Bicol Express

Bicol is always associated with spicy food. The thought of Bicol would send a person's imagination of images and scents of sili (chili pepper) and coconut milk. It holds a special place in the hearts of food-loving Filipinos. Mainly because of the abundance of chili and coconuts in Bicol, chili and coconut milk are staples in Bicolano cooking.

The most famous of Bicolano dishes is the Bicol express (a Pork dish), spicy and cooked in gata. Anyone who would partake of and savor this very hot and creamy dish is surely to experience sweating in gustatory delight.







Ingredients

• 1 kg. lean pork
• 30 ml corn oil
• 22 grams garlic, crushed
• 40 grams onion, sliced
• 15 grams ginger, sliced
• 10 grams sugar, refined
• 1 gram black pepper, ground
• 70 grams shrimp paste
• 250 grams water
• 250 grams coconut cream
• 120 grams green pepper, sliced

Directions

1. Cut the meat into strips.

2. Over medium flame, heat oil in a wok and fry the garlic until brown.

3. Add the shrimp paste and saute for 1 minute.

4. Add the pork slices and stir-fry until the color of the meat changes.

5. Stir in the spices and seasonings. Stir-fry for 1 minute.

6. Add the water. Cover and simmer over medium flame for 20 minutes.

7. Remove cover and continue cooking until meat is tender and the sauce is almost dry, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching.

8. Add the coconut cream and simmer for 5 minutes, or until sauce is thick.

9. Add the sliced pepper and cook for about 30 seconds.

Tokwa't Baboy

Fried mixture of pork and tofu with vinegar, onion and soy sauce.

Ingredients

• 1/4 kilo pork (preferably the cheeks and ears)
• 3 pieces bean curd (tokwa)
• 1 piece crushed garlic (bawang)
• 2 chopped onion (sibuyas)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup white vinegar (suka)
• 1/2 cup soy sauce (toyo)

Directions

1. Lightly roast the pork over a grill to remove hair. Boil the pork until tender. Slice the pork into cubes.

2. Heat cooking oil in a pan. Fry the tokwa until golden brown. Slice into cubes after frying.

3. Add soy sauce, vinegar, garlic and onion in a bowl. Mix the prk and tokwa into the bowl. Serve.

Suggestion:

• You could add siling labuyo (red hot chilli pepper) accordingly.

MONGOLIAN GRILL

Meal in one dish with Asian flavors – a delicious and creative way to use up leftovers

Ingredients:

• cooking oil, as needed
• 100 g chicken strips
• 100 g pork liver, cut into strips
• 100g squid, cleaned, ink sac removed, sliced into ½” rings
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• ¼ cup chopped onion
• 1 pc carrot, sliced into strips
• 1 small green bell pepper, sliced into strips (optional)
• 2 cups bean sprouts
• ¼ cup sliced celery (optional)
• 4 cups cooked rice, lightly packed
• 2 cups thinly sliced pechay baguio (Napa Cabbage)
  

For Seasoning Sauce: Combine -

• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 sachet 8g maggi magic sarap
• 2 tbsp chilli sauce or to taste
• 1 tbsp ginger juice
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tsp sugar or to taste
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds, topping

Procedure:

1. In a wok, heat oil and stir-fry beef, chicken and squid. Cook for about 2 minutes or until the meat changes color. Set aside.
2. Add more oil to the pan, as needed. Brown the garlic and the onions. Add the ingredients one by one giving 1 minute interval before each addition.
3. Pour in the prepared Seasoning Sauce and stir well to fully incorporate sauce with the rice mixture.
4. Cook for another 5 minutes or until completely mixed. Serve hot and top with sesame seeds.

