#43: Spicy Stir-Fried Pork

I am slowly warming up to experimenting on Asian flavors. It's ironic that I am Asian yet I am totally foreign to the flavors of our neighbors like kaffir, galangal, coriander, rice wine, lemongrass, cardamom, and many others. What I usually find in groceries are ingredients that lean towards Western cooking. So in a quest for new flavor dimensions, I recently tried an Asian-inspired salad and this delectable stir-fry dish.

This flavorful stirfry may take some time to prep but is a breeze to cook. The secret to quick stir-fry meals is having ingredients that are cut in smaller pieces so the heat can go through it quicker. Guess what else?

#29: Garlic-Crusted Fish Steak in Citrus Butter

Actually, we were already eating when I said:
"WAIT! Don't mangle the fish yet! It still has no photo!"
Good thing it's still a bit intact for my cameraphone, hahaha!

This is what I cook when I'm feeling lazy because this is very, VERY easy. I must admit though that fish steak slices may be more expensive than your usual tilapia but if you think about it,you get more meat and less fish bones in these steaks. 




But do not take this dish lightly because you might be taken aback by how good this one is. Take this, 5 ingredients. Good eh? You may use blue marlin or pink salmon if your budget can afford it. Or, a simple mahi-mahi slice should do the job. Cream Dory fillets may also work but you have to thaw and drain it well because it seems that those fillets have a lot of water in them. Tsk,tsk! If I use it for this dish, I end up with my steaks swimming in its juice, therefore, I am not able to create a crispy crust for the steak. So are you ready? 

#17: Pininyahang Atay ng Manok (Sarap nito!)

Perhaps I was treated to a death-by-tomato-dishes when I was young that is why I'm more inclined to prepare coconut or milk-based sauteed dishes now that I have my own kitchen. I still loooove kalderetang baka (the type that has peanut butter, and cheese and coconut milk *sigh*. I'll share the recipe for that soon!) but there is something refreshing and light about this Pinoy dish that we're going to bring to life this time.


This is an attempt to make you liver-haters to love the luscious, buttery, slightly bitter and earthy taste of our featured ingredient: chicken liver. Chicken liver is much smoother and lighter on the palate than pork or beef liver. Its rather eccentric characteristics are balanced out by the beach-loving, tangy flavor of pinapples that is sweet, sour and fruity at the same time. Then the whole marriage is tied by the rather subtle but creamy contribution of milk, both cow's and coconut (or whichever is available in your pantry at the moment). This nutritious and friendly viand could easily become a favorite in your repertoire of good food.

#13: Simple Pinakbet (The Recipe)

Calm down, calm down...

The recipe you waited for is here. :-D This is simple because it only has the bare necessities: kalabasa, string beans and malunggay. The more elaborate ones include eggplant, okra, malunggay fruit, patani, kalabasa flowers, some wrinkly vegetable that looks like short string beans like the one in the upper right of the picture here. Are you familiar with that? Anyway, the more vegetables you use, the more bagoong and pork you should use as well to make sure that it will stay flavorful.

#12: Simple Pinakbet (yackety yack part)

Pinakbet was something frowned upon by us three Nicomedes siblings. During our youth, we were carnivores. But learning how to love vegetables come with the wisdom of age. :-D This used to be a non-favorite because one, I was too young to want to eat veggies, and two, too foolish to realize that it is one of the tastiest pinoy vegetable dish ever. You just have to learn the trick to cook it right.

#10:Blackened Chicken on Creamed Leafy Bed

I saw this on TV a few weeks ago but it required spinach. Hmmm... spinach may be affordable in POpeye's town but not here in the Philippines. So you know what I did? I substituted it with kangkong (water spinach) and  malunggay! It looked the same, tasted really good and is sure-fire to be very healthy. If you don't know yet, malunggay, when cooked right, it is the ultimate vegetable. You can practically live just eating malunggay leaves as your vegetable! Take this:


"Gram for gram, moringa leaves contain four times the calcium and two times the protein in milk. It also contains seven times the vitamin C in oranges, three times the potassium in bananas, and four times the vitamin A in carrots. "(Ernesto Ordoñez, IInquirer)


I thought that this is such a nice balanced meal that is perfect for lunch or baon for your kids. You just have to stock up on a number of spices first before you do this because this is spice-heavy. Meat and veggies, spicy and creamy, strong and mild. I love this because it is so simple yet when you serve this, it oozes with elegance, flavor, and wholesome goodness,  this should be part of every family's menu! 

#7: Pollo al Ajo

What's for lunch mom?


It's gonna be Pollo al Ajo and Buttered Vegetables. *wink*


Naaaks!


Just saying the name makes you feel like a hotel chef. Remember my post when I said I'll share a recipe that involves chicken, garlic and ginger but it is not tinola? Well, here it is. I learned this dish from a bargain bookstore recipe book. It turned to be a very tasty dish! We have another featured ingredient here that will spell the difference and make an ordinary P50 chicken dish taste like P250. ;-) It's time to try THYME! It is an herb that has a fresh minty, woody bouquet or scent. The dried variety of these little leaves is so potent that a little goes a long way. 

#5: Pig in the Farm Omelette

As promised,  I'm sharing this omelette recipe to you dear friends. Again, you can stuff it with anything sensibly delicious with eggs. As for this recipe, I stuffed them with what's left-over in my fridge and they are namely canned corn, some bacon, baguio beans and tomato paste. But hey, it turned out to be a hearty lunch for my family that we ran out of rice. See the picture? I just snapped it with my cellphone. I promise to take better pictures next time.