Traditional Oxtail And Tripe Kare-Kare

Oxtail and Tripe Stew

Kare-kare is another traditional Filipino dish and one of my personal favorites.  This is made by slowly cooking the meat until it is tender; with the use of  peanut butter and toasted ground rice helps thicken the sauce and makes it more mouth-watering. In order to completely enjoy this dish, shrimp paste is added when served and this makes it different from other stew. Beef, pork hock, ox tail, tripe, goat also prawns can be used. In addition to peanut butter and toasted rice, this dish also includes string beans, eggplants, petchay or bok choy, banana blossom and squash.

Oxtail and Tripe Kare-kare

Ingredients:

2 lbs. - Oxtail (cut into 2 in. piece)
2 lbs. - Tripe (slice into 3in. peace)
1 pc. - Banana Blossom (sliced, washed and blanched)
1 bunch - String Beans (washed, cut into 3in long and blanched) 
1-2 pc. - Chinese Eggplant (washed, sliced diagonally and blanched)
1 bundle - Bok Choy (washed and blanched)
 2 cups - Squash (washed, pared and sliced to serving pieces)
1 cup - Peanut Butter
1/2  cup - Toasted Rice (ground)
1/2 cup - Annatto Seads (soaked in water) or Annatto powder
5 cups - water
5 cloves - Garlic (minched)
1 large - Onion (sliced)
Salt and Pepper to taste
*Sauteed Shrimp Paste for condiment

Toasted Rice - Heat up a separate pot or pan and add rice stirring constantly to prevent form burning. Toast until golden brown and grind with food processor. Set aside.

Let's Cook!

1.  In a large pot, put oxtail, tripe, sliced onions, salt and water. Bring it to a boil.
2. Reduce heat, and simmer for 2 to 3 hours or until oxtail and tripe are tender. (about 30-40 minutes if you are using pressure cooker)
3. Once the meats are tender, add peanut butter, annatto water and ground toasted rice. Simmer for 5-8 minutes. 
4. Blanch string beans, banana blossom, bok choy and eggplant. Set aside.
5. On a separate pot, saute garlic, onion and squash.

Sliced Vegetables, Toasted Rice and Annatto Seeds

   6. Transfer the sauteed garlic, onion and squash to the large pot  where oxtail and tripe are. Simmer for 5 minutes or until squash is cook. 

  7.When done, put the Kare-kare in a bowl and arrange all the blanched vegetables on top. Serve with shrimp paste and hot rice.

Salmon Steak Sinigang

Salmon Steak In Sour Soup
Filipinos love sour dishes especially soup. Salmon Steak Sinigang is another sour base soup dish. If salmon is not available, milkfish, tilapia, catfish, mudfish or any fish that you prepare can be used. The possibilities are almost endless when it comes to siningang. 
In this recipe, I used tamarind based soup mix that can be bought in any Asian store that sells products from the Philippines. Kamias, or bilimbi, is one of the popular souring agents for this dish. In-season calamansi, guava or green mango can also be used. Ginger is a must for this dish to remove the fishy smell and for flavor. I also used daikon, or white radish, dasheen, or taro, kangkong (water spinach), eggplants, finger peppers and fish sauce or patis for seasoning.

Salmon Steak Siningang

Ingredients:

3 pcs. Salmon Steak (washed)

1 pkg. Sinigang sa Sampalok Mix (yields 1 liter tamarind based soup)

1 lb. Dasheen/Taro Roots (pared, washed and cut if necessary)

1 large - Daikon (pared, washed and sliced diagonally about 1/3 in thick)

2 pcs. Eggplants (washed and cut)

1 bundle _ Kangkong (water spinach) or Sweep Potato leaves if available (washed and cut into 3in length)

1 liter - Water

6 pcs. Finger Peppers (washed)

1 large - Tomato (washed and cubed)

1 medium - Onion (pared, washed and cubed)

1 thumb size - Ginger (pared, washed and pounded)

 2 tbsps. - Fish Sauce/Patis (or to taste)

Let's Cook!

1.  In a large pot, combine water, tomato, onion and ginger. Bring to boil, then lower the heat and simmer.
2. While simmering, add dasheen/taro roots and simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Put in eggplants, daikon and tamarind mix.
4. Add salmon and simmer for another 5 minutes or until fish is done.
5. Season with fish sauce. Adjust seasoning if necessary.
6. Before turning off heat, add kangkong or sweet potato leaves and finger peppers, simmer for a couple of minutes. Make sure to add these vegetables last to avoid over cooking.
7. Serve with rice and enjoy!

  

Ginisang Labanos

Sauteed Daikon

Ginisang Labanos / Sauteed Daikon

Sauteed white radish, or daikon, is a quick and easy-to-prepare Filipino vegetable dish perfect with steamed rice. 
I remember growing up, my Nanay used to cook this dish and it was my least favorite dish of all. I do not like its mild bitterness and lack of flavor. Eventually, our taste buds changes over the years as we grow older. Now, I can eat any dish with this vegetable and even pickled one.
In this recipe, I used pork and shrimps to enhance its flavor. Sometimes, I also put fried tofu as substitute to pork, for a much healthier dish. Like my Nanay, I opted to add vinegar to give a little bite of tartness and generous dash of ground black pepper to make it more savory.

