Lechon Kawali

Baked to a crisp

Whoa! How long has it been since my last post? So many things have happened since our move back to Manila from Singapore that this blog has taken a backseat. Nevertheless, the passion for cooking (and consequently, eating) has never waned. Although I cannot guarantee that I will be regularly infusing this blog with new entries on a regular basis, still I am making this comeback with a vengeance by introducing this deadly dish- the Lechon Kawali.

Aside from a death-wish, you will need:

• a kilo (2.2lbs) of pork belly (or liempo). In this case I bought  750 grams worth of young hog so the skin will come out crispier.
• lots of garlic, chopped
• onions
• peppercorns, maybe a spoonful
• 2 bay leaves
• lots of salt
• water for boiling

First, boil the meat for a minute or two just to clean it. Get rid of that dirty water and boil water again. Just enough to cover the meat. Add in the garlic cloves, onions, peppercorns, bay leaves, and maybe a spoonful of salt. Boil for 40 minutes. If using a pressure cooker, boil for 25 minutes.

Get rid of the water and everything else except the meat. Set the pork on a wire rack to let excess water drip and to air it. You may also keep it in the ref to be baked another time. In my case I fired up the oven after an hour of the meat sitting.
Set the oven to 180°C and pop in the meat after 15 minutes with the skin up. I placed the meat on a wire rack, and that wire rack on a baking pan to catch the oil drippings. I collected a cupful of oil so make sure your baking pan is deep enough.
Now, ovens may vary. I had to check on the meat every so often to make sure that it’s being broiled properly. Keep in mind that the meat is already cooked, so you can just work on getting the skin crispy. I spent about 30 minutes having it broiled, then to make the skin crispy I set the oven to fan (it’s the setting with the “fan” icon) and gave it 20 minutes more. That is how this beautiful piece of meat came about. No frying involved nor cringing from hot oil spattering.
Serve with bottled lechon sauce found in Filipino groceries or plain old vinegar with crushed garlic will also do. Don’t forget your cupfuls of rice.

Tokwa’t Baboy (Tofu and Pork)

Be sure to check out the recipe on Arroz Caldo because this dish is its perfect mate. Then again, this can work as a stand alone snack. Better yet, serve it as bar chow. It really goes great with beer. Unlike my wife, I am a fan of tofu, cooked in any way. I like its texture, and the fact that it’s really healthy (unless you deep fry it, which is the case here), not to mention that it is cheap. Just bear in mind that you purchase it from a reputable store to ensure that it has been prepared hygienically. Also, raw tofu spoils easily so cook them right away upon buying.

For the pork, I used liempo or pork belly as it is easily available. Ideally, it would be best to use pork head, since the texture of the pig’s face and ears is crunchy due to the soft cartilage. But to ask a grocery butcher here in Singapore for a pig’s head will only elicit a peculiar response.

The best Tokwa’t Baboy I have tasted is once again found in Dencia’s in Davao City. As I have mentioned in my previous post on preparing Arroz Caldo, dining in Dencia’s will leave you reeking with its kitchen aromas. At times you’d like to argue that it’s all worth it, but then you could always argue that there should be something they could do about their kitchen’s ventilation.

When serving this dish, make sure you give it a good toss to infuse the ingredients with the sauce. And did I mention that this really goes well with beer?

You’ll need:

• about 250 grams of Pork belly
• 200 grams of tokwa or soy bean curd
• 1/4 cup of vinegar
• a tablespoon of soy sauce
• half a teaspoon of salt
• half a teaspoon of pepper
• a teaspoon of sugar
• a tablespoon of minced garlic
• onions, either minced or rings if you prefer

Boil the pork in water 2 cups of water with about half a teaspoon of salt until tender and cut into half-inch cubes then set aside. Pan fry the tokwa until golden brown and drain on paper towels to get rid of the excess oil. Cut tokwa in the same size as the pork and set it aside.

If you want to go hardcore and use pig’s face/head, boil the head in pot with water enough to cover it. Season with salt and sliced onions. Remove scum as it boils. Once tender, debone and cut the meat into cubes.

