Tuna Carbonara

I don't cook often these days because of my busy schedule but I make sure to cook something good every Sunday. It has become a routine here at home. I cook light meals or snack every Sunday afternoon and a special dinner in the evening. 

For our snack last Sunday, I made tuna carbonara. My brother used to dislike carbonara; I don't know why but he ate quite an amount last weekend.

I'm sharing my recipe for the tuna carbonara we had last weekend so you can make it next time you have a family gathering or if your friends come over.

Here are the ingredients:

1 can big evaporated milk
1 can cream of mushroom
1 box of all purpose cream
1/4 cup grated cheese
1 cup sliced mushroom
3 cans of tuna in oil
500 mg pasta cooked according to package instructions
butter
2 tbsp. minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

Heat the pan and put the butter. Once the butter has melted, put the garlic. When the garlic turns brown, add the tuna. You can include the oil from the tuna, I think it adds more flavor to the sauce if you do that. Continue sauteing for 2 more minutes then add the mushroom. Saute for a minute or so.

Add the evaporated milk, all purpose cream, cream of mushroom, and cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Stir continuously over low fire until the mixture becomes creamy. Turn off the fire and toss the pasta into the sauce.

Coco Crab

I'm just running out of ideas; thus, the name of this recipe. As I have said in my previous posts, it's always a struggle for me thinking about what to cook for dinner during Sundays. The coconut milk fan that I am, I instantly thought of cooking crabs in coconut milk when I saw the crabs in the market. I wasn't sure if I remember how my aunt cooks this, but I still proceeded with buying the crabs and went back home.

Ingredients:

1 kilogram crab
4 tablespoons vinegar
4 cloves garlic, crushed garlic
1 cup pure coconut milk
squash, peeled and cut into smaller pieces
string beans, cut shorter
1/2 cup water

Procedure:

Put 1/2 cup of water in the pot, add the vinegar and the crushed garlic. Place the crab and let it simmer over medium fire. When it starts to simmer, add half of the coconut milk. Put the squash and the beans, too.

Add salt to taste and let it simmer until the squash and beans are cooked. For this recipe, I like it when the squash and the beans are overcooked. 

When the squash and beans are cooked, add the remaining coconut milk and let it simmer further for about 5 minutes. That's it. Simple, isn't it?

sinful coco crab

Bopis

Bopis is a Filipino dish made from minced pig's heart and lungs. Sounds strange, doesn't it? I wonder if there are many people in the world who enjoy eating pig's lungs and heart. This dish goes well with alcohol but it goes just as well with steamed rice.

I don't remember where I first tasted this, but I loved it at first bite. It has a very unique flavor and texture. I really wanted to cook this before but never got the chance; I wasn't cooking much back then. One Sunday, I decided to cook it. I got the recipe from Panlasang Pinoy and in this post I'm posting the measurements of the ingredients as posted in that website. In reality, I don't follow measurements listed in recipes because I always adjust them according to my taste. Just use the measurements as a guide and adjust them according to your taste bud's preference. 

The ingredients are not difficult to find; at least in the Philippines.

Here are what you would need in cooking Bopis:

pig's lungs and heart (boiled in lemon grass and pandan leaves)

1/2 cup annatto seeds diluted in 1 cup of water

1 small carrot, minced

4 - 6 tablespoons white vinegar

2 tablespoons bird's eye chili, minced

2 tablespoons ginger, minced

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 - 4 pieces dried bay leaves

1 cup water

3 tablespoons cooking oil

salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

No amount of pig's heart and lungs is indicated because I bought one heart and a pair of lungs, I forgot how much they weighed. Boiling them in lemon grass and pandan is essential because it will remove the unpleasant odor of the lungs and heart. Mincing would take a lot of time. It took me more than an hour, maybe it was because I was watching a drama while mincing. Multi-tasking.

After mincing, you're now ready to start the actual cooking of bopis. First, heat the pan and put the oil in it. When the oil is hot enough, put the onion, garlic, and ginger. After about a minute or when the garlic turns brown, put the bird's eye chili and saute further for about 30 seconds.

Put the minced lungs and heart and cook for about 5 minute. Stir every once in a while. Pour in annatto water, that is, the water where you soaked the annatto seeds. Don't forget to strain.

Add 1 cup of water and the dried bay leaves. Simmer until the liquid evaporates. Add the carrots and simmer for 3 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper and stir.