Buko Pandan

Buko (young coconue meat) and pandan flavored jell-o mixed with cream and milk

It's like ambrosia - young slivers of buko (coconut), fresh pandan leaves, cream, sugar and a chunks of a green gelatin that could be Jello or Gulaman, depending on the ingredients handy. It's frozen into a light, airy mixture with just a hint of sugar - perfect for a hot sweltering day.

you will need:

• 3 boxes Alsa green unflavored gulaman (jell-o)
• 2-3 pandan leaves
  
• 3/4 can condensed milk
  
• 1 medium bottle green nata de coco (may use pandan flavorored nata de coco)
• 4 small tetra packs all-purpose cream
  
• about 4 pieces buko (young coconut – shredded meat)
  

Directions

• Boil gelatin with pandan leaves based on the instructions in the box.
• Remove pandan leaves-be careful as may get too bitter if leaves left in too long.
• Pour into molds (such as rectangular pyrex dishes) and cut into cubes when firm. Drain nata de coco very well so mixture will not get watery. Whip cream to increase volume.
• Mix gelatin squares, drained nata de coco, whipped cream shredded buko and condensed milk.
• Chill and serve.

Foods that make you happy

Don't you sometimes wish there were a happy pill to spritz up your spirits when you're out of sorts? To make you laugh when you're grumpy? Or to warm your heart when you're about to bite someone's head off? Well, there are probably several things in your kitchen that could do the trick, and they taste a lot better than a pill. These foods tweak your brain in ways that help you feel happy.

A Little Dessert Sugar soothes us when we're stressed--or at least it calms down stressed-out rats, which are good models for stress in people. But before you race to the vending machine with a license to binge, know that a little sugar may soothe rattled nerves, but too much will backfire, playing moody havoc with your blood sugar. Here's how to get just enough:

• A small slice of angel food cake with 1/2 cup strawberries
• 2 Fig Newman cookies and a 6-ounce glass of juice
• Fruit and Chocolate Fondue
  1 cup fresh strawberries
  1 peeled, sliced kiwi
  1/4 cup fat-free chocolate syrup
  >Dunk fruit into syrup, lean back, and smile.

Toast and Jam "Of course we crave bread and other carbohydrates when we're down!," laughs Elizabeth Somer, RD, author of Food and Mood. "Carbs raise levels of the feel-good brain chemical serotonin, which lifts our spirits." But think whole-wheat bread and other whole-grain carbs, because they also stabilize blood sugar levels--unlike refined grains (white bread, pasta, rice, and pretty much anything white). They send blood sugar on a roller-coaster ride, leaving you jittery, grumpy, and hungry. Get a happy serotonin boost from the following snacks:

• Half a toasted whole-wheat English muffin or bagel with jam or honey
• A small bowl of oatmeal with some dried cranberries and a bit of brown sugar
• Comforting, creamy peach open-face sandwich
  2 Tbsp. fat-free cream cheese
  1 tsp. honey
  1 peach, peeled and chopped
  1 slice 100% whole-grain bread
  1/2 tsp. chopped walnuts
  >Blend cheese, honey, and chopped peaches; spread mixture on bread and sprinkle with nuts. Yum.

Yogurt and Eggs Numerous studies show that getting more of the omega-3 fatty acid called DHA in your diet makes you happier and smarter. Even people battling tough-to-treat depression feel as much as 50% better when they get lots of DHA. To keep your chin cheerfully up, aim for 200 mg of DHA a day. Mix and match DHA-fortified foods like these...

• 1 container Rachel's Wickedly Delicious Yogurt (32 mg of DHA)
• 1 Gold Circle Farm egg (150 mg)
• 1 Oh Mama nutrition bar (115 mg)
• 1 cup of Horizon Organic reduced-fat milk plus DHA (32 mg)
• 18-oz. Odwalla Soy Smart drink (32 mg)

Popeye's Fave No wonder he was always in such a high-energy mood. Spinach is full of folate, a B vitamin that's a must for making feel-good serotonin. Like DHA, folate is potent enough to ease clinical depression, say researchers. If you're trying to stay on the sunny side of life, make chowing down Popeye-style a habit. To get plenty of this happy green (about two cups of cooked spinach is perfect)...

