How to cook Minudo

Minudo A Philippine staple among Parties, Fiestas, Canteens  including Filipino gatherings in different countries. 

It's a Combination of Diced pork meat, some sausages, potato, carrots, bell pepper in Tomato sauce. 

 Try this dish and let me know what you think. 

 INGREDIENTS: 

1/2 Kilo Dice pork 1/2 inch squares

2 pcs of sausages diced into 1/4 inch squares

4 Tbs cooking oil 

6 Cloves Garlic 

1 Large Onion 

3 pcs Potato diced into 1/2 inch squares

1 Carrot diced into 1/2 inch squares

3pcs Bay leaf 

1 small Bell pepper

1 Pork bouillon 

1/4 tsp Salt 

1/4 tsp Pepper 

1/4 tsp sugar

1 Tsp soy sauce

1 cup Tomato Sauce 

1/4 cup water

1 Tbs of Cheddar cheese 

PART I

INSTRUCTION: Marinade Pork for at least 30 min

2 Tbs soy sauce

2 Tbs Banana Catsup

2 Tbs Vinegar

Part II

INSTRUCTION: 

1. Heat cooking oil in pan and saute garlic and onion
2. Add pork and allow the pork to cook well and should shrink to about a 1/3 inch in size and allow the pork oil to blend with the meat
3. Add sausages to mix with the pork meat
4. Now add you tomato sauce, water and once simmering lower down the flame to cook for 15-20 min, do not forget to stir occasionally to prevent the sauce and meat from burning. You will notice after a few min some oil will start to build up on top and the sauce slightly thickening and changing color towards reddish orange.
5. Put in 1 Pork cube sugar, 1 soy sauce and cheese stirring occasionally
6. add the bay leaves give it a quick stir
7. add the potato and carrots and simmer for another 10-15 min
8. Add the bell pepper 
9. Add the salt and Pepper to taste
10. Give it another 5 min and your Done

Note: Simmering may cause the tomato sauce to dry up quickly depending how strong your flame is, you have the option to add a little water while simmering for 2 reasons. One is if you want the meat tender, simply add water and simmer for another 15-20 min or just a few table spoons  to lessen the thickness of the sauce and increase the volume of the sauce.

Enjoy 

Bistek na Boneless Bangus

Bonless Bangus can be cooked so many different ways and instead of the usual Dinaing or Inihaw, another way is the Bistek.

This dish is worth trying if you like it savory salty with Soy sauce, Kalamansi and lots of Onions

Lets start 

Part I : Preparing the fish

INGREDIENTS:

1 Large Boneless Bangus

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 cup flour for 

1 cup cooking oil

INSTRUCTION:

1. Wash Boneless Bangus thoroughly to remove any traces of blood
2. Pat dry and put salt and pepper
3. Dust with Flour. I find this method economical and and more effective instead of dredging since dredging in floor has too many excess flour that is wasted. Simply put the flour in a small mesh strainer (The strainer used to remove lime seeds) and lightly top strainer to allow the flour to drop like powder all over the fish. You'll be surprised how evenly it will be distributed on the fish.
4. Allow the Bangus to absorb the flour and promote a very thin damp flour coating dry enough for it not to stick on the plate
5. Fry skin side down on Medium heat until golden brown and invert to achieve the same golden brown effect on both sides

Part II: How to make the sauce

2 Large onion cut in to rings and separate each piece individually

4 Tbs Cooking Oil

1/2 cup Soy Sauce

1/2 cup Water

1tsp sugar

1/8 cup Kalamansi juice

1tbs liquid seasoning

INSTRUCTION:

1. Saute Onions very lightly and remove from oil
2. Put in the soy sauce, water Kalamansi, sugar and Seasoning
3. Allow to boil season with pepper and reduce sauce by simmering it down to medium heat until you reduce the liquid to 3/4 its volume or less depending on how concentrated you want the sauce to be

Prepare the fish on a large platter and pour the sauce over, and top it with your sauteed Onions

Enjoy

I normally don't put the  fish in the pan while reducing the sauce, reason being is I wanted to retain the crispiness of the fish.

