Bitter Melon ( Amplalaya) with Shrimps

One of the most healthy Filipino dish if you are a diabetic is the Ampalaya or bitter melon with shrimps. A variation of the dish is to use pork instead of the shrimps. In some recipes both shrimps and pork are used in equal proportions. This recipe is almost a weekly fare in our menu when we are in the Philippines because of the abundance of the bitter melon. Here in the US, I have to go to a Filipino or oriental grocery store to be able to buy ampalaya. Incidentally, in case you do not know, Seafood City is one of the biggest oriental and Filipino grocery store here in Northern California.

Ingredients

4 medium ampalaya or bitter melon (cut lengthwise)
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 small onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 pound mini 0r medium shrimp, peeled and headless
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup water
1 egg
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 ampalaya lengthwise and scrape off seeds and white pith. Slice thinly and place in a bowl, covered in cold water with a little salt* 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. The soy sauce or patis could be added at this point. Add shrimp and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until shrimp starts to change color.

4. Add water and bring to a boil. Drain ampalaya from water, add to pan and gently toss to combine. Cook for about 2 to 3 minutes or until tender yet crisp.

5. In a thin stream, add eggs and gently stir to distribute. Continue to cook for about 1 minute or until eggs have set. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

* Ampalaya is very bitter. To remove most of its bitterness, the slice melon is soak in cold salted water for at least 30 minutes and then drained prior to cooking.

A Simple and Healthy Shrimp Recipe

I found the following recipe from my FB friend and relative page. A very easy and healthy recipe for shrimp. It was shared by Angie and Jim Jambalos Aulds from Prego & Mommy Chat's blog. No Butter (uses chicken broth, white wine, lemon juice)

Ingredients

4 tsp olive oil
1 1/4 pounds med raw shrimp, peeled and deveined (tails left on)
6-8 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup + 1 T minced parsley
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
4 lemon wedges

Preparation

In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil. Saute the shrimp until just pink, about 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook stirring constantly, about 30 seconds. With a slotted spoon transfer the shrimp to a platter and keep them warm.
In the skillet, combine the broth, wine, lemon juice, 1/4 cup of the parsley, the salt and pepper; and bring it to a boil. Boil uncovered, until the sauce is reduced by half.
Spoon the sauce over the shrimp. Serve garnished with the lemon wedges and sprinkled with the remaining tablespoon of parsley. Enjoy!

Sun Dried Fish and Bitter Melon with Shrimps for Dinner

The other day I posted about the distinguishable screams of the fish vendors in our neighborhood. Today, I was lured by one of the vendors booming voice shouting isda...isda.. lagidlid etc...that I could hear 4 blocks away. Our cook mentioned once that lagidlid is an excellent specie for sun dryng. So I ran to our front gate in time for the vendors bicycle passing by. I asked for the price. It was 120 pesos per kilo. I told the vendor I need one kilo. The vendor has a scale and bingo I had 12 fresh medium-sized lagidlid in one minute. Along with the bislad, we had ampalaya with shrimps, and tocino for dinner. In the table are the newly harvested huge avocados and chicos from my orchard.

Drying fish is a lost art in modern times in the US, but here in the Provinces of the Philippines it is still part of daily living specially in towns with plenty of fresh fish available daily. Drying fish removes enough water from the final product so that the growth of microbes that cause spoilage are retarded, but drying isn't the same as dehydrating, which removes all but 3 percent of the moisture. My cook used a similar procedure for drying fish as outlined by ehow.com as follows:
My cook however soaks the fish in 50% vinegar/water mixture with salt for 40-60 minutes and do not remove the head prior to drying. The vinegar helps preserve the fish and give it the delicious/unique flavor and odor when fried.
Instructions

1 Choose the proper location to dry your fish. Drying works best in low humidity and drying fish requires an area sheltered from animals and dust.
2 Prepare the fresh-caught fish the same day of the catch for drying. Remove the gills, guts, back and ribs. Leave the skin and head intact.
3. Wash the fish in cold water and scrub away any remaining debris. Soak the fish in a solution of salt/vinegar/water mixture for 30 minutes. Drain the fish and rinse the flesh again.
4. Place the fish on wooden drying racks outdoors. You must not use metal racks, as they can corrode and contribute an off flavor to the fish.
5. Sun dried for 4 to 6 hours. Wrap the fish in a sealed ziplock and keep cool in the refrigerator until ready for frying.

