Sea & Freshwater Food – Page 7

TILAPIA: “Dinarang Sa Apoy” (Wrapped Tilapia Cooked Via Direct Fire)

May 30, 2014/0 Comments/in pilipino, Sea & Freshwater Food, Veggies & Salads /by Dante

TILAPIA: “DINARANG SA APOY”
(Wrapped Tilapia Cooked Via Direct Fire)
I used to teach this quick-prep-dish to friends who own resto-bars.
Easily available ingredients, quick to prepare and can be served
as “finger food” for spirited drinks or as course in itself.
No frying, no pre-heating of stove just rub spice blend unto fish, wrap,
fire it up, garnish & serve.
Here we go.

INGREDIENTS:
1 piece 800 grams – 1 kilo cleaned Tilapia or Pla-Pla (term for a kilo or larger Tilapia)
RUB:
2 sachets Knorr or Maggi “Sinigang Mix” (tamarind soup base mix)
3 grams fine salt
2 grams ground black pepper
2 grams ginger powder
2 grams red cayenne pepper powder (for little “kick”)
20 ml. EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
GARNISH, SIDES & DIP
1 whole bunch of “pechay Baguio” (wom bok or wong bok)
to serve as fish-wrap and as bed & garnish.
2 medium tomatoes – sliced
1 small carrot, de-skinned, julienned
whole red and green bell peppers for garnish ONLY (optional)
1 “manibalang (semi-ripe) green mango” – skin on, sliced
(should you want plain green…go ahead)
20 grams pre-cooked “alamang bagoong” (shrimp paste) as mango dip
15 ml. soy sauce with 5 ml. calamansi (or lemon) juice for dip
COOKING MEDIA:
foil
wire rack
2 tongs or spatula with large scoop-ends
PROCEDURES:
1. Slit sides and back of Tilapia for full flavor rubbing & penetration

2. Except for EVOO, blend and mix well via wire whisk
all powder ingredients of rub. Set aside.
3. Pour in EVOO to all sides, inside, into the slits and into head of fish
and cover all parts by seemingly massaging its flesh.
This will ensure optimum powder-flavor absorption.
4. Apply rub and ensure all parts are covered.

5. Foil underneath, lay flat leaves of pechay to serve as bed & wrap,
put in fish, cover with leaves of pechay again
…then wrap and fold ends of foil so juices won’t leak out.

6. In wire rack lay fish. Fire stove to high temp.
7. As size of fish is quite big that it won’t fit into 1 cooking,
cook fish 2 minutes in upper part…slide
then cook lower part for 2 minutes as well.
8. Turn fish the other side and repeat #7.

9. After 4 minutes…

…now you get your juiciest and tastiest Tilapia
that you can happily enjoy with family or friends.
10 Set in plate, garnish, serve along with mango & “bagoong”
plus the soy sauce-calamansi dip.

Note:
Seems long process at first instance but your 2nd to nth times
will normally just take you 10 minutes prep plus max 10 minutes cooking.

HOTOTAY SOUP (the more technological cooking approach).

May 15, 2014/0 Comments/in chinese, pilipino, Pork, POULTRY, Sea & Freshwater Food, VEGGIES, Veggies & Salads /by Dante

HOTOTAY SOUP
(The More Technological Cooking Approach)
HOTOTAY Soup is typically of Chinese kitchen origin fully accepted by Pinoys to be part of their own.
Modifications are introduced into it converting the “new version” as that of modifying-region’s native recipe.
I grew up knowing and hearing my old folks talked about HOTOTAY as an
“energy boosting meal”.
Being full of healthy ingredients, it was (or still is) served to women who had newly given birth,
or to people who just came from sick-bed and wished to recuperate faster
or to any one wishing to partake healthy meal.

