Weekends — the best time to spend almost the entire morning preparing for one sumptuous meal. What better food to serve and share with the whole family? Tender carabao meat boiled for 4 hours–glorious!
Most people use beef for this dish because it’s more available as compared to carabao meat and that’s fine. Cow meat is also good but not as good as the carabao’s. So if you came across carabao meat, don’t think about anything, just take it!
GAME!
Cooking Time: 4-5 hours
Ingredients: 1 kilo Carabao (or cow) meat
Salt
1 medium Sized ginger cut into strips
1 medium sized onion cut into strips
chopped onion leeks (about half cup)
onion leeks, ginger and onion
2 medium sized corn (cut into smaller pieces)
corn cobs
1 small cabbage
pechay
pechay and cabbage
NOTE: It’s best to cook this dish using charcoal
Steps: 1) Prepare the fire and the charcoal. Cooking using this source of heat makes the meat more tender. Slow cooking + Low heat is the secret. 2) Boil the carabao (or beef) meat for about 4 hours. Season with salt. Please keep in mind that the the time may vary depending on how you want it done. Just note that boiling it longer will give you 2 things: a more tender meat and a tastier,jucier broth.
For this particular picture, I boiled the meat for 4 hours
3) You can also boil the corn together with the meat. Just make sure to get it and set aside after 5-10 minutes to avoid overcooking the corn.
Boil andset aside
4) At the 30 minute mark, add in the ginger and the onions. 5) At the 2 hr mark, add in the onion leeks. 6) Occasionally taste the broth and adjust depending on your preference. Use salt and pepper.
7) After 4 hours, add in the cabbage, pechay and corn. Cover and wait for 10 minutes.
You can think of it as the regular Adobong Pusit with a twist. An adobong pusit with an extra spicy kick in deep black sauce (plus a little word play). This is probably the simplest adobong pusit step by step everrrrrrr.
The Revenge of the Squid – an extra spicy pusit adobo
GAME!
Cooking Time: 10-15 minutes
Ingredients:
1/4 kilo of squid cleaned and cut into rings
cut the body into rings. also keep the tentacles
1 medium sized onion and 1 medium sized ginger cut into strips oil, salt and vinegar 1-2 medium sized chilis (siling pansigang in tagalog)
As much squid ink as you can get
The squid sac can be found just beneath the squid’s eye and is almost attached to the end of the tentacles.
Steps: 1) Dissolve the squid ink in water. The ratio is probably 3-4 Tbsp of water is to 1 ink sac (note: the ink sac is relatively small)
3 ink sacs: 9 tbsp water
2) Saute the onion and ginger under medium heat until golden brown. Season with a pinch or two of salt. 3) Add in the squid (rings and tentacles). Stir fry for about 30-45 seconds. 4) Add in the dissolved ink. Season with 1/2 tsp of salt and 3-5 tbsp of vinegar. Taste and adjust accordingly. Cover and bring to a boil. DO NOT MIX! MIXING WILL BE DONE LATER!
Tip: 1/2 knorr pork cube is a great substitute to 1/2 tsp of salt
5) Add in chopped chilis. Mix for about 30 seconds. Cover it again and turn off the heat. Wait for another 30 seconds.
6) Serve with steamed rice and go crazy!
For Filipinos it’s SOPAS but for everyone else, it’s Chicken Macaroni Soup. Close but not close enough. 🙂
Creamy Milky Sopas
GAME!
Cooking Time: 20-25 minutes
Ingredients: 1/4 kilo chicken (thigh part)
1-2 pcs hard boiled egg
butter, carrots, garlic
The quantity really depends on you
Spaghetti Noodles
Yes. Spaghetti. Why? Because the spaghetti absorbs less liquid as compared to the regular elbow macaroni.
Evaporated Milk Fish Sauce, Salt and Ground Black Pepper (to taste)
Steps:
1) Boil 1/2 kilo of chicken (and you can also add the egg to save time) for about 2-3 minutes. Add a 1/2 tsp of salt.
Boiled Chicken and Boiled Egg
2) Strain the chicken and set aside the broth. Use a fork and a knife to shred the chicken meat.
