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Filipino Crispy Pata Recipe

admin — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:14:48 +0000

Crispy Pata is a special dish to every Filipinos because of its crispiness and very delicious taste. But before I give you the procedure on how to make a good crispy pata, let us try to know first the meaning of the word “crispy pata” and its origin. Crispy pata means deep fried pata with a crunchy rind and soft and moist meat inside. Pata is the front or hind leg of the pig. In the Philippines, that means the leg and the trotters (knuckles).

Always remember to have a best pata, we must be very selective when buying pig’s hind leg. It is very important to choose a young pig rather than the old one because the more mature the pig, the thicker and tougher the rind. Frying alone is not the only step in cooking this dish; the pata has to be boiled to tenderness prior to deep-frying.

According to the oldies, one has to drip-dry the pata after boiling and then allow it to air-dry for a day prior to deep-frying. It is definitely not true. For as long as you drain, cool and, preferably, chill the boiled pata, there’s no reason why you can’t boil and fry it on the same day.

Procedures:

At first, you should boil the pork hocks or the knuckles with enough water and spiced with garlic, peppercorns, salt, bay leaf, and soy sauce. Some recipe also indicates the inclusion of 7-up or Sprite in the boil. So it’s your preference, it really doesn’t matter at all. Boil until it become tender for not less than 2 hours. It only takes less time if you have a pressure cooker.

Once the pata is tender, you need to drain it well. Please make sure it becomes dry to obtain crispiness. Probably hang it so it can drip or at least, blot with paper towel.

You need to deep-fry the dried pata and make sure that you have enough oil to cover the pata by doing this in a large kawale (or pan). You start at high heat, then medium heat, then low heat when the skin starts to become golden brown in color. When blisters start to appear, the pata is probably cooked at crispy. Then, your pata is ready to serve for dinner.

Fishball is Pinoy’s Most Tempting Streetfood Delicacies

admin — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:50:29 +0000

Fish balls are made of fish meat that has been finely pulverized by hand and formed into balls. It is a type of food product made from surimi (fish puree or slurry). Fish balls originally came from China but most Filipinos really appreciate the tempting taste of this food and made fish balls as their favorite merienda or snacks. Today, fish balls can be sold almost every street corner in the Philippines. If you buy it in the street, vendors can put the fish balls into stick from wooden deep frying carts.

It is served skewered, offered with a choice of three kinds of dipping sauces: Sour (pale orange colored) – vinegar, water, diced onions and garlic, Sweet (brown gravy colored) – corn starch, banana ketchup, sugar and salt, and Hot/Sour (amber or deeper orange colored) depending upon your taste. Almost every people can enjoy eating fish balls because aside from its very delicious taste, it was specially made for affordability to every Pinoy.

Making fish balls are quite easy and enjoyable. You just follow the basic steps below.

Ingredients:

400 g white fish fillets
750 ml water
½ Medium onion, finely chopped
15 gloves garlic, chopped
25 g chopped onions
60 g flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
250 ml vegetable oil

Procedures:

•   Clean fish fillets well, making sure to remove any remaining fish bones.
•   Put the water in a pot and bring to the boil. Drop the fillets into the water and let cook for about 5 minutes or until flesh is slightly firm, but not flaky.
•   Remove fillets from water.
•   Mash the fillets and mix with onions, garlic, spring onions, flour and eggs.
•   Season with salt and pepper and mix thoroughly to form a smooth batter.
•   Shape the batter into small balls.
•   Heat the oil in a wok. Place the balls in one by one, making sure each ball is completely submerged in the oil for even cooking. You may have to cook the balls in batches.
•   Cook until fish balls are lightly browned.
•   Remove from heat and drain on paper towels.
•   Skewer 2 fish balls onto each toothpick, if desired.
•   Serve with Sweet and Sour sauce or any kinds of dipping sauce of your choice.

Balut (fertilized duck egg) considers a much-loved Filipino Delicacy

admin — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 09:56:00 +0000

Balut is a Mallard duck egg locally known as ‘Pateros itik’ with a nearly-developed inside that is boiled and eaten in the shell. They are common, everyday food in some countries in Southeast Asia particularly in the Philippines. Many people believed to be an aphrodisiac and considered a high-protein, hearty snack, balut are mostly sold by street vendors in the regions where they are available. It is also come together with “chicharon”, fried thin slices of pork fat or skin upon selling in the streets.

Balut is an incubated egg with developed embryo of 17 to 19 days which is boiled and eaten with or without salt. It is a Filipino delicacy that commands a good price. Fresh duck eggs are also used to prepare a dessert called “leche flan” (egg custard). According to Ti Sencia (a traditional balut-maker), the best balut – also known as “balut sa puti” – is made by allowing the eggs to incubate from 16 to 17 days. Eighteen days is still okay, but go beyond that and the sisiw will be too large for leisurely consumption. Egg shell thickness is also a very important factor in the handling and processing of “balut” and salted eggs. Today, balut production has not been mechanized in favor of the traditional production by hand. Although balut are produced throughout the Philippines, balut-makers in Pateros are renowned for their careful selection and incubation of the eggs.

Instructions for eating balut:

1. Boil water gently in a pot, and put the balut in it for a few minutes.
2. Untwist the salt and put it in a dish. (A dipping dish, the kind used for soy sauce or patis, works very well.)
3. Hold the balut upright and, with the underside of a spoon, make a crack at the top of the egg.
4. Chip away pieces of eggshell with your finger until you have a hole about the diameter of a finger. (This could be bigger, it depends.)
5. Sometimes you’ll see some kind of gauzy membrane. Pierce it.
6. You can peek inside the balut now and see broth.
7. Tip the egg to your mouth and suck out the amniotic fluid.
8. Continue removing the eggshell. Depending on how you cracked it open, you may then see an undifferentiated mass of stuff that feels like slightly runny, soft-boiled egg in texture. Dip the stuff in the salt and eat it.
9. Or you may encounter a hard, spherical section that looks like a seed. Throw that away.
10. Or you may finally get to the jackpot: the duck fetus. You may pick it up by the head — at which point the body unrolls from its fetal position and its little legs dangle — dip it into the salt, and pop it into your mouth.
11. Wash down with a cold bottle of San Miguel beer.

Filipino Chop Suey Recipe

admin — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 11:48:28 +0000

Chop Suey is originally an American-Chinese dish which consists of meats (often chicken, beef, shrimp or pork), cooked quickly with vegetables such as bean sprouts, cabbage, and celery and bound in a starch-thickened sauce but Filipinos also have their own version of this dish. It is typically served with rice but can become the Chinese-American form of chow mein with the addition of deep-fried noodles.

Its origins are as mysterious as a dish itself is guileless. According to a favored bit of lore, chop suey is mispronounce of “chopped sewage”, an angered Chinese cook having mixed together the day’s garbage in a bit of broth and presented it to San Francisco restaurant patrons who’d earned his ire. Not knowing any better, those being insulted loved the dish, and much to the amused bewilderment of their tormentors, returned time and again to order it.

Ingredients:

•    1/4 kilo pork, sliced into small pieces
•    1/4 kilo shrimps, shelled, deveined and halved
•    1/4 kilo chicken liver and gizzard, sliced to small pieces
•    1/4 kilo cauliflower, broken to bite size
•    1/4 kilo string beans
•    1/4 kilo snow peas (sitsaro)
•    1/4 kilo cabbage, cut into squares
•    2 stalks of leeks, cut into 2″ long pieces
•    3 stalks celery, cut into 2″ long pieces
•    5 cloves garlic, diced
•    2 onions, diced
•    1 carrot, sliced thinly
•    1 piece red bell pepper, cut in strips
•    1 piece green bell pepper. cut in strips
•    2 tablespoons of cornstarch, dissolved in 1/4 cup of water
•    2 cups chicken stock (broth)
•    3 tablespoons of sesame oil
•    3 tablespoons of patis (fish sauce)
•    4 tablespoons of corn oil or vegetable oil
•    Salt to taste

Procedures:

•    In a big pan or wok, sauté garlic, onions then add in the pork. chicken liver and gizzard. Add 1 cup of stock, pinch of salt and simmer for 15 minutes or until pork and chicken giblets are cooked.
•    Mix in the shrimp then all the vegetables. Add the remaining 1 cup of stock, patis and the dissolved cornstarch. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the vegetables are done. Add the sesame oil.
•    Salt and pepper to taste.
•    Serve hot with rice.

Filipino Sinigang na Baboy (Sour Soup Pork) Recipe

admin — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:16:49 +0000

Sinigang is a Filipino dish famous for the variety of ingredients one can use as well as for its taste. Though considered a soup, it is not eaten as is, but rather combined as a viand with rice. Sinigang is typically sour and is most often likened to Thailand’s tom yam. Sinigang’s characteristic taste is attributed to the ingredient that gives its sour taste, not to the meat’s flavor.

If you intend to serve the sinigang as a soup then, the significant thing is to have the best quality broth you can make. That means bones — lots of bones. If, however, you intend to serve the sinigang as the main dish, you need meatier cuts of pork. Otherwise, you’ll be practically serving rice with broth and vegetables and very little meat. Sinigang na baboy is a sour soup and putting tamarind as the main souring agent. Love it with bony parts or even slabs of pork fat. These, of course, must be simmered for quite a while to be tender and nice.

Ingredients:

500 gm boney pork
3-4 medium tomatoes – sliced
1 big onion – sliced
1 Tbsp sea salt
1-2 green chilis – pointed ends cut off [optional]
6-8 cups water
souring agent (tamarind puree, lemon and/or lime)
1 aubergine (eggplant) – sliced 1 inch thick and quartered
1 bunch long string beans (sitaw) [optional] – cut into 2 inch pieces
2 taro roots (gabi) – peeled and quartered
spinach leaves or kangkong – washed and plucked from stems

Directions:

•    Combine tomatoes, onion, and sea salt in a big pot. Mix and mash them a little bit with your fingers. Add chilis (optional) and pork.
•    Pour just enough water to cover them and bring to boil. Cook for about 3 minutes. Mash the tomatoes with a sandok (cooking spoon).
•    Pour in the rest of the water, bring to boil and simmer until pork is tender (about 1 1/4 hours).   Add taro, aubergine and sitaw. Bring to boil and simmer until taro is almost cooked (about 5 minutes).
•    Add the souring agent and spinach (for tamarind puree I use about 1/2 cup of it plus a squeeze of lemon/lime). Cook for 1-2 minutes. Taste soup and adjust seasonings accordingly. Serve.