Ingredients for Ginisang Labanos 

Ingredients:

2 large - Labanos or White Radish/Daikon (pared, washed and sliced into thick strips)
1 cup - Pork (sliced thinly)
1 cup - Shrimps (shelled and set aside shell for broth)
2 medium size - Tomatoes (washed and cubed)
1 medium size - Onion (sliced)
6 cloves - Garlic (minched) 
2 tbsp. - Fish Sauce (Patis) or to taste
2 tbsp. - Vinegar (Optional)
1 tsp. - Ground Black Pepper or to taste
1/2 cup - Water 
1 cup -  Shrimp Broth (boil shrimps shell and strain)
1 tbsp. - Canola Cooking Oil (Optional - fat from pork can be use for sauteing)

Let's Cook!

1. In a large pan, combine water and pork. Bring  to a boil.
2. When water has fully evaporated, lower the heat, cover the pan and let pork fry in its own fat until golden brown. Stir occasionally. 
3. Set the browned pork at the side of the pan and saute garlic, followed by onion and tomatoes. Cook for 3 minutes.
4. Combine pork and the sauteed garlic, onion and tomatoes. Stir, then add shrimp broth. Simmer for 5 minutes.
   
5. Put in daikon, cover and cook for 3 minutes.
6. Add-in shrimps, ground black pepper, fish sauce and the optional vinegar.
7. Stir and cook for another 5 minutes or until the shrimps are cooked.
8. Remove from heat and place in a bowl.
9. Dish up with steamed rice. Enjoy!

Beef Spareribs Nilaga

Beef Spareribs Stew In Clear Broth

Nilaga, or stew, is a very popular Filipino comfort food. It is best served hot with newly cooked rice and any fried dish on the side. It can also be eaten alone; with the vegetables in it is already a complete meal.

In this recipe, I used beef spareribs. Beef shank, beef bones with marrow, or bulalo, is widely used for this dish. Pork, pork hock and pork belly are also commonly used. Chicken and fish are rarely used for this dish. Nilaga is one of the easiest dishes to cook out there, but the only con is the length of time simmering the beef to make it tender and fall off the bone. If a pressure cooker is available, it is best to use it to save time. This dish can be compared to Pochero; same vegetables are used minus the tomato sauce. I like to put sweet potatoes when ever I cook nilaga instead of potatoes. Cooking banana or saging na saba can also be added.

Beef Spareribs Nilaga

Ingredients

Ingredients:
4 lbs. - Beef Spareribs (washed)
5-6 cups - Water
1 head - Napa Cabbage or a large bunch or Bok Choy or Petchay (washed)
4 pcs. - Carrots (pared and sliced diagonally)
2 large - Sweet Potatoes (pared and sliced diagonally)
1 large - Onion (sliced)
1 tbs. - Whole Peppercorn
1 tsp. Salt
2 tbsp. - Fish Sauce (Patis) or to taste
 

Prepared Ingredients ready to cook

Let's Cook!

1. In a large pot, add spareribs, water, sliced onions, peppercorn and  salt.  
2. Bring to boil and lower the heat to simmer. Make sure to remove the thin layer covering the surface of the liquid as much as possible while simmering and disposed. 
3. Simmer until tender. Add more water if necessary.
4. Add sweet potatoes and season with fish sauce. Adjust the seasoning if needed.
5. When the potato is almost done, add carrots and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
6. Put in cabbage or bok choy just before turning off the heat. Try not to over cook the carrots and cabbage/bock choy.
7. Serve hot with newly cooked rice or as it is. Enjoy!

Madako Tako Poke

Madako Tako Poke

Tako is the Japanese word for wild caught octopus. Madako is just one of over 200 species of octopus in the world, however only a small portion is used for human consumption. Madako, or common octopus, is the most ordinarily eaten octopus. It is seldomly eaten raw; usually it is already boiled when purchased. Because it has been boiled, the skin is bright red and the meat varies from a glaucous gray to white, and with little boiling it makes the octopus tender and sweet. Madako Tako is good for sushi or Tako Poke and is fantastic for putting on the grill.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. – Madako Tako (cooked and sliced thinly)

¼ cup – Limu (Seaweeds)

1 tsp. – Hawaiian Salt or to taste

½ cup – Green Onion (chopped)

¼ cup – Red Onion (sliced thinly) Optional

Dash of Chili Pepper to taste

2 tbsp. – Black Sesame Seeds

1 tsp. – Sesame Oil

 

Procedure:

1.     Combine all the ingredients and mix thoroughly.

2.     Adjust the seasoning if necessary.

3.     Chill before serving. Enjoy!