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HONEY BASTED CHAR-GRILLED “LIEMPO” (Pork Belly)

September 14, 2014/0 Comments/in american, pilipino, Pork, spanish /by Dante

HONEY BASTED CHAR-GRILLED “LIEMPO” (PORK BELLY)
(“TAGALOG PROFILE” CHAR-GRILLED BELLY…WELL DONE)
PRELUDE: I prefer my char-grilled “liempo” well done. So be it.
For quite a time now, I and “Pangs” (my wife Marilyn) are bit tired of these
“Ilonggo profile grilled” ones (marinated grilleries with taste peculiar to the Visayas region of the country:
vinegared, garlic & ginger laden, onionized)
We frequent this fave site each time urge for comfort food surfaces.
I have to admit they serve THE BEST “inasal” (Visayan term for grilled products).
This time we decided to pursue “inihaw” (grilled) the “Tagalog way” (marinade endemic to preferred taste of folks in the Luzon region of the archipelago)
Quick and mega easy to prep.
Everybody knows “inihaw”.
Secret lies in the marinade mix that flavors the soaked meat into.

Prep time: 3 hours
Cook time:           30 mins.
Total time: 3 hours 30 minutes
Serves: 8
Cooking media:   Charcoal fired griller
Special instructions/notes:     Be ready for basting galore in every step of grilling.

INGREDIENTS:
MEAT:
1 kilo “liempo” rectangularly sliced ½ inch thick per piece
MARINADE MIX:
Honey                           40 grams
Water                          400 grams
Soy sauce                    100 ml
Cane vinegar                 50 ml
Brown sugar               130 grams
Coarse sea salt            10 grams
Ground black pepper     4 grams
Crushed garlic cloves    20 grams
Chopped red onion        20 grams
Sliced “labuyo” (bird’s eye chilies)  2 grams (for that extra “kick”)
GRILLING MEDIA:
Soya oil 100 ml.
Basting brush
Charcoal
PROCEDURES:
1: Prep and marinating/curing:
1. In a bowl, add in and mix well all liquid ingredients of the marinade mix. Add in all ground & powder materials. Give the mixture a good wire whisking and mixing. Should some ingredients be stubborn enough to be dissolved almost instantly-give marinade a little heating while tossing constantly. Remove from heat.
2. Add in sliced pork. Toss and tumble well giving meat a simple massage to break its protein thereby letting flesh absorb the marinade. Refrigerate. DO NOT FREEZE for freezing will solidify moisture in a matter of 45 minutes-1 hour blocking absorption of flavor unto pork’s flesh.
3. Tumbling and tossing again every hour, minimum of 3 hour-ref marinating is enough but 5 hours would be perfect. The higher the distance in-between the longer meat cooks-the tougher they become.
2: Grilling prep:
1. Start firing up your charcoal.
2. Make sure that heated charcoal is no more than 4 inches below your steel, stainless or cast iron slotted griller-bars.
3: Basting sauce:
1. While waiting for the charcoal to be fully fired up, in a container mix the “leftover” marinade and soya oil.
2. Blend and whisk thoroughly.
3. Mix or blend or whisk thoroughly each and every usage during the basting stages
4: Grilling process:
1. Wait until charcoal emits full reddish heat as half heated ones will render “smokey” aroma and taste to your “inihaw”.
2. Dump brush unto container, use this to mix well basting sauce. Baste each & every piece of sliced pork abundantly.
3. Lay slices flat onto grill.
4. After 2 minutes, turn to other side fully basting again repeatedly.
5. Grill this side for just 1 minute.
6. Done. Tenderness and flavor will be prefect.
7. Don’t over-grill as meat will toughen. (But for me, I love it well done)

DISCLAIMER: Above are test kitchen and household-produced dishes. All ingredients utilized are of food grade quality passing international and domestic sanitary standards. While we find the results highly acceptable, no guarantee nor explicit assurance is hereby issued when recipe is performed by readers. For one, although of similar breed, spices, herbs and other ingredients vary from country to country/region to region that possibility of affecting end taste, aroma & bite-feel is great. Further thereto, mentioned sensory evaluation (aroma, taste, mouth-feel) is subjective.

