A Friendly Fried Noodles

            I just got this experiment "Fried noodle" from my cousin's friend which is really "swak" to anyone's budget. Its crispiness (well dati na siyang crispy) will "roar" your day. So try this to remove your boredom. And you can just find ingredients at home.

            Here are the ingredients:

            Pack of noodles

            Egg

            All you have to do is to beat egg then add the seasonings of your noodles. By the way, the number of egg you’ll beat is depend upon the noodles you’re using, if you’re going to used 2 pack then you’ll also beat 2 eggs but take note put only one noodles seasoning. Divide you’re noodles into four then dip it to your seasoned and beaten egg. Then fry it into a medium heat. You can dip it in ketchup or vinegar (I must prefer this than ketchup).

             I really loved experimenting because this is where I learn. So don’t hesitate to also try something.

Lonesome Sardines Burger

      Alone and bored at your home? Then, I got a solution for that. Kill your boredom by experimenting what’s available food in your kitchen, just like what I did this day. I got another experiment, a sardines burger.

Here are the ingredients:

            Canned sardines

            Onion

            Garlic

            Cornstarch

            Black pepper

            Egg

            Salt

            First, mash the sardines in a medium size bowl. Put cornstarch along with garlic, onion and black pepper. Mix it all. Then you can now add the egg and salt; slightly mix it again before frying. Fry it to your prefer size. 

            So you don’t have to worry if you’re alone in your home because you can always find something to do like cooking.

Spaghetti: All time favorites

      I wouldn’t deny that I’m a spaghetti lover. For me, nothing can replace it. I really really really liked it. 

            So whenever I want to celebrate I always have spaghetti. Savoring its pleasures taste can complete my day. The soft tender flesh of pasta with a full flavor of its sauce can give satisfaction in knowing that you are having a good time.

            Honestly, good and delicious spaghetti is all I need to turn my gloomy day into a bright one.

Worth the wait: Chicken Curry

            I preferred Chicken Curry for our lunch today. This was my sister’s favorite dish. I enjoyed cooking it though it took time to prepare it. I think it’s worth the wait.

In preparing this, you’ll need:

            *Sliced chicken                           *Potatoes

            *Garlic                                       *Curry powder

            *Onion                                       *Carrots 

            *Ginger

            *Pepper

            *Gata (coconut oil)            

                                                           

            This is how I prepare my chicken curry: Chop the clean chicken into medium size (or your prefer size). Whenever I cook chicken curry I marinate first the chicken into curry powder with ginger, pepper and salt in one hour. The longer you marinate the more flavorful and tender the chicken. Set aside. Then peel the carrots and potatoes and slice it into cubes. After that you can now sauté garlic, onion, ginger and marinated chicken. Put the coconut milk, salt and curry powder, simmer for 10 minutes. Then add the carrots and potatoes simmer it again until the vegetables are cooked.

Kamote Que

      I got a craving stomach today. I was looking for something to eat when I’d remember the kamote (sweet potato) that my aunt gave us last week.  

            So I immediately make a kamote Que for my merienda. It is easy to prepare and good source of energy. Hmmm. Sarap! 

            I have also learned that sweet potato is like a combination of rice and vegetables in a single package. So I think it can replace rice.

Utan na Langka

            Utan na langka (jack fruit) is one of my favorite vegetable dish. Actually, all vegetables cooked in coconut milk are my favorite. Malinamnam kasi. Again, utan is terms used in Masbate for all the vegetables cooked in coconut milk.

            Anyway, here are the ingredients: unripe jackfruit (sliced in thin), garlic, onion, coconut milk, black pepper, lemon grass, small shrimp or fried fish and salt.

            Boil coconut milk with garlic, and onion. Then put now the sliced jackfruit; simmer until jackfruit meat is tender. Add the salt, black pepper, lemon grass and shrimp. Simmer again for another minutes.

