This site is the venue of my collection of special and ordinary Philippine and American dishes. For the last 55 years, My wife, Macrine Nieva Jambalos Katague had been the boss in the Kitchen. However, when she was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 2013, I have to take over her cooking duties. I have been enjoying cooking and this proves that one is never too old to learn new things in life.
My daughter Ditas gave me oxtails the other day. We plan on cooking it this Christmas Eve using her Instant Pot to soften to oxtails in a very short time.
I was looking for a good recipe in the Internet and I found the following from Panlasangpinoy.com website. Here is the recipe for your information.
Ingredients
2 ½lbs.Oxtail
1Knorr Pork Cube
2bunches baby bokchoyor pechay
1medium Chinese eggplantsliced
10piecessnake beanssitaw, cut into 2-inch pieces
1small fresh banana blossompuso ng saging, sliced
¾cupsannatto water½ cup annatto seeds soaked in ¾ cups water
¾cuppeanut butter
½cupground peanut
¼cupcornstarch
½cupbagoong alamang
1medium yellow onionchopped
3clovesgarliccrushed
4 to 6cupswater
3tablespoonscooking oil
Instructions
Heat oil in a cooking pot.
Saute garlic and onion.
Once the onion becomes soft, saute the Oxtail until light brown.
Pour water into the the pot. Let boil.
Add
Knorr Beef Cube. Stir. Cover and cook between low to medium heat until
the oxtail becomes tender. Note: This will take around 2 to 2 1/2 hours
for conventional cooking, and 30 to 40 minutes if a pressure cooker is
used.
Add peanut butter and ground peanuts. Stir.
Pour annatto water. Cook for 3 minutes.
Combine cornstarch and 1/2 cup cold water. Stir. Pour the mixture into the pot. Stir until the sauce gets thicker.
Add banana blossoms. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
Add eggplant and snake beans (sitaw). Cook for 5 minutes.
Put the bok choy into the pot. Stir. Cover and cook for 2 minutes.
Transfer to a serving dish. Serve with bagoong alamang.
Mexican Menudo with tripe and pigs hock/feet in red chili sauce. To make this dish taste like my tripe recipe in the Philippines, I add garbanzo beans and tomato sauce to the above dish.
It is one of the most common offerings in carinderias or karinderyas
(small eateries that offer budget-friendly meals to local residents)
and is also commonly served in potlucks or buffets due to the
inexpensive ingredients used in the dish.
I have pleasant memories of Filipino-style Chicken-Macaroni Salad. This dish is one of Macrine's(RIP) favorite dish that she loved to prepare in almost every party and special occasions when she was still alive. Macrine was my spouse for over 63 years until her death last August. Here's her recipe:
INGREDIENTS
500g macaroni*
300ml Philadelphia cream cheese
250g chicken breast
100ml condensed milk (optional)-omit if you do not want it to be too sweet
1 cup fresh pineapple, diced
3/4 cup red apples, cubed
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup raisins (optional)
1/4 cup sweet relish
Ground salt and pepper to taste
*Aside from macaroni, you can use other types of short cut pasta.
Here are some examples: Mostaccioli, Penne, Rigatoni, Cellentani, and Rotini.
METHOD
Bring a medium-sized pot of salted water to a boil. Once boiling,
add in the chicken breasts and cook for about 15 minutes, or until
cooked all the way through depending on the size. Once done, drain and set aside
to completely cool down.
Meanwhile, mix the condensed milk, cream, mayonnaise, salt, and
pepper in a large mixing bowl. Taste and adjust accordingly to your
liking. Set aside.
Then, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Once boiling, add
the macaroni and cook according to packet instructions. Once done, drain and transfer to a large mixing bowl
together with the dressing.
When the chicken breasts have completely cooled down, shred the
chicken meat and add it into the mixing bowl together with the macaroni.
Add all the other remaining ingredients and toss thoroughly until
well combined. Cover the bowl with cling wrap and refrigerate for about
and hour or two before serving.
Serve chilled and enjoy!
The above recipe is similar to the following recipe below:
A couple of months ago, I joined a Facebook group-Filipino Cooking. I posted a query last month (October 5)as follows:
"Describe Filipino food to a complete stranger!"
I got 262 comments as of today. I am posting a few of the comments for your reading pleasure. Don't forget to click on #15 video.
1. When
I met my husband I barely ate anything...my mother in law was an
excellent cook and introduced me to so many amazing dishes. I still
can’t do chocolate meat and fish when the head is looking right at me
but everything else is amazing. I can actually cook more Filipino food
than my own Greek cuisine.
2. It’s the easiest food to cook because there’s only a few ingredients. Fried or has soup.
3. Something
very unique because of the mixture of cultures that influenced it. It
is an amalgam of tastes from those that the Filipinos has in contact
with and somehow assimilated into our cuisine. Filipino food is simply
Filipino food.
4.
I always tell people - it’s like an explosion in your mouth - the kind
where you yes yummy and close your eyes at the same time
5. Yummy
6. Somewhere
between Chinese and Spanish, with Malaysian and American influences,
with an island flavor" usually works. It obv doesn't give enough credit
the **Filipino*ness of it all but it gets the point across.
7. Filipino food is unique. It has its own flavor. You need to try it and I’m sure you’ll like it!
8. Asian soulfood!!!
9. "You eat it with rice" lol ...
10. Everything is to be eaten with rice, and to be enjoyed with barehands..
11. Something
very unique because of the mixture of cultures that influenced it. It
is an amalgam of tastes from those that the Filipinos has in contact
with and somehow assimilated into our cuisine. Filipino food is simply
Filipino food. We can say that it is influenced by this culture or that
culture but we have somehow put our unique brand to every dish we
produce.
