Fish Fillets on Creamy White Sauce

In the mood for a fish dish? Here's the recipe for those who love eating fish. I used cream dory fillets in this dish but you can pick any kind of fish fillets to cook according to your preference.

Ingredients:
1/2 kilo cream dory fillets, cut into bite size pieces
1/4 cup lemon juice
200g sliced button mushrooms (optional)
1 1/2 cup non-fat milk
1/4 cup cornstarch dissolved in 1 cup water
100g butter (stick)
salt and pepper to taste
spring onions for garnish
fried garlic bits for garnish

Procedures;

Step 1:
1. Season dory fillets with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Set aside.
2. Fry fish fillets until golden brown. Drain on paper towel and set aside.

Step 2:
In a bowl, pour milk and cornstarch dissolved in water and stir. Set aside.

Step 3:
1. In a pan, heat oil and melt butter then saute onion until soft.
2. Add mushrooms then stir-fry until light brown.
3. Pour milk mixture and bring to boil. Season according to taste.
4. Simmer until the sauce begins to thicken. Continue stirring.
5. Arrange fish in a serving plate. Pour over the sauce and garnish with spring onions and fried garlic bits.
6. Serve hot.

Grilled Eggplant Salad (Ensaladang Inihaw na Talong)

The Grilled Eggplant Salad is an appetizer dish best paired with grilled or seared meat. It can be served as a viand with plain rice.

Ingredients:

4 medium eggplants
1 medium red onion, chopped
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup garlic bits, fried
1 pc. salted egg, chopped
1/3 cup mayonnaise (optional)

Procedure:

1. Grill eggplants until soft and charred. Peel the skin carefully and flatten the flesh using the back of fork.

2. Assemble the rest of chopped ingredients over the  eggplant in order: tomatoes, red onions, salted egg and mayonnaise and top with fried garlic bits.

3. Serve.

Note: If you hate the taste of mayonnaise on salad, you can omit it and use Greek yogurt instead.

Cream Dory Ceviche (Kinilaw na Cream Dory)

Ingredients:
1 kilo pangasius fillet (cream dory), cut into bite size pieces
2 cups vinegar (or more to keep fish properly soaked)
1 thumb-size ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp. chopped spring onions
2 tbsp. lemon or calamansi juice
2 tbsp. sugar
a dash of salt and ground black pepper

Procedure:
1. Pour vinegar on a bowl of cleaned raw fish, toss generously to make sure it is properly soaked in vinegar. Cover the bowl with plastic film wrap and let it stand for 1 hour.
2. Prepare chopped ingredients for garnish/ kinilaw mix.
3. After an hour, strain soaked fish and discard used vinegar.  Transfer fish on a mixing bowl and add the chopped ingredients. Mix well and pour in lemon or calamansi juice. Season with sugar, salt and pepper.
4. Chill and serve.

Mango Crepe with Mango Ice Cream and Hazelnut Sauce

I was just in the mood to make a yummy dessert perfect for summer. It may not look like a pro but I was glad to experiment this in the kitchen. Enjoy!

Mango Crepe with Mango Ice Cream and Hazelnut Sauce

Ingredients:

Mango Ice Cream:
2 Tetrapack 250mL Alaska Crema
1 390g Jersey Condensed Milk
2 Drops Mc Cormick Mango flavor

Procedure: Mix all the ingredients and chill overnight.

Crepes:
1 cup flour
3/4 cup evaporated milk
2 tbsp. sugar
3 tbsp. butter, melted
1/2 cup water
2 eggs
oil for coating pan

Procedure:
Whisk together all ingredients except for oil in a bowl. Mix them until well-combined. Strain to make sure the batter is smooth. Let batter rest in the fridge for an hour. Heat a non-stick pan and add about 1/2 tsp oil. Pour 1/3 cup of batter into the center of the pan and tilt the pan to spread the batter. Cook for 20-30 secs or until light brown spots appear. Flip to the side and cook for another 20 seconds. Transfer to a plate and let cool. Repeat with the rest of the batter.

Hazelnut Sauce:
1/2 cup hazelnut spread (Nutella, Finetti, etc.)
3-4 tbsp. milk

Procedure:
Combine hazelnut spread and 3-4 tbsp milk in a saucepan. Whisk together until smooth. You can add more milk to further thin out the sauce if necessary. Keep warm.


