Sunday, January 10, 2010

Morcon (Beef Rolls)

Morcon is a festive dish made made of flat sheets of beef that's stuffed with other ingredients, rolled into logs, fried then sliced. Techniquewise, they're like Japanese maki or Korean bibimbap.

Ingredients
  • 1 kg kalitiran or round, cut in flat sheets.
  • 1/4 cup calamansi juice (around 10-12 pcs)
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • whole sweet pickles, quartered lengthwise
  • 1/4 cup pickling solution (reserved from pickles
  • red hotdogs, halved lengthwise
  • hardboiled eggs, quartered lengthwise
  • pimientos, sliced into strips
  • oil for frying
  • beef stock
  • salt and pepper
  1. Marinate beef in soy sauce, calamansi juice and pickling solution for a few hours.
  2. Spread beef on a flat surface. Add strips of hotdog, pickles, egg and pimientos.
  3. Roll beef, keeping filling together in center, to create logs.
  4. Truss the roll with string.
  5. Pan-fry the morcon until browned. Drain fat.
  6. Braise in beef stock and leftover marinade. Simmer for 2 hours or until tender.
  7. Drain and let dry.
  8. Pan-fry to a nice, brown crisp.
  9. Slice into inch-thick slices.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Crispy Pata

Crispy Pata is a favorite way to cook pig's knuckles. Crispy and meaty, it's best served with a soy and vinegar dipping sauce.

Ingredients
  • 1 pig's feet / knuckles
  • Salt
  • Bay leaf
  • Peppercorns
Sauce
  • Vinegar
  • Soy Sauce
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 5-6 garlic cloves, minced
  • sugar
  1. Boil meat in enough water to cover it.
  2. Add salt, bay leaf and peppercorns.
  3. Cook until tender.
  4. Drain and let it air dry.
  5. Deep fat fry until skin is crispy.
  6. Mix sauce ingredients, adjusting amounts of vinegar, soy and sugar to suit your taste. Serve as a separate dipping sauce for the crispy pata.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Halabos na Hipon (Steamed Shrimp)

The simplest way to cook shrimp is to halabos, that is, to cook it quickly in its own juices. This preserves the purity of the shrimp's flavor.

Ingredients:
  • Shrimp or Tiger prawns, shells intact
  • Rock salt
  1. Wash the shrimps well, then drain quickly.
  2. Place shrimps in a heavy saucepan with cover.
  3. Sprinkle liberally with rock salt.
  4. Place over a medium flame then cover, shaking every few seconds or so to distribute heat evenly.
  5. Cook until the shrimps change color to bright orange / red.
  6. Serve in shells, with a dipping sauce of vinegar and salt on the side. Add siling labuyo for extra heat.

Bagoong Guisado (Sauteed Shrimp Paste)

Bagoong Guisado is a perennial favorite for green mangoes and singkamas.

Ingredients:
  • 1 cup fresh bagoong alamang (shrimp paste)
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 tbsp cooking oil
  • 2 tbsp white vinegar
  1. Heat cooking oil in a saucepan, preferably a glass pan or palayok.
  2. Add garlic and saute until almost brown.
  3. Add bagoong and vinegar.
  4. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer until done.

Paksiw na Isda (Fish stewed in vinegar)

Paksiw na isda can be prepared with a variety of fish. It's best to use small fishes like ayungin.

Ingredients:
  • Fish of your choice
  • 1-inch long portion of fresh ginger, peeled then crushed.
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 1/4 cup white vinegar
  • 1 cup water
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Clean fish.
  2. Combine all the other ingredients.
  3. Place fish in a pan, then pour other ingredients over it.
  4. Bring to a boil without mixing, until fish is done.

Palitao

Palitao is a sticky dumpling-like sweet patty, made of ground rice flour. It's traditionally served with sugar, grated coconut, and toasted sesame seeds. Kiddie rhymes provide a good description of the cooking method, "Lulubog, lilitaw, parang palitao." (It sinks, it rises, like palitaw)

Ingredients
  • 2 cups sweet rice powder (powdered glutinous rice)
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • meat of one coconut, grated
  1. Mix rice powder and water, kneading well until it doesn't stick to your palms anymore when you work it.
  2. Boil water in a heavy saucepan.
  3. Roll the mix into small oval balls, then flatten until around 1/8-1/4 inch thick.
  4. Drop dough patties into boiling water.
  5. Once the dough floats, remove from water. Shake excess water off.
  6. Roll in freshly grated coconut.
  7. Mix together toasted sesame seeds and sugar.
  8. Serve palitao with sesame seed-sugar mix served on the side.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Ensaladang Labanos (Radish Salad)

This salad is a popular side dish for seafood. Rubbing the radish in salt removes the bitterness from the radish.

INGREDIENTS
  • white radish, cut into thin strips with a potato peeler
  • tomatoes, diced
  • red onion, chopped
  • rock salt
PROCEDURE
  1. Wash the radish strips, then drain.
  2. Sprinkle liberal amounts of salt on the radish strips. Massage the salt vigorously with the radish. Let it rest for 10 minutes.
  3. Wash the salt off the radish well. Drain.
  4. Toss with tomatoes and red onion.