In a mixing bowl, combine the vinegar, soy sauce, salt, pepper, sugar, garlic and minced onions until the sugar and salt have been dissolved. Simply combine the tokwa and pork in a serving bowl and pour over the sauce. Top with onion rings if you wish. Now bust open that cold bottle of beer. I know, I’m a beer lover.

Arroz Caldo

Ultimate comfort food for Filipinos. This is great anytime of the day- as a snack; as a hot meal to conclude a night of heavy drinking so as to sober up; or as a cure for a hangover the following day. Also works as a soothing cure when suffering from a fever coupled with a sore throat. I remember looking forward to this during my childhood whenever I get sick. Now I look forward to it after drinking (there’s just too much reference on drinking).

When it comes to Arroz Caldo (Spanish for “hot rice”) the best that come to mind are found in the Mabuhay Lounge of PAL Airport in Manila (I don’t get it but the Arroz Caldo in Davao’s Mabuhay Lounge isn’t as good), and of course the famous Arroz Caldo of Dencia’s in Davao City. The catch with dining at Dencia’s is you end up reeking of, er, Dencias the whole day. You’ll smell of a curious blend of garlic, onions, shallots and ginger. It would be wise to avoid eating there before a date. Otherwise you will have to douse yourself with perfume.

The perfect accompaniment to Arroz Caldo can only be Tokwa’t Baboy (Tofu and Pork in Vinegar and Soy sauce dressing). Yum. Simply click on the link to take you to my page featuring that dish.

Here is my version of Arroz Caldo. Remember that it absorbs a lot of water so prepare a lot of chicken stock ahead of time. It may also dry up when you keep it in the ref so be sure to have some chicken stock handy should you need to zap it in the oven in the future.

You will need:

• about 500 grams of chicken parts. A quarter of a chicken will do. You’ll shred it later anyway.
• half a cup of glutinous rice, rinsed
• a cup of plain rice, rinsed too
• 8 cups of water
• ginger root cut into strips
• an onion, quartered
• minced garlic, 3 tablespoons
• cooking oil
• salt and pepper
• patis or fish sauce
• chopped spring onions for topping
• chicken broth cubes
• kasuba or pinoy saffron (not the expensive kind. This is mainly used to give the dish its yellow color)

In a big pot, combine the chicken parts, water, onion and a broth cube. Once it boils, let it simmer by lowering the flame until tender. Take out the chicken parts and shred. Needless to say, set the stock aside for later.

In another pot, saute garlic until golden brown and use a spoon to scoop it out leaving the oil. Set this aside as this will be used as topping later.

In that same pot with the oil, add the onions and ginger root and saute until the onions are transparent in color. Add the kasuba. Finally, add both glutinous rice and plain rice then saute for 5 minutes. Pour in the chicken stock and let it boil while stirring occasionally. Lower the heat and let simmer.

Season with salt, pepper, patis according to your taste. Remember that you used some chicken cubes here so it already has a degree of saltiness to it. Finally, add the shredded chicken and keep cooking until the rice is cooked and the broth is thick in consistency.

Keep in mind that the stock could dry up so be prepared. All you need to do is microwave 2 cups of water and dissolve a chicken broth cube in it. I hope you won’t need more than that.

Serve your arroz caldo in a bowl and top it with chopped spring onions and lots of garlic. Don’t burn your tongue, now.

Ginataan (Mixed fruits in Sweet Coconut Milk)

One of my all time favorite dessert snacks. This dish never fails to bring forth memories of my not-so-long-ago (don’t argue) childhood. I remember the anticipation of such a delightful dessert, looking through the pot’s glass lid as the creamy white coconut milk simmers and the sweet smell of  langka or jackfruit wafts in the kitchen. And as you put a spoonful in your mouth you’d be thrilled with all that mushy texture of varying sweetness coming from the assortment of fruits and root crop. Needless to say, a major part of its appeal would be the generous amount of those supple sago and rice balls or bilo-bilo. It’s like putting a dream in your mouth, if there is such a thing.

I have always thought that this was a complicated dish to make, considering that it has too many ingredients. As it turns out, it’s insanely easy. It’s basically putting everything in a big pot in a particular order and letting it simmer until they’re all cooked and tender. The only challenge would be the time it takes to prepare the ingredients. I’m lucky to have found pre-packed ingredients such as the coconut cream and the rice balls, but then again it’s not like they’re difficult to come by or even prepare.