Add the vinegar and leave for about 8 minutes over medium heat. be careful not to stir it right after adding the vinegar. I was told that you can't stir anything with vinegar until it has started simmering. Well, from experience, I think that it really gives you good results if you avoid stirring before the vinegar simmers. I finally understood why my "adobo" tasted strange back then.

I actually thought I cooked a lot of it, but we ate it all up. Happy tummy!

Fish in Coconut Milk

It's been a while dear friends. I've been busy since I already got a full time job. I'll tell you about it in a separate post. 

I'm posting another recipe. I think I've mentioned before that I really like coconut milk. Here's another recipe that uses coconut milk as the main ingredient.

Ingredients:

3-4 medium tilapia
5 tomatoes, sliced
2 onion, sliced
1 cup coconut milk
pechay, cut into two parts; stalks and leaves
oil for frying

Procedure:

Fry the fish until brown. Some people skip the frying part and just cook the fish directly in the coconut milk. I tried that before, but it didn't give me good results. It was difficult to turn the fishes because the fish meat was so soft. I guess it's better to fry them first.

Set aside the fried fish.  Saute the onion and tomatoes. You can saute it in the frying pan used earlier using the oil used to fry the fishes. After around 3 minutes, pour half of the coconut milk and add 1/4 cup of water. Put the pechay stalks. We'll put the leaves later.  Let it simmer.

When the water starts to simmer, put the fish onto the pan and add the remaining coconut milk. Add salt to taste. Wait for 5 minutes before putting the pechay leaves. After putting the pechay leaves, wait for around 3 minutes then turn off the fire. 

Serve with steamed rice. 

Caution: May cause excessive consumption of steamed rice.

Creamy Garlic Pasta with Mussels

I've been browsing pasta recipes online and finally decided to cook some for dinner. I had leftover mussels in the fridge so I added them to my pasta as well.

Ingredients:

1/2 kg mussels, cleaned
250 mg pasta, cooked according to package instructions
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups water
250 ml all purpose cream
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

Boil the mussels in 2 cups water with salt until half-cooked. Remove the mussels from the shell and set aside. Reserve 1/2 cup of the water where the mussels were boiled.

Heat pan and melt butter. When the butter has melted, add the minced garlic and the cooked mussels. Add the reserved water and let it simmer. Once it starts simmering, add the all purpose cream while stirring continuously. Add salt and pepper to taste. Turn off the fire. Toss the pasta into the mixture.

Garnish with chopped parsley and garlic bread slices.

So easy to cook yet so delicious!

Oh My! Siomai!

Every now and then, I crave for siomai and whenever that happens I would go out to buy some in the supermarket nearby. There are many food stalls and  restaurants selling them, proof that Filipinos have come to love this yummy Chinese dumpling.

I have made siomai before with my father, it was good. What we made was somehow different from those we buy. I guess the texture was different. We used lean meat back then, and it must be the reason why we did not get the texture we wanted.

One morning, I was watching TV and the cooking segment of the program featured siomai. The next day, I went to the market to buy the ingredients and made siomai again.

Ingredients:

1/2 kg ground pork (make sure there are fats included)
1/2 cup minced shrimp
1 cup water chestnuts, shredded and squeezed
1 cup carrots. shredded and squeezed
1/2 cup white onion, minced
2 tbsp. sesame oil (optional)
1/8 cup scallions, chopped
1 piece raw egg
1 pack wonton wrapper
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

In a bowl, mix all ingredients except wonton wrapper. If you want to test if you have achieved the saltiness you want, you can form a small ball of the mixture and fry it; unless you don't mind tasting it raw.

Wrap the mixture with the wonton wrapper. I put about 1 tbsp of the mixture in the wrapper and wrap it. Wrapping could be tricky. I had to watch videos on how to do it. I'm not even sure if I did it correctly. 

There are two common ways to cook siomai; steaming and deep-frying. Well, we tried both. I prefer steamed siomai while my brothers prefer them fried. 

fried siomai

These are best served with a dip made from soy scaue, chili, and lemon.

steamed siomai

Did I achieve the texture I wanted? No. I wanted them to be exactly like those in restaurants and stalls but these are "very meaty". I saw a recipe that uses cornstarch and other extenders, so I might try making siomai again. My brothers said that they prefer my siomai. Yeah! I won't cook again if they don't compliment my cooking. 

Something Fishy

Spring rolls must be Chinese in origin but every country has its own version of this delicious food. In the Philippines, the common varieties of spring rolls include pork, chicken, vegetable and fish spring rolls. Pork spring rolls never fail to impress visitors during parties. What's not to like about spring rolls?

