My Simple Recipe for Kare De Pata( Pork Feet, Hocks and Shanks)

The other day, I purchased 2 lbs of pork feet, hocks and shank as it was on sale at our local food market. With it I purchased 3 bunch of baby boctoy( pechay),1.4 lbs green beans and 2 large size Chinese eggplant. For the peanut sauce* I purchased Peanut Powder by Jif. This is the first time I have used this product. It says it has 85% less fat than the traditional peanut butter. The above are the major ingredients for this recipe. The other ingredients are:

1 medium onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon tumeric powder for coloring
1/4 cup cooking oil
2 cups water
Garlic salt and or ground black pepper to taste
Shrimp Paste ( bagoong)-optional

Cooking Instruction:

1. Pour 8 cups of water in a cooking pot along with the pork feet, hocks and shank. Add a dash garlic salt and black ground pepper. Boil at high heat for 1 hour or until the meat is tender. Remove the pork from the cooking pot and set aside.

2. In another cooking pot, saute the onions and garlic. Add the pork. In a cup of water add 5 tablespoon of peanut Powder( by Jif) and mix. Add the mixture to the pot, and green beans. Cook for another 2 minutes.

3. Add the eggplant, and the tumeric spice and let it simmer another 2 minutes. Lastly add the pechay and cook at low heat for another 2 minutes.

4. Serve with steam rice and with shrimp Paste on the side. My favorite brand of Bagooong is Barrio Fiesta.

* Normally, I use roasted and ground peanuts for the sauce. My discovery of the peanut powder by Jif saves time in praparing this dish. The tumeric is my own coloring ingredient, which is optional.

My Favorite Pancit Bihon Recipe

Ingredients

1 lb pancit bihon (Rice Noodles)
½ lb. pork, cut into small thin slices
2 cups diced cooked chicken breast meat
⅛ lb. pea pods or snow peas
1 cup carrot thinly sliced
½ small head cabbage, chopped
1 medium sized onion, chopped
½ tbsp garlic, minced
5 tbsp soy sauce
3 to 4 cups water
Fish Sauce( Patis)
2 lemons -cut into wedges for garnish( Lime or calamansi may used instead of the lemons)

Instructions

1. In a large pot or wok, Saute the garlic and onion. Add the pork let cook for 4 minutes. Then the chicken breast.

2. Put in the carrots, pea pods, cabbage, and simmer for a 15 minutes or until the cabbage begins to soften.

3. Remove all the ingredients in the pot except for the liquid and set them aside. In the pot with the liquid in, add the soy sauce and mix well

4. Add the pancit bihon (makes sure to first soak it in water for about 20 minutes) and mix well. Cook until liquid evaporates completely

5. Put-in the vegetables and meat that were previously cooked and simmer for a minute or two. Add the lemon wedges for the garnishing. Serve with Fish sauce ( Patis) on the side if desired.

My New Recipe of Sinigang na Sugpo in Tamarind Sauce

Last week Macrine and I bought 1 lb of prawns for $6.99/lb at Seafood City in Elk Grove. Today is the only time I had a chance to cook it using the easy and simple recipe I have in my file. The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
2 medium tomatoes, quartered
2 Chinese eggplant, end trimmed and cut into 1-inch chunks
3 bunch of pechay or Chinese boktoy, stems cut and leaves separated
1/4 pound of green beans, end trimmed and cut into 2-inches in length
1 pound shell-on shrimp, tendrils trimmed, washed and drained well
1/4 pouch of Mama Sita Tamarind Seasoning Mix for Sinigang ( about 0.45 oz or 12.5 g)
Garlic Salt to taste. Patis or fish sauce may be used instead of the garlic salt.

Instruction

1. In a pot over medium heat, bring water( 4 cups) to a boil. Add onions and tomatoes and cooked until softened. Add the eggplant and green beans. Continue cooking until the vegetables are half-cooked.

2. Add shrimps and tamarind seasoning. Season with garlic salt. Continue cooking until the shrimps changes to pink( do not overcook the shrimps) and vegetables are tender but crisp. Add the pechay pushing down into the broth with back of the spoon. Turn off heat and allow the residual steam to cook the pechay leaves. Served hot with fish sauce on the side if desired.

( Note I am an Illongo so I hate Patis, but my wife loves Patis very, very much. Bon Apetite!

Pompano Fish in Sweet and Sour Sauce

Today, I cooked my first fish dish in sweet and sour sauce. The fish was pompano. My wife and I purchased the fish from Seafood City yesterday. This recipe is very easy and simple to follow. Try it!

Ingredients:

4 medium sized pompano fillet (from 2 whole medium sized fish). The whole fish(including the head) may be used if desired.
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
2 cups oil for frying
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
1 can ( 8 oz) pineapple chunks, juice reserved
1 1/2 tablespoon white sugar
3 tablespoon ketchup
Garlic Salt to taste
1/2 cup water

Direction: Marinate the pompano fillet(or whole fish) in soy sauce for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oil in deep-fryer or heavy sauce pan to 375 degrees F. Deep fry the fish until golden brown. Drain the pompano on paper and set aside.

Prepare the sauce as follows: Saute the onion, the red and green peppers and pineapple in a skillet for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the reserved pineapple juice, sugar, ketchup, water and the flour. Mixed and stir for about 2 minutes then add the garlic salt to taste. Cook until thickened, stirring occasionally. Add more flour if necessary.

Serve the fish with sauce on top with steam rice and papaya( pickled green papaya) achara. Bon Apetit!

My Favorite Bean Salad Recipe

Here's my simple and easy to prepare Bean Salad.

Ingredients:
1 (14.5 ounce) can green beans, drained

1 (14.5 ounce) can wax beans, drained

1 (15.5 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained

1 (14.5 ounce) can kidney beans, drained

1 (14.5 ounce) can black beans, drained

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup salad oil

1/2 cup vinegar 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

3/4 cup white sugar

Directions
Place the green beans, wax beans, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, green pepper, onion, and celery in a large bowl; toss to mix.

Whisk together the oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar in a separate bowl until the sugar is dissolved; pour over the bean mixture. Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight before serving.

Alternative: Instead of the oil and vinegar used 1/4 cup Zesty Italian Dressing( Kraft) and 1/4 cup Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing ( Wish-Bone) or any other brand of your favorite Italian salad dressings.

Bon Apetit!
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