One thing more I love in this tiny part of the world is the food. We looove to eat. We eat four times a day: breakfast, lunch, snack (must have in the afternoon) and dinner. And we eat a LOT of rice: rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner, sometimes when the mood calls for it rice for snacks. Eating without rice is not considered a meal at all. We have a special way of cooking rice: First, rinse the rice. After rinsing, put in the water. The amount of water should be 1:1 e.g. 1 cup of water to a cup of rice. Finally, just let it be, don’t stir it. Just let it boil until the rice absorbs the water. That’s it. No fuss, no muss.
These are the most popular Filipino dishes:
Adobo: This could be pork, chicken or both. The meat is gently simmered in soy sauce and cane vinegar. Once the meat is tender, it is set aside. Garlic and onion are sautéed. The meat, still in soy sauce and vinegar is then added to the sautéed garlic and onion. Afterwhich, salt, whole ground pepper and a bay leaf is added.
Adobo with garlic rice
Kare-kare: This is one of the most complicated dishes to cook. This is usually Ox tail or just pork. But Ox tail tastes better. The tail is boiled in peanut butter (yes, peanut butter!) and vegetables like pechay and string beans. The mechanics of how to cook this dish is pretty complicated and quite long. I know the peanut butter might sound weird but this is one of my most favorite dishes. Sometimes, ground peanuts are added instead of peanut butter.
Kare Kare with Shrimp paste
Tinola Soup: Aah, this is perfect for those rainy days and nights. Because of our location on the globe, we are prone to strong typhoons and heavy rains. Tinola is chicken boiled in broth with papaya added. The chicken is first sautéed in garlic and onions (we love sautéing) then chicken broth is added. Once the chicken is tender, the green papaya would be the final touch.
Leche Flan: The best desert to top it all off! This is steamed (most of the time it's steamed) or baked egg yolk, condensed milk, evaporated milk with vanilla essence, sugar and water then refrigerated.
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Comments
What kind of rice do you use, short grain, long etc...
If you are using a 1:1 ratio of water to rice, after the rinsing, do you start out with cold water, do you cover the pot till it's done or leave it uncovered... ?
Rice seems so simple but it can be very hard to get it right, and there are many different types of rice.
Tell us more!
Start with cold water? - yes, or just tap water.
Leave cover on? - yes, just leave it on. check every few minutes if the water has been absorbed. Also once you get the rice on the stove, put it on medium heat. when you notice the water is almost absorbed, put it on the lowest heat til the rice is nice and fluffy and the water's completely absorbed. This applies to most, if not all, rice types. Again, do not be tempted to stir the rice! :)
There's always a market for food from another part
of the world, and you could put Philippines on the
map for cooking, and step into new shoes for a change..
Time to put Imelda's away...
Vegetarian is my food, are there alot of vegetarian dishes
that you can research and begin your cookbook here? I
will only cut and paste the vegetarian recipes, I promise!