Arroz Caldo (Chicken Rice Soup)

Arroz caldo is a complete food in itself enjoyed by many. You can make it easily in your kitchen.

Ingredients:

1 ½ kg Chicken, cut into small pieces

1 cup Glutinous rice

1 cup Regular rice

1 tsp. Black pepper powder

5 cloves Garlic, minced

1 pc. Onion, medium, thinly sliced

2 tbsp. Safflower oil

10 pcs. Hardboiled eggs, shells removed

4 liters Water

½ cup Patis (local fish sauce)

2 tbsp. Ginger, fresh, peeled and thinly sliced

2 tbsp. Kasubha

Cooking Instruction:

In a large saucepan, heat the oil and sauté the garlic and onion until the garlic turns golden brown and the onion starts to caramelize. Add the ginger and chicken and stir. Cook until the chicken is blanched. Add the fish sauce and washed rice. Stir for a short while then add the water kasubha, black pepper, and salt. Stir occasionally until it starts to boil. Simmer until the rice is done. When for some reason, you may add more water as the cooking progress as needed. Stir occasionally during cooking to prevent rice sticking in the bottom and burning. Add the egg and cook for an additional five minutes and serve hot with toasted garlic topping. You may also add a few drops of hot sauce if desired. Also, some people prefer to squeeze a few drops of kalamansi. Enjoy...

Pork and Chicken with Egg in Soy Sauce

This is a variant of a popular dish in the Philippines that is called Adobo. Normally, adobo is cooked with meat, soy sauce, black peppers, bay leaf, garlic, onion, and vinegar. Here I have combined both pork and chicken and added eggs while modifying the sauce a little giving it a Chinese touch.

Ingredients:

½ kg Pork

½ kg Chicken

10 pcs. Eggs, large, hardboiled, peeled

8 cloves Garlic, minced

1 pc. Onion, medium, thinly sliced

½ tsp. Freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup Premium dark soy sauce

¾ cup Water

1 tsp. Cornstarch

¼ cup Water (for suspending the cornstarch)

1 tsp. Sugar

1 tbsp. Safflower oil

¼ tsp. Iodized salt

Cooking Instruction:

Heat oil in a pressure cooker and sauté the garlic and onion until the garlic is golden brown and the onion starts to caramelize. Add the meat and mix. Cook for about two minutes. Add the black pepper, sugar, iodize salt, water and the soy sauce. Pressure cook for about fifteen minutes. After the said time has passed, turn off heat and allow to cool normally. Do not vent steam to speed cooling down of the pressure cooker as the additional time to normally cool and loose pressure which will take from ten to fifteen minutes is used as additional time to tenderize the meat. Open the pressure cooker and skim off any excess fat to reduce the fat content of the dish.

In a small bowl, suspend the cornstarch in the water provided in the recipe and add to the cooking mixture, mix. Turn up heat to cook the cornstarch. Serve with plain steamed rice.

Sarsiadong Bangus (Milkfish in Special Tomato and Egg Sauce)

‘Bangus’ is the Filipino term for ‘milkfish’. It is the country’s national fish symbol. A very versatile food ingredient. It can be made into several tasty recipes. One unique recipe in the Philippines is called ‘Sarsiadong Bangus’. It is a tomato based recipe that is prepared in a unique manner. Truly a Filipino original. Also, milkfish was once found only endemic in the country but today, it is raised in other nations too since starter cultures of the food fish was exported several years ago. Still, some of the local harvest of the fish is being exported to other countries. So now you may be able to buy it from some specialty stores in other countries as well so no problem with sourcing the fish for trying out this very unique and simple recipe.

Ingredients:

1 ½ kg Bangus (cut into serving sizes)

3 pcs. Eggs (beaten)

½ kg Tomatoes (quartered)

5 cloves Garlic (minced)

1 pc. Onion (medium, thinly sliced)

3 thin slices Ginger (fresh and peeled about 1 tbsp.)

¼ tsp. Black pepper powder

2 cups Water

¼ cup Celery (chopped)

½ tsp. Iodized salt

¼ tsp. Iodized salt (for seasoning the bangus)

1 tbsp. Safflower oil (for sautéing)

1 cup Safflower oil (for deep frying the fish)

Cooking Instruction:

In a bowl, rub the bangus with ¼ tsp. Iodized salt and set aside for at least 5 minutes. Heat the 1 cup of oil in a Teflon coated wok and fry the fish to brown both sides. Set aside the fried fish on paper towels to remove excess fat.

Remove most of the oil used in frying the bangus and leave about 1 tablespoon of oil on the wok. Turn up the heat and sauté on the oil the garlic, onion, and ginger until the garlic turns golden brown and the onion starts to caramelize. Add the tomatoes and stir. Cover and let cook for about 2 minutes. After the time has elapsed. Remove the cover and add the celery, salt, and black pepper, mix. Place on top of the celery with tomatoes the fried fish and add the water. When the liquid starts to boil, add the salt, and the egg. Cover and cook for an additional 15-20 minutes. Serve with either plain bread or as customary in the Philippines, over plain steamed rice.

Sausage Omelette

Omelettes are versatile. Easy to prepare in a variety of ways that one will always find something interesting to make it an interesting eat. Omelettes are normally folded, enclosing the filling in it. One way to prepare it is not to fold the omelette but to mix the filling into the beaten egg just before frying. Also, what to do with a sausage and an egg which you normally have in the morning? Well, one thing you can do to make it somewhat different is to combine them. Yes, combine them to produce one dish, the sausage omelette.

Ingredients

1 pcs. Hungarian sausage (cut into small pieces)

3 pcs. Eggs, beaten

1/8 tsp. Iodized salt

1 pc. Onion (medium, thinly sliced)

1 tbsp. Safflower oil

Cooking Instruction:

Heat oil in Teflon frying pan and sauté onion until onion starts to caramelize. Toss in the Hungarian sausage and mix. Cook for about 2 minute. Remove the onion and the sausage and set aside.

In a bowl, crack eggs and add salt. Beat the egg and toss in the Hungarian sausage and sautéed onion. Mix well. Transfer to frying pan used to sauté the onion and slightly fry the Hungarian sausage and cook both sides well. Enjoy... Goes well with some Chilli sauce.