12. Looks like and smells like garbage, but tastes like heaven
13. Asia meets the Iberian Peninsula and Italy, corrupted by 1950's American food.
Here's the description of Filipino cuisine from Wikipedia
Filipino cuisine (Filipino: lutuing Pilipino/pagkaing Pilipino)
is composed of the cuisines of more than a hundred distinct
ethno-linguistic groups found throughout the Philippine archipelago.
However, a majority of mainstream Filipino dishes that compose Filipino
cuisine are from the cuisines of the various ethnolinguistic groups and
tribes of the archipelago, including the Ilocano, Pangasinan, Kapampangan,
Tagalog, Bicolano, Visayan (Cebuano, Hiligaynon and Waray), Chavacano
and Maranao ethno-linguistic groups.
The style of food making and the
food associated with it have evolved over many centuries from their Austronesian origins (shared with Malaysian and Indonesian cuisines) to a mixed cuisine of Indian, Chinese, Spanish and American
influences, in line with the major waves of influence that had enriched
the cultures of the archipelago, as well as others adapted to
indigenous ingredients and the local palate.
Dishes range from the very simple, like a meal of fried salted fish and rice, to fish curry, chicken curry, complex paellas and cozidos of Iberian origin created for fiestas. Popular dishes include: lechón (whole roasted pig), longganisa (Philippine sausage), tapa (cured beef), torta (omelette), adobo (chicken or pork braised in garlic, vinegar, oil and soy sauce, or cooked until dry), dinuguan (pork blood stew), kaldereta (meat stewed in tomato sauce and liver paste), mechado (larded beef in soy and tomato sauce), pochero (beef and bananas in tomato sauce), afritada (chicken or pork and vegetables simmered in tomato sauce), kare-kare (oxtail and vegetables cooked in peanut sauce), pinakbet (kabocha squash, eggplant, beans, okra, and tomato stew flavored with shrimp paste), crispy pata (deep-fried pig's leg), hamonado (pork sweetened in pineapple sauce), sinigang (meat or seafood in sour broth), pancit (noodles), and lumpia
(fresh or fried spring rolls).
Various food scholars have noted that
Filipino cuisine is multi-faceted and is the most representative in the
culinary world for food where "east meets west".
Meanwhile, enjoy this photo of my Peppered Steak in Oyster Sauce that I cooked recently.
Beef Tenderloin tips with sweet red peppers and sweet Vidalia onions in oyster/teriyaki sauce mix
I served it with steam rice and green papaya acharra (pickled) and leche flan for dessert.
Here's more video of Rex Navarette on Filipino Cuisine.
Also happy to post what I purchased from Sea Food City today
Here's
one recipe for Pork and Chicken Adobo by Richard Gomez. Boiled eggs and
Liver are Optional. Adobo is one of the most popular Filipino dishes
and recipes varies in different regions of the Philippines. Calamari (
squid/pusit) Adobo is also another one of my favorite Pinoy dish.
I have been ordering Food on line of all ethnic persuasion ranging
from Armenian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Italian, Fast Food
etc... since March this year when Lockdown was enforced in my
neighborhood. Yesterday was my first time to order Filipino dishes via Postmate.
Just
recently, I found out that a Japanese Restaurant( Teriyaki Station) in
Folsom, CA only 4 miles from my residence also carries Filipino Food. I could order on line via Postmate or Doordash.
Yesterday, I ordered for the first time, Lechon Kawali, Paksiw na Pata, Pancit, and Avocado Halo Halo. It was delicious although pricey but it is a luxury I can afford.
If
you are in the area here's some Pinoy dishes in their menu. They also
accept catering orders but required at least 2 days notice. Kare-Kare (
ox tails in peanut sauce) is only available on Fridays and Saturdays.
This
Japanese-Filipino restaurant is only 4 miles from home versus my other
favorite restaurant ( Peenoy Grocery and Restaurant) near McCleland Air
Force Base on Watt Ave about 10 miles from home. Moreover, Peenoy
Restaurant does not have delivery services. Here's some dishes in the
Menu.
The
menu price ordering via Postmate is about $1.00 to $ 3.00 more plus
delivery charge and taxes. Doordash is about a few dollars cheaper. But
it is worth it, saves you driving time(gas) and possible Covid-19
exposure!
My next posting is about Filipino Food/Cuisine in general. Watch for it!
In
the late 1980's Macrine (RIP-my late spouse)) had been using a Presto
Pressure Cooking for Lengua( Beef Tongue) Estofado and Pigs Knuckles for
her Kare-kare and other Pinoy dishes until 2013 when she was diagnosed
with Parkinson. Since then I was the cook in the House but I did not use
our old pressure cooker because I was scared it will blow up on me and I
hate the noise of the cooker. However the other day, Ditas my youngest
daughter showed me her Instant Pot and my fear of cooking using a
pressure cooker had vanished.
The other day, Ditas
cooked kare-kare (pig knuckles)using her modern Instant Pot. The pigs
feet was soft and tender for only 30 minutes versus cooking in a regular
oven top which will require from 2 to 3 hours.
Two months ago, I joined a FB Filipino cooking group and I ask the following question.
What Pinoy Dishes have you cooked using the Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker?
I had 133 comments as of today. I am posting a few of the comments below:
Meanwhile enjoy this video -Cooking Lengua Estofado- one of my favorite Filipino Dish and a coconut lobster from Chateau Du Mer, Boac, Marindque, Philippines
Our old (1980's) Presto Pressure Cooker versus Ditas modern Instant Pot