Here’s my ginataan, or guinataan. “Ginataan” means “prepared with coconut milk cream.”

You’ll need:

• 3 tetra packs of coconut milk at 200ml/pack. Make sure you shake it well as some settling might have occurred.
• 3 cups of water. Pour some of the water into the empty tetra packs to make use of every drop.
• 1-2 cups of sugar, depending on your sweet tooth
• about 3/4 cup of uncooked small sago or tapioca pearls. I use a lot of these. Use the small ones so they’ll cook faster.
• 300 grams of kamote or sweet potato. Indonesian sweet potatoes cook faster than those in the Philippines by the way so keep that in mind.
• 200 grams of gabi or taro root. I opted this one out and added more kamote instead
• 2 pieces of small saba, a Philippine variety of banana. I wasn’t able to use this here though. They’re hard to come by in this country.
• 200 grams of langka or jackfruit. Hopefully they’re in season. Cut into strips.

For the rice balls, if you can’t find them as I did, you may easily prepare these by mixing a cup of glutinous rice flour and half a cup of water. Add the water a little at a time and mix to create something that resembles a dough. Take a small piece one at a time and roll into 1/4 inch balls.

In a large pot, pour in all of the coconut milk and water and bring to a boil. Be sure to watch out as it may boil over and make a mess. Add sago pearls and simmer until transparent. This might take about 15 minutes or more. Add the rice balls and simmer until they all float to the surface. Mix in some sugar until you get the desired sweetness. Add the kamote, gabi and bananas until they’re all cooked. Finally, add the langka and simmer further for another 5 minutes.

Best if served hot on a rainy day. Or if craving for something sweet, which is all the time. Enjoy!

Binagoongang Baboy (Pork in Shrimp Paste)

If you are on a diet, stay away from this page. You’re still there? Okay, let us prepare something to get your high blood, cholesterol, gout, kidney, or diabetes go disco-dancing. This dish has always been sinful, especially since it bursts with flavor and commands to be stuffed down with plenty of rice. May I also warn you that, aside from the health concerns, cooking this will stink up your kitchen, and consequently the clothes you’re in, so please take the necessary precautions.

Before I ramble on, I would like to thank Luvluv Tan, my very pretty friend from Davao City, who shared this recipe with me a year ago. I asked her permission to post it in my blog and she happily obliged. Luvluv is known to host dinner parties and never fails to wow her friends with her cooking. I wish I can be like that. Whenever I try to cook for a crowd I tend to get anxious, overdo something, and mess it all up. (To my friends: there, that’s my excuse.)

I just would like to add that this was inspired when my wife opened a big jar of Barrio Fiesta Sauteed Shrimp Paste for her hilaw na mangga. There was just too much bagoong and it ought to be used to clear some refrigerator space and to keep these food stuff from expiring. Have you ever thought about how much grocery items you end up throwing away because they have gone past their expiration date? That equates to a lot of money wasted.

The thing is, after cooking this dish, there’s still more than half of the bagoong left in the jar.

You’ll need:

• half kilo of pork liempo (belly), cubed
• half kilo of pork kasim (shoulder), cubed
• 1 head of  garlic, chopped
• 1 medium sized onion, chopped
• 3 or 4 ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 1/4 cup of sauteed shrimp paste
• 3 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
• half a teaspoon of ground pepper
• 2 green chilies, chopped
• 3 cups of water to simmer the pork with
• water to blanch the pork with
• an eggplant, sliced (optional)

In a pot or wok, bring water to a rolling boil and blanch the pork for about 3 minutes. This procedure will make sure that your pork is thoroughly clean. Get rid of the water and dry the pork cubes in paper towels.

In the same pot, or wok, stir fry pork cubes until they turn light brown. Resist the urge to eat them. Set the pork cubes aside and leave the oil in the wok.

If you are big on eggplant, this is the time to fry them until they turn brown on the sides. Set them aside and add them later into the dish.

Add oil into the wok if necessary. Saute garlic until light brown, then add the onions until they turn transparent. Add the tomatoes and saute until the skin starts to peel.

