A Simple Curry Rice Dinner

Cooking a curry dish using instant Japanese curry roux

Curry is a popular dish in Japan which was introduced by the British. One common curry dish is the curry rice. It is basically rice mixed with vegetables (onions, carrots and potatoes), meat (chicken , pork or beef) and the curry sauce. Instant curry roux is now available in supermarkets (Japanese section) or specialty stores. I remember tasting a very delicious  curry rice in one of our overnight trips in Japan. I sometimes craved for the unique sweet and little spicy taste of curry (the taste is different from the Indian or Thai curry), that's why in one of my visits at a Japanese store in QC, I bought one of the curry sauces available. In our simple dinner, Apple sauteed onions and chicken, followed by the carrots and potatoes. Water was mixed and the curry roux was poured on the mixture until the mixture became rich. Add a little salt (or patis) and pepper. Apple served the curry rice with scrambled eggs. The Japanese eat curry rice using only a spoon. So we served the curry rice with spoons only. The kids asked "where is the fork?" I told them you don't need a fork to eat curry rice. Curry rice with scrambled eggs. A simple dinner but yummy!

Curry rice with egg.

Lechon Ambula

Rayfer is the master cook among the cousins when it comes to lechon ambula

Ambula is a Kapampangan (Pampango) term for  rice mixed with viands. The closest example of an ambula dish is rice toppings. During the Geronimo - Maria Coronel family reunions, lechon ambula is a favorite. Ambula is simply rice mixed with chopped lechon meat and salt. It was a dish that originated from Lolo Memong of Floridablanca, Pampanga. Our Lolo Memong, the Oldies say, used to feed us with his bare hands with the ambula so that the clan becomes a closely-knit family. The ambula is a dish itself -no need for viands or sauce. If you love lechon - the skin, fat and meat -  and haven't tried the ambula, then you are missing one of the simplest yet tastiest lechon dishes. And you can only taste the ambula when you join a Coronel reunion. Mangan tana!

Ambula - rice, lechon and salt: simple but yummy!

A Mother's Day Tribute: Missing my Mom's Cooking

I miss my mom. I miss her dishes. Her cooking is an expression of her heart's or Corazon's love to her children. That's why her dishes always fill our tummies with nutritious food and make our hearts more loving. This mother's day, I pay tribute to my mom, Corazon Coronel Oreta (June 15, 1931- June 22, 1979) through a list of three dishes that she cooked and that I really miss.

1. Ginisang Bulaklak ng Kalabasa

When we were living inside Basa Air Base, Pampanga, I remember our vegetable garden with flowers of the kalabasa (pumpkin), alugbati and root crops like kamoteng kahoy. The ginisang bulaklak ng kalabasa my mom cooked from the flowers harvested from our garden always come to my mind whenever I pass by an open market and see the yellow flowers of the pumpkin. Cooking this vegetable is so simple yet I sledom find this in restaurants. You  may saute the vegetables and flowers with bagoong or coconut milk to introduce a different taste. Make sure the flowers are not overcooked so that when you eat it you will feel the crispiness and rough texture of the flower.

2. Pork Humba

Humba is a sweet pork dish like the adobo but it is highlighted with certain ingredients such as brown sugar, salted black beans, and sometimes banana blossoms. It is a dish not for those who are in diet or reducing in cholesterol.

My mom cooks her humba in a claypot until the pork is so tender that it melts in your mouth. I've tried the humba at several restaurants in Metro Manila but  so far no resto was able to equal the quality and taste of my mom's version. At home, too much "taba" or fat is a NO NO especially to my wife. But it's the fat that makes the humba awesome!

3. Nilagang Baboy

Nilaga is a simple dish and easy to cook. You just throw everything - the pork, the vegetables, onions, potato, etc. and let it cook until tender.  I can easily cook the nilaga but I still miss my mom's version. I remember my mom saving a bone (from a ham) and let it dry under the sun. Whenever she cooks the nilaga she includes the bone with the other ingredients. So when you taste the soup, there is that unique taste of ham in the nilaga which you will not find in an ordinary nilaga.