We are trying to stay away from meat so I thought of making fish spring rolls just to satisfy my cravings. When I first made this, I used ground raw fish but in this recipe, I used boiled fish.

Here are the ingredients:

1/2 kilogram boiled fish, flaked
1 medium carrot, minced
1 medium potato, minced
1 medium red onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
30 pcs. spring roll wrappers
1 egg
salt and pepper

Procedure:

Any fish would do, but I used tuna. After boiling the fish and letting it cool, I flaked it with fork.

Mix flaked fish, carrots, potatoes, onion, garlic, and egg in a mixing bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Put about 1 tablespoon of the mixture in the spring roll wrapper and wrap it.

I usually make a lot of spring rolls and just put them in the freezer for convenience. That way, I don't have to worry about what to cook for breakfast when I'm feeling lazy. I just have to deep fry them and breakfast is ready. 

Chicken Tinola With Corn

I mentioned in my previous post that I cooked something else for dinner, and this is it. Chicken tinola is a popular chicken dish here in the Philippines. It's very easy to make and is always loved by many. This version, however, has a twist. It has shredded corn which adds more flavor to your regular chicken tinola. I first tasted this when I was still living with my aunt during my university days. 

Here are the ingredients:

1/2 kilo chicken
1 sayote (chayote), sliced
1 small ginger, sliced thinly
10 pcs. chili leaves
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp. fish sauce
2 tbsp. cooking oil
1 medium-sized sweet corn, shredded
salt

Procedure:

Heat oil in a pan. Add the garlic cloves, ginger, and the shredded corn. When the garlic cloves turn brown, add the chicken and fish sauce Saute the chicken until the skin turns brown. Everyone at home prefers chicken wings over other chicken parts so I always buy them. 

When the skin turns brown, add a little water and let it simmer until the meat is tender. Add the slices of chayote and simmer more until the chayote is half-cooked. Add salt to taste. Lastly, add the chili leaves. Turn the stove off a minute after the addition of the chili leaves.

This is best eaten during the rainy season but no one said we can't eat this during summer. 

We all know that we should not eat a lot for dinner but this dish will definitely make you ask for another cup of rice.

Pork Leg in Rice Wine and Pineapple Juice

Few days before Sunday, I was already craving for pork leg. I know very few ways of cooking pork leg and this one is my ultimate favorite. I thought of cooking this for Sunday's dinner but I decided to have this the next day, Raymond's lunch. I still cooked this in the afternoon of Sunday though, because it takes a lot of time to cook this one. 

Here are the ingredients:

1 kg pork leg, chopped
1 can pineapple juice
1/4 cup oyster sauce
2 tbsp. rice wine
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp. pepper corn
3 bay leaves
salt to taste

Procedure:

The first thing to do is to mix all ingredients in a heavy pan. Next, arrange the chopped pork leg in the heavy pan and add enough water to cover the meat.

Cook over low fire.Cooking this slowly allows the flavor to come out. It took me a little more than an hour before I got the tenderness of the meat that I want. You can always adjust the proportion of the ingredients. I added more pineapple juice halfway. You can add water if it takes a lot of time to tenderize the meat. Turn the meat over every now and then to avoid burning it.

What I really like about this dish is the explosion of flavors you get plus the jelly-like texture of pork leg. I should have cooked more of this.

I just set this aside after cooking, I cooked something else for dinner. I reheated this the morning after for Raymond's lunchbox.

Japanese Curry

I always talk about food with my Japanese students and curry is never out of the topic. I've always wondered if the curry we have in the Philippines taste similar to that in Japan. The curry I know is what my father cooks best. We use native chicken, coconut milk and turmeric, different from the curry I ate in the cafeteria back in college which definitely used instant curry mix.

Two weeks before Christmas, my student, Mitsuko-san, said she sent a package for my cats. She told me she sent a "house" for my cats. When the package arrived, I was surprised to see not only the strawberry house. Included in the package were a stamp, a Christmas card and.. and.. a box of Japanese curry mix with instructions on how to use it in English that Mitsuko-san herself wrote!!!!

We had native chicken from my hometown and I decided to use it to cook Japanese curry.

Here are the ingredients.

1/2 kg chicken

1 carrot, cubed

1 large potato, cubed

onion. sliced

oil

curry cubes

salt

First, pan-fry the carrots and potatoes until brown then set aside. Next, saute the chicken with the sliced onions until the chicken's skin turns brown. Add  a little water and let it simmer until chicken is tender.

When the chicken is tender, add the instant curry cubes. I used two cubes in this dish. Here's how the curry cubes look like.

You can add more water depending on the consistency of the curry that you want. Add salt to taste. Mine has little water in it. Lastly, add the potatoes and carrots. Simmer for 2 minutes and that's it. I hate the taste of overcooked carrots so I'm always careful not to overcook them.

And the taste? Yummy! Japanese curry tastes like the curry we have here. The color seems different though. The curry in the Philippines would normally be yellow while that in Japan is brown. 

Sambo Mambo

I was looking for some dessert recipes online when I came across this recipe of Black Sambo. I decided to make this because I thought it's really easy. The only thing I had difficulty with was finding the gelatin powder (Knox brand). I was able to buy sachets of that brand in the supermarket before so I was dismayed when I found out that they don't retail it anymore. I should buy a box of it which contains 32 sachets which is unreasonable because I only need 4 sachets. If it weren't expensive, I would have bought a box of it but one box costs around 470 pesos. I had to look for an alternative. I was quite hesitant to use a substitute because it might ruin the recipe just like what happened to my Cathedral Windows. 

Again, I had to make adjustments for economic reasons. I used ingredients that are easier to find and definitely cheaper than those specified in the original recipe.

Here are the ingredients:

1 can condensed milk, 300 ml

1 can evaporated milk, 375 ml

4 envelopes gelatin powder (I used Ferna)

1 cup tap water

all purpose cream, 250 ml

1/2 cup cocoa powder (I used Ricoa)

3/4 cup white sugar

Procedure:

Make the white layer first. Dissolve 2 sachets of gelatin powder in 1/2 cup water. Cook over low to medium heat until the gelatin powder completely dissolves. Add 1 can condensed milk while stirring constantly for about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat and let it cool for 5 minutes while stirring continuously. Add the all purpose cream and mix well. Pour into the mold and allow it to set. It will take about an hour before it sets if you put it inside the refrigerator.

When the first layer has set, you are ready to make the second/chocolate layer. Mix cocoa powder and sugar in a bowl and set aside. Dissolve 2 sachets of gelatin powder in 1/2 cup water. Cook over low to medium heat until the gelatin powder completely dissolves. Add the cocoa powder and sugar mixture into the pot while stirring continuously. Add evaporated milk while stirring continuously for about 5 minutes. Pour on top of the white layer. Refrigerate.

You can garnish this with anything you want. I used sliced persimmon and chocolate chips. 

Tumbling Dumplings

Every time I visit bf's family, I try to bring something I made. I decided to bring dumplings during my latest visit. This is actually a variation of lumpiang shanghai that Filipinos really love. 

Here are the ingredients for my tumbling dumplings:

1/2 kg ground pork

1 carrot, shredded

1 potato, shredded

onion, minced

garlic, minced

1 tbsp ground black pepper

1 cup bread crumbs

1 egg

1 tbsp sesame oil

round dumpling wrappers

salt to taste

As I mentioned earlier, this is a variation of lumpiang shanghai. Instead of using lumpia wrapper, I used dumpling wrapper. The additional ingredients are bread crumbs and sesame oil. There are many kinds of bread crumbs in the market and there are really fine ones, but I used this one. 

Just mix all ingredients well, except of course for the dumpling wrapper. The mixture should look like this.

Last summer, I bought a dumpling maker (not sure how it is called) and it makes wrapping the dumplings a lot easier. Just put enough amount of the mixture, a teaspoon will do, in the wrapper and put it in the dumpling maker. Be careful with the amount of mixture you put. Too much of it will cause the wrapper to tear.

Press the dumpling maker lightly to seal the dumpling. 

You can either steam the dumplings or deep fry them. I love steamed dumplings more.

Cathedral Windows

It's been a while since I last posted something here. I was busy studying. Yeah, studying. Anyway, I decided to post a new recipe. This is one of the desserts I had difficulty making. The first time I made this, it was a BIG FAILURE. I couldn't find one of the ingredients specified in the recipe I saw so I used a substitute, it was not a good idea.

This dessert in called cathedral windows because it looks like the stained glass windows of a neo-classical cathedral.

photo not mine

Here are what you need for this recipe:

3-4 packs of powdered gelatin of different flavors
4 sachets of unflavored gelatin knox (the key to the success of this recipe)
1 can condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk
1 can/box all purpose cream
2 cups water

Procedure:

Prepare the flavored gelatin according to package instructions. Set the cooked jellos aside and chill. When the jellos are well formed already, cut them into cubes of desired thickness. Mix the cut jellos in one bowl and set aside.

