Absolut Mango

Absolut Mango

Ice Blended

Summer is faaaaast approaching and we needed to quench our thirst every now and then. I bet you want some good drinks before seasons change so this is it: The original Ice Blended.

Instant Pancit Canton

If you live in the Philippines, I am 100% sure that part of your childhood is eating pancit canton!

Memories still linger on me.. that once every week my merrienda is pancit canton! Well, it has flavors: plain, chilimansi, calamansi, sweet and spicy, and extra hot chili. The best! As you are ingesting the canton, you'll really feel the pinoy style of the said food! Oh, I so love that memory!

You can eat it with rice or with bread. Hm, nom nom nom the pancit canton!

Pandesal

Pan de Sal is the most popular yeast-raised bread in the Philippines. Individual loaves are shaped like garrison caps due to its unique method of forming. The dough is rolled into long logs (baston) that are rolled in fine bread crumbs before being cut into individual portions with a dull dough cutter and then allowed to rise and baked on sheet pans. Its taste and texture closely resemble those of the very popular rolls of the Dominican Republic called Pan de Agua and Mexico’s most popular type of bread Bolillos. These breads all use a lean type of dough and follow similar techniques that were learned from Spanish or Spanish trained bakers early in their history. As in most commercially produced food items, they vary in quality to meet taste requirements and economic standards of various communities. - From Wikipedia 

Every morning, part of my breakfast itinerary is the pandesal adventure. I'll ride my bike and head to the Pandesalito Factory and buy a dozen of it. Then, I'll have my chocolate drink and voila! A perfect morning! 

Taco Ilokano

Taco Ilocano is a staple merienda dish up in the northern part of our country.  This is after all the point of having a delectable little pocket of orange warmth in your hands: fast food eating but with the flair and richness that only we Pinoys can dish out, yet at the same time, modern in its approach because in these health conscious days, the Taco Ilocano does serve up a vegetarian alternative to those who just want to lose the pounds and not the flavor. 

Taco Ilocano offers the newest service of catering for special events such as birthdays, weddings, debuts, anniversaries, business functions, or any other event.  They use what they lovingly call mini empanadas and provide the indigenous condiments to complement the dish that you find in their kiosks, such as the infamous red sukang iloko among them.  The empanadas are still made of egg, longganisa, papaya and monggo sealed in that crispy orange crust.  And since they’re much smaller, they use quail egg instead of the chicken egg in regular sized empanadas.  But just like their normal larger counterpart in the kiosks, the ingredients put into them can be changed with whatever suits your taste, meaning you can get as always, a vegetarian empanada, all meat empanada, special empanada, or no egg empanada.   They can also make their new flavors Sweet Empanada, Sweet and Spicy Empanada, Mexican and Argentinian available for a minimum number of pieces upon client's request. 

Igado

Igado is an Ilocano food made of pork, liver or atay, with bell pepper or potato. Original Pinoy food, this menu is famous to all Filipino.

Munggo

Munggo

Ingredients:

Mungo beans

1 tbsp cooking oil 

3 cloves garlic 

1 small onion, sliced 

1 cup pork

2 tbsp patis 

3 medium tomatoes 

1 cup broth 

2 cups spinach leaves 

2 pieces of ampalaya

salt and pepper to taste 

dash of dried basil leaves 

How to Cook Munggo:

Boil mung beans for 30 minutes on moderately low heat. 

Check from time to time to ensure it does not get dry. 

Stir occasionally.

When almost ready, sautee the garlic, onion, then pork for about 2 minutes.

Add tomatoes and sautee for about 1 minute. 

Add patis add the sliced ampalaya at this point and let simmer for about 10 seconds. 

Add mungo and broth. Cover and simmer for about 5 minutes. 

If you are using shrimp, you may add at this point. dd the basil, stir and adjust the taste with salt and pepper. 

Turn off the heat and add the spinach, stirring it in.

Minute Maid

Minute Maid Pulpy Orange Juice made me realized that even in current days there still something real, No preservatives added.

Kare Kare With Bagoong

Kare Kare With Bagoong

Ingredients:

2 1/2 lbs. pork hocks 

1 1/2 tsp. salt 

2 tbsp. cooking oil 

2 cloves garlic, minced 

1 medium onion, sliced 

1/2 cup achuete water

3 tbsp. peanut butter 

2 tbsp. toasted powdered rice or mochiko 

1/2 lb. green beans 

1 medium egplant

Procedures:

Place hocks or oxtail in large pot, add enough water to cover. Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer until tender. If using achuete water, soak 1 tbsp achuete seeds in water for 30 minutes. Squeeze seeds between your thumb and finger tips until the water turns red. Strain and set red water aside. Or heat 2 tbsp. oil, saute achuete seeds until oil turns red, discard seeds. Use oil for sauteing rest of ingredients. Heat oil in a skillet and saute garlic and onions. Add cooked meat and 2 cups of the broth. Add salt and achuete water. Simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in peanut butter and toasted rice powder, bring back to simmer and cook, stirring for 5 minutes. Add green beans and eggplant. Cook until vegetable are tender, stirring constantly. Correct the seasonings. 

Fried Tuyo Rice

Dried fish is a very popular ingredient in Philippine cooking. Its saltiness adds another level of flavor to most of our local dishes. A journey will never be complete without this kind of pasalubong. From daing, to tuyo, to banak, to danggit, this dish is truly Pinoy! Love dried fish? Why not cook them with rice and you’re good to go!

Ingredients: 

2 tbsp oil

2 tbsp chopped garlic

One fourth cup fried shredded tuyo

4 cups cooked rice

One half cup diced tomatoes

Procedure:

Heat oil in a pan. Fry tuyo until the scales are falling off on both sides and the smell is less fishy. Scoop out and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile prepare all the other ingredients.

Flake tuyo, getting rid of scales, heads and bones. Set aside.

Heat a bit of oil in a wok. Scramble the eggs in the wok. Scoop out and set aside.

Add a tbsp of oil in the wok. Fry cooked tuyo for about a minute to heat it up and make it a bit crunchy as desired. Scoop out and set aside with the cooked eggs.

Add another tbsp. of oil in the wok. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant. Add carrots and peas and stir-fry for a minute.

Add cooked rice. Toss to combine with the peas and carrots. Add soy sauce, oyster sauce and freshly ground pepper. Toss carefully to mix all ingredients and seasoning. Stir-fry until rice is heated through.

Turn off the heat. Toss in tuyo flakes and scrambled egg. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with fresh coriander sprigs.