   
         This is a healthy dish since its main ingredients is jackfruit which can helps lower blood pressure and can prevent nervousness.

Simple Pizza

      I bought pizza in our school today to feed my craving stomach. It’s so delicious that’s why I have able to eat three.

            By the way, I already experience making pizza when I was in high school but it is a simple pizza only. 

            In preparing a simple pizza you’ll need: sliced bread, tomato paste or just ketchup, hum (sliced in thin cubes), pepper, onion and grated cheese.

            Combine tomato paste, pepper and grated cheese. Mix well. Spread it in your sliced bread top with hum and grated cheese. Put it in oven for 2 minutes until the cheese is melts.

Lumpia

Lumpia

      My sister bought lumpia for our dish today. Lumpia is one of the healthy Filipino foods. And that’s because its major ingredients are vegetables. Making this is so simple, here are the ingredients:

            Carrots

            Sprouted monggo

            Cabbage

            Sayote

            Onion

            Garlic

            Ground pork

            Lumpia wrapper

            Black pepper

            Salt

            Cook pork for 5 minutes until it is pink. Add carrots, cabbages, sprouted, and sayote then season with pepper and salt. After that, remove it from heat and set aside until cool enough to handle. If it’s already cool you can now wrap it in a lumpia wrapper. Then fry the rolls in 1 to 2 minutes until all sides are golden brown.

Oatmeal Champurado

        Start your day with a healthy breakfast. 

            Eating oatmeal champurado was a perfect way to start this day. It is a nutritious food for oatmeal is a good source of protein and other vitamins including zinc and iron. Plus I used tablea which is good for my heart.

Bopis or Kandingga

       Bopis is well-known as a delicious dish here in Bicol. It is also another popular turo-turo dish.  It is made up of diced pork or beef lungs, spleen and hearth. Some say that cooking this is a bit difficult because you have to make it sure that you remove the pig innards smell. Cooking this dish is a little bit tricky, it has to be done right to rid of that pig innards smell.

Ingredients:

            Pork bopis set, (lungs, spleen and hearth)

            Labanos (sliced in cubes)

            Carrot (sliced in cubes)

            Bell pepper,

            Black pepper

            Garlic

            Onion

            Siling labuyo

            Vinegar

            Salt

            I just search on the internet how to cook it since I don’t know how. Here are the procedures: Wash bopis set thoroughly and drain. Put the whole bopis set in big casserole and add enough water to cover, bring to a boil and simmer for 20-25 minutes. Remove from casserole and drain, let it cool down. Finely dice bopis set and keep aside. sauté garlic and onion in a big wok. Add in diced bopis and stir cook for 3-5 minutes or until it start to sizzle. Add in vinegar and cook for 2-3 minutes now add patis and black pepper, stir cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add in 3 cups of water and simmer for 3-5 minutes now add in carrots, labanos, and siling labuyo, simmer for another 3-5 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated. Correct saltines if required. Add in bell pepper and cook for a minute or two. Serve with rice.

            Kandingga or bopis is a dish you shouldn’t miss if you’re here in Bicol.

Sapin-Sapin

      Eating kakanin was one of the foods I enjoyed. I think I’ve tasted all kinds of kakanin like bibingka, ibos, puto bungbong, iraid, linanggang etc. except for this one—sapin-sapin.

            Sapin-sapin is a colorful kakanin which is made up of malagkit rice. I admit that it is an attractive food that’s why I don’t know why until now I didn’t taste even one. But I’m looking forward to taste it.

Pork Blood Stew

      Pork blood Stew or dinuguan is a well-known Filipino dish. Delicious for many but to some it’s a forbidden food (for its main ingredients are blood—religious thing).  

 

            Anyway, when we say dinuguan the first think that came in our mind is its pair—puto. So who doesn’t know this pair? I think, none. But is there also a person who doesn’t tasted dinuguan with puto? Like me? Yes, I didn’t try it yet. And I don’t know why.

