Kitchen Essentials

Sisig is the favorite pulutan (beer companion) of Filipinos. This food was originated from Pampanga and is made from chopped pig’s snout, ears and liver. My hubby does not like pig’s snout and ears so I used liempo (pork tenderloin) instead.  Tenderloin is pig’s fatty part but there is a way to drain its fat. Cook it on a heated pan until its own oil comes out. Here are my two recipes of crispy sisig. The traditional and the quick and easy recipe.  I used the quick and easy recipe for the picture below.

Procedure: Traditional Recipe
Rub the tenderloin, liver and brain with a pinch of salt and pepper. Wrap the liver and brain in a foil then grill. While grilling the liver and brain, heat a non-stick pan. Place the tenderloin in a pan (low fire only). Do not put oil. Let it cook from its own juice until its oil comes out. Let it cook from its own oil until crisp. Remove from pan, chop then set aside. Put the grilled liver and brain in a separate bowl then smoosh separately while adding 1 tbsp of lime on each bowl. On a pan, heat oil. Saute garlic until golden brown. Add onion, the pork liver and brain, vinegar and soy sauce and cook for 2 minutes. Add the chopped tenderloin and green chili peppers then mix. Remove from heat. Squeeze lime then serve hot.

Quick and Easy Recipe:
This is almost the same as the above procedure. But instead of pork liver and brain, you can use 1 can of ready to eat sisig (Argentina or Purefoods) that can be bought in the groceries. On a pan, put a little oil. Saute garlic until golden brown. Add the sisig in can and simmer for a minute (no need to add vinegar and soy sauce). Add onions, chopped pork tenderloin and green jalapenos then mix. Remove from heat. Squeeze lime then serve hot.

Optional:
Add minced red chili if you want it hot.
Add egg on top after removing it from heat.
Serve it on a very hot sizzling plate.

Water spinach, locally known as kangkong, is a semi-aquatic plant grown as a leaf vegetable. It has high nutritional value and is well adapted to the ecological conditions in tropical countries and in the market especially during the summer time when other vegetables are limited. It is one of my favorite vegetables. I like it in fish and meat stew (sinigang) but I like it most in soy sauce and lime juice or adobo.

Ingredients:

2 pounds kangkong or spinach

3 pcs. tofu (diced and fried)

2 tablespoon lemon or lime juice

5 tablespoons soy sauce

5 cloves garlic (minced)

1 big onion (sliced in rings)

vegetable or corn oil

1/4 cup water

1 tsp. ground black pepper

Procedure:

In a skillet heat oil then fry the tofu. Cut in cubes about 1 inch by 1 inch then set aside. Wash and sort the kangkong or spinach. Separate leaves and cut stems into 2 inches long. In a separate pan, saute the onion rings and garlic in 2 tbsp. oil until golden brown. Add the kangkong stems and cook for 2 minutes. Add kangkong leaves then add lemon or lime juice and soy sauce. Cover and bring to a boil. Add ground pepper to taste and sliced tofu on top.

Remember Wendy's incredible salad bar? Wendy's pioneered the quick service salad bar with the widest and freshest ingredients. We were one of their regular customers who were greatly affected by its lost. Imagine an eat all you can salad at a very affordable price. That was a great way of getting full without worrying about the calories.

Now here is the good news, according to the latest interview at Ken Calwell, chief marketing officer for Wendy’s USA, they are raising the bar on salads again. Yes, Wendy’s is reinventing quick service salads once again. The new fresh and flavorful line-up; Apple Pecan Chicken, BLT Cobb, Spicy Chicken Caesar and Baja, is now available in US restaurants nationwide. Hope it will be available soon here in the Philippines soon.

As of now, whenever hubby and I are craving for salad, we are just making our own version at home.

Ingredients:

250gms. salad macaroni (cooked as per package instructions)

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2tsp. ground black pepper

1tsp. sugar

a dash of salt

strawberry flavored gelatin (cooked as per package instructions)

2 big tomatoes (sliced)

1 medium cucumber (sliced thinly)

lettuce (washed and dried)

1 medium carrot (grated)

1 small can pineapple chunks or any fruit of your choice

Procedure:

Mix all together the first five ingredients then chill. Cut the gelatin into small cubes. Place lettuce on a plate. On top, place salad macaroni, gelatin, and the vegetables. If you are on a diet, you can use the fat free mayonnaise.

I remember my grandmother making Camaron Rebosado. Her recipe is different because unlike other Camaron Rebosado wherein shelled shrimp are dipped in flour and egg mixture, hers is rolled in Shao-mai wrapper together with ground pork and some spices.

Ingredients:

12 pcs. prawns or shrimp (shelled and deveined)

150gms. ground pork

1 medium onion (minced)

5 cloves garlic (minced)

12pcs. big Shao-mai wrapper

1 large egg

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp. soy sauce

salt to taste

cooking oil (for frying)

Procedure:

Shell and devein the prawns, set aside. In a bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients except for the Shao-mai wrapper and cooking oil. Place a shrimp in a Shao-mai wrapper then add a teaspoon of the ground pork mixture. Roll in a triangular shape. Seal edges with water or egg white. Deep fry until golden brown. Can be served with thousand island dressing, sweet and spicy chili sauce or any dressing you want.