I believe (IMHO) it was the inspiration behind the concoction of “Iloilo’s Batchoy”,
the “Lomi” of Batangas and the now very popular…
”TANTANMEN Noodle”.
Allow me to deal on these at the end.
The recipe herein detailed spells the different stages of its prep
creating a dish full of extracted flavor and taste rounded-ness
without the “bara-bara” dousing of millions of ingredients.
(wanton and blindfolded addition of un-needed materials)
I did not add fresh egg at the last-for I have a different idea how to offer it.
Other raw mats like: mushrooms, garlic, green onion leaves, oyster sauce etc.
are optional and dependent unto your call.
Let’s start this real health-focused complete dish.
Good for 2 servings.
INGREDIENTS:
Pork:
¼ kilo all-lean. Boil to tenderness in 500 ml. tap water added with
2 grams fine salt &
2 grams ground black pepper
Once done, remove from broth cut to cubes.
Broth will be used as the main soup later.
Chicken:
1 small breast, de-boned and cubed.
Shrimp:
6 pieces, head & tail cut, de-shelled, de-veined.
Pork Liver:
100 grams, sliced.

Egg:
1 piece, scrambled, fried, sliced thinly.
Veggies:
100 grams sliced cabbage
50 grams cubed “sayote”
50 grams sliced carrots
1 medium white onion sliced roundedly
2 bunches cleaned “baby bok choy” or Chinese Pechay, end joint-stalk cut

Other Ingredients:
10 ml. “patis” (fish sauce)
15 ml. EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
2 grams fine salt
2 grams ground black pepper
3 ml. sesame oil
PROCEDURES:
(for truer flavor rounded-ness, please follow the sequence closely)
1. In suitable pan, fry chicken cubes in heated EVOO. Toss & tumble until brown-about 5-8 minutes or to desired done-ness. (this process fries & cooks the chicken to palatability).
2. Add in boiled lean pork, carrots, “sayote”, sprinkle salt & pepper on top. Continue tossing for 5 minutes. (this cooks the otherwise tough carrots & “sayote” while disseminating to the whole batch the flavor of seasoned-boiled taste of pork while, also, all tossed ingredients absorb salt & pepper)
3. Add in white onion, shrimp and liver. Tumble for 2 minutes. (almost last stage of sautéing as onion, shrimp & liver are softer & cook easily)
4. Add ½ of “patis”. Continue mixing well. (salt renders saltiness in full while “patis” shares off little saltiness & full seafood-or fish- flavor).
5. Set aside.

6. Summon the pork broth and bring to boil.
7. Once boiling, pour in cabbage and “baby bok choy”.
8. Add in remaining ½ of “patis” and cook veggies in boiling broth for 15 seconds. (over boiling green veggies will render “un-palatable sight” to dishes.
9. Pour unto desired serving bowl, arrange veggies and meat to be “desirably sumptuous to the eyes”.
10. Scatter sliced scrambled egg…pour in sesame oil.
11. Enjoy the bliss of healthy offering.

NOTES:
1. I did not add mushroom pieces. It’s your choice.
Should you wish, you can add such together with the batch of onion, shrimp etc.
2. I did not add garlic and green onion leaves as doing so
will make the HOTOTAY tastes like “MAMI”. But again, your choice.
3. Oyster sauce (IMHO) will render the dish a “stew” like profile and NOT “soup”.
VARIATIONS POSSIBLE:
1. Add in boiled noodles, “chicharon crumbs”, fried garlic & sliced green onion leaves on top will make it…like…
LA PAZ BATCHOY.
2. Change pork into fried ground beef (with little of its oil), add noodles of your choice
and top with green onion leaves’ slices for…the now very famous…
TANTANMEN NOODLE SOUP.