Stuffed Creamed Squid

September 1, 2014/1 Comment/in american, chinese, italian, pilipino, Sea & Freshwater Food, spanish /by Dante

STUFFED CREAMED SQUID
(SEASONED GROUND PORK STUFFED SQUID)
After being downed for more than a week by a very malicious virus, am back.
The favorite of my family each time there’s an occasion to celebrate.
Its sauce is great steamed rice topping that in itself is already a dish.

Prep time: 30 mins.
Cook time: 25 mins.
Total time: 55 minutes
Serves: 4-6
Cooking media: Frying pan
Special instructions/notes: To prevent separation, extra care in sautéing toothpick-attached head-on squid.

INGREDIENTS:
½ kilo cleaned medium-sized squid. Ink discarded and de-skinned to give that
creamy white finish.
STUFFING MIX:
¼ kilo ground pork
2 stalks of celery, chopped finely
3 grams salt
2 grams ground black pepper
30 ml. oyster sauce
enough toothpicks
SAUTEING MIX:
5 cloves crushed garlic
3 pieces medium sliced tomatoes
1 medium sliced red or white onion
50 ml. palm or soya oil
100 ml. full cream milk
PROCEDURES:
1.    From the sautéing mix, scatter into ground pork your salt, black pepper, oyster sauce & celery slices. Tumble & toss well to disseminate flavor.
2.    Summon squid, remove head and stuff enough seasoned ground pork inside, put back head and secure with toothpick. Continue through with the others.
3.    Heat oil in suitable pan. Saute garlic, onion & tomatoes.
4.    With extra care, add on one-by-one stuffed squids. Include leftover ground meat shaped into balls. Toss lightly at times. Continue sautéing until stuffing inside hardens a bit. This will be about 2-3 minutes.
5.    Slowly pour in milk. Tumble carefully. Bring to boil. When boiling starts commence timing the dish. It will be done in 15 minutes.
6.    Serve your new creation.

Señor Dante’s “COCIDO” (The evolution of Filipino meat stew)

July 4, 2014/4 Comments/in Beef, spanish, VEGGIES, Veggies & Salads /by Dante

SEÑOR DANTE’S “COCIDO”
(CUBED U.S. SHORT PLATE CRUNCHILY FRIED THEN STEWED)
Portuguese Cozido or Spanish Cocido,
it all boils down to traditional stewed meats
(pork, beef, lamb, goat or sheep) with vegetables.
Variations through ages and generations defined uses for sausages,
raisins, olives, bay leaves, oregano, vinegar, wine, sugar and
tomato paste/sauce/puree.

In the Philippines, pass-through versions of this dish
(pork, beef, goat, fish or poultry) resulted to:
1.   MECHADO:
From the Spanish word “mecha” or “wick”, then low-cost recipe,
calls for wedging/inserting strips of pork back fat unto lean meat
to render desired juiciness and bite-friendliness to it.
Meat is stewed-veggies added. No tomatoes.
Until early 40’s when “Pinays” started pouring in tomato sauce/puree
to give the dish a tinge of class…a “royalty”.
2.   AFRITADA:
Twist your recipe a bit by adding either or in combination:
bay leaves, oregano, vinegar, sugar and sausages
you end up with Afritada.
3.   KALDERETA:
From Spanish “caldereta” “cauldron or cooking pot”,
the original recipe strictly called for goat’s meat, stewed with veggies.
Scarcity of goat’s meat plus the need for more flesh rather than boney bite,
Filipinos’ ingenuity surfaced once again.
In our setting, “Kaldereta” is stewed goat or beef or pork
(I created a fish version), with chicken or pork liver further
modified to add either: olives, pickled carrots or cucumber or whatever…
sauced with “tomato sauce/catsup/puree”.
4.   MENUDO:
Originally a Mexican soup dish of “tuwalya” (pork tripe)
in a very piquant soup-added with lots of red chili peppers,
the recipe underwent “surgery” from the hands of “Pinoys”.
Why “SURGERY”?
Slice your “MECHADO” meat into smaller cubes,
add in equally cubed pork liver, tomatoes and carrots-then
sauce it up with “tomato puree/catsup/sauce”,
finally, enhance flavor by infusing your raisins or pickles
or pineapple slices or olives or dates or whatever…
your “Mechado” is now…”Menudo”.
In my days, we used to incorporate “chickpeas” (“garbanzos”)
to our “Menudo”.
Back to the original…Cocido.
Utilizing the very sanitary, highly reliable, moderately marbled
cubed U.S. short plate, will tweak procedures and ingredients a bit
to render extra burnt aroma and toasted flavor to whole recipe.
INGREDIENTS:
MEAT:
½ kilo boneless short plate, sliced across the grain
about 1sq. inch thick and 2-3 inches long, rinse fully.
PRESSURE COOKER MIX:
Enough tap water to cover top of meat.
2 grams salt
4 cloves crushed garlic
20 ml. any red or white wine
SAUTEING MIX:
50 ml. palm oil (or palm olein or any un-used oil you desire)
1 large white onion, finely chopped
8 cloves crushed garlic, finely chopped
2 large tomatoes, sliced
2 grams salt
2 grams ground black pepper
FINAL SAUCE MIX:
200 ml. of the left over PRESSURE COOKER MIX.
2 grams salt
2 grams ground black pepper
25 grams brown sugar
3 grams chili powder (NOT chili pepper powder).
(Chili powder contains 5 or more spice-herb combination plus salt
while Chili Pepper Powder is just the powder presentation of that particular chili pepper).
400 grams/ml tomato sauce
10 grams corn starch dissolved well in 30 ml. water (“slurry”)
GARNISH VEGGIES:
2 large bell peppers (get 1 red & 1 green for eye appeal), de-seeded, sliced horizontally
1 large carrot, skin-on, scrape/brush skin well under running water, sliced roundly
12-15 pieces baby potatoes, skin-on, scrape/brush skin well under running water
PROCEDURES:
1.    Pour in sliced meat unto pressure cooker,
add all ingredients of the Pressure Cooker Mix. Mix well
and, nozzle attached, start cooking at medium heat.
2.    When whistling starts, pressure cook for 30 minutes.
When done subject pressure cooker to running tap water,
and when whistling stops slowly remove nozzle-open cooker.
Remove meat, drain and set aside including the leftover Pressure Cooker Mix.
3.    In suitable pan, heat palm oil, pour in onion and tumble until translucent.
Add in crushed garlic and toss until they turn light brown.
Add tomatoes and continue tossing for just 1 minute.
4.    Pour in your pressure-cooked meat. Fry. Tumble & toast well.
Adding (by scattering) salt and black pepper in between,
make sure meat are really brown (about 8-10 minutes)
(this portion cooks meat further while absorbing fragrant aroma
of fried onion, garlic and tomatoes). When done, set aside. (pan and all in it)
5.Except for the “slurry”, in a pot, pour ALL ingredients of the Final Sauce Mix.
Add the baby potatoes. Mix well and boil.
6. Upon boiling, pour in “slurry”. Sauce will thicken in a bit.
Continue boiling, while tossing sauce, until potatoes are to desired done-ness.
7. Add additional salt or pepper or brown sugar if so desired.
8. When done, pour in the sauce unto fried meat.
Add carrots and bell peppers. Simmer for 2 minutes.
9. DONE.
10. Show off to the world your own…“SEÑOR DANTE’S COCIDO”.

Create your own SISIG. Enjoy it 6 ways: as is, with rice, make into Roll, Crepe, Empanada or wrap in lettuce.

June 24, 2014/1 Comment/in american, italian, pilipino, Pork, spanish, VEGGIES, Veggies & Salads /by Dante

“SISIG”
“Sisig” (see’ seeg) is an original Filipino recipe started by folks
from the country’s northern part, Pampanga.
Often served as appetizer, on as is plain meat in sizzling plate,
as food to go along with beer, wine or liquor.
Modifications introduced by different regions rendered the delicacy
the status creating it a main course to go with rice meal.

