Adventure Time Inspired Mega Sandwich

After helping around the house, cooking for the local town "fiesta" for 6 hours straight, I am left at the kitchen with a lot of left over ingredients.

Still the "mega sandwich" made by Jake in the cartoon series "Adventure Time" in my mind. I decided to combine a mad mix of stuff around the kitchen to make my own version.

What I ended up using were:

2 white bread (fill only as halves, so I'll be making 2 sandwiches)
garlic mayo (crushed garlic mixed with mayo and sugar)
deep fried chinese style meatloaf (embotido)
half a cup of minced red onion
half a cup of minced green chilis
pre-grated parmesan cheese
lettuce
chunk bits of leftover fried chicken

First off, I make a base coating of garlic mayo. Then mix up the meatloaf with the chicken bits and lay them out on the bread. Put another coat of garlic mayo then spreading some of the onions and chilis. Give a generous dusting of pre-grated parmesan cheese. Close with the leafy parts of the lettuce topped with another coat of garlic mayo. Fold the bread then go at it Taco-style.

This is gonna be awesome!!!!

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My mom taught me a way of cleaning a shrimp that I never heard of before. My brother calls it "Gutting the Shrimp".

First, use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut off the sharp end of the shrimp's snout, the one usually stabbing the hands of those sauted shrimp movices, taking along the long thread like feelers. It makes it easier to handle the shrimp and also makes a lesser mess in the cooking (and ultimately the eating) process.

Next step is using a thin, small bread knife and punch along the second scale from the tail just below the central nerve. Using the blunt edge, slowly pull the knife out, pulling with it the white, tranluscent tube with a black innards. My mom calls it the intestine because it has the waste from the previous meal by the shrimp. My brother calls it the spinal nerve. By taking it to the surface, gently pull it and you have a smelly blackj string of...something.

My mom told me it helps to make the shrimp safer to consume because eating crustasceans is really like a russian roullette. To be honest, it made handlling the shrimp better and less smelly. I don't know if all cooks prepare shrimps this way because I have had some with their hairy feelers, harpoons and black entrails still in the stew.

Vegetable Cheese Risotto

Risotto is an Italian method of cooking rice using different soup base (meat, fish etc.) and adding either wine or cheese into the mix.

My recent venture to make Chahan ended up into a type of Risotto by using the juices from the vegetables I added, although the rice was already cooked using water as a base. The Philippine fried rice is essentially refrying rice that was cooked either the night before or a few hours earlier, turning into what we call 'Bahaw' (cold, leftover rice).

For this experiment, the portions depends on the volume of rice you have to fry. For every bowl you would need 2 whole tomatoes, 1 large bulb of onion, 1/4 bar of cheese and 3 to 5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped.

First, fry the garlic till golden brown, then add the sliced onion. As the onion caramelizes, add the rice then toss vigurouly,letting the juices of the garlic and the onion into the rice. Then add the diced tomatoes, including the juices that accumulated during the slicing process. Add a dash of pepper and a few pinches of salt to taste. Also add a few dashes of McCormick Italian Seasoning. Then add the grated cheese from the 1/4 bar that you had. Mix until the cheese is melted and seems to coat every grain of rice, making them clumpy and almost gooey. I also added shredded scrambled eggs for extra texture.

You should end up with a salty,cheesy but refreshing mix of rice and vegetables. You can add in other Chahan essentials (like pieces of pork, etc.) in the tradition of the mixed fried rice.

Experiment: Remove the Chemical Taste in Canned Corned Beef

I don't know why but recent incarnations of the humble canned corned beef's taste has changed since my childhood days. You can really taste the chemicals used as preservatives (especially in some famous brands).

My favorite brand is Libby's due to the absence of the chemical-like taste, the over all flavor, and its juiciness despite being a bit dry.

But, alas, my fave brand is a bit expensive. So I have to make do with the usual popular brands.

To 'clean and rinse' the chamical taste, I first sauted some garlic and onions, put in the canned corned beef and put in a quarter cup of water. Wait until the water boils then lower the flame. Cook until the water has evaporated from the mix.

Add a dash of black pepper and a pinch of salt. Feeling a bit adventurous, I added a dash of McCormick's Italian Seasoning.

Continue mixing in the pan until almost all the moisture has evaporated.

Midnight Snack Alert

Getting hungry in the middle of the night,I decided to fix up a little something something using the leftovers my wife used for her okonomiyaki.

First off, shredding some carrots and leeks.

For the cabbage, I shredded them in two different styles for texture. I sliced the half in strips and the other half julienne style.

Mix them together. Add some iodized salt and a generous portion of mayonnaise.

Mix thoroughly and put it through a bit of a cold treatment by setting it aside in the freezer.

While I do love eating veggies, I gotta have meat when hunger becons in the middle of the night. So with I have to deal with the sweet ham left over.