Chicken Broth
3) In a heated pot, saute the garlic in butter until slightly golden (TIP: mixing a small amount of regular oil in butter will prevent it from burning easily).
4) Add in the shredded chicken and continue sauteing until the chicken is cooked or golden brown. Season with salt and pepper.
5) Add in the spaghetti (cut into smaller, 1 inch pieces). Stir fry for about 1 minute.
Stir fry the noodles, chicken meat and garlic on butter
6) Add the chicken broth plus 1-2 more cups of water and bring it to a boil. Let it boil for about 5-8 minutes (or until the noodle is cooked) under low heat. For added flavor, use fish sauce (to taste) or just buy a chicken broth cube.
Tip: Bite the noodle and see if the middle is still white. If it’s not, then your spaghetti is cooked
7) Add in the carrots, eggs and milk and wait for 1 minute. Turn off the heat and let it stay covered for another minute.
8) Serve while hot and go crazy!
Ever since I got interested in cooking, I’ve already made several versions of Adobo. The one that I’m posting now uses the same base as all other Adobos but with an extra twist: I added salted black beans (taosi). Although the preparation is quite simple, you’ll be amazed how the black beans blend with the dish, highlighting the flavor of your Adobo.
GAME! Cooking Time: 20-30 minutes
Ingredients:
1/2 kilo of pork cubes crushed garlic, whole black pepper, black beans soysauce (1 cup), vinegar (1/2 cup), oil (1 tbsp)
TIP: You may choose not to follow the proportions of soy sauce and vinegar since we all have different preference. Taste Test my friend.
water (1/2 cup)
egg (the egg is just an extender. you can also add potatoes)
Steps: 1) Mix all of the ingredients (pork, soy sauce, vinegar, oil, water, pepper, black beans, garlic) thoroughly. Place over medium heat and cover. 2) When the liquid is boiling, adjust the heat to low. Wait for about 15-20 minutes or until almost all of the liquid has evaporated.
see the lower liquid level?
3) Drain whatever’s left of the sauce (which probably contains a relatively large amount of oil) in a separate container. Fry the pork over medium heat using it’s own fat for about 5 minutes. (TIP: for health conscious people, adding oil at the start may not be done. The pork’s natural fat will come out eventually and using this to cook itself is glorious.)
oily sauce! yum!Fried Adobo Pork
4) Pour the sauce back in and mix. Turn off heat after 30 seconds. Transfer in a serving container. 5) Serve with steamed white rice and go crazy!
Garlic Butter Ketchup Shrimp – a very simple way to enjoy your fresh hipon (shrimp).
TIP: Instead of ketchup, you can use sprite/7 up. You can also use lemon juice but personally, I like to use the spicy ketchup mainly because of the sweet&spicy flavor.
GAME!
Cooking Time: 15-20 minutes
Ingredients: 1/4 kilo fresh shrimp
LOTS of garlic (minced)
1/4 cup melted butter (or more)
3 tbsp spicy ketchup
salt (1-2 pinch/es)
ground black pepper (1 pinch)
regular oil (1-2 tbsp)
Spring onion (minced)
1-2 pieces of hot dogs (just an extender. may or may not be included)
STEPS: 1) Marinate the shrimp using 3 tbsp or ketchup and a pinch or two of salt&pepper
2) In a heated pan, saute the minced garlic in butter until light to golden brown (TIP: mixing a small amount of regular oil in butter will prevent it from burning easily)
3) If you want hotdogs on the dish, you can add it before the shrimp. Takes about 1-2 minutes to cook if sliced thinly. 4) Then add the marinated shrimp. Saute until the shrimp turns orange. Add a tbsp of spring onion.
TIP: I prefer the shrimp’s outer covering included in the whole process. Some people remove the skin first before cooking, but I think doing that defeats the purpose of enjoying the food. Besides, this dish is supposedly enjoyed using your bare hands, including occasional finger-licking moments
5) After approximately 5-7 minutes, the food is ready. Transfer shrimp to a serving pot and garnish with more spring onion. Grab a beer and go crazy!