Minutes to prepare ultra quick to cook. Lightly Souped Pomfret (Pinangat in Filipino)

May 10, 2014/2 Comments/in pilipino, Sea & Freshwater Food, Veggies & Salads /by Dante

I wanted to innovate Pinoy (Filipino) fish recipes and refrain from utilizing
Bangus (milk fish) & Tilapia.
WHY?
Frequently, 7 in every 10, they’re “lasang lumot” (taste like moss)
And why Pomfret (Pampano)?
Primordial reason is-its somewhat “buttery” or “creamy” flavor vividly satisfies your palate
more so if the part taken comes from the area of the belly.
Believe you me, tastier than “Bangus”
& way way far up than “Tilapia”.
Secondly, highly manageable to prep as they’re not as boney as milk fish.
Finally, should you have L.O. (left over), in tightly sealed food container,
(to prevent odor cross contamination)
cast unto fridge or chiller or freezer
then withdraw few days after, adding little water if need be,
re-heat via boiling (PLEASE REFRAIN FROM MICROWAVING).
There you go. Notwithstanding overdone veggies, truly fresh taste as in original-day cooked.
“Panginoon ko” (Oh my God!),
farmers & traders of milkfish & Tilapia might give me a run for my life.

INGREDIENTS:
1 medium size thoroughly cleaned Pomfret
4 pieces medium tomatoes-each cut into 4 pieces
2 pieces large white onion roundedly-sliced (not chopped)
3 pieces banana pepper (or chili finger or “sili pansigang”)
2 grams ground black pepper
8 pieces cleaned mustard leaves
10 ml. cooking oil
5 ml. “patis” (fish sauce)
200 ml. tap water (tubig lang sa gripo nyahaha) or fish stock
PROCEDURES:
1. Heat pan pour oil.
2. Saute 1/2 of sliced tomatoes until overdone (“labug na labug na mga kamatis”)
3. Pour in 1/2 of sliced onion, saute also to overdone state
4. Add in “patis” & black pepper. Toss a bit.
5. Pour in water (or stock) and bring to boil.
6. Upon boiling, slowly toss in Pomfret and let cook for 3 minutes each side.
7. When done, turn off or remove pan from fire.
8. Pour in mustard leaves & banana peppers…COVER.
9. Un-cover after 2 minutes, pour in unto serving tray
& garnish with the other half of tomatoes & onions.
10. Enjoy the aroma, taste and vibrance of this Pinoy comfort recipe.

P.S. (Pahabol)
Some may opt to add a packet or sachet of your fave “sinigang mix”
in the sauteing stage.
This gives your recipe a tasty marriage of “Pinangat” & “Sinigang”.

…and NOW the finished product.
Oh heck, never mind the “plating” “plating” thing…
“gutom na’ko” (am starving)

READY. GET SET. GOOoooooooo.
I need more “patis” and “sili labuyo” (bird’s eye chili pepper) for “sawsawan” (dipping sauce).
Another rice please?
Burp. Burp.

SEE?
Who cares about high blood glucose content.
2 cups of rice solved.
Oh BTW, don’t mind the calculator in that office table of mine.
Focus on the reddish drink in the glass full of ice.
That is:
HONEYED WATERMELON JUICE
This is easy to prepare:
1/2 watermelon de-seeded, de-rinded, sliced into smaller pieces
15 ml. honey
1 cup full of ice cubes.
Unto blender, pour in watermelon pieces, honey and 1/2 of ice cubes.
Mix well until no sight of ice cubes is evident.
Pour unto glass. Add 4-6 pieces ice.
Yipidoooooo.

Give it a try.
Easy. Quick. Healthy.

Rancid chicken, pork belly, pork chop or “bangus”…would you notice? You’re a foodie. You must.

April 1, 2014/2 Comments/in american, Pork, POULTRY, Reviews, Sea & Freshwater Food, ugaling-pinoy-good-bad-filipino-attitude /by Dante

Days of pounding questions again for applicants
wanting to be cooks, assistant cooks & kitchen helpers.
96% had previous kitchen hot experiences.
Can’t help but notice the absence of basic taste familiarities.
And so, I am literally dragged by circumstances to look back August 2013 and copy-paste my post of that day.