Add the shrimp paste a spoonful at a time. This is dependent on the kind of bagoong you have so you’ll have to use your superior knowledge to gauge the taste. Add the brown sugar and let simmer for 2 minutes.

Add the fried pork and vinegar. Pour just enough water to cover the meat. Lower heat, cover, and let simmer for 40 minutes until the meat is tender and the mixture has become less watery. It is important that you stir occasionally to keep it from burning. I repeat, stir it occasionally.

Add the chopped chilies and the ground pepper, give it another stir and turn off the flame. Let it sit for a few minutes before serving.

You might want to keep the number to the hospital ambulance handy. Make sure you have enough rice. And don’t forget to breathe between mouthfuls. Enjoy!

Turbo Broiled Chicken

You’ve tried the Turbo Max Kuno Fried Chicken, so how else may we roast chicken using the turbo broiler? Truth is, the possibilites are endless ( I love saying that). Seriously, that’s the beauty of a turbo broiler. You may pretty much rub anything on the chicken (provided it’s edible, of course), turbo broil it for 45 minutes to an hour and that’s that. This is why a turbo broiler is sometimes referred to as a Bachelor’s Oven.

If you are searching for that Filipino taste, then follow these steps.

You’ll need:

• 1 whole chicken
• 1/4 cup of soy sauce
• 6-8 calamansi (small lime)
• 4 stalks of tanglad (lemon grass)
• melted butter, slice about half an inch, for basting
• salt and pepper

After giving the chicken a good wash, pat it dry with paper towels including the cavity. Rub the cavity with salt and pepper generously.

Pound the lemon grass mercilessly to bring out its fragrance and stuff it inside the cavity.

Combine the soy sauce and the calamansi juice and use a brush to marinate it. A good method is to seal it inside a ziploc or a plastic bag and take out as much air as you can so the marinade comes in contact with the poultry. Marinate it overnight. If pressed for time then 5 hours will do.

Roast at 350°F for an hour. Make sure you do not overcook it or it will come out too dry. At 30 minutes, baste it with butter and resume cooking. Baste it again for the second time when you have only 10 minutes to go.

Take out the lemon grass and discard before serving. Collect the chicken drippings to make gravy. You may also use soy sauce and calamansi as your dipping sauce.

As mentioned earlier, you may also use whatever herbs you have in your kitchen arsenal. Simply wash the chicken thoroughly, pat dry with kitchen paper towels, and rub with lemon all over including the cavity. Rub all over with salt and pepper. Stuff the cavity with lemons and rub the chicken with italian herbs and spices that you can find in a grocery store. You may use thyme, tarragon, rosemary, basil, sage, marjoram etc. Or just get that bottle from the spice rack with everything in it. Make sure you marinate it overnight to soak in the flavors.

Pop in the turbo broiler and cook it for 45 minutes to an hour at 350°F- 400°F. Baste it with olive oil halfway during the cooking process. Serve with gravy.

Assuming that you haven’t devoured the entire chicken and you have some leftovers, you might want to make some chicken spread to keep in your ref. Great when you get the munchies and in need of a quick snack.

Chicken Gravy

If you’re going to make roasted chicken, it is just proper that you make some chicken gravy. There’s got to be something you can do about those succulent chicken drippings, right?

Some time ago, I made this following the recipe below and substituted the chicken drippings for oil and butter but it didn’t come out right. So now, whenever I make roasted chicken, I keep the drippings for future use. It does look disgusting though when you chance upon it in the ref. But hell, it’s better than buying ready-to-make gravy, and very handy when making fried chicken.

Please note that the “spoon” I’m pertaining to here is your normal flatware spoon and not a measuring spoon (though I’m sure they’re pretty much the same).

You’ll need:

• 4 spoons of Chicken drippings
• 2 spoons of flour
• 1 cup of water
• half of chicken cube
• liquid seasoning
• ground black pepper

In a pan or a sauce pan, heat 4 spoons of chicken drippings at medium high. Add the 2 spoons of flour and keep stirring until blended. Add water, 1/4 at a time until you get the right consistency. Remember to always keep stirring all the way. Add half a chicken cube and crush it until it dissolves. Add a few drops of liquid seasoning to give it a bit of color as well as taste. Take it out of the fire and add a dash of ground black pepper.

