Adobo Putoshop

Adobo - one of the most popular and traditional dishes of the Philippines.
Puto - a steamed rice cake popular in the the Philippines.

Adobe Photoshop - a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems. It is the current market leader for commercial bitmap and image manipulation software, and is the flagship product of Adobe Systems. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Photoshop)

The photo above was taken in the city of San Juan. I wasn't able to go in but it looks like a small restaurant.

Baby Potatoes

I really like small versions of vegetables. Baby carrots, baby bokchoy and of course baby potatoes. You can eat the entire thing and not get overwhelmed. Doing this required boiling the potatoes in salted water till soft, sauteing it in butter with fresh rosemary then topped with lightly toasted pepperoni and Parmesan cheese. Good as a side dish or as a snack.

Chili Crab Claws

Crab claws here can cost as much as an entire crab when compared by weight. As a kid i always played with these claws, now I just chase my 4 year old daughter with it. ;)

I basically used the same Chili Crab recipe I used before but only used the claws. Be sure to crack the claws before cooking so that the flavor gets in.

Fried Fish Fillets in Tomato and Cheese Sauce

Ever wake up and realize all the food you had was frozen? I have…many times. Or sometimes, I think I have this and that but turns out I don’t have any. This is one of those moments when it’s almost lunch time and I had no idea what to cook! Strangely, even with the pressure of coming up with a decent meal, I enjoyed it. I liked the challenge albeit I was nervous of how it would eventually taste.
The only thing quick enough to cook in the freezer was a pack of frozen fish fillets. While I could easily just fry or grill the fish, I think we already had it that way within the week. Though I still fried it, I did a couple things to make it different and still delicious. After seasoning it with salt and pepper, I fried it till golden brown then set it aside. Next I heated some leftover tomato sauce, added some dried thyme and basil then poured it over the fish, one fillet at a time. Then, I filled a squeeze bottle with some melted cheese and liberally lined the fish with lines of melted cheese. This went into the oven for about 10-15 minutes. Moment of truth came a few minutes after and I was all smiles. :)

Manila Ocean Park

A visit to the Manila Ocean Park made me think of how these wonderful specimens would taste! :) Just looking at the size of the Spider Crab made me think of Chili Crabs! I stood there for quite a while admiring the size of the crab and thinking if it can be bought in the markets and if i had a pan that was big enough. These crabs are apparently limited to the seas around Japan and can grow to as long as 3 meters with the claws.
If the spider crab caught my attention for a while, the Giant Grouper made me stare in awe. It must be around 5 feet in length and 2 feet across. As I've read about, it can even grow up to 9 feet! Wow! Now, that's a lot of fish! Think of this being served whole just like lechon! There are several at the Manila Ocean Park and they probably weigh around 300 kilos each! From a foodie standpoint, that's good for month in our household and many grouper recipes. I enjoyed that trip because of the many interesting species and of course the imagining of the many possibilities of those two wonderful specimens!

Fried Fiesta Platter

Have you ever ordered a huge platter of appetizers? The one above can serve as an hors d'oeuvre platter or as a main course for someone very hungry. For us, it fed four people. And after dinner, four happily fed people. :) It's a combination of fried dory fillets, calamari, french fries, salad greens with chicken nuggets with poppy seed vinaigrette topped with fried crunchy parsley. The batter is just lightly seasoned flour in cold water. Fry in very hot oil till golden brown and delicious!

Steamed Dory in Sesame & Soy Sauce

I can't seem to get enough of this fish. I usually have it fried into crispy crunchy fish fingers but this time was different but with the same delicious results.

The sauce and procedure is the same as the Steamed Soy Lapu-Lapu. This just cooks much quicker and is easier to eat. ;)

Grilled Chicken Breasts

I created a meal with each of us having a grilled chicken breast with different flavors. The marinades i used were a (1)soy sauce, ginger, garlic & sesame marinade, (2)a lemon, honey and soy sauce marinade and (3)a soy sauce, lemongrass, tarragon, garlic marinade. Served with boiled carrots and blanched asparagus with a little garlic butter. This was purely experimental and though all were tasty, number 1 was a bit too salty and I'm not really sure which i like better between 2 & 3. This was also done quite in a hurry so I think it has a lot of room for improvement.

Baked Macaroni

This is similar to my Baked Spiral Pasta w/ Pepperoni & Salami except for the cheese topping which was taken from the recipe of Connie from Pinoycook. The new cheese topping makes all the difference. I followed the recipe but my portions were larger as this really had a thick cheese topping! Yum!
I just keep topping everything with pepperoni!