Assemble:
Put 4-5 slices of mango on a crepe and fold the crepe into triangle or roll. Top with scooped mango ice cream and drizzle with hazelnut sauce. Garnish with chopped walnuts.

Cheese-Flavored Honey and Garlic Chicken

Inspired from KFC's Crispy Cheese Chicken (wherein the fast-food restaurant used Clover Chips with cheese flavor for their chicken coating), I have come up with the same recipe with added twist: the chicken cuts are marinated in a bowl of honey and garlic marinade overnight. Next day, chicken pieces are fried in batches until golden brown and coated on grounded cheesy Clover chips (you can use gourmet cheese powder if Clover Chips is not available in your area).

Below are the following ingredients of the dish:

1 whole chicken, skinless and cut into serving pieces
1 cup gourmet cheese powder or grounded Clover Chips (cheese flavor)

For honey and garlic marinade:

5-6 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup honey

2 tbsp. soy sauce

dash of ground black pepper and salt

Procedure:

1. In a bowl, combine honey, garlic, black pepper, salt and soy sauce. Mix well.

2. Pour the marinade mixture over the chicken pieces and let it stay overnight.

3. The next day, fry marinated chicken pieces until golden brown. 

4. Coat fried chicken with gourmet cheese powder or cheese-flavored Clover Chips.

5. Serve immediately.

Crabstick Salad

A homemade salad served as an appetizer for crab lovers out there. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
4 crabsticks, cut into half and shredded
A dash of salt and pepper
1/2 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing of your choice
1 medium size cucumber, sliced
1 medium size onion, halved and sliced
2 medium tomatoes, halved and sliced


Procedures:
1. In a small bowl, mix mayonnaise and shredded crabstick together. Set aside.
2. Combine cucumber, onion and tomato in a serving dish. Add a dash of salt and pepper and mix thoroughly.
3. Top the cucumber salad with the crabstick mixture. Serve chilled.

Homemade Chicken Curry

Just in the mood to cook chicken curry for lunch. Below are the ingredients that I've used to cook this dish:

 Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. cooking oil
• 2 medium sized potatoes, diced
• 1 medium carrot, diced
• 1 medium red bell pepper, cubed 
• 3 tbsp. curry powder
• 1 cup evaporated milk or coconut milk
• 1 tbsp. fish sauce 
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup water
• 1 kg chicken, adobo cut
• 1 cup water

Procedure:

1. Fry diced potato and carrot until brown. Set aside.
2. Saute garlic and onion until the color becomes translucent. Add chicken and cook the pieces until golden brown.
3. Add a dash of salt and pepper, fish sauce and curry powder. Stir-coat the chicken for 2minutes.
4. Add water and bell peppers, stir the chicken coated with curry powder and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
5. Add evaporated or coconut milk, stir and simmer until the sauce thickens.
6. Add fried potato and carrots. Simmer for 3 minutes until done.
7. Serve hot with plain rice.

Special Coffee Jelly

If you're craving for a good dessert with a coffee twist, then a here's a special coffee jelly treat for you. The basics are usually needed to create this dessert but I have added some ingredients that will make a yummy coffee jelly enjoyable to consumers.

Ingredients:
6 packets 25g brown coffee of your choice
1 small can of condensed milk
3/4 cup crushed toasted cashew nuts
3/4 cup nata de coco
3 cups 250g all purpose cream
1 pack of 90g unflavored gelatine (colorless)
1 pack 180g cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes
1 3/4 cup water

Procedure:
 1. Mix 6 packets of brown coffee into a casserole of boiling water. Mix using the whisker.
2. Add unflavored gelatine and mix well with whisker. Transfer to a cookie tray and let cool. When it's cool, cut into bite size cubes.
3. In a large bowl, combine all purpose cream, condensed milk, nata de coco and cheddar cheese. Add cubed coffee gelatine and mix them altogether.
4. Transfer to each serving cup and garnish with crushed cashew nuts.

Mr. Duck Salted Eggs - Itlog Ni Kuya

Salted eggs may not be listed as one of my favorite foods but there's actually a brand that left a good impression on my taste buds. My mother once brought home a dozen of salted eggs that she bought from an officemate who turns out to be one of the dealers of Mr. Duck - Itlog ni Kuya. The brand may not be commonly heard from a majority of consumers but I am now among those who love their salted eggs.

Here is how Mr. Duck salted eggs look like:

Usually salted eggs are dyed in red but Mr. Duck eggs are white. When I cut the egg in half, the yellow core has a deep orange yolk compared to a hard-boiled fresh egg's. The consistency is soft and is very tasty that it actually melts in my mouth. 

 

I would order again if I was given the chance to pass by the small store (Itlog Ni Kuya) in Victoria, Laguna. For orders/dealership and inquiries on Mr. Duck Salted Eggs, you can reach them on the following details:

Contact Information: 

 +63 917 2424547 (Josephine Dator) / 0918-957-5696 /  +63 915 6468134 (Leo Dator)

Email Address:

itlognikuya@yahoo.com

Website:

http://itlognikuya.com

Seaweed Salad with Onion and Tomato

Looks delicious, isn't it? This premium seaweed salad consists of fresh seaweeds (not processed into laver - used for making sushi) mixed with sweet oil (probably sesame oil), dried chili flakes, and sesame seeds. I have added some onion and tomato slices as healthy garnishes.  I've had this seaweed salad for lunch as an appetizer and as side dish for tuyo (dried fish) and rice. If tuyo is not available, I would substitute it with salted duck eggs (itlog na maalat). from Mr. Duck (Itlog Ni Kuya). The salted duck eggs and seaweed salad go well with my tastebuds because of their salty-sweet taste combination.

To buy premium seaweed salad, you will find it on the Cold Storage Seafood section of your local supermarket in the Philippines. Here's how the package look like:

The premium seaweed in a package may be costly for an average grocery shopper (from Php100 and up) but that explains how delicious the salad is.

Pinakbet

For those who love eating colorful vegetables, here's a dish that combines them with shrimp paste as the soup base, hence the name Pinakbet. The dish comes from Ilokano word "pinakebbet", meaning it is shrunk.

Ingredients:
1/2 kg pork belly, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 pc medium eggplant, cut into 1 inch stick
1/4 squash, sliced into small pieces
1 pc medium bitter melon, seeded and sliced 1 inch thick
3 pcs okra, cut into 1 inch length
3 pcs string beans,  cut into 2 inch length
1 medium onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
1 pc medium tomato, sliced
1 thumbsize ginger, julienned
1/4 cup shrimp paste
1/4 cup water
pepper

 Procedure:

1. Saute garlic and onion until the aroma comes out and the color of onions become translucent.
2. Add pork, ginger, tomato and shrimp paste. Stir.
3. Add string beans, eggplant, okra, squash and bitter melon. Mix well.
4. Pour water and stir. Add a dash of pepper and cook for 5 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
5. Serve hot.

Pork Menudo

A meat dish consisting of pork meat, pork liver,  potatoes, carrots, raisins and tomato sauce is called Menudo. This dish is usually cooked as a simple viand for lunch or can be served at parties or special events.

Ingredients:
1 kilo pork shoulder, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/2 cup pork liver, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 cups tomato sauce
4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup sun-dried raisins
2 medium potatoes, diced into 1 inch cubes
1 large carrot, diced into 1 inch cubes
2 cups water
2 tbsp. cooking oil
1/4 cup green or red bell peppers, diced into 1 inch cubes
salt & pepper
1 tbsp. fish sauce

Procedures:
1. Saute garlic and onion in oil until the onion becomes translucent. Add pork shoulder and liver and cook until slightly brown. Add fish sauce and cook for 3 minutes.

2. Add tomato sauce and water and stir. Let it simmer for 2 minutes. Add raisins, potatoes, bell pepper and carrot. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the carrot and potatoes are tender.

3.  Add salt and pepper. Adjust according to your taste. Cook until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened.

4. Serve hot with plain rice.

Ar-Arosep or Lato Salad

Finally, I got to eat Lato or Ar-Arosep salad for lunch as appetizer paired with our Rellenong Bangus main dish. It's been a long time since I've last ate ar-arosep/sea grapes. I think it was last June 17, 2011. Since the lato salad has a salty taste, there's no need to add salt. I only garnished the dish with sliced tomato and onion.

Anyway, I had a great lunch meal!

