Once upon a time I got somewhat addicted/obsessed to some kind of Halo-Halo. (Well I just realized, I’m always addicted to something, obsessed with something.) So yes, macapuno.
See I always want to make things myself, this is usually with food, to make them better than if I just buy them. (I want to learn how to sew now.) But I also get lazy hehe. So What I do is I compromise with myself. Like in this case, instead of having an all star cast of Halo-Halo The Movie with sweetened munggo, beans, bananas, jackfruit (langka) and gulaman and tapioca pearls (gelatin and sago), I just pick my some from my favorites or whatever is available in the market. So sometimes my halo-halo will just consist of sweetened saba (plantain) bananas and sweetened macapuno. It taste as good. For me, together with the effort (effort counts like 60% of everything) nothing beats homemade.
So buying macapuno is a hit and miss as you won’t know the quality of it until it’s cracked open but somehow the vendors know which is good and not. So I just want to share this photo. These gorgeous gooey macapuno. This should act as basis for future macapuno purchases. It shouldn’t look like simple coconut. It flesh should be thick and gooey, water thick as well. Hmmmn… temptation temptation!!!!
First thing, if you want your eggs easier to peel, then use ‘old eggs’.
1. Put your eggs in a single layer in a pot, cover it with an inch of tap water. Add a few drops of vinegar it to help keep it together if ever the shells cracks.
2. Then using medium heat, bring the water to boil. Once it boils, lower down the flame to a simmer for a minute. Then turn the heat off.
3. Let it sit for 11 minutes with the cover on. Don’t open it.
4. It’s done. Some people wash their eggs in tap water to stop cooking but mine never gets over- cooked even if I don’t do that. Or I’m just being lazy.
Or here’s an even easier method I do. In the Philippines where every family cooks rice at least twice a day, this is easier. First, I wash the eggs well, this is very important! In the rice cooker using the steam basket(?), cook it together with rice. The steam will cook it perfectly. Just don’t open the cover or you will lose the steam that will cook the egg. There! Easier.
I just love the gift of learning. So I don’t mind sharing what I know. If I can, I want to learn how to speak Mandarin, play the drums and piano and even study a second degree. So if you have any questions for me, feel free to ask.
Eggs is one of the best christmas gifts for 2011. I just love it. And for me, it’s the thought that counts more. Just as long as you remember me, I’m happy.
Mommy brought home some marinated deer meat (tapang usa) and one day when we were both too lazy to cook anything that takes long to prepare, we just look for what’s quick to cook from the fridge.
I also prepared some homemade atchara (which I still haven’t posted here!) and the family favorite, garlic sinangag and we are happy peeps.
I can just stare at this photo for an hour. Looks good, tastes even better.
Been craving for Sinigang na Baboy (Pork in Tamarind Soup) recently so I let it over power me.
This is sinigang my way. Just perfect.
I am very particular with my sinigang though, well like with the other dishes I cook. I NEED native yam first, without it then I’d rather not cook this sinigang at all. Then I need pork belly ( liempo). This is just the perfect cut of pork for this. Then I need completely ripe red tomatoes. Then fresh okra, sitaw (string beans), labanos (radish), kang kong (water spinach) and talong (eggplant) which is optional in this dish. I just don’t like eggplant wet, but I would kill for fried eggplants yummm!
Going back to sinigang, this is how I cook this. I boil the cut up pork belly in not much water with onions and tomatoes with fish sauce. Then I add in sitaw with gabi. (I like my gabi real soft.) Then after a minute I add in the okra and labanos. Then talong and kang kong. Then season with tamarind and salt.
To those new moms out there, have your baby monitors on and savor this delicioso sour soup, this will surely revive you.
I could eat this for like a week straight. Rediscovered love for sinigang is sweet. ♥☻♥☻♥
My family and I are not really big pork eaters but recently, I am often finding myslef craving for pork dishes and enjoying eating them once i have it. We had a left over Crispy Pata (deep fried pork knuckle from Mommy’s office) and I instantly knew what I would do with it.
Read the rest of this entry »
Is love. More so because this is cooked by Mommy.
The squash so creamy and sweet. Simple food like this is what we should all be eating to be healthy. And I’m going back there after being ‘rebellious’ if you know what I mean.
These past days had been busy and tiring. We had a little kind of impromptu celebration at home and just invited a few people. Biglaan talaga. So in a day we did all the cooking until past midnight and the kids stayed here so we’ve been deprived of sleep but thanks to my reliable black out curtains and blinds, I’m still able to sleep until the sun is up to regain energy..
So we just whipped up a few dishes, baked this cake and prepared a salad.
This chocolate cake is by far the best tasting with oozing chocolatey flavor, best looking cake I have ever baked ever with minimal effort. I love how the design turned out pretty ok when I thought when I was doing it that it’s a big fail. I lost my offset spatula and piping bag, no cake board (this is placed in a plate), no chocolate to use so I melted little chocolate kisses and no reliable recipe to depend on so I baked by my gut feel. Then after all that it’s still a success. Nice. And best of all, even I can’t stop eating this. Wow.
Guests thought this is store bought. Love it when that happens hehehe. I love it when they rave about our food.
Yesterday we had a very special guest in the house and Mommy and I prepared fried prawns, fresh and blanched oysters (which I just started to appreciate the taste) and Ginataang Yellow Fin. There was an excess gata or coconut milk and I found it in the fridge just an hour ago. It’s not a lot, I think just less than a cup. I suddenly had a craving for Ginataang Halo-Halo which I have tried to cook before but failed. Then I remembered we have saba bananas (plantains), sago or tapioca pearls from my recent tau fu fa/taho experiment, gabi or taro and Also have glutinous rice flour for the bilo-bilo which I learned to prepare from a previous try.
I decided to try cooking this again despite a little hesitation. A part of me is stopping me from cooking this extra dish as I really need to grab the best weight loss supplements now as I gained weight again huhuhu… Also the last time I tried cooking this it curdled and the taste was off, don’t know why maybe I put too much coconut milk?
Bananas and sago are my favorite ingredients and I’m ok with no sweet potato and ube so I proceeded to cook my guinataan with just these ingredients.
I pre-prepared the bilo-bilo while waiting for the water to boil, just mix a tablespoon of rice flour and water ’til you make a dough-like mix. Then make small balls of this mixture, a little smaller than a marble or holen.
Boil some water then add the gabi/taro.Then add a part of the gata/coconut milk.Follow with the sliced bananas. Once it boils, add the rest of the coconut milk. Keep on stirring. Add the bilo-bilo. Then the sago/tapioca pearls then sugar and a pinch of salt. Simmer for a minute or two and you have an easy ginataan like we did. Yum.
See the photo? It’s not a lot, just perfect for 2-3 persons. The photo is not as appetizing with the lack of colors but I can guarantee it’s very good. Almost no effort has been done for this recipe but gave great results and that thought gives a great feeling. I added a lot of sago/tapioca pearls as I love sago and I also used the bigger size sago as I want less effort in finding them hehehe… The bigger the better right? Also, this doesn’t have the umay you get from guinataan because of the salt. Adding a pinch of salt solves the umay/suya factor of the sweetness.
I love how I succeeded in this try. Nice change from the failed attempts at Suman sa Lihiya. But I will try again.
I’ve been feeling blue these past months and I realized something, something I thought doesn’t apply to me. What is it? Shopping. They say shopping is the best cure for stress, for broken heart (but I’m not hehehe) and any other boo boos. But while most girls go for clothes and bags shopping, what gives me excitement like no dress can give is kitchen equipment or gadget. And I have found one that’s my current favorite.
Since last month (September) I have been cooking chapattis since Preet, my Indian friend, showed me how to make them. I dragged Bee to Mustafa to find the tawa/tava, the pan where you cook the rotis and chapattis, found it and never stopped cooking! I love the chapatti with cheese and green curry sauce. Yummy! And chapatti deserves one separate post, coming up soon.
This tawa or tava is only SGD 14. For something that has been this useful to me I can say it’s so worth it. I’ll be coming back to Mustafa again, next time alone so I can take my time checking out all the amazing equipments there. Ooh! Maybe I should go wait for Cyber Monday and shop online for the even better deals. I can’t wait.
I love ripe and red tomatoes. I love tofu too. And I have mentioned that I love eggs like crazy. So I combine all these three favorite ingredients and I come up with this.
Saute ripe tomatoes. Add in egg. Once the egg has set, add in the sliced egg tofu. Yummy and healthy. Satisfying. One can cook this for me and it will be like hearing door chimes. So happy. Tsk tsk. I’m so shallow.
