Recipe | Carrot Sweet Potato Turnip Salad

Since I've been 'pigging' out quite literally this week (ate pork for 2 days in a row), and while AM is at work for KMKZ's kickoff concert after 2 years of resting, I've decided to go vegan and eat well this today (and tomorrow, I hope).

Whenever I go to our local market (or palengke), I don't have any menu in mind because I almost always rely on what's available on that day.

I usually buy my greens at the grocery, but this time, I was surprised to have found fresh lettuce at our local market!  For only Php 20, good for two, it's a good deal.  So, I thought of making lumpiang sariwa for dinner but AM wasn't excited about it. Then days have gone by and my fresh produce starts to wilt. So I came up with this easy salad, sans lumpia wrapper and meat.

Recipe | Bibingkang Malagkit

Are you looking for an extra income this holiday season?  Or maybe impress your family with a dish you made from scratch? Well, you just came to the right place.  Here's a rice cake recipe that is one of my most favorite Filipino delicacies, bibingkang malagkit.  

This recipe will teach you patience and also gives you the chance to do some arm exercise while cooking -- because of its continuous stirring for more than an hour.  But don't worry, the result would be worth it.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp coconut oil or butter
1 banana leaf

2-3 pandan leaves
4 cups fresh coconut milk
2 cups sticky rice, washed
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
additional 2-4 cups coconut milk or water

Topping:
2 cups fresh coconut milk
125 ml all-purpose cream

1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar


Procedure:

1. Heat coconut milk with pandan leaves in a pot over medium-high heat.
2. Wash sticky rice three times. Drain.
3. Add washed sticky rice on simmering coconut milk. Stir. Let it simmer.
4. Heat banana leaf on the stove to excrete its natural oil.
5. Place the banana leaf in a pan and brush top and sides with coconut milk or butter.
6. Keep on stirring the sticky rice mixture.  If it thickens, add coconut milk or water gradually until the rice is soft.
7. Add light brown sugar and salt in between stirring.
8. Continuously stir. It would take you more than an hour on stirring since this is a slow-cooking process.
9. Once rice is cooked, pour it over the pan with banana leaf.
10. Preheat oven to 350F.
11. Heat coconut milk in a pot.  Add dark brown sugar and cream.
12. Keep on stirring until mixture thickens like a caramel sauce.
13. Pour mixture on top of the sticky rice.
14. Bake for 35 minutes or until the top turned darker or slightly burnt.
15. Serve warm or cold.

Recipe | Guisadong Bagoong Alamang (Shrimp Paste)

Here's my Filipino-style version of sauteed shrimp paste or bagoong alamang, MSG-free!

I buy fresh krill at our local wet market and wash it thoroughly at home and draining it after before cooking as they are already mixed with salt.  The bagoong will taste more saltier if you I don't wash it down.

This Filipino side dish goes well with green mango, turnip, and I personally like it on my sliced apples too (yeah, it's weird but it tastes good); also with steamed veggies, fried fish or pork, and even great if mixed in your rice.

This will also last up to 6 months if stored in a sealed jar inside a refrigerator.

You could make a small business out of this too! :)

Ingredients:


3 cups alamang (raw shrimp paste)
3 red onions, sliced
4 cloves garlic (or more), minced
4-6 cups white vinegar
4 tbsps white sugar
2 tsps black pepper
2 chili, chopped
3 tbsps oil
1-2 cups water


Procedure:

• Wash alamang in running water in a strainer and drain.

• Heat oil over medium and sweat onions before adding garlic and chili.

• Add the krill or alamang and stir.

• Let it simmer until it turns slightly brown.

• Pour in vinegar until it covers the entire alamang.  Let it simmer for a couple of minutes without stirring.

• Add black pepper and white sugar.  Slightly stir and let it simmer until it dries up.

• Once dried, pour in oil and sautee.

• Pour in vinegar again, this time half of the volume you used earlier.

• Let it simmer again and stir after a couple of minutes.  Stir occasionally.

• If it's close to drying up, add in water and stir.  Let it simmer until it turns darker in color.

• Give it a taste so you could adjust sweetness, sourness, or saltiness.

• Cool and serve or you could place it in a jar.

Video:

Recipe | Filipino Laksa

Difficulty Level: Medium

Actually, this recipe is easy.  The only tedious part is 'deveining' your shrimp.

You can omit pork, but the taste would be different as pork fat gives a distinct taste on your sauteed veggies.  So, this is a surf and turf dish. :)

Since it's weekend and we're currently experiencing a gloomy and rainy weather, this recipe is perfect for you and your family!

For Taglish recipe, click here.