Sarciadong Tilapia

This popular fish viand is a typical favorite among Filipinos who are not into eating meat. The process of cooking is easy to prepare and cook. Basically this is simply a makeover of fried tilapia, adding sauteed tomato and onion sauce. You can eat it plain or with steamed rice.

Ingredients:
3-5 pieces medium tilapia, cleaned
3 pieces medium ripe tomatoes, diced
1 pc medium onions, sliced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 pieces fresh eggs, beaten
3/4 cup water
salt & pepper
1 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp flour

Procedures:
1. Coat the cleaned tilapias with flour and deep-fry on both sides until golden brown. Transfer on a serving plate and set aside.
2. Saute garlic, onions and tomato in a pan until the tomato has wilted.
3. Add fish sauce, salt and pepper. Stir and add water. Bring to a boil.
4. Add beaten egg and gently stir.
5.  Pour the sauce over the fried tilapias and serve hot.

Meatballs with Misua Soup (Filipino Almondigas)

Filipino Almondigas is another term for Filipino Meatballs in Misua Soup. Misua, according to Wikipedia, is a very thin variety of salted Chinese noodles made from wheat flour. The dish is composed of a combination of ground pork, breadcrumbs, egg, salt, pepper and onion. They are formed into bite-size meatballs and simmered into misua soup base. It is best eaten hot on a cold weather or just eat as a viand along with plain rice.

Ingredients:
25 grams misua, pencil-length
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tbsp chopped onion
1 cup celery stalk, chopped
1 kilo ground pork
salt and pepper
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 large egg, beaten
1 tbsp flour
2 cups water
2 medium red tomatoes, chopped


Procedure:
1. In a mixing bowl, combine ground pork, breadcrumbs, onions, egg, flour, salt and pepper. Scoop about 15-20 tablespoons and roll into bite-sized balls. Pan-fry until golden brown. Set aside and let cool.
2. Saute garlic, onion, celery and tomato on the same pan. Pour water to use as stock base when the onions become translucent and the juices from tomato comes out. Stir water gently and let it boil.
3. Add misua noodles and let it cook for 3 minutes. Put the cooked meatballs into soup stock. Simmer for for 5 minutes. Remember to adjust taste according to your preference.
4. Transfer meatballs with misua soup on a serving bowl. Serve hot.

Bangus Bistek Tagalog

Have you heard of bangus or milk fish?  If you’re familiar with it, you already know how delicious it tastes when cooked. I’ve come up with a recipe that I can use the fish to braise with using soy sauce and lemon. This is a perfect viand for those who are not into eating meat.

Ingredients:
3 tbsp cooking oil
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp water
3 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp pepper
1 large milkfish or bangus, cut into steaks
1 large size onion, cut into rings


Procedures:
1. Marinate the fish steaks into half of lemon juice and half of soy sauce for about 25 – 30 minutes. Omit the marinade and fry the fish slices in a pan of 3 tablespoon of cooking oil with medium heat. Be careful of the oil splatter, it hurts and it’s ugly. Transfer on a plate and let it cool. Set aside.
2. On the same pan, discard some oil and saute onion rings until the color becomes translucent. Set aside on a plate and let it cool.
3. To make the “bistek” sauce, pour over the remaining soy sauce, lemon and water on the same pan and let it boil for about 5 minutes. Add ground pepper. When the sauce is reduced to half, transfer the fried fish steaks on the pan and cook for 5 minutes. Transfer on a serving bowl and garnish with onion rings. Serve hot with plain rice.

Marinated Fried Milkfish with Tomatoes and Onions

Here’s another recipe for fish lovers out there and it’s a milkfish. The fish is cut open on sides and deboned, scales, guts and innards removed. It is then marinated on a generous amount of vinegar, crushed garlic, pepper and salt overnight. Then it is fried to golden brown.
Expect the oil splattering when you’re cooking the fish so be sure have a pan lid ready to protect yourself. If you hate the splatter, you can sprinkle or coat some flour on the fish before frying.

Ingredients:
1 large size milk fish, cleaned, sliced on one side and de-boned
1 cup white vinegar
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/3 tsp. salt
4 cloves garlic, crushed
cooking oil
2 tbsp flour

For garnish:
1 medium hard-boiled egg, chopped
1 medium red tomato, chopped
1 small onion, chopped

Procedures:
1. After the overnight marinating, remove the fish and coat with flour and fry until golden brown on both sides.
2. Transfer on a serving plate and garnish with tomato, onion and hard boiled egg.
3. Serve hot with plain or Java rice.