            I like eating dinuguan especially if it is well cooked. Yummy! By the way, here are the ingredients in case you want to cook it: pork (diced), pork liver (diced), garlic, onion, laurel leaves, vinegar, patis, pig blood, green pepper, sugar salt, black pepper.

            Simmer pork for 30 minutes. Keep stock. Then in another cxasserole, sauté garlic, onion for a minute. Add in pork, pork liver, laurel, patis, salt, pepper and sauté again for another 5 minutes. Put vinegar and let it boil without stirring. Simmer it uncovered until most of the liquid evaporated. Add it now in stock; simmer again for another 5 minutes. After that add in blood, sugar and long peppers and cook for another 10 minutes. Stir it occasionally.   

Sinagol

            There are no wild animals in the kitchen.

            Shark is the main ingredients of this dish but there are also some alternatives if it is not available like tambakol or the small tuna, galunggong, tanguigue or blue.

            Sinagol was the dish I cooked today. Whenever I eat this I feel like I’m home—in Masbate. It was the dish I learned from my grandmother. I tell you it’s delicious and healthy as well. 

Ingredients:

Shark meat (shredded)

Ginger

Malunggay leaves

Sangid

Salt

Chili pepper

            You must boil first the shark or ray in water for about 5 minutes. Then peel off the scales and shred the meat. Set aside. Now, boil your coconut milk, add some ginger, onions, stirring constantly. Add the shark/ray and some vinegar. Then when the fish is cooked, add chopped chili pepper and sangid cook a minute or two more before adding the malunggay leaves.

            If in Masbate we called this dish a Sinagol, here in Legazpi they called it pasa-pasa or kinunot na pating. Different names but the same taste. Try Sinagol for it is a delicious and healthy dish. Tunay na maipagmamalaki ng mga Bikolano.

Nostalgic Chicken Menudo

            Chicken Menudo was the dish I cooked for our lunch. This was also the dish I cooked for someone who was once been part of my life that’s why this is so memorable to me. And that’s the first time I cooked for someone except for my family (of course). 

Here are the ingredients:

            Chicken (Breast)

            Potatoes

            Carrots

            Onion

            Garlic

            Salt

            Laurel Leaves

            Tomato sauce

            Grated cheese

            Clean the chicken then cut it into your prefer size. Set aside. Peel the carrots and potatoes and slice into cubes. Sautee garlic, onion and chicken; add an amount of water then tomato sauce simmer until the chicken is tender. Then put the carrots and potatoes; season to taste and simmer it again for other minutes until the vegetables are cooked. And lastly, put your grated cheese. Serve it hot.      

     

            Share it with your family or to someone special. And I assure you it feels good and overwhelming when you share foods that you know you exert effort in preparing it. 

Ginisang Monggo

      Ginisang Monggo for the cold weather today. Even if the weather makes me lazy today I still have force myself to make a dish for our lunch to feed my craving stomach. I choose to cook ginisang monggo to warm my stomach.

You’ll need:

            Monggo Beans

            Ampalaya

            Malunggay Leaves

            Salt

            Tomatoes

            Garlic

            Onion

            Pork (sliced into small pieces)

            Boil monggo beans until tender. Set aside. In a casserole, sauté the garlic, onion, tomatoes and pork until tender. After that add your tendered monggo beans then add water and salt. Top with ampalaya and malunggay leaves. Serve hot with rice.

            Cook ginisang monggo to feed your freezing stomach. Yum yum yum.. Siram..

Pakbet

    Are you looking for a healthy dish? Pakbet or Ginisang gulay is the solution for your problem. Experience the all in one nutrient of this dish.

Ingredients:    

Squash

Okra

Eggplant

String Beans

Ampalaya

Garlic

Onion

Ginger

Black Pepper

Pork or fried fish (but I preferred pork)

            Soy sauce

            Fry first the pork in a cooking pan, wait until its golden brown then remove and set aside. In the same pan, sauté garlic, onion, ginger then add the fried pork (Sliced); simmer for 10 minutes. Add all vegetables simmer again. Make sure the all the vegetables are not overcook, so be careful. Add now the salt and pepper to taste.