As stated in the title, this version of menudo will borrow its greatness from our good friend, “the kinchay”.
You will never go back to your regular menudo
(TIP: Kinchay and Wansoy are 2 different herbs that look very much the same. The best advise that I can give to distinguish one from the other, aside from checking the label, is by way of smell. Kinchays smell more like a celery while Wansoys smell almost like a squished bug. Also a Kinchay’s leaf has pointed grooves while a Wansoy’s leaf is slightly curved.)
GAME!
Cooking Time:
20-25 minutes
Ingredients: 300 grams pork cubes (you can also add pork liver if you like. I DON’T LIKE LIVER.) 2 medium sized potato & 1 medium sized carrot (sliced into cubes) 1 medium sized onion & 2-3 pieces of garlic (sliced thinly) 1 medium sized red bell pepper (sliced into strips) 1/2 – 1 cup kinchay (chopped) 2 tbsp oil, fish sauce (to taste), ground black pepper (1 tsp), salt (1-2 pinch/es), 250 grams tomato sauce
Steps: 1) Put 2 tbsp of cooking oil (Ideally I’ll say use olive oil or something healthier, but I know for a fact that a typical Filipino family uses the regular one. So I’ll stick with regular minola oil. smiley).
2) Under medium heat, fry the pork cubes until slightly golden brown. Season with a pinch or two of salt and 1/2 tsp of ground black pepper. 3) Saute the onion, garlic and bell pepper together with the pork cubes for about 2 minutes.
TIP: Occasionally stir the ingredients to avoid them from burning
4) Add about 1/4 cup of kinchay and continue sauteing for about 30 secs- 1 minute.
you should smell the kinchay’s aroma instantly
5) Pour in 250 g of tomato sauce (more or less depending on how much you like tomato sauce). Some people leave it as is but for me, I like my menudo with a little bit more sauce so I tend to add water. 1/4-1/2 cup will be enough. (if you want the sauce to be thick, you can add tomato paste or liver spread if you want it to have a liver-y taste) 6) Season with 1/2 tsp ground black pepper and fish sauce. Taste the food and adjust depending on your own preference. Cover and let it boil. (TIP: You know knorr pork cubes? if you lack taste bud prowess, then this is your new best friend!)
7) Add the potatoes, carrots and chopped kinchay. Mix the ingredients and cover. Let it boil for another 2 minutes (or until the vegetables are cooked) then turn of the heat. Keep it covered for atleast 30 seconds.
8) Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with some more kinchay. Pair with steamed rice and go crazy.
If I am to actually realize my goal of having Paulito’s Kitchen (the restaurant), this sinful baby would probably be the house specialty. If you’re celebrating a promotion or maybe having a bad day or perhaps just another date, mood doesn’t really matter; you will get addicted.
Picture this: Pork belly – slow roast – crunchy glazed skin – tender meat – spiced fat juice – did i say crunchy glazed skin? Still nothing? Maybe this will help.
Paulito’s Christmas Liempo (Dec 2013)
Creating something as awesome as this is not as difficult as you might think. Cooking is simple, but the preparation not as much. Well it’s not complicated, it just requires a lot of chopping and stuffing and tying, but other than that, you’re good. Also you need to have an OVEN(not the toaster) or a TURBO BROILER.
GAME!
Cooking Time: 1 – 1.5 hours
Ingredients: 400-600 grams pork belly (whole)
2 medium sized red bell pepper
8-10 stalks of lemon grass (tanlad/tanglad for starters)
spring onion (I don’t know how to quantify, just refer to the picture 🙂
1 medium sized lemon
iodized salt, ground black pepper, oil (can be olive oil or chili oil), soysauce (half cup) Steps:
For the filling-
1) Finely Chop the spring onion (exclude the roots).
2) Remove the seeds from the bell pepper and chop finely.
3) Finely chop the lower part of the lemon grass (the whiter part of the plant starting from the root extending to about 4-5 inches up).
