MY CINNAMON PALITAW

During Lent season in the Philippines specially in the provinces, the so called “KAKANIN” is very famous at kadalasang kasama sa handaan. This serves not only as dessert but also for snacks (merienda). Today this was our snack, my daughter helped me to prepare it. I added cinnamon powder for a change and you know what it turned out sooo…SUPER!

YOU NEED..

* rice flour – about a cup.
* 3/4 cup water
* grated coconut or coconut flakes
* Lots of white sugar
* Toasted linga (sesame seeds)
* 1 tsp. cinnamon powder

* Mix rice flour with water to make dough. Make little balls then flatten.

* Boil water in a casserole. Drop flattened dough balls into boiling water. The cakes are cooked when they float.

* Remove from water, let cool a little bit, roll in combined sugar and toasted sesame seeds and coconut flakes.

DINUGUAN

Ingredients:

1½ Lbs. of Pork belly (pork butt is fine)
10 oz. of Edible pork blood (Orientex)
2 Cups of Chicken stock (water is fine)
1 Cup of Vinegar (Datu-puti)
3 Tbs. Fish Sauce (Rufina)
4 Cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
1 Medium onion sliced thinly
1 Bay leaf (Laurel leaf)
4 Pcs. Finger peppers
½ Tbs. Ground black pepper
1 Tsp. Msg (Aji-no-Moto)
½ Tbs. Kosher salt
Oil for sauteing

Directions:

1. Prepare pork blood by straining it and separating the blood that is in a jelly form in a separate bowl.
2. Next add ¼ cup of water and break up the jellied blood with your hands and set aside.
3. Slice pork into small bite sized pieces and set aside.
4. Using a casserole dish, heat 1 Tbs. of corn oil, add the pork, and spread it evenly on the bottom of the casserole dish.
5. Cover and let it cook on medium low heat for three minutes without stirring it.
6. Remove cover, stir the pork, and drain the liquid accumulated.
7. Add garlic and saute for one minute, then add the onions, stir, and cover.
8. Let it cook for another minute.
9. Next add fish sauce and bay leaf and saute for 3 minutes.
10. Then add ½ cup of vinegar, cover, and bring to a boil.
11. Lower the heat and let it simmer for 3 minutes.
12. Add the chicken stock and salt and let it simmer for five minutes.
13. Add the jelly formed pork blood first, stir for about a minute, then add the rest of the pork blood and the finger peppers.
14. Continue to stir for about two minutes, cover, and let simmer for another five minutes. Add another ½ cup of vinegar.
15. Again cover and let it simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
16. Adjust the taste by adding salt & pepper if needed.
17. That’s it, you’re done. Serve with white rice, or Puto. Enjoy!

BAYE-BAYE (kakanin)

Baye-Baye

I had been slated to go to the Bacolod branch of the agency I work for, and I had looked forward to eating cansi in situ, and buying batwan, fresh napoleones, and a host of other special pastries. But there was a change of plan, and I was sent to Iloilo instead.

My department sends people around the country throughout the year, and work assignments usually take about a couple of weeks per location. However, my status as a mother, most especially with an infant, is mercifully taken into consideration. So I get the short ones.

As in really short. I had half a day in San Fernando City, Pampanga, and this time I had roughly 24 hours in Iloilo.

What could one do, and more importantly, eat, in a city in 24 hours?

Fortunately, the cities of San Fernando and Iloilo are not new to me. I had explored Pampanga. And I had been to Iloilo several times, via various means of transportation (plane, ferry, fastcraft), and from various places (Manila, Bacolod, Antique), either arriving in or departing from it.

So I had the time then to extensively explore the city, even going as far as UP Miag-ao. I was actually able to go around the entire Panay island, visiting all of the provinces and its capitals, with pre-electrified and pre-partified Boracay as the final destination.

Of course, being in a new or different place and exploring it entails partaking of local delicacies, too. So, again, been there, done that. So this time it was a matter of renewing my acquaintance with Ilonggo food, and probably looking at some new things that have come up between now and the last time I was there, which was almost a decade ago.

The question was, can I cram up all the region's offerings into 24 hours?

Well, the answer is, yes.

But it is a conditional yes. Literally, the must-eats cannot be eaten within 24 hours. But as I did in San Fernando, and what I had been doing for all of my traveling life (practically my entire lifetime), I took home more than half of my Iloilo food highlights.
And this was the last thing I bought that was included in my overweight luggage - baye-baye, a delicious kakanin that is an Ilonggo specialty.

But I did it on reverse - baye-baye is what actually first greets visitors to Iloilo, as kiosks of it line the provincial road in the municipality of Pavia, from the airport going into Iloilo City.

PORK ADOBO

 

Pork Adobo is pork cooked in soy sauce, vinegar, and garlic. This is considered by many as the Philippine’s national dish because of its popularity, ease in preparation, and long storage life. Adobo is not only limited to pork and chicken, other meats, seafoods, and vegetables (such as squid (pusit), goat meat, veal, beef, shrimp (hipon), river spinach(kang-kong)) can also be cooked this way. This Pork Adobo Recipe is one of the easiest and best that you will find.

There are different variations in cooking this dish (sometimes called regional versions). This recipe is the most common and simplest of them all. I’ll try to feature other Adobo variations such as the Batangas Adobo and the Ginataang Adobo in our future posts. This Pork Adobo Recipe that we have here is the common version of pork adobo.

Try this simple yet satisfying Pork Adobo Recipe and let me know what you think.

Pork Adobo Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 lbs pork belly
• 2 tbsp garlic, minced or crushed
• 5 pieces dried bay leaves
• 4 tbsp vinegar
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 tbsp whole pepper corn
• 1 cup water
• salt to taste
  

  Cooking Procedure

  1. Combine the pork belly, soy sauce, and garlic then marinade for at least 1 hour
  2. Heat the pot and put-in the marinated pork belly then cook for a few minutes
  3. Add water, whole pepper corn, and dried bay leaves then bring to a boil. Simmer for 40 minutes to 1 hour
  4. Put-in the vinegar and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes
  5. Add salt to taste
  6. Serve hot. Share and enjoy!