I don't particularly like sweet ham, so I treated it with a dash of black pepper and a pinch of iodized salt, hand mix, and slow cooked over a medium flame.

In cooking the ham, I used a vegetable oil brushed teflon pan.

With a minimal amount of oil, the glazing or sweet coating will be seared off.

I now therefore call this combo : CHUNKY CRUNCHY CABBAGE SALAD with PAN SEARED PEPPERED HAM

Adobo Flake Sisig

With a bunch of leftover Pork Adobo and Chicken Curry, I had an idea of having various meat flakes crushed and deep fried. I remembered having some fried Pork Adobo flakes from a few years back and I thought it would be a good idea to try and make it.

With the Pork Adobo and Chicken Curry, seperate the skin, bones and fat,leaving the meat behind.


Crush the meat, pressing down parallel to the muscle and tendons, dividing them into strips and flakes.

Then put the mixed meat flakes in the frying pan with preheated oil. Fry until the white parts of the flakes turn golden brown.

Halfway through, I then thought about adding some onions and eggs. From the inital idea of having some Pork Adobo flakes, it quickly turned into a 'Pork Sisig'-esque kind of viand.

After the mixed meat flakes turn golden brown, add a bulb of medium sized purple onion, chopped. Allow the juices from the onion to bleed through and mix into the meat and the oil.

Then proceed to add the eggs to bind the mixed meat together, and also to add some texture. Season with a few piches of iodized salt.

Cook until the eggs are fluffy.

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THE FINISHED PRODUCT:

Serve with a side of soy sauce, lemons optional.

Peanut Kisses straight from Bohol

Peanut Kisses...

I heard about this a long time ago, and my friend recommended that I find it when I go to Bohol.

This local delicacy is made of egg whites and crushed peanuts, and let me tell you, its the shiznizzle. Its sweet, crunchy and nutty, all for a very good price. I also love the way its packaged, proudly stamped by the agencies that help develop and boost the appeal of this crunchy treat.

I got my peanut kisses from this 24-hour souvenir shop a few minutes from the airport. "Angel-whatsis-something". I can't remember the name of the store clearly.

Peppered Cold Cuts

It was midnight, and I was having hunger pangs. I was looking for some heavy meat to cook but all I found are some cold cuts. I remembered that black pepper thickens the taste of light meat. With this I proceeded to spring something which I called Peppered Cold Cuts.

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Ingredients:

cold cuts (for this I used 4 whole slices of Bologna ham cut into strips, marinated with 1/4 teaspoon of iodized salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.)

white onion (a small bulb, half to be cut into rings, the other half are diced)

cheese (grated)

mayonnaise (1 tablespoon)

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You then proceed to fry the cold cuts first for a few minutes, browning the meat, before adding the white onion rings. After two minutes add the diced onions. These time difference in cooking the onions gives the variety of texture for this simple dish.

Drain the oil from the mix before transferring to a dish.

Grate in a generous portion of cheese (depending to your preference to cheese) and add the mayo. Give it a good tossing before transferring to the serving dish.

Although its texture is not those of the other thick red meat, the flavor is enough to get you through...serve as a rice topping or along some mashed potatoes.

Enjoy :-)

Tuna Chahan: A Lenten Season Special

On a Good Friday morning, I was brainstorming what breakfast to make at my sister's house. While picking out the ingredients at the nearby store, planning to make Chahan (fried rice with mixed meat and veggies), when I cam across Century Tuna flakes in oil. I though of mixing up a Tuna Chahan.

After chopping up some garlic, onions and tomatoes, I poured the oil from the tuna on the frying pan to use as a base for the saute. I was surprised to find that the solution is not all made of oil, which evaporated almost instantly as it hit the heated frying pan. I then added a bit of coconut oil and proceeded to saute the garlic and onion. I then added the tomatoes with the juices to expand the base. The smell that came off it is not your typical garlic-onion saute...it has a bit of a fishy odor to it. Lastly I added the rice from last night's meal and added some iodized salt. Be sure to mash the pre-cooked rice by hand before adding it to the mix. For fried rice, rock salt would have been better but they only had iodized salt so I needed to add more. Iodized salt can only add flavor to a small area unlike rock salt, which can spread around with a more recognizable taste even with a small amount.

Adding the tuna's oil added a greasy texture to the mix (a texture I dislike in some fried rice) so I had to cook a bit longer to get the desired taste and texture. It's done if you get rid of the greasy texture and each pinch of rice has the flavor derived from the garlic and onion saute. After cooking, I topped it off with some scrambled eggs and some whole tuna flakes.

The final taste doesn't deviate that much from your ordinary Chahan, but it does have a hint of tuna. Maybe I could have enhanced the 'seafood'-iness by adding some sweet peas, diced carrots and some small sauted shrimp.

Just a little something to include to your Lenten season repertoire.