• Add a 10-ounce packet of frozen, chopped spinach to soups, stews, and casseroles, homemade or not.
• Use spinach instead of lettuce in sandwiches and wraps.
• Whip steamed, chopped spinach into mashed potatoes.
• Make a salad meal of it
  Pile your plate high with baby spinach leaves
  Top it off with a grilled chicken breast or broiled salmon fillet (another great DHA source, BTW)

Black Bean Dip Black beans, like most legumes, are a nifty source of iron. And if you're low on iron--as many active women are--you can be tired and have trouble sleeping, turning you into Major Grouch. Here's how to help keep your iron levels, and your mood, up:

• Mix black beans with chopped spinach, roasted red peppers, and salsa as a dip for a toasted whole-wheat tortilla.
• Heat black beans with onions, garlic, and cumin, and serve over brown rice.
• Toss black beans and turkey cubes into a salad (the "heme" iron in poultry and meat helps you absorb more of the "non-heme" iron in beans).
• Add extra black beans to chili and soups.

Two quick tips for iron intake: To help your body absorb max amounts of this mineral, do combine iron-rich foods with foods that are high in vitamin C (tomatoes, broccoli, red peppers, OJ). But don't wash them down with coffee, tea, or milk; all three can block iron absorption.

Happy foods have another big, big payoff besides brightening your outlook on life: Taking care of your emotional health and well-being can make your real age up to 16 (!) years younger.

Source: food.yahoo.com

Sinigang na Bangus Belly sa Patola

Succulent fish with new veggie choices in a delicious and healthful all in one soup dish

Preparation Time: 15 mintes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Servings:

Ingredients

• 1 liter rice washing or water
• 2 medium tomatoes, sliced
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• ½ kg sliced boneless bangus belly
• 1 small patola, sliced into rounds
• 1 sachet 20g sinigang sa sampaloc mix
• ½ cup sliced leeks
• 2 pieces siling panigang (finger chilies)
• patis (fish sauce) to taste

Procedure

1. Boil rice washing with tomatoes and onions. Add bangus belly and cook until white in color or about 3 minutes.
2. Add patola and onions, then simmer for another 3 minutes. Stir-in sinigang sa sampaloc mix. Bring to a boil.
3. Add leeks and siling panigang. Season with patis to taste.

Croqueta de Patatas

Crunchy on the outside, moist and tender on the inside fried potatoes that make wonderful meal starters

Preparation Time: 40 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Servings: Makes 8-10 pieces

Ingredients

• ½ kg potatoes, boiled, peeled and mashed well
• 3 tbsp butter or margarine, melted
• 1 8g Maggi magic sarap
• salt and pepper to taste
• ¼ cup fresh milk or enough to make a paste
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp minced onion
• ¼ kg ground beef
• ¼ cup water
• 1 11g beef broth cube
• ¼ cup minced spring onion
• 2 tbsp all purpose flour
• bread crumbs, as needed
• 2 eggs slightly beaten
• cooking oil for frying

Hot Sauce: Combine -

• ¼ cup chilli sauce
• ¼ cup water
• 1 tbsp soy sauce + 1 tbsp calamansi juice
• salt, sugar and pepper to taste

Procedure

1. Combine mashed potato, butter, and Maggi magic sarap. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour in fresh milk until a paste consistency is achieved. Set aside.
2. Heat cooking oil, sauté garlic and onion until limp. Stir in ground beef and cook until the beef turns brown in color. Pour in water, add beef broth cube and spring onion. Continue cooking until mixture is almost dry. Let cool.
3. Add flour to the mashed potato to achieve molding consistency. Scoop about 2 tbsp of the prepared mashed potato and fill it up with ground beef mixture. Shape into a ball or into small logs. Dip in beaten eggs then roll in breadcrumbs.
4. Heat cooking oil. Fry the croqueta one by one until golden brown. Transfer onto a plate lined with paper towels to drain excess oil. Serve with the prepared sauce on the side.