Chicken Rice

This is based on a dish i saw while watching Tablescapes: Life On A Plate on the Asian Food Channel. I wasn't able to list down the ingredients and the recipe isn't at the website but i think i got the idea since i liked the outcome. :)

To do this, render some fat from the chicken skin on a non stick pan on low fire. After a few minutes a good amount of chicken fat should be present. Saute the garlic, shallots and ginger followed by the ham, Chinese sausage and chicken. Season w/ salt and pepper. When the chicken is cooked, add the mushrooms and leeks. Add about 1 tbsp of soy sauce, 2 tbsps of oyster sauce and a tsp of sesame oil. (Adjust according to taste).
For the rice i added about a cup of rice, which i think is too much. Maybe half a cup will do. Cover with broth. I used a combination of chicken and ham bones for the broth. Just fill the pot as if you were cooking rice. Cover and cook till the rice is done. Always check if the rice is done and if there is enough broth. In the episode, this was finished by placing the pot in an oven and letting it cook from there. I didn't do this part but will try it someday. My rice turned out delicious, lots of flavors and goes well on its own (a bit mushy though). Next time I'll adjust the rice and broth and will probably use the oven. :)

Oriental Sashimi

I love sashimi! I enjoy eating this raw dish anytime and really never get tired of it. I've even tried beef sashimi, and it was good! This version which my cousin calls Oriental Sashimi is different from the usual since it uses birds eye chilies instead of wasabi. It also has sesame oil added to the soy sauce and spring onions. Wasabi of course offers a unique kind of sensation that can't be replaced by chilies, however i think it is a tasty alternative. I'd enjoy having sashimi this way anytime but having it the original way is always welcome too.

Bulalo Steak (Beef Shank)

Tender beef shanks, delicious marrow and yummy gravy together with toasted garlic….. I have to say, this is one of the dishes that I cooked that I really savored eating! I’ve had this several times when eating out, and this is usually served on a sizzling plate but I misplaced mine. I’ve been itching to do this for so long and I’m glad that I finally got to do it with amazing results. I started by choosing a big piece of shank, I only bought one because this was still at the experiment stage and didn’t want to waste it just in case things didn’t turn out well.
To make sure this was tender, I simmered this for 2 hours together with some peppercorns, salt, an onion, garlic and spring onions. Once tender, I lightly fried it in butter. I just wanted to brown it a bit on each side. To make the gravy, I mixed butter and flour in the same pan and added the broth from where the shank was cooked. Carefully add the broth to get the right consistency for the gravy. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the gravy over the shank and top with toasted garlic and chopped spring onions. Enjoy!
That marrow is calling you! :)

Pancit Canton & Fried Parmesan Dory

Noodles, a definite favorite in our household. Pancit Canton is basically one of the many stir fried noodle dishes that are very popular during gatherings. I’ve cooked this several times and many times I rarely stuck to the same recipe. I think there is just so many ways of cooking this with several ingredients you can add, so I guess I’ll try as much of the other variations as I can. For this variation, I just used ingredients that came to mind when I was in the grocery while thinking of the many types of Pancit I have eaten.

½ kilo chicken thighs (cut into ¼ inch)
200 grams chicken livers (coarsely chopped)
1 large carrot (julienned)
1 medium cabbage (coarsely chopped)
1 small can sliced button mushrooms
15 pieces shrimps (deshelled)
5 garlic cloves (minced)
1 large onion (minced)
Cilantro (chopped)
Oyster Sauce (3/4 cup)
Soy Sauce (1/2 cup)
Chicken broth (4 to 5 cups)
Sesame oil (1-2 tablespoons)
Egg noodles (Pancit)

Sauté the garlic and onions then followed by the chicken, livers, mushrooms and carrots. Add some salt and pepper. Let this cook until the chicken is done, then add the shrimps. Stir fry all of this then add the oyster sauce and soy sauce. After about 5 minutes, add about 200-300 grams of noodles. Add enough stock or water to make sure it does not dry up. The noodles will absorb a lot of the liquids so just add enough to make sure the dish does not turn out dry. Mix this thoroughly to make sure the noodles on top get to absorb the flavor as well. Once cooked, add some sesame oil and chopped cilantro.

The accompanying dish is a deep fried Creamy Dory fillet. Seasoned with salt and pepper and dipped in egg and coated with Japanese bread crumbs with Parmesan cheese. Light and crunchy, it’s a good match with the noodles!

Spicy Pork w/ Coconut Milk

This is a dish I picked up from a stall I sometime get my lunch from. I don’t think this is exactly how they cook it but the concept is the same. From the results, mine is just a bit saltier and the sauce is thick, but both taste pretty good. I also used thinner cuts as opposed to theirs and I used pork while theirs was beef. In any case, I think this dish can be created and taste the same with either pork or beef.
Since I used thinner cuts the cooking time is much less as compared to using thick cuts. I was done cooking in about 30 minutes. I just sautéed some minced garlic and onions followed by the pork sukiyaki cuts (1/2 kilo). Add some chili of your choice depending on how hot you want this dish. I used 2 finger chilis without the seeds. This was followed by ¼ cup of soy sauce, though I think I’ll use less next time. Let it cook for about 15 minutes then add the coconut milk, give it a stir and leave it for another 10 minutes for the flavors to develop.