Boil 2 cups of water and add the condensed milk, evaporated milk and all purpose cream. Stir continuously. Pour the packs of gelatin knox onto the mixture and make sure to dissolve them well. Remove from fire and continue stirring until it cools down a bit. We can't put the hot mixture in the bowl of jellos because they would melt. 

Pour the mixture onto the jellos and spread evenly. Let it cool and chill them in the refrigerator before serving.

I made a lot of this but all were gone after a day.

Sexy Chicken Macaroni Salad

I love macaroni salad and this I think is always present in special occasions in the Philippines. I've tried many macaroni salads, and there are two popular ways to prepare this, sweet and salty. However, I like my macaroni salad to be somewhere in between salty and sweet, and with more texture. If you're wondering why I call it sexy, it's simply because I used vegeroni spirals instead of the usual macaroni. 

Here are the ingredients I used for my salad. You can always change the proportion of the ingredients to your taste.

500 grams San Remo vegeroni spirals

400 grams Del Monte Pineapple Tidbits

900 ml mayonnaise

200 grams chicken breast

100 grams minced pickles (optional)

200 grams seedless raisins

1 medium carrot, minced

1 onion, minced

salt and pepper

First, boil the chicken in water with a little salt until cooked. Let it cool and shred it. Cook the vegeroni spirals according to package instructions. Drain when done. I actually let my macaroni cool by adding cold water to it. This prevents the macaroni from being overcooked. 

By the way, some blanch the minced carrots, I don't.  Raw minced carrots add more texture to the salad. 

The next step is easy, you just need to mix everything. Be careful though. You don't want to just throw everything in the mixing bowl because that would make it difficult to mix and distribute the taste evenly. What I often do is to start with the mayo, add the other ingredients except the cooked vegeroni spirals. Add salt and pepper to your taste and toss the cooked spirals little by little. You might need to add more salt and pepper as you add more spirals. Best eaten when chilled. 

Sexy Chicken Macaroni Salad

Mussels in Coconut Milk

Like my father, I like mussels very much. There are many ways to cook mussels; baking and sauteing  them are two of the most common ways to enjoy these delicious and affordable seafood. I love anything cooked with coconut milk as much as I like mussels, so one day, I decided to cook mussels in coconut milk. I haven't tried cooking this before but I'm quite confident it would taste good. With mussels and coconut milk, nothing would go wrong.

Here are the ingredients for my mussels in coconut milk:

1kg mussels, cleaned
1 bundle string beans
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 medium ginger, peeled and sliced thinly
1 cup coconut milk
2 tbsp oil
salt

First, heat oil in a pan. When the oil is hot enough, add the tomatoes and the ginger. Saute for about 2 minutes. Next, add the mussels, string beans, 1/2 cup of water, and salt. Simmer for five minutes or until the string beans are half-cooked. Finally, add the coconut milk and simmer until the beans are cooked. Don't forget to stir every now and then to prevent the coconut milk from curdling.

Best enjoyed with steamed rice.

Picadillo

I always cook something good during Sunday because it's my rest day and bf stays with us every Sunday. I've always known that Raymond (bf's name) loves picadillo but I've never tried cooking it for him. Picadillo is a  dish mainly consisting of ground beef typically found in Latin American countries.I was not very sure if it would turn it well but I tried cooking it anyway.

Ingredients: 

1/2 kg ground beef

2 tbsp cooking oil

2 tbsp fish sauce

5 tbsp tomato sauce

5 cups beef stock or water

1 red onion, minced

1 medium potato, peeled and diced

1 medium carrot, peeled and diced

1 small can, pineapple tidbits

6 quail eggs, boiled

salt and pepper

Procedure:

Heat pan and put the cooking oil. If the oil is already hot, put the minced onion and cook until transparent. Saute the ground beef in the pan. Add the fish sauce, salt and pepper. Add the beef stock and boil.

Once it starts boiling, add the potatoes and carrots. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the pineapple and tomato sauce. Simmer for another 3 minutes. Add the quail eggs. Serve.

simmering..