Mommy's special pasta

"Kesong Puti Pasta" - my version :-)

I had a dinner date with friends at LA Cafe in Timog QC. Among the food we gorged, I mean ate, is the "kesong puti (cottage cheese) pasta" that, according to the waiter, is the late Doreen Fernadez's favorite. And indeed, it was really nice - it has a taste so finesse, you can savor each of the ingredients in your palate - fresh cherry tomatoes, kesong puti, and basil leaves. The simplicity of the flavor lingered in my palate-memory (if there's such a thing) that I've attempted to imitate it.

Instead of cherry tomatoes, I used the big, plump tomatoes (those as big as apples), and instead of just kesong puti, I added mozzarella (for the simple reason that the kesong puti you get from groceries are too madaya (cheats) - it looks big, but it's actually just the banana-leaves' wrapping that's bulky. The actual cheese you see once all the wrappings are removed are too small, you can perhaps fill 4 small pandesals (Pinoy buns) with it. (I later discovered that the Nestle cottage cheese taste almost the same, and with the same price you get more cheese, and its shelf-life lasts longer.)

Preparing (my imitation) is actually easy.

1. Heat olive oil, then add crushed garlic - the amount of garlic depends on how much garlic-ky you want your pasta.

2. Once the garlic's in (maybe after 20 seconds) - don't let it brown - add the sliced tomatoes. For 300g (spaghetti) pasta, I use about 1/2 kl of tomatoes (you can also use ordinary tomatoes). Add a dash of salt (adjust according to your taste)

3. When the tomatoes are cooked and saucy (the skin easily peels from the meat), add the cheese and basil. Allow it to boil for about 30 seconds (1 minute max) only, since the cottage cheese, when cooked, melts and sticks to the pan. You don't want that, you want the cottage cheese to retain its texture and taste. As I've mentioned, I've added mozzarella in my first attempt.

Voila - my kids loved it! (see picture above)

In succeeding attempts, I've been more adventurous. Once, I made it with 4 different cheese - cheddar, mozzarella, Colby's (Anchor/New Zealand), and cottage cheese; on another occasion, I added canned tuna (see picture below).

"Tuna Pasta"

Now, whenever my kids feel like eating pasta on any (special) occasion, they'd alway request for "Mommy's special pasta..." aaahhhh, music to my ears :-)

PS: Daddy likes Spanish sardines pasta (we tried it at Mary Grace Cafe) .. maybe I will try it soon ....

Blog written by Apple

Yummy Yema Candies

What can I say about the yema made by Apple and Geof? Hmm sweet and yummy!

What's the recipe? TOP SECRET!

Apple's Omurice of Tuna Paella

Omurice is "a contemporary Japanese dish consisting of an omelette made with fried rice"(Wikepedia). It's one of the dishes that we usually order at Mashitta at the UP Shopping Center.

During the Christmas break, Andy bought several cans of Century Tuna Paella. This canned food is a favorite of the kids. Andy suggested: "why not make an omelette with the tuna paella inside?". So during one of those relaxing nights, Apple was inspired to create her omurice using the tuna paella as the filling. She was so happy and proud with the outcome - you know, it's difficult to roll the egg with the filling inside and come up with a complete omurice, It takes a lot of practice to create a perfect omurice. So she did not only served the dish in one of our dinners but she also prepared the dish again during our new year lunch at her family's residence at Malabon.

Omurice with Tuna Paella? Try it.

How to make Potato Croquettes

Our balikbayan neice, Melissa saw our blog on potato croquettes and was anxious to help in the preparation of our favorite Christmas dish. It took only a few instructions and she already got the hang of it. Below is Melissa, expertly making the potato balls.

Here's how I make potato croquettes.

1. First, sautee the meat - I use lean ground pork - in garlic and onion. I also add mushroom and hotdogs, but it's really optional.

2. Boil the potatoes. Once soft, mash them. Add a pinch of salt and pepper.

3. Using your hand, get a handful of the mashed potato and flatten it. Put the meat inside and shape the potato into a ball (you can actually make different shapes, like egg-shaped or cylindrical-shaped). I also add cheese in the filling. Ensure that the filling is thoroughly covered. Make sure also that the meat is dry - leave behind the oily sauce. (Also, don't make the potato ball too big - I made the mistake of making humongous balls, and they turn into disaster when I fried them - each bursts open because of the weight, spilling the insides! )

4. Roll the ball into beaten eggs and breadcrumbs.

5. Deep fry until golden brown.

Presto! Delicious home-made croquettes! It's a bit crunchy on the outside but soft inside. The meat and cheese taste yummy with the hot mashed potato. No sauce requried. It's best eaten with wine and cheese.

20/60: My Survival Cooking Dishes

20+1/60. Twenty main recipes in sixty days. This is how I summarize my survival cooking experience when I managed our household cooking chores during the two months that Apple was in Tokyo. I asked Geof how he rates the main dishes displayed in this slide show of my survival cooking dishes. Most of them were rated "5" except for the giniling and paksiw - rated "4" and the other dishes that he does not eat - ampalaya and chopsuey - he is not fond of vegetables and the pusit meat but he loves the sauce. Ofcourse aside from these 20 main dishes, there were others which required simple frying or heating of some ready-to-eat food like tocino, longganiza, hot dog, chicken nuggets, dried fish, pork chop, spare ribs, instant noodles and the fried dalagang bukid fish (Geof's favorite fish).

Daddy's survival cooking dishes from andyoreta

Fried Chicken ala Max's and chopsuey

I planned to cook other dishes like kilawin kapampangan and sinigang na hipon but was not able to cook them - I was busy lately. Over-all, the experience was very rewarding - imagine with these dishes I can set up a small carinderia .. or may be I will just play "Cafe World" and create my virutual restaurant at Facebook.

Read my other blogs on survival cooking.

Survival Cooking Challenges

Wow. Cooking really is very challenging. Sometimes you have to make do with the available ingredients. Sometimes you just have to decide on how to cook a dish based on images from your memory of a favorite dish. Cooking is sometimes a "trial and error" activity. I don't remember cooking shrimp rebosado or meat balls sarciado or pork giniling BUT these are the kids' favorites. So I ventured to cook these dishes. For the shrimp rebosado, Apple give me online tips on how to prepare the batter and sauce. Cooking the giniling is not difficult since I remember from memory the colorful ingredients of carrots and potatoes. As for the meatballs, Vangie and I just made our own mix of pork, onions, carrots and flour. Then I prepared the sarciado sauce of garlic, onion, tomatoes and tomato sauce. Geof and I love fried "dalagang bukid" fish. To add a little variation to it, I prepared the sweet and sour escabeche sauce of ginger, onions and bell pepper - this was a first for me. I also prepared dishes with vegetables so the kids will learn to eat the greens. But I need to add some incentives like quail eggs in the chopsuey or more pieces of potatoes in the pork nilaga.

Happy cooking to all the dads!

Survival Cooking - Fusion Dishes?

The second part of my survival cooking tips is about dishes with a twist. Apple calls them "fusion" dishes. When I posted the photo of my beef steak as beef steak tagalog, I was surprised by the comments of FB friends including my wife on why my beef steak has potatoes. Maybe beef steak tagalog has no potatoes. But I remember eating beef steak with potatoes and I love it. So that's what I cooked for my children. And I know that Geof and Julia love potatoes. I first fry the potatoes before mixing it with the chicken which was marinated overnight and the sauce. To avoid confusion with the "tagalog" version, let me just call my recipe as just "beef steak with potatoes".

I love Max's style fried chicken. Its' crispy and tasty especially when eaten with ketchup and worcestershire sauce. So when I found the recipe in the pinoy food blog, I tried the recipe and was successful in coming up with almost the same as the original Max's style fried chicken. FB friends asked for the recipe and I just sent them the link to pinoy food blog. The last time we ate at Max's, I didn't order their chicken because I already know their secret.

Another recipe that I really miss is the recipe which I will just call as "pork vegetable soup". My cousin, Ate Dina, cooked this recipe one day when we had lunch at their house. I told her I missed eating this soup. According to her, it is an original recipe from Sta. Rita, Pampanga and she doesn't know the recipe's name. Knowing the basic ingredients of the soup - pork, potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes - I ventured cooking it. The preparation is very simple. You simply saute' the pork with the garlic, onion and tomatoes and then add the water, potatoes and cabbage. Add salt, pepper and pork broth for the taste.

The final dish in the photo is the pork and chicken adobo. I usually cook adobo by mixing the pork and chicken with vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, salt and black pepper together and boil. But this time, I asked Apple to send me her adobo recipe by email which I really love. Her instructions to me: first to tender the pork in water, salt, black pepper and laurel leaves . Then add the chicken and liver. When all the meat ingredients are tender, ONLY then that you add the vinegar (this is a very important advice from her mom). Add a half cube of pork or chicken broth(optional). You may add a little soy sauce for taste and color. Then, in a separate pan, fry crushed garlic until brown and then saute the adobo meat without the sauce. Add the sauce and boiled eggs and simmer.

Happy cooking!

Survival Cooking with Tomato Sauce

Now that my wife, Apple is not around to cook for us - she's in Tokyo for two months until Nov. 14, 2009 - I have to use my survival cooking techniques which I applied in Japan when I was studying at Nagoya for five years. I learned the basics of cooking from one of our house cooks, Tits when I was a first year college student. The most important task in basic cooking is how to saute' or "gisa" the garlic or ginger and onions. The next thing to remember is knowing which ingredients to put in the proper order - the meat comes first, followed by potatoes and/or carrots, then the vegetables. The seasonings - salt, pepper, soy sauce, sugar or whatever - are done for the taste. We never use "vetsin" or MSG! If you know these basic cooking tips, then the rest will be easy. Food recipes can serve as a guide only in your cooking.

Tomato sauce is a very useful ingredient in cooking many Filipino recipes. Shown in the photos are some of the tomato sauce-based recipes I cooked for the kids - chicken afritada, beef ampalaya, bangus sarciado and pork menudo. What distinguishes these recipes from each other are some of the ingredients and seasoning. The afritada has the red bell pepper strips, the sarciado has onion and tomatoes only while the menudo has assorted meat ingredients like liver, hotdog and potatoes. Of course, the beef amplaya has the bitter taste which the kids don't like yet.

When you cook, you must be organized. I prepare all the ingredients - chopped onions, potatoes, carrots, etc - before starting the fire. Cooking is a very relaxing and an exhilarating activity. It also enhances your creativity and resourcefulness - sometimes you have to invent your own recipe with the available ingredients in your refrigerator. My son, Geof, is starting to appreciate cooking - he's now a member of the Ateneo Grade School's Bleu Chefs. Happy Cooking to all Dads!

Kaya Toast? Kayang Kaya!

We had lunch with friends at the Old China Town - Kopitiam at Maria Clara St. near Banawe, QC. Old China Town serves Singapore and Malaysian dishes. Well, I am not here to review the main dishes but their Kaya toasts. Kaya toast is a popular snack among Singaporeans and Malaysians. It was my first time to taste a Kaya toast and it was good. My kids loved it also. Essentially, Kaya spread made of coconut, egg and sugar and butter or margarine are spread on two pieces of preferably toasted bread. We had several orders of Kaya toasts that the owner offered to sell their Kaya Spread to us. So each of us took home one bottle of Kaya Spread (P138.00 each). Here is a video of Apple preparing Kaya Toasts at home. The secret to a delicious Kaya Toast is ofcourse the Kaya Spread and the bread (wheat bread when toasted becomes crispy unlike ordinary bread).

Anthony Bourdain eats Pampanga's Sisig

I just watched the popular author and tv host of No Reservations, Anthony Bourdain eating Pampanga's famous "Sisig" at this video from YouTube.

Yes, Bourdain visited the Philippines last year and featured Filipino cuisine including street food in his show, "No Reservations." He actually visited three places - Manila, Pampanga and Cebu. Watch him eat "Tapsilog" for breakfast and then he tried the chicken balls and taho along the busy streets of Manila. The pancit palabok was also featured. In Angeles, Pampanga, Bourdain ate goat meat, sinigang na bangus, chicken liver barbecue, sisig, "Pako" or fern salad, kare-kare and quails. In Cebu, (Go to Bourdain at Cebu) he had high praises for the famous lechon of Cebu. To quote him from his blog "It can now be said that of all the whole roasted pigs I've had all over the world, the slow roasted lechon I had on Cebu was the best." He ranked it number one followed by Bali and Puerto Rico. Wow! At least we're number ONE in something good (not only corruption! ooops! I am just so proud to be a Filipino). Bourdain also visited the dry fish market of Tabo-an, Cebu.

I don't know when this episode will be shown in the cable tv in Manila. Anyway you can watch the show at YouTube c/o mrfhardy's video.

Flavored Rice? Use Ora Mix Mo

My son, Geof, is picky with food. But when I prepared Java rice using the sauce I brought home from Indonesia, he enjoyed it too much, he ate it even without any viand. So when I discovered the Clara Ole Ora Mix Mo rice mixes, I was really happy. Each packet contains sauce good for 2 cups of rice. Just heat the pan, put a little oil, pour the rice mix and the rice (I let the sauce boil a little before I put in the rice) - and viola, I have an instant flavored rice. What I also liked about the mixture is that it has no MSG (at least that's what the packet-information declares). So it's easy to prepare a 'one-pot-wonder' where you can mix the viand with the flavored rice. It comes in different flavors - adobo, beef steak, tocino, paella, java, and japanese fried rice. Each rice packet costs only Php11. Review by Apple.

Apple's Potato Croquette

Many Filipinos look forward to Noche Buena because of the lechon or the ham. But for me and Geoffrey, Noche Buena means tasting Apple's Potato Croquette. It's only this time of the year when Apple prepares our favorite potato dish. Apple's Croquette is a deep fried potato shaped as a disk and filled with minced meat and cheese. It is soft and creamy - cheese and meat flow in your mouth when you bite it. Croquette is delicious especially when accompanied with Novellino's classic sweet red wine. Hmm....yummy!

Nanay's Specialties

My mom is the greatest cook. Well, of course, everyone's mom is always the greatest to their kids. But I learned to appreciate good taste from my mom's cooking. She would always use the freshest vegetables and choiciest cuts in meat in her cooking. Her measurements are precise (to us, measurement means 1 tsp or 1/2 cup etc - but it doen't work that way with her. She measures with her hands, or the regular cups found at home, or the most accurate of all, her tastebuds).

The picture here is "batchoy" Malabon style - similar to Pampanga's batchoy. It's cut pork meat (tenderloin), spleen, and liver boiled in ginger and onion. Once tender, miswa (chinese thin-flour noodle) is mixed and simmered for about one minute. It's one of my favorite dishes.

"Halaya" (sweet purple yam) is anoher specialty. Halaya is ground purple yam mixed with coconut milk (kakang gata), sugar, milk, butter/ margarine. It's cooking needs constant stirring to prevent the solution from sticking on the pan. The constant stirring also helps to make the yam soft, thick, and chewy. Every Christmas and New Year, we always look forward tasting this homemade goody. That's my mom in the picture, oblivious to her surrounding, too busy putting butter around the inside of the llanera (tin-can mould) to prevent the yam from sticking.

"Hamonado" is also a signature dish by mom. It's pork tenderloin marinated with sugar, salt, and pineapple juice. My mom rolls the meat and ties it to get a round-shaped meat. It is then simmered to the marinate-solution until tender. So the end-product produces a round-shaped pork-meat with thick sweet-salty sauce.

It's a pity that my cooking is just survival-style cooking and have not developed the passion and patience to make these dishes. Although of course I know how these are made, I can only approximate the taste, much more the appearance of these specialties. But thanks to mom, I was able to develop good taste in food.

Crabs - Adobo Style (Pampanga)

Whenever crabs are served in our reunion or fiesta in Pampanga, they are cooked "adobo" style. I have never seen adobo crabs in the menu of restaurants including the "dampa" in Metro Manila. Usually, the choices for crab dishes in restaurants are steamed, sauteed with garlic or chili sauce but not adobo. So during this Christmas holiday, I requested my loving wife, Apple to try to cook the adobo crabs. Through the instructions given by my cousin, Ate Dina who is an expert when it comes to this dish, Apple succeeded in cooking the crab dish. I ate with gusto during our dinner. Crabs Adobo style is cooked similar to our ordinary pork or chicken adobo wherein the crabs are boiled with water, vinegar, salt and garlic. Then the crabs are sauteed with the crab egg meat with onions. garlic, and calamansi. The recipe looks simple but I wonder why crabs-adobo style is not served in seafood restaurants?