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! ;-)

Creamy Bacon Mushroom Pasta PLUS Chicken

It was my aunt's birthday last Saturday and on Sunday, my uncle asked if I could make spaghetti with white sauce. They are among the "tasters/testers" of the stuff that I cook so I said yes. They wanted me to make tuna with white sauce but since I haven't tried doing that yet (promise I'll try that soon and post it here), I decided to play safe by making something I am already familiar with.

I decided to make a variation of my Creamy Bacon Mushroom Pasta - I added chicken to the recipe! The ingredients and directions for cooking are the same except for the chicken... Just chop up a chicken breast and sauté it with the onion and garlic before adding the sliced button mushrooms. Try adding a chicken bullion for more flavor.

Do you want your food to taste really good? Here's a tip you will find valuable: SMILE WHILE YOU ARE COOKING... :-)

Strawberry Cheesecake

Strawberry Cheesecake from Vienna Kaffeehaus

I am a big fan of cheesecakes and I would want to bake one on my own someday. I am not good with baking but I want to try my hand in popping concoctions into and from the oven! I went hunting for strawberry cheesecake recipes and this one from PastryWhiz seems to be the easiest to follow. I’ll try it out someday and maybe you should too!

Strawberry Cheesecake
makes 12 servings

Crust:
1 1/2 c Graham cracker crumbs
2 tb Sugar
3 tb Margarine or butter; melted

Filling:
19 oz Cheese, cream; softened
1 c Sugar
2 ts Lemon peel; grated
1/4 ts Vanilla
3 Eggs

Glaze:
1 c Strawberries; mashed
1 c Sugar
3 tb Cornstarch
1/3 c Water


Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350øF.

CRUST: Stir together graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Mix in butter thoroughly and press into a 9" springform pan. Bake 10 minutes. Cool. Reduce oven temperature to 300øF.

FILLING: Beat cream cheese in a large mixing bowl. Gradually add sugar, beating until fluffy. Add lemon peel and vanilla. Beat in eggs one at a time. Pour into shell. Bake 1 hour or until center is firm. Cool to room temperature and then spread with the strawberry glaze. Chill 3 hours.

GLAZE: Blend sugar and cornstarch together in a small saucepan. Stir in water and strawberries. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir for 1 minute. Cool thoroughly before spreading over cheesecake.

EXOTIC FOOD CHRONICLES: ISAW

Chicken Isaw

Are you game for another exotic food? Better get ready for this delicacy to grace your guts! (No pun intended!)

Isaw is an exotic street food that you will most likely see being sold on sidewalks or street corners here in the Philippines. It is made from grilled pig or chicken intestines. Yes, intestines! Guts! Isaw is prepared by cleaning the intestines by turning them inside out repeatedly until they are free from dirt (umm, do I need to elaborate on what you can find inside intestines?). The intestines are then boiled and grilled or immediately grilled usually on bamboo skewers. Once cooked, isaw is then dipped in spicy vinegar or other variants of spicy sauce.

For some of you who are not fans of exotic food (and don’t have the guts to try them out), isaw may seem like an icky kind of food to try out. Well I believe it is indeed not good to eat IF it is not prepared well. Isaw if not cleaned and cooked properly may cause harmful diseases. Harmful bacteria may live inside the intestines and you might be able to ingest them if the isaw is not clean.

How would you know if isaw is safe to eat? I don’t really know but I think it is best when you can see or touch the isaw before it is set on the grill. I think isaw is on the “safe” side if it had been boiled before being skewered and grilled. The insides of raw isaw that is immediately grilled will not be cooked well even if the outer surface is already burnt.

I had the privilege to eat “safe” isaw way back when we used to have a neighbor who grilled barbecue and isaw at dusk. He boiled the isaw before putting them on sticks! I preferred to have my isaw grilled to a crisp and somehow charred but then I didn’t have them burnt because burnt food has carcinogens!

Anyway, since there had been warnings of the health risks of exotic food, my advice is that if you are really game to try them out, you should just be prepared of the worst that could happen. If you have the opportunity to check out how the food is prepared, the better.

One more thing with exotic food; no guts, no glory!