To date, none that I know of, this preparation is somewhat similar or present in other countries.
Reason: the original recipe calls for the use of “char-grilled boneless pork mask” which,
I believe, is not at all sold out there.If yes, then great let’s proceed.My innovations: the use of other pork cut for lesser fat content
but still juicier & more tender to bite, the use of ingredients’ blend
other than those used in the original formula and
the technological sequence of preparation,
all contributing to a well rounded taste complemented by a different type of presentation
…in rolls, crepe or “empanada”.

Simple procedure attaining excellent taste and thereabout optimized
due to chronological production sequence.

So flattered am I when this innovation was actually approximated
(trying very hard) by no less than 5 restaurants in the Metro.

Smokey, vinegar-y & lemon-ly acidic, piquant with hints of onion, red cayenne and
cracked black pepper while crackling sound of seared pork skin fills your mouth
every tablespoonful encounter.
Highly recommended as “antipasto” for your cold ones.

And, again, I use the grammage system of prep by weight
not the volumetric cups & teaspoons.
Pound the weighing scale to your tabletop once more.

Servings: 20-25 X 50gram serving
Prep time: 45 minutes
Grilling time: 30 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
MEAT:
1 kilo skin-on pork mask if available
OR
1 kilo skin-on picnic shoulder (“kasim”)
¼ kilo lightly boiled chicken liver (semi cooked). Mash to a paste state. Set aside.
FLAVOR ENHANCERS:
Cane vinegar     70 ml.
Fine salt          5 grams
Cracked black pepper      2 grams
1 bulb large white onion finely chopped. Set aside ½.
1 clove garlic crushed. Set aside.
2 pcs “labuyo” (bird’s eye chilies) finely chopped.
soy sauce 50 ml.
palm oil        15 ml.
GRILLING & SERVING MEDIA:
griller
charcoal
Your OWN ROLL, CREPE SKINS or EMPANADA WRAPPERS

ROLL, CREPE & EMPANADA RECIPES:
Check out this PIZZA CRUST RECIPE by MELY MARAVILLA here:
http://melyskitchen.blogspot.com.br/2014/02/how-to-make-pizza-crust.html
and will make our OWN ROLL, CREPE & EMPANADA WRAPPERS:

1.    Using Mely’s recipe, just remove the YEAST and make your dough THINNER
…this will be your ROLL.
2.    Much much thinner, YEAST REMOVED and with 600 ml. evaporated milk,
60 grams butter and 8 pieces beaten eggs added to Mely’s recipe
(this will be like the consistency of a pancake flour blend-a viscous fluid):
and this will be for your crepe (or KREP).
Unto flat frying pan, pour 30 ml. of mix and flatten in a round-circular motion by a small rolling pin.
Brown a bit and there you have a crepe.
3.    Of Mely’s PIZZA CRUST RECIPE, get 100 grams dough,
dusting with little flour every now and then, flatten well to make it round.
This will be your Empanada wrapper.

PROCEDURES:
1.    De-hair and clean well meat.
Boil to “bite-friendly” tenderness but not to the point of disintegration.
2.    In fiery red charcoal, while tossing and tumbling boiled meat as needed,
grill enough to sear or turn skin dark brown.
3.    Slice and cut into 4 pieces per square inch. Set aside.
4.    In a suitable frying pan, heat palm oil.
Add in crushed garlic, toss until brown, dump the ½ chopped onion-mix and tumble until translucent.
Remove or strain cooked solids. Set aside this “flavored oil”.
5.    In a bowl, in this sequence and while tossing constantly,
mix cut meat with chicken liver paste, toss well then pour in vinegar,
soy sauce, salt, black and “labuyo”. Mix well.
6.    In the same frying pan with “flavored oil” pour in meat mixture
and lightly heat tumbling well to avoid sticking to bottom of pan.
7.    Remove pan from heat and lastly, add in the other ½ chopped onion. Tumble.
8.    In still live charcoal or at direct fire from gas stove,
heat very lightly YOUR ROLL until little brown spots appear.
Lay flat unto plate and pour in 50 grams “Sisig”.
Add any combination veggies (cabbage & carrots etc.) you wish as ADD-ONs.
Roll as shown in picture. Cut into 2-3 pieces if desired.
Garnish. Serve.

