Our Cook and her Special Pancit Palabok

Let me start this article by saying thank you to all our relatives, friends and helpers for this year snowbirding sojourn here in Boac, Marinduque, Philippines. We have several helpers this year, but the one we appreciate very much is our cook, housekeeper and Macrine’s Caretaker. Let me call her Helper V. Helper V not only cooks, but also do the laundry, sometimes market but also is Macrine’s primary caretaker during the day, 6.5 days during the week.

I wished I could take Helper V to the US but I know that is not possible with all the visa restrictions as well as Helper V family responsibilities

The other day, Helper V cooked us sinigang na prawns, and eggplant omelet with shrimps. Today she cooked us my favorite pancit palabok. ( see photo above). There are several recipes of pancit palabok in the web, but Helper V has her own secret recipe with one ingredient, that makes the taste of this dish very special and different from the other published palabok recipes.

Our other helpers are our Resident Manager and Driver ( Helper E) and his industrious wife, Helper C. Both are in charge when we have special events here at the resort such as wedding receptions, birthday parties and seminars. We have several temporary helpers- 2 gardeners, an electrician ( Helper R) and Master Handyman/ Mason/ Carpenter( Helper JJ). Thank you to our temporary and special helpers also.

I can not end this post with out mentioning and thanking my two sisters-in-laws. One sister-in-law is my financial manager here in Boac when we are in the US. She does an excellent job managing my accounts being an accountant. Again, thank you very much, Sister-in-Law, Helper S.

I also want to thank my other sister in-law (F) and her condo mate, HN. We stayed at their condo ( 3.5 days) during our arrival last February and will stay at their condo again ( 2.5 days) prior to our return to the US next week. I hope we can repeat our snowbirding sojourn next year, but with Macrine’s health status, this may be our last snowbirding here together. Let us pray and hope for the best and that Macrine's health condition will improve. Good Bye Marinduque for now!

The Fish Vendors in Our Neighborhood( Squid Adobo and Eggplant Omelet for Lunch Today)

Every morning from around 6AM to 7AM you will hear the distinguishable sounds of the fish vendors screaming Isda....Isda..Isda....(fish). So if you have no time to go the public market you can save jeepney or tricycle money if you purchase your fish from the vendors. The only disadvantage is that you will have no selection of what specie of fish to buy. The vendors 99% of the time sells only the small fish called lagidlid and galonggong by the natives. Macrine and I do not eat the two above fish.

Occasionally, the vendors would offer squid ( pusit) ranging from the baby ones to the monster squid (0.5 kg). I love the baby squid and the medium size because it is tender ( no need to pressure cook) and has a more tasty squid flavor. Today we have adobo baby squid(200 pesos per kilo) and grilled eggplant omelet ( with small shrimps, tomatoes and onions) for lunch.


The recipe that our cook use for the squid adobo is very similar to the following published by panlasangpinoy.com

Ingredients

2.5 lbs medium-sized squid, cleaned and ink separated
1 piece large onion, diced
2 pieces medium sized tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup vinegar
1 cup water
5 cloves crushed garlic
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp cooking oil

Cooking Procedure

1. Heat a wok or cooking pot them pour-in soy sauce, vinegar, and water then bring to a boil.
2. Add the squid and wait for the liquid to re-boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Turn off the heat then separate the squid from the liquid. Set aside.
4. Pour-in cooking oil on a separate wok of cooking pot then apply heat.
5. When the oil is hot enough, sauté the garlic, onions, and tomatoes.
6. Put-in the squid then cook for a few seconds.
7. Pour-in the soy sauce-vinegar-water mixture that was used to cook the squid a back. . 8.Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 minutes.
9. Add the ink, salt, ground black pepper, and sugar then stir. Simmer for 3 minutes.
10.Transfer to a serving bowl then serve.

At today's lunch here in Amoingon, we have also eggplant omelet ( torta) and stem rice along with the squid adobo. For dessert we have fresh mangoes.

Butternut Squash with Shrimps Soup/Dish

During Saturday morning from 5 AM to about 10AM, there is an open market near us ( Libtangin, Gasan) offering fresh vegetables, fruits, fish and meat products at reasonable prices. We usually go to this market to purchase our vegetables at about 50% discount compared to the public market in downtown Boac. Usually there are lots of selections especially if you come early. You can purchase all kinds of locally grown vegetables such as ampalaya, pechay, beans, okra, eggplant, squash, tomatoes, onions, garlic, ginger as well as fruits both locally grown and imported. Here's our cook's simple recipe of locally grown butter nut squash with shrimps( 400 pesos/kilo) that we have for lunch today along with chicken adobo and steam rice.

Ingredients

1/2 kilo yellow squash (cut into 1 inch cubes)
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 small onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/4 lb shrimps deveined (small to medium size)
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper to taste
soy sauce or fish sauce(patis)optional) to taste. I do not like patis since I am not a true-blooded Tagalog but an Ilonggo.

Procedure

1. Cut squash into 1 inch cubes add a little salt and set aside until needed.

2. In a wide skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook, stirring regularly, until tender. Add in tomatoes and cook until softened, regularly mashing with back of spoon.

3. Add the yellow squash cubes to pan and gently mix it into the dish. Cook for about 2 to 3 minutes with 1/2 liter of water until the squash is cooked.

4. Add the shrimps and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until it turn pink. (The soy sauce or patis could be added at this point(optional in my recipe). Add salt and pepper to taste. Add more water if necessary.

