Fried Fish With A Twist!

Here's a simple way to put a different kind of twist to your ordinary fried fish: lemon butter sauce!  It may sound kind of gourmet but it really is a no-brainer add-on to your meal.  

Simply melt some butter in a pan and add lemon juice.  Season it with salt and pepper but you can add some herbs or garlic if you want to.  Just pour the sauce over any kind of fried fish you got and you can be assured that your palate will be greeted with a zing you have never imagined!

You can also use lemon butter sauce with pork and chicken dishes.  I have yet to try it with beef!  Enjoy!

Halo-halo Galore!

It's still "Summer" here in the tropical islands of The Philippines and daily brownouts and El Niño have contributed to most of the citizens' hot heads.  

Halo-halo is the perfect concoction to help cool down and get a sugar high!  

Blue Marlin Steak

Blue Marlin Steak at BrewBerry

One night not too long ago, I went out to have a FREE dinner with a couple of friends at BrewBerry in CDO and ordered this from the menu.  The Blue Marlin Steak was sort of smoky and it tasted really great!  

EXOTIC FOOD CHRONICLES: SALTED EGGS (ITLOG NA MAALAT)

Itlog na maalat or salted eggs is a great delicacy from the the Phillipines and people love to eat it as a side dish during breakfast or with just about any meal.  Salted eggs are also known as red eggs because the eggshells are colored red (I don't know though for what purpose).

How are salted eggs made?  When I was in either 4th or 5th grade, my classmates and I made itlog na maalat for our home economics class.  (Yes, we had HE back then I dunno if kids nowadays still do the stuff we used to do back in grade school.)  Here's what we did:

• Placed clean raw eggs in a wide-mouthed container.
• Made a solution of water and a lot of salt and poured it into the container with the eggs.
• Made sure that the eggs remained submerged in the solution.
• Left the eggs in the solution at room temperature for 2 weeks (or 3 I guess...I can't remember anymore)
• When the time has elapsed, the eggs were then boiled in the solution and of course we ate the eggs after cooking them!

It log na maalat is best served sliced into cubes and combined with raw ripe tomatoes!  It is best to eat it with steamed rice straight from the pot!   Better give it a try if you haven't tasted it yet!

Arroz Caldo

ARROZ CALDO

I love cooking (and of course, EATING) Arroz Caldo!  Arroz caldo (hot rice) is a Spanish-named Filipino dish based on the Chinese congee or rice porridge.  It's one of my favorite stuff to eat during cold nights (or days) or whenever I am sick...

Arroz Caldo Ingredients:

• rice
• chicken cut into serving pieces or chicken breast cut into bite-size pieces
• oil
• garlic, minced
• onion, chopped
• ginger, sliced thinly or minced
• water
• chicken bullion
• spring onions, chopped
• boiled eggs, halved or whole

Directions:

1. Toast minced garlic in a large saucepan and set it aside.
2. Sauté onions, ginger, and chicken in the oil.
3. Add the rice and stir for a while.
4. Add water and chicken bullion and stir to make sure that the ingredients do not stick to the sides of the saucepan.
5. Simmer in low heat for at least 20 minutes or until the rice is cooked and soft.
6. Serve in bowls with boiled eggs and topped with spring onions and toasted garlic.

You can add a dash of pepper and some patis (fish sauce) if you want!

EXOTIC FOOD CHRONICLES: LECHON KAWALI

I’ve been sinfully craving for cholesterol-rich pork recipes and when I opened my archive of food images, I saw the tempting bowl of Lechon Kawali from Mom’s Corner…

Lechon Kawali is a Filipino delicacy (and I think it counts as exotic food…oh no not again…). It is called such because it tastes like lechon (roasted pig) but it is cooked in a frying pan (kawali).

Here’s how to make your own Lechon Kawali:

Ingredients:

• 1 kg whole pork belly (liempo)
• Salt
• Garlic cloves
• Peppercorns
• Water for boiling
• Cornstarch
• Oil for deep frying

Directions:

1. Clean pork belly and slice it into bite-size pieces.
2. Put pork in a pan with water, salt, garlic cloves, peppercorns.
3. Let the meat boil and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes or until the skin is tender. Once the meat is tender, drain it and let it dry.
4. Cover the meat with a thin layer of cornstarch.
5. Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the pork until the meat turns golden brown and the skin becomes crispy.
6. In a bowl mix soy sauce, vinegar, minced garlic and chopped onions. Add chili peppers if desired. Use this as a dipping sauce.
7. Serve lechon kawali with the sauce and rice!

Yum yum!

WARNING: If you are a health conscious individual, don’t eat too much of this dish. Pork contains a lot of cholesterol which may cause several cardio-vascular diseases. If you already have cardiovascular diseases, maybe grab a bite or two of lechon kawali but not more… Eat more at your own risk!

Salisbury Steak

Red Ribbon's Salisbury Steak

I love eating at Red Ribbon and one of my favorites is their Salisbury Steak. I guess the meat is pan-grilled since it's not oily but it's juicy and the mushroom sauce just complements it! I love the combo of buttered corn and carrots and now I love their better version of herbed mashed potatoes!

I have already tried making my own version of Salisbury Steak yet I haven't documented it. I will try to cook it one of these days and add something healthy to the patties! Watch out for it! ;-)