Note: The fish is only partially dry, but the vinegar mixture help retard spoilage. It is best to fry the fish in the next couple of days.

Avocados and Chicos in my Orchard

Today, we harvested about a dozen huge avocados and two dozens of Chicos in my orchard here at Chateau Du Mer(CDM), Boac, Marinduque, Philippines.

This is the first time that I was able to harvest the fruits of the avocado tree that I planted in my garden here at CDM in 1998. There is only one tree but the past years according to our Resident Caretaker, hundreds of fruits have been harvested by them. According to the manager the fruits are tasty( maligat) but a little fibrous but it is still excellent for making avocado shake. Today’s harvest is still not ripe. It will be a couple of days for it to ripen and for me to taste the fruit of my labor. I have my own recipe of Avocado Shake. The ingredients are as follows:

1 ripe large Avocado ( Hash or Philippines variety preferred)
2 teaspoons white sugar( or 1/8 cup condense milk)
1/4 cup Half and Half ( or milk if less fat is desired)

Blend the mixture until all the avocados chunks are homogenous and creamy. Add water if you want the mixture not too creamy. Refrigerate for one hour and served cold. Blend the mixture with ice cubes if there is no time for refrigeration.

Green mangoes, chicos, papaya and Avocados from my Garden

On the other hand I have two chico trees that are prolific. Every year during our snowbirding sojourn, we harvested more than 100 fruits from each tree. This year the big fruits are on top of the tree which required climbing. More often by the time we realized there are fruits ready to be harvested the fruit bats and birds have already taken a bite so that we have to discard the fruit. Today however, I requested our 18-year old gardener to take 15 minutes off from his gardening duties and devote this time climbing the chico tree. He was able to harvest 2 dozen mature fruits. I was able to eat one chico that ripened in the tree without the birds and the bats leaving their mark. Tree-ripened chico fruit is delicious and sweet, indeed. Yum, Yum, yum..

Only on Sunday-Nilaga Na Baka( Beef Soup with Vegetables)

We can have beef soup( nilaga na baka) with vegetables only during Sunday here at Chateau Du Mer. The reason is that beef slaughtering is only done once in the week on Sunday morning at dawn. My driver has to drive to the slaughter house very early in the morning before 5AM so he can have first choice of the best beef meat and bones for the following recipe used by our cook. It is similar to the one published by www.food.com/beef soup. Enjoy and Share!

Ingredients:
1/2 kg beef (for stewing) and 1/2 beef bones with marrow
2 big onions (diced)
1/2 head garlic (minced)
1 pinch salt and pepper
6 medium potatoes (cut to the same size as the beef)
10 pieces bok choy (cut into 2) or pechay
1/4 kg of green beans, cut into 6" in length
2 tablespoons patis (Asian fish sauce)( optional in my recipe)
2 tablespoons oil
Calamansi

Directions:

1. In a soup pot, saute garlic and onion.

2. Add in beef, water and bring to a boil, lower the fire and let simmer until beef is tender for about an hour or two (longer for more flavor). Alternately you can use a pressure cooker( 20 minutes) to insure beef is tender.

3. Remove all the resulting scum that will rise to the top of the pot and keep the stock clear.

4. Add potatoes and bring up to a boil to cook potatoes.

5. Season with salt, pepper and patis ( optional in my recipe, since I hate patis).

6. Add in vegetables, green beans first and cook uncovered.

7. Serve hot with steam white rice, soy sauce and calamansi to taste.

Bon Apetit!

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.