Kimch Fried Rice with Tocino

This dish is very easy. If you love Kimchi (traditional fermented Korean side dish made of vegetables with a variety of seasonings according to Wikipedia), I’m sure you will love it even more when there are a lot of ways to create dishes with it. Rice for example, can be mixed with Kimchi and it will instantly turn into Kimchi Fried Rice. The dish starts with chopped kimchi, onions, olive oil, Kimchi juice and seasoning (optional) of your choice and lastly, cooked/leftover rice. You can garnish your Kimchi rice dish with spring onions or pork tocino (sweet cured pork as shown in the  image) or any meat of your choice.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup Kimchi, chopped
2 tbsp Kimchi juice
1 tbsp seasoning (your choice)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups rice, cooked
1 tbsp olive oil
Garnish - your choice of garnish may either be sweet cured pork strips, scrambled egg, garlic flakes, spring onions or whatever you prefer.


Procedures:
1. Heat olive oil in a wok. Saute onion and kimchi until the color becomes translucent and the kimchi juice appears.
2. Add you choice of seasoning (optional) and Kimchi juice (from the Kimchi container). Saute well until coated.
3. Add cooked rice and mix well until evenly coated with kimchi juice and chopped kimchi.
4. Garnish with your favorite toppings – meat, fried garlic flakes, spring onions or whatever you prefer. Serve hot.

Pork Meatballs with Sweet & Sour Sauce

If you’re already familiar with the recipe of making meatballs, then it’s the same with these meatballs on the dish. The difference is that they are coated with sweet and sour sauce. The dish is perfect to serve for lunch or dinner. Even kids love eating it.

Ingredients:
For meatballs:
1kg ground pork
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 medium egg
4 pcs spring onion, chopped
salt & pepper
cooking oil

For sweet and sour sauce:
2 tbsp. ginger strips
1/4 cup red bell pepper, sliced
1/4 cup carrots, sliced
1/4 cup pineapple syrup
2 tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in 2 tbsp water
2 tbsp. ketchup
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup pineapple tidbits

Procedure:

For meatballs:
1. In a bowl, mix ground pork,  egg, breadcrumbs, onion, spring onion, carrots, salt and pepper.
2. Make batches of meat mixture by scooping each mixture on a tablespoon and form into balls.
3. Fry until they are brown on all sides. Transfer on a serving plate and set aside.

For sweet and sour sauce:
1. Saute onion, red bell pepper, carrot, pineapple tidbits and ginger on a sauce pan.
2. Add banana ketchup, water, pineapple syrup, soy sauce and cornstarch on the sauce pan. Mix well.
3. Bring to boil until the sauce thickens.
4. Pour the sauce over the meatballs and serve.

Brown Rice Cheesy Roll

Inspired from an ordinary sushi platter, I used brown rice as a base filling along with cooked ham strips and cheese. The seaweed (laver) wrapper is replaced with flattened whole wheat bread (or any bread of your choice).

Obviously, the breading stage is easy. You could use flour, bread crumbs and egg. On the dish above, I use evaporated milk, egg and breadcrumbs. The rolls are then deep-fried to golden brown.

How to cook brown rice? It's simple. 1 cup of brown rice is proportional to 1 - 3/4 cup of water. You can add up to 2 cup water to get a sticky brown rice consistency.  Before turning it to heat, allow the brown rice to soak for 25 minutes to soften its grains.

Ingredients:
1 medium egg, beaten
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup breadcrumbs
5 slices of bread
6-10 cooked ham strips
6-10 cheddar cheese
cooking oil for frying.

Procedure:
1. Flatten the slices of bread with rolling pin. Trim the edges of each bread slices to resemble a perfect square.
2. Spread a tablespoon of brown rice on each bread slice. Arrange cooked ham strips and cheese strips on one side and roll them together with the bread.
3.  On a separate bowl, mix egg and evaporated milk. Dip each bread roll into the milk mixture and coat with breadcrumbs.
4. Deep fry each roll into golden brown. Start with the seam at the bottom to prevent each bread roll from opening up. Drain on paper towels and serve.