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 | 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. :)
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<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
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<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:

Recipe | Fried Bangus Sinigang

AM wanted fried fish to go along with sinigang, but I wanted the boiled fish instead.  So I might as well combine both, which is similar with the Tagalog's Tochio dish.

Ingredients:

1 bangus (milkfish) fish head

rock salt

4-6 pcs tomatoes, quartered

4-6 pcs red onions, quartered

2-4 bags of small sampalok (tamarind)

1 tali ng kangkong leaves or more if you want

*sitaw (legumes), cut in 2 inches

*1 eggplant, diagonally sliced or whatever slice suits you

*banana blossom or puso ng saging, chopped, salted for five minutes and rinsed

1 medium-sized labanos (radish), diagonally sliced

okra, sliced

green chili

4 cups water

For fried bangus:

Rock salt

Bangus cut crosswise

1 cup flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Ziploc bag

Oil

Procedure:

1. Rub rock salt onto fish.
2. Heat pan, then pour oil.
3. Mix flour, salt and pepper in a Ziploc bag.
4. Dump in cut bangus except for its head.  Shake.
5. Dust-off excess flour on fish before placing it into warm oil for frying.  Lower the heat to medium.
6. Flip over and set aside once fish are cooked.
7. In a pot, place in tomatoes, onions, fish head, and eyeball a good amount of rock salt.
8. Pour in 4 cups of water.  Then bring it to a boil.
9. Add in sampalok and radish.
10. Set aside fish head.
11. Once sampalok are cooked (when it's popped out and are softer), strain each piece and submerge the strainer into the simmering/boiling soup while extracting its juice using the back of your ladle.
12. Discard sampalok.  And you can place back the fish head into the soup.
13. Add in sitaw, if you have, together with the eggplant, and banana blossom (puso ng saging).
14. Once half-cooked, add in kangkong, green chili and okra.
15. Taste the soup.  Add rock salt if needed.  If it's too sour, you can add more water and adjust its saltiness to your liking.
16. Serve hot with rice.

For video recipe:

Recipe | Chicken Tomato Stew

Here's a quick and easy chicken tomato stew recipe for those who are busy doing other tasks at home but wanted a hearty meal.  This recipe is similar to Filipino's chicken afritada or pochero.

Yield:  Good for 2

Ingredients:

1/2 kg chicken

Rock salt for chicken

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 small red onions, chopped

2 small potatoes, diced (you can also use marble potatoes)

1 cup tomato sauce (homemade or canned)

1 cup water

1 tsp dried thyme (if fresh, add these 2 minutes before serving while simmering)

1 small green bell pepper

1 tie of bok choi / pechay

Salt and pepper to taste

Canola oil for searing (about 1/8 cup or smaller quantity)


Procedure:

1. Rub salt onto chicken.  Rinse off with running water.  Add rock salt again onto chicken.
2. Heat saucepan/saucepot in medium high heat.  Add canola oil.
3. Sear chicken, don't fry.  Flip chicken.
4. Add garlic, onions, potatoes.
5. Pour in tomato sauce and water.
6. Add dried thyme.  If fresh, add it 2 minutes in simmering stew before serving.
7. Simmer in medium low heat until potatoes and chicken are cooked.
8. Add green bell pepper and bok choi (pechay). Stir and simmer until veg are half cooked.
9. Season to taste.
10. Serve with steamed rice.

You can also view my video recipe here: