Summer in the midst of a Storm

Despite the incessant rain and typhoon-- I dream of summer and the cornucopia of fruits that it yields.

I was so thrilled when I accidentally stumbled upon a mound of native guavas, the small, sweet and fragrant kind. They were at the peak of ripeness that I just could not resist! And so I bought 2 1/2 kilos giddy with the thought that I will get to experiment on making guava jam.

What I see in supermarkets (which are rare these days) is guava jelly. What I wanted to make is true to the fruit, the result of which is a spread that is a dessert in itself!

I remember my grandmother had a lone guava tree in her backyard in Quezon City, next to the fruit-laden tamarind tree. The flesh of the guava was pink and almost sugar-sweet. The tree was short and easy to climb on. And my cousins and I would excitedly devour it. (on other days, we would pick from the neighbor's aratelis tree).

And so, I washed my guavas well and removed the seeds. The ones with soft and mushy pulp were the sweetest and I couldn't resist popping a few in my mouth. It was like going back to my childhood days of summer. The tougher ones, about less than ten pieces had to be removed, otherwise they will leave a bitter (mapakla) aftertaste. So my guess is, I was left with 2 kilos of guavas to cook.

I didn't put much sugar because the guavas were already sweet. I just needed the sugar to heighten the flavor and preserve it.

2 kilos ripe guavas, pitted, discard seeds

2 1/2 to 3 /2 c sugar

1 t salt

juice of 1 lemon

In a deep pot or wok, put the sliced guavas, add about a half to full cup of water, and when boiling, bring the flame down to a simmering heat, leave to cook for 30 minutes. Add salt and sugar and cook for another 15 minutes. Finally, add the lemon juice. When the fruit is soft, let it cool a bit and put in blender. You don't have to liquefy it as a few chunky bits make more enjoyable to eat. Put back in pot or wok and cook till thick and of spreadable consistency. It's like thick fruit sauce.

For me it's still best with thin crackers, with it's sweetness and crunch dancing in my mouth. Or on toasted wholewheat mainly because of the crunch and the earthiness of the bread.

As I was savoring my guava jam one cool morning, I thought it would probably go great with panna cotta. Too late-- my stash was almost gone! However, I have saved a little because I heard that it's wonderful sauce for baked ham. So, I'm saving some for Christmas. And that's not too far away. :-)

Kiss the Cook: Typhoon Pepeng and Hainanese Chicken Rice

Kiss the Cook: Typhoon Pepeng and Hainanese Chicken Rice

Typhoon Pepeng and Hainanese Chicken Rice

Saturday, many waited for Typhoon Pepeng's fury with bated breath-- as they indulged in their favorite comfort food. So did we.

Among those eats that we truly enjoy as a family is Hainanese Chicken Rice. I love this dish because it's simple yet flavorful. It feeds the senses--from the smell to the mouth feel to the taste.

For many who have gone to Singapore, I bet their shopping expeditions were mostly for clothes and shoes. As for me? My luggage had a box which contained the following: A couple of jars of chicken rice mix, 3 bottles of premium soy sauce, 2 small jars of chicken rice chili, 1 bottle of laksa paste, curry mix and black pepper mix and 6 bottles of kaya jam for pasalubong. I also brought home difficult to find spices like cardammon. And given the chance to go back--I will bring home more of the same things!

Because I won't be going to Singapore anytime soon, I've learned to make my own chicken rice mix and kaya jam (coconut cream jam). I wanted to get as close to the original taste that I so thoroughly enjoyed! I intend to bottle these and join bazaars one of these days.

Hainanese Chicken Rice is not hard to do. I've checked different recipes and they varied a bit from each other. So what I'm sharing is what works best for me. I've tried the boiling-chicken-and-plunge-in-ice-water method...but I find that what I like to do best is steam it. The chicken stays succulent that way. The trick I believe is in the prep.

1 whole medium to big chicken
dash of salt, pepper and garlic powder
thumb size ginger, cut into thin slices

Remove excess chicken fat--the yellowish mass under the skin, near the thighs. Gently run your fingers under the chicken skin, to separate it from the meat, especially at the breast area. Massage with the mix of salt, pepper and garlic powder on the meaty side. So as the chicken cooks ,it is already infused with flavor. Under the skin, put the ginger slices in strategic areas: breasts, legs, thighs.

Steam chicken in a steamer or wok. The water for steaming itself should have a couple of slices of ginger,too. The water must remain a rolling boil. Steam for 40 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the chicken. Cover tighly, and add water every now and then to prevent it from drying up. The water used to steam the chicken will catch the juices and basically becomes the broth. Set this aside for the chicken rice.

Chicken Rice

Thumb size ginger,sliced into thin strips (matchsticks)
2 big segments of garlic, sliced into thin strips (match sticks)
1 t salt
1/3 c of oil
3 c uncooked rice

Heat oil in the pot (or the rice cooker pot on stove flame). It should be a gentle heat...add the ginger and garlic, just to release the aroma-about 30- seconds to 1 minute, then add the uncooked rice so as to coat the grains with oil. Use the chicken broth as the water (about 3 cups) ,add the salt--stir and let cook as you normally would with rice. (Likewise with the rice cooker pot-- after the open flame--let it cook in the rice cooker).

Chop chicken into smaller pieces, serve chicken rice heaping in bowls and a siding of really good soy sauce and chili paste. What I like about the premium soy sauce is its syrupy thick and mild sweet-salty taste. My friend prefers the salty variety. To contrast with crunch, serve with cucumber slices. It is a lovely and cool counterpart to the chili. If you don't have chili paste-- a little tabasco will do the trick.

The rice has to be piping hot!

Once we took the first spoonful-- Pepeng was soon forgotten.

Gising-gising

The latest recipes from Kiss the Cook-- enjoy

http://kissthecook88.blogspot.com/

Gising gising

To be honest, I don't know the roots of this dish. I assume it's from Bicol (South of Luzon, about 9 hours from Manila), because of the chili and coconut cream. It seems to be related to the "Bicol Express" but a much milder version.
The transliteration of gising-gising is "wake-up! wake-up!". And I suppose it's because the strong flavors wake your taste buds up.
It is a viand by itself, but it's always a great partner to grilled or fried fish and hot steaming rice: pinoy staples. Plus, it is economical as the main ingredients are inexpensive. I cook a big batch and it finds its way as a side dish for lunch or dinner.

Again, it's easy to do. Helpful for beginners and young housewives. Here goes!

- 2 big bunches of kangkong (also known as water cabbage)Remove the tough stalk at the bottom end of the kangkong. Separate the leaves from the stems and sliced into small pieces. Wash and drain.
- coconut cream from 2 small coconuts (about 2 cups yield)
-1 onion or shallot, sliced. (shallot is to the pinoy's pulang sibuyas)
-About 1/2 cup shrimps, shelled and deveined.
-About 1 cup of lean ground pork
-3 green chilies (siling pang-sigang) slice diagonally in half.
-fish sauce (patis) to taste or salt
-pepper to taste

Heat your pan (not too hot, otherwise you'll burn your onions in seconds!). Add a little oil and saute the onion/shallot until clear. Add the ground meat and stir fry for a couple of minutes so as to cook the meat evenly. Add the shrimp till light pink.
Proceed to add the small pieces of kangkong stalks and continue to stir for about 3 minutes.
Add the coconut cream, add the leaves and cover the pan till the mixture begins to boil.
Veggies appear plenty when they are raw, but when you begin to cook them, you realize it isn't as much as you thought!
Add the chillies. (Some people prefer the biting heat of the small red chillies, also called "siling labuyo".) Use whatever suits you.
Lower the heat to get a gentle boil. Let it simmer till the coco cream thickens a bit.
Add fish sauce or salt, and pepper to taste.

Gising gising is also a vegetarian's delight. Simply skip the meat and it can be just as good.
This is because the coco cream has a distinct flavor which for me caressess the ingredients just so.
I happen to like freshly squeezed coco cream with grilled eggplant and chopped onions...but THAT is another recipe, for another day.

Tortang Giniling...Meat Frittata...

If you check Wikipedia, torta is a mexican sandwich or spanish for round cake. By the looks of this particular torta, it is more like meat frittata (an italian omelet).

The Pinoy version of torta is wonderful anytime of the day. And parents like me can "hide" the veggies which some kids shun. My family loves it with rice. Although an extra helping in the fridge makes it a hefty filling for pandesal, soft roll or wheat bread for snack on school days.

It doesn't take much skill to cook torta, however, creating the perfectly round torta can be a challenge. So it is always good to look back at tradition and do it the way our parents did it back when there where no teflon, non-stick pans. The secret is using banana leaf. Not only will you get a perfect torta all the time, it also smells good and has a slight hint of smokey taste that the banana leaf gives.

This is what my husband grew up with-- a cooking tradition I find worth passing on.

1 onion, coarsely chopped

300 to 350 grams of ground meat. I use either all pork or half pork/half beef

Make sure it's lean.

1/2 red bell pepper, sliced into small cubes

small to medium potato, cut into small cubes

small to medium carrot, cut into small cubes

(tiny cubes about the size of crumbled ground meat is advisable when you want to add veggies to your child's diet)

1 T soy sauce

1-2 T ketchup

salt and pepper to taste

3 eggs

Heat pan through, preferably non-stick pan. Add 1 T of oil and saute the onions till transparent. Add the red bell pepper, then the ground meat and stir till the pink meat color is gone.

Add the veggies and cover for about 10 minutes. Add the rest of the seasoning until mixture is relatively dry, (not watery). Should your meat be fatty, drain the oil. Set aside to cool.

In the meantime, beat 3 eggs till frothy. Once the meat mixture is cool, add to the eggs and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Get a banana leaf and remove the mid rib. Cut into 2 pieces, which should be 2-3 inches bigger all around than the pan. Heat the banana leaf over stove flame quickly. This is to wilt the leaf to make it easy to handle.

Heat your pan through and line it with banana leaf. Pour the meat and egg mixture. And cover.

Keep heat low to ensure even cooking and prevent the banana leaf from scorching. Cover the pan for about 10 minutes. Check to see if the mixture has set. At the edges, the egg will begin to cook. If it is still runny, give it another 5 minutes.

Here's the challenging part: put the second banana leaf on top of the pan, get a plate bigger than the pan and use this to cover the leaf. Keep the plate firm with one hand and with some serious wrist action, flip the pan. This would have turned the torta, revealing the cooked side. Simply slide the banana leaf on the pan to cook the eggs completely.

Let it cool a bit before serving. Because by then, the torta is firm and easy to slice into wedges. Keep in its leaf lining so your family or guests will appreciate the aroma of the warm banana leaf.

Enjoy!

Chinese Steamed or Braised Chicken

Sometimes I joke around that if I were to base my past life on food preference, I couldn't decide if I were italian... thai... or chinese.

I have a favorite dish that to my knowledge is chinese given it has garlic...ginger and chinese chorizo (referred to by my parents as chorizo macau.) This is also the dried, cured sausage bits I see in yang chow rice. Sometimes the cooking method I do is steam, like you would with dimsum or braise in a clay pot. And eat it with steaming hot rice. Yum.

It's been raining non-stop in Manila and this lists as one of my comfort food. I like the tender chicken bits...chewy, sweet mushrooms and the salty bite of the chorizo. For me, this should go with steamed or blanched bokchoy, which they also call at the supermarket as chinese pechay. (Not to be mistaken with pechay baguio).

1 thumb size ginger, sliced

3 segments of garlic, sliced

1-2 pcs chorizo macao, sliced

1 c mushrooms (buttons, shitake, or dried mushrooms soaked in warm water and sliced)

1 spring chicken cut into pieces

1 T oyster sauce

2-3 tsp soy sauce

pepper to taste

2 t chives, chopped

Marinade chicken in oyster sauce and soy sauce. Set aside.

Heat pan thoroughly, add 1 T oil and add chorizo macau until you render the fat a bit. Add ginger and garlic and stir fry. Keep the heat at medium so as not to burn the garlic. Burnt garlic is bitter.

Add chicken pieces and stir fry till the meat turns from pink to opaque white. Sprinkle with pepper.

Option 1: Transfer to a container and steam like dimsum. About 30 minutes until chicken is tender.

Option 2 is to put in a clay pot, put the cover and cook over low heat. (Chinese clay pots can be cooked over fire.) Add a little water to add moisture and prevent chicken from drying out.

Sprinkle with chop chives before serving.

This is also great served as rice topping and let the sauce and juices drizzle down the rice to soak up all the flavors!

I find that the chorizo macau, mushrooms already pack a lot of flavor so if at all, have soy sauce ready on the side. Chili paste or dried chili flakes for chili heads give it a nice kick,too.

It's oriental night--so bring out the chopsticks!

(A friend reminded me that a dash of sesame oil to top it off--gives that aroma, that is distinctly oriental. I agree!)