Raymond and my brothers loved my picadillo. I was also surprised that it was delicious. Haha.

bad pic quality due to lighting conditions

Yema Balls

My boyfriend stays in the construction site from Monday to Saturday. It's much convenient for everyone in the site because they don't have to go home everyday which could be very tiring and costly. Every Saturday, he would go home to visit his parents. I thought of sending something for them, and decided to make yema for them. Yema is a sweet concoction made with milk and egg yolks. 


Ingredients:
11/2 cups of sweetened condensed milk
2 cups of powdered full cream milk
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp. of butter, softened
a cup of white sugar
small paper cups (bottom should be 1-inch in diameter)
dried ginger strips (optional)


Procedure:
1. Pour the condensed milk into a small saucepan. Set the stove to medium and heat the condensed milk. Do not boil. Make sure to stir continuously.
2. Beat the egg yolk in a bowl. Pour in the half of the heated condensed milk into the bowl. Blend well.
3. Add the dried ginger strips. 
4. Pour the mixture in the bowl into the saucepan and continue cooking. Scrape the sides and the bottom of the pan while stirring to avoid scorching.
5. When the mixture thickens a bit, turn off the heat and cool for about 5 minutes.
6. Place the powdered milk in a bowl together. Pour in the mixture. Add the softened butter. Let it cool.
7. Mold the mixture into balls about 1 inch in diameter using your hands. Roll the ball gently in white sugar.
8. Drop the yema balls gently into the paper cup. 


I decorated mine with chocolates on top. 

Corn and Tuna Fritters

It's very rare that I think hard about what to prepare for breakfast, that is, Monday's breakfast. I came across this recipe when I visited Ms. Connie's blog. There are few changes in the recipe. I did not include tarragon, salt, and egg (because I forgot that there should be 1 egg in the recipe). It still turned out delicious and my boyfriend and brothers liked it very much. There's also no salt here because the canned tuna has enough saltiness to it.

Ingredients:
2 tall cans of tuna in oil or brine, drained
1 cup of canned corn kernels, drained
2 cups of Japanese bread crumbs
ground pepper
3 tbsp corn starch
oil for frying

Procedure:
1. Mix the tuna, corn and corn starch in a bowl. Add pepper to taste.
2. If the mixture appears watery, add some bread crumbs and allow it to absorb the
liquid content of the mixture.
3. When the mixture is ready, start forming balls. The size depends on you. Roll the balls in the bread crumbs.
4. Flatten the balls.
5. Heat oil in a pan.
6. Fry the flattened balls, tuning it over when it turns brown.

Colorful Chow mein

I love noodles, however they're cooked. Here's a very common recipe that Filipinos totally love. There are many variations of this dish. Whenever I cook this, I don't always use the same ingredients.

Ingredients:
 250 grams chicken liver, cubed
250 grams pork, cubed
250 grams egg noodles
100 grams squid ball, halved
1 cup Baguio beans, sliced thinly
1 cup carrots, julienned
1 cup shredded cabbage
4 tbsp. oyster sauce
4 tbsp cooking oil
8 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups water
salt
ground pepper
oil

Procedure:
1. Heat oil in the pan. Put the minced garlic.
2. When the garlic has turned brown, put the pork, liver and squid balls. Saute.
3. When the pork has turned brown, pour water and bring to a boil.
4. Put the noodles and simmer over medium fire.
5. When the noodles are almost cooked put the carrots and beans. If the noodles absorb too much water, add more. Stir.
6. After 2 minutes add the shredded cabbage and the oyster sauce. Simmer for another 2 minutes.
7. Serve hot.

Sinigang na Hipon

Sunday is always cooking day for me. One reason why I love cooking on Sunday is, I only have much time during Sundays and another reason is, my boyfriend shares sinner with us every Sunday. To take a break from the usual pork, chicken, fish and vegetables, I decided to cook one of my favorites, sinigang na hipon.

Here are the ingredients:

1/2 kg shrimp

1 bundle of swamp spinach (kangkong)

1 medium radish, sliced

1 small pack of tamarind powder

2 tomatoes, quartered

1 red onion, quartered

salt

Procedure:

1. Put 4-5 cups water in the pot, add the red onion and bring to a boil.

2. When the water has boiled, put the tomatoes and shrimp into the pot. Add salt.

3. After around 3 minutes, put the radish. Simmer for few minutes.

4. When the shrimp is almost cooked, put the water spinach. Simmer again for 2 minutes and turn the stove off.

TIPS:

> If not eating right away, cover only half of the pot so as not to overcook the water spinach.

> Don't simmer the shrimp for too long. The shrimp will become chewy.