Also the breading will absorb the sauce once you pour it on the fish before serving.

Some people prefer a lot of sauce on the fish others prefer to have the sauce on the side and add as they eat . Either way, it work just fine

Chili Garlic Sauce

 This will only take 15 to 20 minutes to cook

INGREDIENTS:

4 whole Garlic peeled and finely chopped (about 40 pcs cloves) use the food processor

4 Tbs Dried chili flakes 

4 Tbs oyster sauce

3 Tbs sweet chili sauce

1 Tbs brown sugar

1 Tbs Liquid seasoning 

1/2 Tsp Vinegar

1/4 tsp fine black pepper

1/3 cup Corn oil or Olive oil 

INSTRUCTION:

1. Heat cooking oil until it starts to smoke then turn off the flame
2. Add garlic and dry chili flakes let it simmer down
3. Turn on Stove again and put heat on low flame and cook further until light brown
4. don't allow garlic to turn brown or it will get bitter
5. Add Oyster sauce, sweet chili sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, black pepper
6. Mix until all the garlic and chili are totally covered with the sauce
7. Simmer until you develop a slightly dry but slightly paste texture

Like i said, I prefer to make it simple and not over complicated

Hope you love it

Why use dry chilly peppers and not the fresh red eye chili peppers ?

• I've tried cleaning fresh red eye chili peppers and i can only point out that its messy and painful on your fingers when held by hand. There is no cure to eliminating the pain as suggested in the net. Believe me I've tried and tested all remedies and none of it works. Once you feel the pain on your fingers it will stay there for days. Plastic gloves work but boy was it difficult to handle.
• To eliminate all the hassle I use dry chili flakes and solved that problem plus it tasted better.
• fresh is definitely hot, but you get the same effect using dry chili flakes
• you can quickly prepare dry chili flakes, simply scoop it out of the container.
• its cheaper than fresh red eye chilies and its found in all grocery stores

Why use fresh finely chopped garlic and not the dry granulated one?

• You can use granulated garlic, I've seen some fast food restaurants use it but i don't get the same flavor as the natural one
• That Garlic flavor your looking for is in the fresh finely chopped garlic
• you can't get the same paste like texture when you cook with dry granulated garlic

How to cook Adobo

How to cook ADOBO 

Is there a magic in cooking Adobo?

Have you ever tasted the best Adobo?

In realty, Adobo has many different varieties and thats per country, per province or City.

There is no doubt its got to have vinegar. 

Historically, Vinegar was used to preserve food as a means of prolonging its life.

In the absence of refrigeration, Adobo or any food was brought to the table, picnics and outings that would last the whole day and still taste just as good when it was freshly cooked.

With all that said lets dive into how to make that simple Adobo recipe.

Ingredients ;

1 Kilo Pork or chicken or a combination of both

1Tbs cooking oil

1 Tbs Crushed Garlic

3 Large bay leaves

1 Tbs Black pepper corns

4 tablespoons of Vinegar 

4 table spoons of Soy sauce

half a cup of water

7 Simple easy steps to follow:

1. Heat your pan to medium heat and add your oil
2. Sauté your garlic, black pepper for a few seconds
3. Sear your pork or chick and cover under medium heat
4. Once seared make sure to lower the heat and cover to allow the water from the meat to come out
5. Allow the juices to reduce to a point where you have, almost only the oil of the meat left in your pan
6. At this point add your vinegar, soy sauce and water
7. let simmer until you achieve about half the volume of liquid left in the Pan over low heat. this should take about 15min

Note: of you want the meat to be softer, simply add more water and continue simmering until you reduce the water to half its volume or less to concentrate the flavors.

Cooking time takes about 30 to 45 min

Enjoy