Let Us Dance The Beat of Avocado Salsa

Avocado Salsa As part of my continuous recovery, I am oblige to discover healthier foods that are locally available here in the Philippines. Every Sunday, it is my routine to go to the market to buy stocks for the whole week, this will lessen the time and prevent hassle in preparing what to cook for every meal. I discovered that there were lots of ripe avocados that can be buy from the street vendors. Maybe it is their season of abundance. One of the vendor had offered me and without any second thought I bought 2 kilos. My daughter asked me what shall I do with it and I said, just watch and eat. She was only familiar with adding sugar and...

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The Famous Ensaladang Pako

After experiencing a two times of seizure, I was more conscious of my food intake. I make sure that there is always a vegetable and fruits in every meal, I limit the rice in my plate to one scoop and increase those recipe that I know it can boost my health. As I researched thru the internet, I came across this rare recipe which is almost unknown to the young generation. They call this as Ensaladang Pako or Pako Salad. The main ingredient of this recipe is the fiddle-head fern combined with a twist of different Philippines available mixture. I have tried to copy the photo that had captivated my attention. And when I tasted it, I found out...

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There's A Fetus In My Palate

,  Aside from Chinese, Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodian and Filipino, maybe the most disgusting food that a foreigner may consider in their list is the balut. According to Tim Cameron of Cracked.com, he listed balut as his top "Most Terrifying Foods in the World". Even the well-known chef and foodie Andrew Zimmern has a hard time in swallowing this considered bizarre food. So what is balut all about? Balut/balot is a fertilized duck embryo that's boiled alive and eaten in the shell. Popularly believed to be an aphrodisiac and considered a high-protein, hearty snack, balut are mostly sold by street vendors in the regions where they are...

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How Do You Carry Kare-Kare?

Just I have thought that curry dishes (Indian food) is similar to the well-known Kapampangan dish "Kare-Kare". The looks maybe similar but the preparation is very different. So what is kare-kare anyway? Kare-Kare is considered a stew dish which need the meat to boil for long hours in order to become tender. The typical meat that is use are the oxtail, offal/tripe and ox leg. This food is compose of peanut sauce with a variety of vegetables that are included after the meat have undergone the tenderization. It is common to serve with bagoong (shrimp paste) when eating According to some food historians this dish has originated from the province...

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Halo-halo, The Seasonal Flavor of Summer

Because Philippines is known as a tropical country, the weather during the summer months are extremely hot. Every Filipino have its own way to beat the heat. Some are spending their vacation in the beach to refresh their body from the humid of summer, others may find the cheapest way to cool down the temperature and that's to eat the seasonal flavor of summer, halo-halo. Halo-halo (from Tagalog word halò, "mix") is a popular Filipino dessert that is a mixture of shaved ice and evaporated milk to which are added various boiled sweet beans and fruits, and served in a tall glass or bowl. Ingredients include boiled kidney beans, garbanzos, sugar...

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The Magic of Adobo

Philippines maybe known for one food trademark in terms of cuisine. And that's Adodo. Foreigners can recall our country with this food. Ask them if what's their favorite Filipino food and they will say Adobo. As it was expected, Adobo was first introduced by the Spaniards in the 16th century during the colonization era. For the Spanish, Adobo is a process of preserving food. A marination of meat which involves seasoning ingredients and other spices. Although it has a name taken from the Spanish, the cooking method is indigenous to the Philippines. When the Spanish conquered the Philippines in the late 16th century and early 17th century,...

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The Intriguing Lokot-Lokot

Fascinated by its name, lokot-lokot was not really prominent in the entire Philippines. When I first heard the word "lokot", the first thing that it crossed in my mind is like a thing that you rolled. Then my guessed had not missed. THE ORIGIN OF THE “LOKOT-LOKOT” The Muslim communities in the Zamboanga Peninsula are known for the variety of delicacies they produce during special occasions, especially the “Hariraya” or the feast of the Eid-il-Fitr, which celebrates the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. Foremost among the goodies is the golden brown curious-looking “locot-locot” or “jaa” as the villagers call them. A lot of people actually...

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The Two Variations of Ilocandia Empanada

Here on earth, everything have its own contrast. They might be the same in physical aspect but totally different its innate ability or maybe they have the same name but the outside look speaks for itself. Why I have said that statement? Well, it's because our feature food for today is all about this. Although this food has came from the northern part of Ilocos. It has its own unique quality which differs from each other. I am talking to the mouth watering street food empanada. Empanada has become popular in the Philippines through the introduction of the colonizers, the Spaniards. It was believed that this food came from Galicia, an autonomous...

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Sizzling Sisig, the Unexpected Delicacy

There are good things that happen unexpectedly when we experiment. Experimentation is a process to discover something new that could lead to create another thing. This had happened to Lucia Cunanan of Angeles City, Pampanga when she discovered sisig in 1974, one of the most favorite dishes in karinderia or even in a fine dining restaurant. This resulted to the prominent Aling Lucing's and was even crowned as the "The Original Sisig Queen". Sisig is cook using a sizzling plate. The main ingredients of this dish is the pigs's head and liver that's boiled, chopped, to be seasoned with calamansi, onions and red chili peppers. It is also known...