            So want a nutritious meal? Cook this now!

Sarciado

      I leave early this morning because I got something to do in school. So for our lunch my cousin is the one who is assigned in cooking today. She cooked Sarciado.

Here are her ingredients:

            Fried fish

            Tomatoes

            Salt or patis

            Garlic

            Onion

            Pepper

           

            In the skillet, sauté garlic, onion and tomatoes. Add water, pepper, and salt or patis. Simmer for 5 minutes then put the fried fish; cover the skillet and cook for another 2 minutes. Then that’s it, serve hot.

            The mixture of garlic and onions and tomatoes enhances the flavor of the sautéed fish will complete your day.

Ibos

            While we were on the market I passed by an ibos vendor so I bought some. Ibos was one of kakanin that never fading. You can eat it with sugar but can eat also without it. I didn’t experience cooking ibos or making one but I know what the ingredients are.

Ingredients:

            Malagkit rice (glutinous rice)

            Salt

            Thick coconut milk

            Buli leaves (for wrapping the suman)

            Making ibos is simple all you have to do is wash the rice and soak it with water until it swells. Then mix that to your coconut milk and salt. After that you can now wrap it in prepared buli leaves (but I think that’s the hardest part). After wrapping, put it in your cooking pot/casserole fill with water and put again another coconut milk. Let it boil until the suman is cooked. Serve it with sugar.

            Here are some suggestions from a friend of mine: you can eat it with ripe mangoes or with condense milk. But didn’t I try it yet but maybe next time if I buy again. 

Pancit

            This was the first time I cooked pancit in my entire life. I really don’t know how to make this but because I want to eat pancit today I give a try. I just follow my instinct.

Here are the ingredients I used:

            Pancit bato

            Chinese Petchay

            Carrots

            Black Pepper

            Onion

            Garlic

            Fried Shrimp

            Soy sauce

            I’d sauté first the garlic and onion in oil with fried shrimp. Then add carrots and Chinese petchay. Put soy sauce then add some water; simmer for 5 minutes. After that put now your pancit bato, simmer again until it cooked. Serve hot.

            So far, I’d able to make it. I cooked it right and it really tastes good. I now was looking forward to make another one. Can’t wait. 

All in one Utan

            I’d love to eat and cooked dishes with coconut milk (gata). So, this day I preferred “Utan” for our dinner. “Utan” is the term used in Masbate to all cooked vegetables that have coconut milk or the so called ginataang gulay. What I liked in utan is the soothing taste of the coconut milk blended with vegetables, it’s perfect. Tonight I decided to mix all vegetables we have in the refrigerator.

Ingredients:

            Squash

Okra

Eggplant

String Beans

Ampalaya

Garlic

Onion

Ginger

Black Pepper

Iodized Salt
Fried Fish (shredded)

Coconut Milk

         

   Put and cook first the coconut milk in the casserole with garlic, onion and ginger. After 5 minutes add vegetables and iodized salt. Simmer it until all the vegetables are cooked then add now the fried fish for additional taste.

            Try also this simple yet healthy dish.

Humba

            Humba is an adobo like dish, it just that it has a sugar added in it. My sister taught me how to cook this dish because it’s one of her specialty.

Here are the ingredients:

            Sugar

            Pork (sliced)

            Black pepper

            Potato

            Soy sauce

            Vinegar

            Laurel leaves

            Saute garlic, onion and pork. Simmer until the pork is tender. Then add water, vinegar, soy sauce, black pepper and sugar to taste. Simmer again for another minute. Lastly put potato and laurel leaves. Simmer again until the potato is cooked.

            Try it and don’t miss the blending taste of soy sauce and sugar to your pork.

bles are