SQF: Swabe, pare!

I have this cookbook at home I bought from National Bookstore last year. From the cover, you may assume it will have something to do with drinking beer. You are right. The cookbook's title is Pulutan: From the Soldier's Kitchen.


I am not an alcohol drinker (you can't even make me drink Cali). The closest to alcohol that I ever had (and actually liked) was Chamdor. And it's not even liquor, but sparkling juice (I drink only the peach flavor with the orange label, by the way). Oh, and the mass wine during my First Holy Communion and the wine toast during our wedding (neither of which I liked).


So why do I have a cookbook entitled Pulutan? Because my not drinking alcohol has not really stopped me from loving pulutan fare. I love popular local beer mates such as sizzling sisig, calamares, kilawin, etc.


Another reason I bought the book was its history. It was written by two soldiers. Yup, two army guys who were part of the Magdalo mutiny way back in 2003. While they were detained and awaiting their fates along with their other comrades, they would cook. Relatives visiting them would bring fresh meat and seafood. Sometimes, relatives brought them food. The book became a collection of their experiments and of recipes learned from fellow soldiers and their relatives and friends. The book had a wide array of common dishes, tricked-up recipes and exotic options.

Swabeng liempo (sorry, no spareribs available)

We tried the recipe Swabeng Spareribs one evening. I had earlier bought over a kilo of pork liempo. And although the recipe explicitly called for spareribs, that didn't stop big bro, who got curious with the recipe, from trying it. The recipe isn't about the usual suspects; I was forced to buy some ingredients I don't often use, like liver spread (which I don't really like much), and mix them with bell pepper, pickles, etc (huh?).


The dish received mixed reviews, although generally positive, form the family. I personally liked it since I like strong flavors. Little bro found it overpowering for his simple palate.

Rice meal made swabe.

I'll cook this another time. I think my father-in-law will like it. =)



Swabeng Spareribs
Recipe in Pulutan


*BB*

ILYS: A quick fix for Saturday (finally, it's a pork dish)

On non-working Saturdays, I revert to what I call "housewife mode". For people who know me as a working girl, they probably could not picture me in such a mode. Some actually can't and they seem surprised that I can do household chores. Probably because I've always been the unica hija and people probably think I live like a princess. But I know my way around the house like any pauper would.

So on weekends, even before I got married, I do laundry (at least, the laundry that we do not send to the laundry shop), put our things in order, mend clothes, etc. And now, I also cook (and yes, I don a duster to complete the housewife look, hehehe).

Just this Saturday, I did something very housewife-y also: I went to the market. I usually tagged along whenever mom goes there. But I wanted to experience doing the marketing myself so I decided to go alone. Anyway, the market is nearby, about a ten-minute walk (or less) from our house. Hubby, who was on his way to work, and I caught a backride on a trike about a quarter past 5:00 AM, and I dropped myself off at the village plaza. I didn't walk as it was still dark as night.

I was at the market very early, early enough to catch the delivery of fresh meat taking place at Boyet & Belle's, mom's preferred vendor. I think they unloaded about 5 or 6 large pigs. I waited for a while as Mang Boyet and his boys chopped the meat into the different sections and cuts (liempo, kasim, pigue, even isaw, dugo, etc.) with such ease you'd think they were working on toys.

The nice thing about going to the market very early is there is very little crowd. In fact, almost zero. Mom's usual shopping schedule is around 8:00 AM, when there's already more than a handful of people in each stall. In some instances, a certain cut of meat is no longer available, or some kinds of fish and vegetables have also run out. I must say I did my pamamalengke quite leisurely that morning. I took my time consulting my Menu for a Month copy, and comparing and selecting what I needed. I had first pick of everything, so to speak.

I would've stayed longer, but the sun was finally out. And my load was heavy. For a while, I completely forgot I was shopping solo. On top of the meat I bought, I also had a number of different vegetables, a whole piling of lacatan bananas, and a loaf of sandwich bread. I must've looked like a walking store already. =) But if I had not yet felt the load, I would've probably shopped around some more. Maybe next time I'll bring a bayong.

I made mini pancakes for breakfast when I got home. Because I also started cooking early, I finished just as my parents and brother were waking up. I haven't quite made up my mind what to cook for lunch. But despite that and the laundry I had to do, I was looking forward to a relatively lazy Saturday...

Until the doorbell rang. Surprise, we had visitors. =) In came my mom's nephew (but because of our age gap, I was often confused whether to call him "uncle" or "kuya") and his wife and their driver. They had some business with my parents. At first, I thought they weren't staying long. We served them chips and biscuits and ensaladang mangga. I still had the lesiurely feel around me. But as was always the case with relatives, a visit which is "saglit lang" would last at least half a day. LOL. I ended up suddenly snapping out of it and rushing to cook lunch.

I bought several kinds of meat and fish: a kilo of semi-sukiyaki-cut beef for gyudon and half a kilo of ground beef round for pasta sauce, a kilo of pork strips for stir-frying, a whole fresh chicken for tinola or afritada, and some fresh sapsap, one of my favorite fish, for pinangat. After quick consideration, I opted to cook Pork Stir-Fry. And ASAP!

Marinade pork in a mix of soy sauce, honey and garlic

I always like to marinade meat longer, overnight if possible. So I marinated the pork for more than 15 minutes, while I was preparing the other ingredients.

Aside from their health benefits, veggies give dishes
beautiful colors so I try to cook with more of them

The beans and mixed vegetables were "cooked" quickly in boiling water with salt. I made a miscalculation with the mixed vegetables and bought too little. What I did to compensate for the lack was dice a big carrot.

I heated oil in our trusty old wok. Although it wasn't specified, I used olive oil and it was fantastic. The pork was stir-fried in high heat.

When pork is cooked, lower the flame and pour in the
marinade (ah, this is what I did wrong...I chucked everything
--pork and marinade--into the wok at once...no wonder it
was soupy, LOL).

In went the the bell peppers and mushroom. Then later, during the last few minutes of cooking, the rest of the veggies.

Serve warm.

Wow, ready in a jiffy. =)

I immediately made a disclaimer that it was my first time to cook the dish. The fast stir-fry was received well by my family and our guests. I recall my cousin's driver commenting, "Sira ang diet ko dito." Mom assured her it was OK because I used olive oil. Of course, I cannot answer if the amount he ate was OK even if I used olive oil. ^_^

It was remarked that the dish tasted like higado. I'm thinking perhaps it was the amount of bell pepper I used.

Pork Stir-Fry
Recipe on Yummy.ph or Menu for a Month

*BB*

WCS: Rice gone wild

4 MARCH 2011. I still laugh when I think about this. =)


As I have mentioned a post ago, my mom cooked too much rice the other evening. We ended up bringing some for baon yesterday (with the katsu-daw) and still had enough for dinner for 5 people last night. And there was still some more rice!


I had my breakfast at the office canteen yesterday morning. I brought rice from home, so I only bought ulam, a serving of pork tapa. I wasn't able to finish it so I packed what was left (about 2/3 of the serving) to be brought home. I thought maybe I'll make fried rice out of it.


Which was exactly what happened. As I mentioned, we still had a lot of rice. Even after we had dinner that night, the rice can probably feed 3 or 4 more people.


I shredded the pork tapa pieces and heated them in a pan. Following no recipe, I drizzled the meat with Worcestershire sauce.


What? O_O


I tossed in thinly sliced onions...and added a wild combination of ingredients: soy sauce, bagoong and chili-garlic sauce.


WHAT? @_@


I put in the rice, adding a bit more of each ingredient as needed (or as my whim dictated).


Voila. "Wild rice". LOL. I let it cool down for a while before packing it in a container and putting it in the refrigerator. This will be for breakfast tomorrow.

Wild rice (or should it be weird rice?)

Up close. Pork tapa in Worcestershire sauce and onions,
soy sauce, bagoong and chili-garlic sauce.

It was a good thing I decided to cook this the night before, because I woke up late the this morning (thanks to Bejeweled 3). For some reason, hubby also woke up a bit later than usual (to think he went to sleep more than 2 hours earlier than I did).


I heated half of the wild rice. I thought that would be enough for the both of us. I put just half in a plate and hubby had it with a bit of corned beef (also leftovers). He finished the whole pan. -_-' I ended up heating the rest, with additional chili-garlic sauce on hubby's request.

His merienda at work (including two sandwiches and a
chunk of pandeciosa) and my breakfast at home.

This paper bag was from an officemate's gift last
Christmas. It has since become hubby's lunch bag. =)

Is it wild, or is weird? Tell me about it! ^_^


Wild Rice
Serves 2-3 (but ended up serving just 2--or rather, 1 1/2, hahaha!)
5 cups day-old rice
Leftover pork tapa (might also work for other leftover meat)
Worcestershire sauce
1 small onion, sliced
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tsps. Chili-garlic sauce
1 tsp. Bottled spicy bagoong


*BB*

WCS: Last night's dinner at home is today's lunch at work...but with an upgrade

03 MARCH 2011. I don't know what time the idea exactly hit me. I got up (with a bit of struggle) to get hubby’s breakfast in order, which is—tada: rice topped with a fried egg. OK, I’m really dismayed at myself. I can do better than that. But hubby didn’t want sardines or anything else with his meal, and apparently enjoyed his breakfast (I would never have finished all that rice with just a bland, fried egg).

We still had a lot of rice from the night before. Hubby said I bring some for our lunch para hindi masayang. Lately, rice spoils easily at home. We don’t understand the phenomenon. We used to have leftover rice survive until the next evening, at times, even the day after. There was still leftover pork chop, the thin kind you buy from the grocery already breaded, from the previous night. It was mom who cooked it last night so there were pieces that were too brown (in other words, sunog! LOL). I said I’ll heat it and put it over the rice.

I put hubby’s baon together—which was composed of Spanish bread and ensaymada we brought from the plaza last night, a bag of steamed peanuts and a pack of Hansel cookies—and went upstairs to get a few more minutes of sleep. I leave the house for work an hour later than hubby does so he encourages me to sleep some more. I’ve been having a toothache that has been waking me and keeping me up at night the last few days, robbing me of precious winks.

So I really don’t know what time the idea hit me—just before I took a nap or when I woke up again. I do remember remembering the bottle of mirin—Japanese sweet rice wine—in the refrigerator, the one I used for the gyudon-ish beef dish a few weekends ago. Then the cold leftover porkchop on the kitchen table…


And katsudon. I want katsudon.


Wait…maybe I can make katsudon, ne?


The last katusdon meal I had was the one served at Sizzling Plate at SM Southmall food court (OK, it’s not even authentic, hahaha!) before the total renovation. The sudden craving is understandable.

No sooner had I made up my mind to it, I was in the kitchen once more. I didn’t check a recipe online—honestly, it didn’t occur to me as I was just so focused to get at it. =) All I did was try to remember what was in a Sizzling Plate Katsudon bowl (gosh, it isn’t even authentic)…

I beat an egg in a bowl and added thinly sliced onions and a pinch of salt. There were no veggies in the refrigerator. Was looking if we had at least a small carrot (to make for a “healthy” dish). But I had to make do with the onions. Anyway, I think that’s what the recipe just calls for…and green onions, which I do not have.

Shortcut of all shortcuts, LOL

In a small bowl, I mixed a small bit of mirin with soy sauce. I didn’t put anything more, as the breaded porkchop already had this sweet taste that little bro—Mr. Plain Dry Food Please—complained about last night. I bought it thinking it was plain (it looked plain), and not knowing it had some kind of marinade. Malay ko ba.

Soy sauce and mirin only. It just happened

that my leftover breaded pork chop already
had this light sweet flavour. On normal
occasions, sugar will be needed.

I dipped a porkchop in the egg mixture and fried it, constantly turning the porkchop over so the egg will coat it, dripping a bit more egg and onions as needed. As the egg was cooking, I drizzled the soy sauce-mirin mix on it. I wasn’t able to do this quite evenly though. I also made some more of the sauce to put on the rice, but too little, fearing it would already be too salty.

I know this isn’t the correct procedure,

but I don’t want to be late for work!

It was done in almost a flash. It is after all a shortcut. I put rice in a big Lock-n-Lock, put the katsu-daw (katsudon daw) on top, slipped in fried sweet potato slices (leftovers also) and locked it up.

OK, so it isn’t very attractive (with mom

burning the meat last night), but hubby
and I had a rather enjoyable lunch today. ^_^

All packed up!

I immediately made a disclaimer, just as hubby and I got seated for lunch, that I did something with our ulam. So he was no longer shocked when he saw the egg-y thing I bought. And he liked it. Enough to finish all that rice I brought. ^_^

Katsu-daw

Makes 2 pieces

2 pieces leftover breaded porkchop

1 small egg, beaten

1 tbsp onion, sliced thinly lengthwise

Pinch of salt

Katsu-daw sauce*

2 tbsps soy sauce

1 tsp mirin

*I used store-bought breaded porkchop that has been flavored. If yours is plain (or you make it from scratch), a few more ingredients need to go into the sauce like sugar. For the real recipe, you may refer to this one I found this afternoon, long after I swallowed the last bite of my cheap shot lunch. =)

*BB*

Odes: Kuya's grilled pork...level up!

LAST WEEK OF DECEMBER 2010. After the wedding was over and all the gifts were opened and hubby has officially moved into our house, we set a time to visit my in-laws. Hubby's family lived in Calamba, Laguna. The area is not in a galaxy far, far away really. But for someone like me who doesn't go out much, any place beyond Alabang and Las Piñas is far. There was a time when I was younger that even Festival Mall in Filinvest felt like it was in China. Hahaha!

We set it on the 27th. I suggested to hubby we have exactly the same thing we had when he took me there for a visit December of the previous year. His mom made pancit sotanghon and his dad grilled liempo and made ensaladang talong and we bought lechon manok from Chook's to Go along the way. It was a very enjoyable lunch. We ate outdoors under the blue sky surrounded by plantations of all sorts of vegetables (they live in a farm area) dotted with large fruit trees and very tall coconuts. We even had hubby's then best man-to-be with us. He is based in Dubai, but always spent the Christmas holidays in the Philippines.


We picked up a few groceries beforehand, but most of the stuff we plan to cook (like the fish and lechon manok) we can buy along the way. Some, like the vegetables, were available in Calamba (they do live in a farm after all), but we still bought some, which turned out to be absolutely unnecessary. We brought a pack of tomatoes, only to find they prepared more than a kilo of it (among other vegetables) for us to take home. Hahaha!


I decided to marinade pork for the grilled liempo. Kuya has this simple marinade recipe especially for grilling, which we all love. I followed it, adding a few more ingredients.


I felt sick when I woke up the next day. I wasn't feeling well since the evening before, which was so unfortunate. My stomach couldn't tolerate much of anything. Ignorant as I was, I had a pregnancy scare. But it was just because of my acidity pala. Hahaha! I skipped a meal the night before, because I ate the meal before it rather late and still felt full. Ayan.

It was hubby's uncle, who had experience running a carinderia, who did the cooking when we were there. Even the delicious pancit sotanghon, with generous amounts of sahog. I was able to eat a bit (but only until I expelled everything, eeew). Personally, I found the pork I marinated a bit bland. But hubby's family said it was good. I thought they will be able to keep some of the marinated meat, but it lasted just as long as lunch lasted. =)


I'm just sorry I wasn't able to enjoy the day much. I spent much of the time lying down after lunch. There was also grilled tilapia, ensaladang talong...sayang. =( Good thing I left some liempo at home, which hubby grilled when friends came over on the holiday after our visit to Calamba. And thank goodness Danes loves taking pictures. Thanks to my indisposition in Calamba, I absolutely forgot to take pictures of my recipe when it was cooked.

Photo credits: Danes 12/31/2010

Marinade
Olive oil, about 2 tbsps
Soy sauce, about a cup (or enough to soak the meat)
Calamansi, more than 10 pieces
Dried rosemary, about 1 tbsp (pounded/crushed a bit)
Honey, about 3 tbsps
Ground black pepper to taste

Procedure: Mix marinade ingredients in a bowl and add the liempo (good for about a kilo or so). Marinade for at least an hour. I did overnight. ^_^

*BB*