Of the so many I’ve interviewed for the different stalls-special events positions needed, ONLY 2 or 3 know what “rancidity” is.
Sad, as many are graduates of cooking schools, culinary institutes, food technology, chemistry and HRM.

Aside from single or double fried pork belly, pork chops, “tilapia” or “bangus” (milk fish), chicken, shot above, is hereby presented as it is almost always the type of food “rancidity” could always be very evident
(the type that most value-meal food chains offer).

RANCID. Do use your frying oil, even to similar type of product, for about 3-5 times on certain day. Ref your used oil. Or keep well-covered in any place you wish for 2 days. Fry on it same type of product the 6th time. The “unusual smell” plus the “out of this world taste of your fried food” will explain RANCIDITY. To differentiate, fry similar item on a new oil. Smell and taste. Compare.

To explain further is to be too technical like: oil has boiling and smoking points. It boils upon reaching certain temp but still keeps its chemical properties until it has reached smoking point. Breaking up of these chem properties reacts with and affects taste of food. Smoking point is reached when oil is “overused” and/or being used on consistent high temp frying.
Most home-type frying oils, including EVOO for that matter, have low smoking point.
Heat your oil to 350 deg. F and eat rancid food in no time.

In short, the higher the smoking point of oil the better for even continuous high temp deep frying.
Try sourcing for palm oil or palm olein that has high smoking point.

Many fast food outlets and poorly managed restos do use their oil for 10-15 times, sometimes more.
Here, “rancid taste” is common.
I suggest that you be too critical the next time you order your fried chicken.
Smell first. Taste intently. No matter what type of presentation or concoction or “flare” it is offered
…if cooked in “rancid oil”, you will notice.

BORACAY, on tourism service analyzer’s & food critic’s perspectives. First of two.

March 26, 2014/0 Comments/in family-travel, Food Reviews, Recommendation-Condemnation, pilipino, Reviews, Sea & Freshwater Food, ugaling-pinoy-good-bad-filipino-attitude /by Dante Morados

After a long straight year of hussles, heartaches and grinding,
time for our (“Pang’s” & mine) long awaited re-charging vacation
in a bit serene no-horn blowing vehicles-by the sea haven.
Peace & quiet…even just during an early morning white sand stroll.
Never mind the night rumblings, I can go with it at times.
As early as first week January, I already booked for 4 days-3 nights stay at Boracay.
Oh well everyone knows Boracay.
But allow me to share some “hidden happenings” untold, un-newspaper-ized.
Airline requested that we flew an hour earlier as such first flight wasn’t full yet.
Agreed. Air travel was smooth.
No shots allowed at tarmac.
Oh really? Well, you can’t stop a photographer…by finding his way.

On final descent took this shot using my Samsung Tab 2.

Plane was not full. Transferred to opposite seat tagging my D300 with 70-300mm & snapped this out while touching down.

Arrival at Caticlan airport was met with warmth and courteousness of locals.
Quick land travel up to Caticlan Jettyport then about 25-30 boat ride to Boracay Island.
The hotel by the beach-front we’re billeted extended an early check-in (8:30am)
which was supposed to be 2:00pm.
And already these caught my attention:

Second floor view.

Isn’t it peaceful?