5. Serve with steam rice and chicken adobo ( cooked with a little oyster sauce)

Another Delicious Lunch Today-Pata Kare Kare

The other day I posted a recipe for Sinigang na Sugpo( Prawns) as dictated by our cook here in Amoingon, Boac Marindque( Chateau Du Mer). Today at my request she went to the Boac public market very early so she can purchase pata ( pork hock, shank and feet). It cost her 150 pesos per kilo. Along with the pata she was able to purchase chicken ( 90/kilo), shrimps (400/kilo) and a fish called Mabilog at 250 pesos per kilo. I really do not know the English name of mabilog but I believe it belongs to the sea perch specie. If you know the English name, let me know. There are several variations and recipe for kare kare. But the following is the version of our cook. To make the pork very tender she use our pressure cooker. The shrimp paste I use is Barrio Fiesta which is not too salty and has no fishy smell. I will not eat any other brand of bagoong.

Ingredients

2 lbs. Pork shank (pata), cut into 2 inch thick pieces
1 1/2 cups crushed peanuts
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 medium Chinese eggplant, sliced
2 tablespoons fish sauce
10 pieces of Okra
1 1/2 cups string beans, cut in 3 inches length
1 medium onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon annatto powder for coloring
3 tablespoons cooking oil
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups water or beef broth
salt
1/4 cup shrimp paste (bagoong)My favorite brand is Barrio Fiesta

Cooking Procedure

1.Pour 2 quarts of water in a cooking pot or a pressure cooker along with pork shanks, hock and feet and a little salt. Let it boil( 10 to 15 minutes if using the pressure cooker or 1.5 hours if not or until the meat becomes tender).

2.Remove the pork from the cooking pot. Set aside. In a clean cooking pot, heat oil. Saute the garlic and onion. Add the ground black pepper. Stir. Add the pork. Cook for 2 minutes.

3.Put-in the fish sauce, crushed peanut, peanut butter, and annato powder. Stir.

4. Pour-in the beef broth (or water). Bring to a boil. When the texture thickens, add the eggplant and okra. Cook for 5 minutes. Put-in the string beans. Cook for 3 minutes.

5.Transfer to a serving bowl. Serve with shrimp paste and steam rice.

Sinigang na Sugpo (Prawns)

Today at the public market in Boac Marinduque, my cook was able to buy one kilo of prawns. It cost her P650( about 15 US dollars) for one kilo, but the prawns were so sweet and yummy after she made it into sinigang. Sinigang is a Pinoy soup with mixed vegetables, a little bit on the sour side, but my wife and I enjoyed this dish very much. It was one of the best lunch we had since our snowbirding sojourn here in Marinduque-our second home. Here's my cook recipe for the dish.

Prawns Sinigang Ingredients:

1 kilo prawns, 10 pieces

3 tomatoes, sliced

2 onions, diced

5 cloves of garlic, minced

6 pieces of pechay or baby boc toy or kangkung ( whatevcer is available)

100 grams String beans

2 pieces horse radishes, sliced

12 pieces of okra

2 pieces sili pag sigang (green finger pepper)

200 grams sampalok (tamarind)

1 liter of rice wash or water

Sinigang Cooking Instructions:

Boil sampalok in water until the shell shows cracks. Let cool then peal off the shells and with a strainer, pour samplalok (including water) into a bowl. Gently massage the sampalok meat off the seeds, strain again.

In a pot, sauté garlic and onion then add the tomatoes. Let simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the horse radish and simmer for 5 minutes then add the string beans, pechay, okra and sili (for spice-optional). Last add the prawns ( washed_) and Let boil for 2 minutes or until the prawns turn red. Serve piping hot.

Sinigang Cooking Tip:

Instead of sampalok fruit (tamarind), you can substitute it with any commercial souring seasoning like Knorr sampalok seasoning or tamarind bouillon cubes for this sinigang recipe.

My Three Favorite but Very Easy Recipes

Yesterday, My sister-in-law and Merlet Perlas visited my wife and me. They brought with them two whole Dungeness Crab a gift from my wife's niece, Elaine Lazarte Chalfin of Mountain View. They also brought with them two other dishes, the chicken adobo sa gata and the Chicken Quesadilla dish. The recipe of the three dishes are as follows:

A.Dungeness Crabs in Oyster Sauce

1.Divide and Cracked whole steamed Dungeness Crabs into small portions. Save the Butter.

2.In a separate pan saute ginger, and garlic with vegetable or olive oil.

3.Place the cracked crabs into the pan, stir until it simmers.

4.Add the crab butter with enough water to transfer all the butter into the pan

5.Add 2 tbs of oyster sauce, then the scallions.

6.Continue stirring until it simmers. Serve Hot.

B. Chicken Adobo sa Gata

1. Chopped the whole chicken into small edible portions. Take out most of the skins and wash the meat

2. Saute garlic and onion in vegetable or olive oil in a pot. Put the chicken in the pot, stir and mix. Add a tsp of powdered black pepper. Boil the chicken for 10 minutes or until cooked without adding any water. Add about one tsp of tumeric powder* ( dilaw or yellow in Pilipino) and simmer another 10 minutes.

3. Add 1 can of coconut milk and simmer until the dish turn yellow. Then add ½ cup of vinegar, and mix. Add slices of green and red bell peppers, salt and pepper to taste. Serve Hot. Total time should be around 30 minutes.
* If you are rich, used safron instead of tumeric

C. Chicken Quesadilla ( Excellent for Left over Baked Chicken)

1. Shred the left over chicken. Place the chicken in a tortilla flour. Add Cheddar Cheese.( Any kind of cheese will do).

2.Close and flip the tortilla. Place in a hot skillet ( no oil). Invert tortilla and cook until the cheese melts. Add your favorite salsa( mild or hot) and sour cream. Bon Apetit!