughly. Set aside.
4. Heat a pan and add cooking oil. Sear the beef, immediately spreading it out all over the surface in a single layer. Let the beef fry undisturbed for 1 minute. Flip.
5. Add the garlic to the pan and fry for an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute. This is a trick I learned if you don't want your garlic to be burnt.
6. Pour in the sauce and stir.
7. Add the blanched broccoli and bring to a boil. 
8. Pour in the dissolved cornstarch until desired consistency is reached.
9. Season with salt and pepper as needed.

Very easy to do, right?

One time, I didn't realize that I no longer had broccoli in my fridge. Apparently, somebody used it without telling me. Tsk. I had all the other ingredients prepared, so I decided to just use young corn instead of broccoli. Turned out pretty ok.