4) Mix all the chopped ingredients (spring onion, bell pepper, lemon grass) in a bowl. Season with salt and black pepper depending on your preference (usually about 2 tsp salt and 1 tsp black pepper).
a mixture of spring onion, red bell peppers, lemon grass, salt and pepper
For the coating-
1) Pour 1/2 cup of soy sauce in a bowl.
2) Mix in the juice squeezed from the lemon. It’s good to add in the seeds too.
3) Add 2 tbsp of olive oil or chili oil (you probably know the difference in output depending on the oil used).
4) Add a pinch of ground black pepper and mix thoroughly.
a mixture of soy sauce, oil, lemon juice and pepper
For the meat-
1) Cut the middle of the pork belly, just between the layer of fat and the layer of meat. Try your best not to cut the edges in order to create a pocket like opening. See picture below:
i know what you’re thinking, that’s not it
2) Season the outside of the pork belly with iodized salt and ground black pepper. Make sure not to season the inside (since the filling is already seasoned with salt and pepper).
3) Start stuffing the filling into the meat.
4) Use a baking string to tie the meat. This will stop the filling from falling out.
Cooking-
1) Pre heat your oven or broiler to 350 deg. While doing so, coat the pork belly with the coating mixture that you’ve created. ( Tip: Use a brush to evenly coat the meat.)
pork’s first coatingTIP: It’s nice to have veggies roasted around the meat. potatoes, carrots, corns, etc.
2) After 2 minutes, put in the pork belly and adjust to 275 degrees. It will take about 45-60 minutes before the meat is ready.
3) Make sure to check on the pork regularly. When I’m cooking, I usually check on the pork every 15 or 20 minutes to baste the meat. Basting is basically re-coating the meat with the sauce just to keep it from drying (and burning). Also, if you don’t have one of those fancy revolving contraptions in your oven, you should regularly turn the pork belly to evenly cook the meat. Same goes if you’re using a 1992 broiler.
4) Don’t panic if you see the pork skin starting to form bubbles on the surface, that’s normal.
5) After 45-60 minutes, the meat should be ready. Grab a beer and go crazy.
TIP: Use a pair of tongs and a butcher’s knife when chopping. Turn the pork over with the skin lying on the chopping board. The knife should slide down easily on the pork meat, you just have to add a little force when you reach the skin (because it will become so damn crispy).
Growing up in the Philippines, it’s almost if not 100% certain that every household have had a taste of chicken Tinola. It’s almost as staple as the chicken Adobo. I’ve had countless Tinolas in my 24-year existence and I believe that as a Filipino, everyone should know how to prepare and cook this dish.
It’s really very simple. I’ll start with basic instructions and provide details later, just to emphasize the simplicity of the dish. GAME!
Cooking Time:
About 15-20 minutes Ingredients:
Chicken – 1/4 kilo or 3-4 pieces depending on the size
Ginger – 1 (small)
Sili Leaves – 1 full cup
Papaya – 1 (small) cut into strips
Sotanghon – 1 (small)
Oil – 3 Tbsp
Iodized Salt – 1 tsp
Black Pepper – 1 tsp
Fish Sauce – (to taste)
Water – 4 cups
Steps:
1) Fry the chicken until it the color changes from pink to slightly golden. Season with salt and black pepper. (3-5 minutes)
2) Add the ginger and continue frying. Occasionally mix to cook evenly. Do this until the chicken is golden brown. (5-8 minutes)
3) Add water and let it Boil. (3-5 minutes)
4) Put in the Sotanghon and cover. (1 minute)
5) Use fish sauce to add flavor until satisfied. (10 seconds)
6) Add the Papaya and cover it again. (1 minute)
7) Turn off the stove and put in the Sili Leaves. Cover it again. (30-45 seconds)
8) Serve!
==============
And now the detailed version. Enjoy! 🙂
Ingredients:
Chicken – there is no rule on which part to choose. I’ve seen versions of Tinola with chicken intestines, heart and sometimes even the blood. Personally I prefer the breast and legs mainly because they’re easier to eat.
Tip: Cut the meat into smaller pieces to shorten the cooking time
Ginger – for me, ginger is the heart of Tinola. The quantity will depend on your preference. For me I like to add more ginger in Tinola because it tastes better. The broth becomes richer and soothing.