Yield: Good for 2

Ingredients:

1/8 pork cubes

1/4 shrimp, deveined

3 small red onions, sliced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 small tomatoes, sliced

2-3 cups water

1 small pack of vermicelli (sotanghon)

2-3 cups hot water (para sa sotanghon)

1 small puso ng saging o banana blossom, chopped

Rock salt

1-2 tbsps soy sauce

Salt and Pepper to taste

*optional: chopped onion leeks*


Procedure:

• Take off the shrimp's head and shell.  Keep the heads aside.

• Devein shrimp by slicing the middle top part of it, not too deep, and discard the black vein.

• Salt shrimp and rinse thoroughly.  Set aside.

• Evenly coat chopped banana blossom with rock salt.  Let it sit for 5-15 minutes before rinsing thoroughly.  Drain.

• Render pork in a pot.  Add salt.

• While rendering pork, place vermicelli in a bowl and pour hot water in it.  Let it soak until you need to stir it in on the laksa soup.

• Keep stirring your pork cubes until cooked.  Set aside.  You'll use it as a topping later.

• Saute shrimp heads.  Squeeze out its juice as it has more flavor by pressing down your ladle.

• Once cooked, you can discard the shrimp heads.

• Then saute your sliced onions, chopped garlic, and sliced tomatoes.

• Add in your chopped and rinsed banana blossom.

• Pour water until it covers the rest of the ingredients.  Cover and let it simmer.

• Once banana blossom is cooked (wilted), you can add water if necessary, and 1-2 tbsps of soy sauce.

• Don't forget to taste your soup.  Add salt and pepper if necessary.

• Optional: add in chopped onion leeks.

• Top your laksa with cooked pork and serve!

Recipe video:

Recipe | Creamy Chicken Soup (Sopas)

Since it's rainy these days, I might as well share with you a Filipino comfort food that we usually eat for merienda or snack.  But I eat as a meal for lunch or dinner.

Some would react on my recipe videos/blogs that it's not the way they make it.  No one has to set a standard on how to make things.  Do what makes you happy and comfortable in cooking, or maybe also in baking.  All we care about is the end result.  But don't forget to add the most important ingredient of all, L O V E. :)
<3 p="">
<3 p="">I'm sharing simple recipes in the meantime so as to not overwhelm you readers/viewers who are not confident in the kitchen.  
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<3 p="">If you have questions or suggestions, feel free to comment down below and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. :) <3 br="">


#spreadlovenothate
<3 p="">
<3 p="">For Taglish recipe, click on this link.

Yield: Good for 4

Ingredients:

1/2 kg chicken, tinola cut
***you can use chicken breast, cut into pieces, and add 1/4 kg of chicken soup cuts (neck or bones)

*1/4 kg chicken liver, cut into pieces (optional)

Rock salt (to clean chicken and liver)

2-4 tbsps fish sauce, or salt if you have none

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 large red onion, sliced thinly

1 large carrot, diced

1 medium-sized potato, diced

1 stalk celery, sliced

125g o 1/2 kg macaroni shells

4 cups water

2 tsps ground black pepper

2-3 bay leaves

250ml evaporated milk, I used Alaska

3-6 tbsps canola oil (I eyeballed this one)

1/2 bok choy or 1/4 small cabbage, chopped

2 tbsps butter



Procedure:

1. Rub salt onto chicken and chicken liver.  Rinse.  Add a little amount of rock salt once again.
2. Heat pot and oil.
3. Saute rinsed and salted chicken until brown.  Add chicken liver (optional).
4. Add 2-4 tbsps of fish sauce or 2 tbsps iodized salt.
5. Add sliced onions and sweat until translucent. 
6. Add minced garlic.  Stir until you smell the aroma of cooked garlic.
7. Add chopped celery.
8. Add diced potatoes and carrots.  Stir.
9. Pour evaporated milk.
10. Pour in water.  Stir.  
11. Add in macaroni shells. Stir. You can cook macaroni shells separately or prior to this soup. 
12. Add pepper.  Stir.  Then add bay leaves. 
13. Slightly cover pot and let it simmer under medium heat.
14. Stir, and place a wooden spatula on the top center of the pot to prevent soup from boiling over.
15. Remove wooden spatula and skim impurities or milk skin.
16. Stir.  Place wooden spatula back at the center top of the pot.  Let it simmer until macaroni, potatoes, and carrots are cooked just right.
17. Add more water if needed.  Don't forget to stir.  Let it simmer.
18. Taste soup and test if macaroni is al dente.  Adjust salt if needed.  If too salty, add more milk or water.
19. Add chopped bok choy or cabbage.
20. Add butter and stir until melted.
21. Serve warm. :)

For video recipe, you can watch it here: