Bangus Belly Steak Filipino Style

Bangus or Milkfish is the Philippines' National Fish. This fish has a unique taste which I can only describe in one word:  delicious. Bangus can be cooked in different ways from the most complicated Relleno to the simplest Fried or Prito. Somewhere in between are paksiw, sinigang, totso, lumpia (yes, you can make lumpia out of the fish' flesh), and a lot more.

In our family, we all love the belly and head part and it's a good thing that we can buy boneless belly in groceries now. A pack is enough for about 4 servings so we can buy only the choice cuts in bulk instead of wasting the tail part. This sells much higher than the regular fresh Bangus but the hassle free experience is all worth it.

One of the most requested  recipe of Bangus that I always get is belly steak, pinoy style. The fish is cooked ala bistek Tagalog or Filipino beef steak using kalamansi and soy sauce and topped with lots of onion rings. This dish is very easy to prepare and I highly recommend this to kitchen newbies. Just be careful though when frying bangus, the oil will splatter to no end so you must lower the heat before turning the fish over to cook the other side. And always, always, use a pan lid to avoid skin burns and messy clothes. 

Tribute to Mang Dolphy

The most memorable trivia I remember about Dolphy is his love for women and food.

In one interview, if my memory serves me right, it was with Arnold Clavio, Dolphy told an anecdote about his favorite food of all time, Kare-Kare. He even cared to emphasize with "maanghang-anghang na bagoong".

Sinigang na Hipon sa Sampalok (Shrimp in Tamarind Soup)

I have yet to hear of a true-blooded pinoy who dislikes sinigang (sour soup). In fact, based on my personal survey, there would be one or two in a household who love sinigang to no end. Meaning,  sinigang is a must  in their weekly menu. 

Sinigang takes so many styles and variation. There's pork sinigang, fish sinigang, beef sinigang, shrimp sinigang and chicken which is differently called as sinampalukang manok. In addition, the souring agent also varies such that different fruits or vegetables are used to make the soup sour like kamias/kalamias, kalamansi, miso, guava (bayabas in filipino) and the most popular sampalok or tamarind.

Portuguese Inspiration: Peri-Peri Chicken

We are constantly on a lookout for ways to prepare or serve chicken to our family and guests. Here in the Philippines, the most common Filipino recipe for chicken would be Chicken Adobo or Adobong Manok, Chicken Tinola, Chicken Afritada, and of course, the all time favorite Fried Chicken. 

To give chicken a new twist, I made Peri-Peri Grilled Chicken. Peri-Peri or Peli-Peli is a  Portuguese specialty which is very flavorful and considered to be the counterpart of Pinoy Lechon Manok. The difference is mainly in the marinade since both require to be grilled over flame for that smoky effect.

Quick-Fix Series - Spam

It has been said that  breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

Waking-up later than planned makes a lot of us skip this meal. But if it'll take an hour or two more before you can have something to eat for lunch, you need to grab a sandwich and take a few bites.

Good thing I always have a spare Spam on the pantry. Less sodium is a healthier alternative than the original.

Chicken Curry

Filipinos have a different taste when it comes to curry cooking.  Basically, we use coconut milk and cream as the base for this dish.  We also have versions like chicken, duck, fish and seafoods.

This is the dish that my friends would always request me to bring for pot-lucks (aside from my baked ziti). With the tangy taste of curry and spiciness of the chili,  you need to prepare a lot of rice when you serve this.

Our Mom's Garlic Beef Tapa

Tapa has become famous since tapsilog (tapa + sinangag + itlog) became a hit. The way my mom makes her tapa is a secret, in fact some family friends even from abroad would call her up to get the recipe once they get to taste it.

Here's my version as to how I duplicate the same.  What makes it different is that it isn't your usual sweet-flavored beef but more of a salty-garlicky kind.

Nilagang Baboy

Nilaga is a traditional Filipino food.  There are many ways to cook nilaga as much as the many variations of the meat used for this dish such that ingredients vary when chicken is used as compared to beef or pork.

This version of pork nilaga is from Southern Tagalog, provinces like Batangas, Laguna and Mindoro use saba instead of potato or gabi or kamote.  Petchay tagalog is also used instead of cabbage (repolyo in Filipino) or Chinese petchay.

Humba (Braised Pork Hock)

Pork hocks or pork shanks or what we call Pata in Filipino, are from the pig’s leg or foreleg between the knee and the ankle. This is a tough meat as it is a part of a “work” muscle, and it takes time to make it fork tender thru boiling or braising. Other popular pork hock dishes are Crispy Pata and Nilaga.

Here’s my recipe for Humba…

Burrito

Burrito is a complete meal by itself. A favorite of hubby and we are always on the lookout for the best burrito joint.

Burritos can either use beef, chicken or veggies for filling.  There's also breakfast burrito.

I use chicken most of the time since it's difficult to find good beef in Calapan.

Enchilada Sauce

Prepared enchilada sauce will last for 7-10 days in the fridge as long as you keep them properly in a sterilized bottle.  It's so easy to make and you can use it for your tacos, burritos, fajitas or simply use it as a salad dressing.

Mexican Rice

At first I thought this was a diffucult dish to prepare such as paella.  Don't be intimidated, its a well loved rice dish by my friends and its always the first thing to be consumed everytime i serve it at home.

Mexican rice is an essential part of a burrito but it can stand alone as it is and it goes well with other mexican fares and barbeques!

Flour Tortilla

Before I got pregant, we were settled in a far away province called Mindoro.  Although we were in Calapan, the city capital, there weren't enough available stuffs and grocery items to buy, so I was forced by circumstance to make my own like breadcrumbs, sour cream, buttermilk, flour tortilla, among others.

One time a friend dropped by our house and caught me sweating with all flour and all while making tortilla from scratch.  Well, that gave him a chance to try my burrito which i intend to share the recipe in a separate post.  Making tortilla entails a quite an effort and patience so you need to put a lot of love in making it. :-)