Tuna Chahan: A Lenten Season Special

On a Good Friday morning, I was brainstorming what breakfast to make at my sister's house. While picking out the ingredients at the nearby store, planning to make Chahan (fried rice with mixed meat and veggies), when I cam across Century Tuna flakes in oil. I though of mixing up a Tuna Chahan.

After chopping up some garlic, onions and tomatoes, I poured the oil from the tuna on the frying pan to use as a base for the saute. I was surprised to find that the solution is not all made of oil, which evaporated almost instantly as it hit the heated frying pan. I then added a bit of coconut oil and proceeded to saute the garlic and onion. I then added the tomatoes with the juices to expand the base. The smell that came off it is not your typical garlic-onion saute...it has a bit of a fishy odor to it. Lastly I added the rice from last night's meal and added some iodized salt. Be sure to mash the pre-cooked rice by hand before adding it to the mix. For fried rice, rock salt would have been better but they only had iodized salt so I needed to add more. Iodized salt can only add flavor to a small area unlike rock salt, which can spread around with a more recognizable taste even with a small amount.

Adding the tuna's oil added a greasy texture to the mix (a texture I dislike in some fried rice) so I had to cook a bit longer to get the desired taste and texture. It's done if you get rid of the greasy texture and each pinch of rice has the flavor derived from the garlic and onion saute. After cooking, I topped it off with some scrambled eggs and some whole tuna flakes.

The final taste doesn't deviate that much from your ordinary Chahan, but it does have a hint of tuna. Maybe I could have enhanced the 'seafood'-iness by adding some sweet peas, diced carrots and some small sauted shrimp.

Just a little something to include to your Lenten season repertoire.

Mish-Mash: Sisig with Kimchi

If you ever find yourself in Robinson's Pioneer, here's another mish-mash you can do in the food court.

You first get an order of pork sisig from Sisig Hooray and follow up with 2 orders of kimchi from 'Kim n' Chi'.

Now this mix and mash is not for everyone. I just happen to love kimchi. But if you ever try this, you will marvel at the flavors playing around in your mouth. The salty, meaty crunch of the sisig will be augmented with the sour-spicy, veggie crunch of kimchi.

The same combination is used in local cuisine when you find a lechon or any grilled or fried meat combined with a concoction of sour mix of green mangoes, onion and tomatoes called ensalada.

Tilapcharap: The Chicharon from the Sea

Filipinos are always finding ways to reinvent the chicharon, which is deep fried pig's skin that is fluffy in appearance, crunchy and salty. Last weekend I was able to sample one of its varieties in the form of 'Tilapcharap', a signature dish from Pixie's Sinugba.

It is made from the skin of the Tilapia deep fried with Pixie's own mix of seasoning and breading. It tastes interestingly enough like the pig variety but more lean and healthy. The appearance just gets a bit of getting used to. As my niece said, it looks like snake hide, and just like the latter, it goes well with a bit of vinegar and chili.

Enjoy a Cup of Sinigang Tea

Ahhh, the wonderful Pork Sinigang, it's a culinary treat that can lead the world to peace and unity. I love the way how it mixes the saltiness of its pork broth, the spiciness of green chili and pepper, and the sour tang of tamarind. A wonderful cocktail that plays around your taste buds (oh, you wanna play too, come here you little puppy you...heeeeereee puppy puppy puppy).

Sorry, I got a little over poetic there. Thats how much I love that viand we refer to as 'Pork Sinigang'.

I was eating at a small karinderia along Arayat St. in Mandaluyong one day when an epiphany came to me. It came to me like a large metal safe falling down on a helpless coyote in one of those Saturday morning cartoons. It seems to me that, the hospitality food of choice in the Philippines is the humble Pork Sinigang soup.

Now before you send me off to be institutionalized, I would like you to see it from my perspective. While studying in Japan, I learned that the Japanese green tea (referred to as 'ocha') was their hospitality drink. Everytime there is a guest, whether it be social, educational or business, they always serve green tea. Its considered as a refreshing drink in Japan, and its anti-oxidants is like bidding good health to your guests.

Now imagine that, transpose a little, convert welcoming to eating, in a fiesta or a canteen, flush it through the magic-head-trip-trauma-o-meter, fast forward, add ketsup, some spices and vinegar, leave to simmer, then head to your nearest Mini-stop or 7-11 cuz I'm hungry...

Now, where were we? (wow...another meaning for triple 'W') When eating on karinderias, the server will always give you an extra serving of soup (its called soup here but its actually called broth), the most requested is...ding ding ding...Pork Sinigang. That is mostly given to warm our tummies as we wait for our food.

But sometimes, eventhough they say that the soup they're serving is Sinigang, in reality its really Nilaga...

So does that mean that the Nilaga is the food of deception, atrocity and greed?

Hmmmm.....