Boracay has been known worldwide to be one of the best resorts
with sugary-white-powdery sands that never burn your bare feet no matter how hot the sun gets.
This is the mystique of the place blending well with ultra clean sea water
making it possible for you to see your feet (even small fishes) on waist deep area.
Other white beaches in the world have sands made of SILICA.
Boracay’s powdery sand comes from crushed corals from bedrocks of Caticlan, Kalibo & Boracay itself
which are polished as they are driven to the shore line by the gentle waves.
This is how its magical white sand is replenished in a to-and-pro motion of the waves.
Let’s go to food.
Taste, in my opinion, does not call for a big issue in Boracay. Not that their food is bland
but I believe “plating” is far more important to them than palatability.
This is so for more than 2/3 of islands visitors are foreigners, mostly accustomed to
plain tasting meals, happier to douse condiments thereby while eating.
OR, cooks thereby know that majority of tourists, more so the men,
will just make make their food as “pulutan” (pica-pica. finger foods while drinking)
and so WHAT THE HECK?
Had tried no less than 8 of them, nobody passed my liking.
Even our very own “known lechon manok” (char-grilled chicken) brand
served me & my wife with mega dry char-grilled chicken (we consumed half), half cooked rice (we ate 1/4)
and “SOAPY TASTE SINIGANG NA BABOY SA GABI” (soap tasting tamarind soup based pork in white taro).
Why “soapy”? Pork cubes had been pre-boiled and kept, most probably,
not in freezer enabling bacteria in “opposum” to propagate,
that when added to soup, rancidity of the oil used, when sauteing tomatoes & garlic,
reacted with each other eliciting unpleasant-ness.
WhadaF…We hurriedly left.
Anyway, on lighter note check these out.
Visiting this haven will not be complete without you guys going to the D’ Market.
The place has dry goods souvenir section:

The freshest oysters majority coming from Roxas City.

Clams galore.

Big clams.

Red grouper.

Can you beat that?

Crabs, lobsters, jumping shrimps, gigantic squids, meat, veggies & condiments
are also vigorously sold and go have them cooked by restos
to the side for whatever recipe-type you desire.
But beware. Again…BEWARE.
When we were marketing for our cravings, I particularly noticed
2 vendors SHOUTING at foreigners/tourists who were bargaining for bit lower prices.
Vendor #1 (refer to the map drawing of D’ Market) even accosted a Korean lady and shouted
“your price in that list is a LIAR”
“give me that I will break”
and “no good list-no good list”
(for the lady kept on referring to her notes on how to say how much or can I bargain or whatever in Filipino)
Then a caucasian passed by and asked how much was a kilo of big squid.
He agreed to the price and started to choose which ones to get.
Again, Vendor #1 shouted: “no choose-no choose. I give you”
Of course the man didn’t agree. He wanted his choice.
Vendor #1 screamed: “Go out! Don’t buy.”
Be very careful.
This Vendor #1 is “a one-eyed Jack” who acts like a hoodlum.
Nowhere must he be in Boracay.
Same is true with Vendor #2. He shouts at lady Koreans who he did not like the bargain.
After shouting, he will puff his cigarette. blow smoke up, put 2 hands in pockets
and walk like Fernando Poe, Jr. or Robin Padilla. (Philippines most loved action stars)
WHY DO YOU DO THAT?
YOUR LIVELIHOOD DEPENDS ON CLIENTS WHO BUY YOUR WARES.
BORACAY IS A TOURIST SPOT.
CARE FOR THE TOURISTS.
BE WARM, CONCERNING & RESPECTFUL.
Below is the sketch of D’ Market for your info.
Marked thereby are the spots of those 2 vendors. Caveat emptor.
Also, posting the “paluto” resto where my wife & I found real professional service
and who sought apology for the reactions of those “hoodlums”.
May I page the attention of secretaries of Tourism & Trade & Industry?
(ok now I’m doing my job…listen & act)

Don’t bother yourselves with those tough guys.
Good, mild mannered & respectful vendors dominate the site.
And below is my recommended (highly professional) “paluto” (they cook for you) site.

Done with first of 2 series of posts re Boracay.
Let me collect & collate my thoughts then.
Next I will be exposing the trade modus of some establishments for you to be aware when you visit.
But in general, I highly recommend Boracay.
Rest, eat a lot-never mind the taste, drink till you drop, swim to an un-ending clean waters
witness the “coolest sunset” in the world, re-charge with the most serene (if there are no vendors nearby)
and healthiest air intake by the sea (if MPSA is doing its job of prohibiting smokers by the beach front)
…but be wary.
Check these out:

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