Aside from the flavor, it also eliminates odor
Sili Leaves – if ginger is the heart, Sili Leaves are the soul. The quantity will also depend on your preference. As a personal rule of thumb, the amount of Sili Leaves that I use is directly proportional to the amount of Ginger.
Tip: Malunggay Leaves can be used as proxy to Sili Leaves
Papaya – I prefer and highly suggest “an almost ripe” papaya. Again, not a ripe papaya but “an almost ripe” papaya. How’d you know the difference? If the color is yellow-green-ish and the fruit is still hard. Traditionally, Filipinos use the green papaya and that’s fine. But I tell you, combining the sweetness of the “almost ripe” papaya with the ginger and sili leaves, it’s unlike anything you’ve tasted before.
Tip: Start by cutting the part with the stalkTip: Turn the papaya and start peeling downwards
Sotanghon – this is just an extender. A Tinola can make do without this.
Iodized Salt, Oil, Fish Sauce, Black Pepper – All to taste
Water – you may want to add an extra half cup if you’ll add sotanghon
Steps:
1) Pre-heat the pan (medium heat) and add 3 tbsp of oil. When the oil gets hot, add in the chicken and season with salt & black pepper. Occasionally turn the chicken until it turns slightly golden.
See the color difference?
2) Add the ginger and continue frying. Mix the ingredients to evenly cook the meat.
fry fry fry the butterfry
3) Add 3-4 cups of water and bring to a boil (adjust to high heat). Put a cover.
4) Add in the sotanghon and cover again. Let it continue to boil for about 1 minute. Use fish sauce to add flavor depending on your desired output.
using chicken broth cubes instead of fish sauce is also an option
5) Add in the papaya and cover. Make sure they are submerged in the broth. Wait for about 1 to 2 minutes depending on how cooked you want the papaya to be. Some people like the fruit to be crunchy (thus the shorter time) while some like their papayas soft (thus the longer time).
6) Turn the heat off and add the sili leaves and then cover. Wait for about 30-45 seconds.
Tip: the heat/steam of the food is enough to cook the sili leaves
Paulito’s Kitchen: a blog about food, life and everything in between
FOOD –
I have originally envisioned creating a blog that is more like an online cook book. Well, this seems like a good idea since I like to cook and I enjoy letting other people go crazy over the food that I create. Basically the main goal was to share my love for food by sharing the method. Also, I was asked by I think 4 or 5 people to create this blog so that’s enough reason for me to start. Imagine 4 or 5 out of the world’s 7 billion population, Isn’t that something? lol
Aside from the original recipes, I’ll also be posting food reviews from time to time. I know I’m not a professional food critic, but hey, it’s a free country. I’ll also provide useful information about food: food preparation tips, food places to visit, delicacies to try, must nots, where tos, how tos, etc.
LIFE –
I believe life is like food… that’s it. (I can’t think of a reason. I’m not even sure why I typed that belief. lol)
I’d like to take the opportunity to apologize because I may also post stuff not entirely related to food (thus the life part). You may read my rants, point of views and opinions on some pressing issues about life in general.
E.g. “The Legal Wife” teleserye on channel 2 – I’d really like to put into writing my thoughts on this one
“Philippine Activists, Protesters and Leftists” – I’ll do my best to be gentle on the words
I’ll very much appreciate discussions on this part. 🙂
EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN –
This is a catch all. Gives me the liberty to post anything I like outside of the first 2 categories. Hahaha.
I also wanted to create an “ASK ME” blog. A blog that will allow other people to open up and ask for an unbiased opinion from a random person (me) that may (or may not) be helpful. Just to show a different perspective on things. A laid-back-principled-24yrold-male-banker’s perspective to be exact. I promise to be objective and just.
With all those said, welcome to my blog and I hope you enjoy reading my posts. 🙂
2) Boil the carabao (or beef) meat for about 4 hours. Season with salt. Please keep in mind that the the time may vary depending on how you want it done. Just note that boiling it longer will give you 2 things: a more tender meat and a tastier,jucier broth.
paulito's kitchen 