Some people also add a spoon of tomato ketchup though I don’t really know how that tastes like. How about setting aside some and putting ketchup on it? Enjoy your chicken gravy!

Meatballs in Sweet & Sour Sauce

Don’t you just love meatballs? I love them for their compactness. All that meaty goodness in one tightly-packed, bite-sized lump. It’s just so easy to pop them in your mouth and lose count of how many you’ve had.

Prepare this dish if you want to surprise your family (or your partner if you want to get some action, you naughty you) with something sweet. Could work as potluck too when you’ve run out of options on what to bring.

You’ll need:

For the meatballs:

• 250 grams of ground pork (I used ground chicken though)
• 100 grams of ham ( I used chicken too), chopped finely
• a small carrot, about 80 grams, chopped finely
• an onion, about 50 grams, chopped finely too
• an egg
• 3/4 cup of cornstarch
• a teaspoon of worcestershire sauce or liquid seasoning (or both)
• half a teaspoon of ground pepper
• oil for frying (maybe 2 cups, depending on your wok)

For the sauce:

• half an onion, cut into strips (or rings)
• 10 grams of capsicum or red bell pepper, cut into strips
• 1/4 cup of banana catsup
• 1/4 cup of pineapple juice
• 3 spoonfuls of sugar
• half a teaspoon of fine salt
• a spoon of white vinegar

In a big bowl, combine and blend together the meatball mixture. You might have to use two spoons to make and mould the meatballs without touching the mixture. It pays to practice first before firing up the oil. Once you are ready, heat a wok and fill it with oil. Fry the meatballs until golden brown and set them aside. You may want to fry just one meatball first, let it cool, taste it, and adjust the mixture as needed. If all’s well, then fry away. Make sure you drain the excess oil by placing them on a plate lined with paper towels.

In another frying pan, place 2 spoons of oil from the wok where you fried the meatballs. Saute the onions and the bell pepper together until onions are transparent. Put in the pineapple juice, catsup, sugar, salt and vinegar. Keep stirring until the sugar dissolves and the smell of vinegar is gone. Make sure you taste the sauce first to get the right amount of sweetness.

Put all the meatballs on a serving dish and pour your sweet and sour sauce over them. You’ll realize though, that the meatballs may go well with anything. So maybe one day, you might want to pour gravy over it instead. It also goes great by itself. Don’t forget to say “hmm, these balls are yummy!” Or if you’re a guy cooking them: “how do you like my balls?”

Easy Homemade Chicken Spread

Last time we made cheese sticks out of excess lumpia wrappers. This time we’ll do something about those leftover roasted chicken. Works so great when you want a quick and easy snack since you’ll always have this in your ref. And it’s so good you’ll find yourself cooking/buying roasted chicken just so you can make this.

You’ll need:

• roasted chicken left-overs
• sweet pickle relish
• mayonnaise (low-fat or regular, it’s your call)

Shred the chicken and throw away the skin. Just put all of them together in a mixing bowl and blend with a spoon. You’ll have to decide for yourself how much pickle relish and mayonnaise you’ll put. Make into a sandwich and wash it down with some iced tea. Highly addictive.

Cheese Sticks

So you made some Lumpiang Shanghai. Or you prepared Pancit Molo. What are you going to do with those excess lumpia/wanton wrappers? Keeping them in the ref will only spoil them as they’ll only harden once they’re out of the original packaging. Tried keeping them in a ziploc bag but it didn’t work. Might as well use them. Bust out the cheese and make some cheese sticks.

Insanely easy. Slice strips of cheese according to your desired size (sliced mine 1cm x 6cm) and wrap them with those excess wrappers. Refer to the instructions on the photo. By the way, that is how you’d wrap a lumpiang shanghai too.

If you have some ham in the ref, cut them into strips (same length as the cheese) and put it right beside the cheese. Found some unused capsicum/bell peppers? Cut them into thin strips too and add it into the wrap as well.

This can keep well inside the freezer. Once you’re ready (read: you’ve got beer), simply deep fry them until the wrapper changes color to golden brown. Lay them on a plate lined with kitchen towels to drain excess oil. Serve while hot and crispy. Be careful as filling may be too hot. Wash it down with beer. Oh lordy yum yum.