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It's More Fun With Sinigang

If there's one dish that Filipinos may call their own, probably it's the Sinigang.Sinigang is a kind of stew dish known for its sour taste. It's often attach to the fruit of tamarind or sampalok. Every region has its own ingredient to use depending on the abundance of the fruit. Some use guava, kalamansi (a kind of citrus fruit), santol(Sandoricum koetjape), green mango, camias ginger lily, and others that has the sour characteristic. Due to seasonal availability of these fruits, Filipino has created the powdered soup base or bouillon cubes in tamarind base. Sinigang can be apply in most kind of meats. The most prominent ingredient maybe the...

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The Two Version of Chicken Inasal

When the first bite of Chicken Inasal landed in my tongue, I thought that was already heaven for me. I still recall that first experience in a branch of Mang Inasal. That was the time when this barbeque fastfood was still 100 percent controlled by Edgar Sia II of Iloilo. Later, it was acquired by Jollibee Foods Corporation for 3 billion pesos in October of 2010 for about 70 percent of the company. So what makes Inasal different from an ordinary chicken barbeque? The smoked flavor added by cooking the meat on a hot charcoal grill imbibes the marinade and makes the dish tastier. This dish is also distinct for its yellowish color brought...

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Sausages? How to Differentiate Vigan and Lucban Longganisa

Longaniza or longganisa in Filipino, is a kind of sausage that was first introduced by the Spaniards during the colonization era. It is closely similar to chorizo where in a ground pork is the main ingredient. Region by region has its own trademark in preparing it. But in the Philippines, the most famous maybe of its variants are the Lucban and Vigan. From the province of Quezon, aside from being the Pahiyas Festival Capital, Lucban is also known because of its longganisa. Its sausage is identified for its aromatic and garlicky smell. From the ground pork, they mixed herbs such as the oregano, a squeeze juice of lemon grass and basil...

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Fish Salad or Kinilaw

Because Philippines is a country that is diverse with multi-cultural ethnicity, preparing dishes in every region have different style, taste and even ingredients. One of this food is the Kinilaw.Basically, Kinilaw is a method of cooking raw meat in either from seafoods just like fishes and shrimps, beef, goat and some also use the exotic dog meat, using vinegar, ginger, onions and squeeze juice from citrus. Frequently, fish kinilaw is the most popular among them.Kinilaw na isda is also consider as a viand. It is best partner with a hot steamed rice. Others also prepare this while on drinking session or even as an appetizer.Prominent Ingredients...

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My Darling Laing

Today, the authenticity of every Filipino food wouldn't really matter, as long as it will suit your taste or it is a delectable dish this will be the issue. Just like Laing which originally came from the Bicol region, today, this delicacy is also known all over the country with different ways in preparing it. But you can really enjoy a dish when you taste the authentic one. Bicolanos are consider as one of the country's greatest cooks, they have the origanal way in preparing this food, a distinct taste that others couldn't copy. The basic ingredients of this recipe are the dried leaves or stalks of taro(dahon ng gabi), coconut milk (gata)...

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The Best Cebu Roasted Pig

When it comes to lechon, Cebu could be one of the prominent source of roasted pig in the country. They have this unique way of cooking this famous dish of the Philippines. Cebu Lechons has a distinct taste compare to others. The soft and tender meat to its crispy skin is patiently cook in a charcoal for many hours to ensure that the inner part will create an aromatic odor. Plus these lechons are not only dipped on a plain gravy but served with plum or other sauces, vinegar, or with other seasonings or accompaniments. The secret of these Cebu's Lechon might be because they are marinated for 12 hrs in a special formulation, then stuffed with...

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Napoleones at its best

So what is napoleones all about? Napoleones is basically made of sugar, egg, flour, butter and milk. It's like a croissant with a sweeter twist. This pastry comes in square, bite-sized flaky crust with a creamy custard cream, topped with glazing sugar. Some speculations that Napoleones has originated from France where the Mille-feuille was really famous among the French. In the United States, they call this as Napoleon pastry. Napoleones was first introduced in the late 90's thru Virgie’s Homemade Products in Bacolod City. It was then just an experiment being a pasalubong among the kamag-anak's but luckily it become one of their bestsellers. To...

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My Ilocano Pinakbet

Pinakbet (pakbet or pinakebbet, meaning "shrunk") is a popular Ilocano dish from the Northern part of Luzon. This vegetable dish is more known as a regional food. But today, almost the whole country has a different way of cooking this dish. The original Pinakbet Ilocano uses fermented fishes called bagoong or bugguong. This is to bring-out the distinct taste of the vegetables. Some part of the country invented to used bagoong alamang. Pinakbet used basic vegetables such as bitter melon, eggplant, tomato, okra, string beans, chili peppers, parda, patani, squash. Others include root crops like sweet potatoes. In Ilocos, they even include...

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The Innovative Filipino Polvoron

When we say polvoron, it is a typical Filipino dessert that is wrap on a Japanese paper or a silky transparent colored plastic in a round form. But as time evolves, some of this prominent look had also change. Some people had transformed the conventional way of preparing the recipe. One of them that introduce this flavored polvoron is the Postres del Cielo. They redefine it as "Heavenly Desserts". Product Variants: CRANBERRY - subtle sweetness of the cranberry polvoron makes it an ideal after-dinner delight. It is best serve while you are drinking wine or champagne. KIWI - Light and tart, our kiwi polvoron has just the right mix of...

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