OR, while heating YOUR CREPE in flat cooking ware, add in your “Sisig”
and add-on veggies, roll as in picture. Serve.

OR, lay flat YOUR ROUND EMPANADA WRAPPER, fill in with 30-50 grams “Sisig”,
FOLD and cut to HALF-MOON effect…FRY…PRESTO!
You will be happy to serve your EMPANADA SISIG.

GG Swims In Olive Oil

June 9, 2014/0 Comments/in pilipino, Sea & Freshwater Food, spanish /by Dante

GG SWIMS IN OLIVE OIL
(Tagalog: Sinardinas Na Galunggong)
(English: Sardine-nized Hard Tail Mackerel-Female/Round Scad-Male)

Herewith issuing a recipe, which, when modified to suit desired preferences,
could be the start of a business venture for you, dear readers.
“Sardinas” (sardines),
the most consumed Filipino comfort food either with rice or bread,
processed with olive oil or with tomato sauce,
partaken during breakfast, lunch, dinner and even snacks in-between meals
and the usual typhoon or calamity relief item,
shows it presence into our lives.

History dates back to 1880 when, to augment fish shortage along the coast of Breton,
the first sardine factory was founded in the town of Setubal, Portugal.
To date, tinned sardines from Portugal dominate world supply
and flatter-ly considered as best tasting and well formulated ones.
This industry keeps on growing every year…
so why don’t you join the bandwagon.
Formulation and process are easy.
Pack it in your own-labeled airtight plastic-sealed bottles.
Who knows, you might be the next
“LIGO” or “PORTOLA”.INGREDIENTS:
1 kilo of fully cleaned, internals & heads removed “Galunggong”
or “GG”
500 ml. EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
50 ml. pickles juice
8 grams salt
3 grams ground black pepper
3 grams whole peppercorn (for flavor & garnish)
1 large carrot, de-skinned & sliced
6 pieces pickled cucumber-sliced
4 pieces bay leaves
6 pieces red cayenne pepper or “labuyo” (bird’s eye chilies)
6 pieces “siling pansigang” (banana pepper or chili finger)
SOAKING SOLUTION:
15 ml. apple cider vinegar or plain cane vinegar
(this solution removes “fishy-ness” (or “lansa”) of fish.
5 grams salt
1 liter tap water
COOKING MEDIUM:
Pressure cooker
PROCEDURES:
1.   In a container, mix all ingredients of the soaking solution.
2.   Soak GG for 30 minutes.
3.   Combine EVOO, pickles juice, salt and ground black pepper.
Blend well.
4.   Arrange fish in pressure cooker.
5.   Pour in EVOO, pickles, salt and ground black pepper mixture.
Ensure all fish are fully covered.
6.   Arrange remaining garnish-veggies, spices & herb on top.

7. Cover, attach sizzling nozzle and set pressure cooker unto stove and start on medium high.
This is the start of “come-up time” (the span of time pressure cooker starts to sizzle)
which will take about 5-8 minutes.
8. When pressure cooker starts to sizzle,
time your cooking to 12 minutes.
9. After so, it’s done.
DON’T REMOVE YET SIZZLING NOZZLE of cooker.
10. Bring cooker to sink and run tap water unto its cover.
(Cold tap water will slow down sizzling and will allow
accident-free & easier removal of cover)
11. When sizzling stops-remove nozzle, unlock cooker & open.
12. Arrange unto plate, garnish if need be and enjoy.

NOTES:
1. Bangus (milk fish) or whatever type of fish you opt to can be substituted for GG.
Just slice so they will fit your bottle.
2. Try modifying some ingredients until you discover
your own “trade secret” as regards flavor.

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