Singaporean-style Mixed Seafood

Perhaps, you were wondering what happened to the other seafood that the good Chef bought in the story-recipe, Fish Stew in Banana Leaves.

Inspired by his trip to Singapore, the resultant recipe was deliciously spicy. And the plus factor is, it is way, way too easy to make. It's like a dump-all-cook-and-ready-to-eat kind of thing. In this hurried life, this can be a great idea.

Chef at Sentosa in Singapore

For this recipe, he used aluminum foil, banana leaf, bite-size cuts of cream dory and squid, sea shells, slices of ginger and onion, and Singapore-bought CHNG Kee's Black Pepper Sauce. Pieces of large shrimps could have been perfect.

Arrange seafood, spices and top with pepper sauce;
Too bad, there are no shrimps around ; (

The Chef laid on a sheet of aluminum foil the banana leaf. On top of the leaf, raw ingredients were all arranged, sprinkled with a half-cup of water (for moisture) then topped with about two tablespoon of CHNG Kee's Black Pepper Sauce. A pinch of salt was then added. He covered the seafood with another piece of banana leaf before finally closing the foil. Cooking time is 20 minutes on stove top, directly on high heat.

Deliciously spicy Mixed Seafood

Secret Ingredient:

A proud product of Singapore, CHNG Kee's Black Pepper Sauce is a "ready-to-use aromatic pepperish sauce" used for seafood. It has a mild spicy flavor and contains no MSG or artificial flavoring.

--- Ireen ---

Fish Stew in Banana Leaves

Haul of the Week: Seafood

This blog post was supposed to go out on Monday, January 24, 2011, but due to some important events, it came very late. Anyway, the Chef just wishes to share with his readers what food transfiguration he made over the weekend.

Sunday, aside from being a church day is also a market day for the Chef and his family. Right after the morning mass, the Chef checked out the wet market nearest to his place. He was able to haul a half-kilo of dilis ($0.81), sea shells ($1.16) and squid ($1.86), without really thinking what to do with those resources. 

Dilis, Anchovies or Bolinao

Outside of his house, while waiting for the gate to be opened, Chef's eyes were glued on the banana plant growing on the side road, and there, he molded a timely fish dish --- Inun-unan na Dilis sa Dahon (Fish Stew in Banana Leaves).  How did he go about it? Here is . . .

Wash the banana leaf then wipe it dry before "quick-heating" it up on top of the stove flame. This process will make the leaf stronger and easier to fold.

Lay the dilis on the leaf, sprinkle a little of salt, drizzle with oil, and powder it with ground black pepper. Fold the banana leaf enclosing the fish. Do this with the rest.

Lay the wrapped dilis in a pot, pour a cup of water, a fourth cup of plain vinegar, and another fourth of sukang "Pinakurat" for some sting.

Top with spices: chopped garlic, onion leaks and ginger, sliced onion and bell pepper, and ginger leaves (optional). Sprinkle with a teaspoon of salt, drizzle with oil, and flavor with Knorr Liquid Seasoning Original.

Cover and cook until it boils then turn the heat to the lowest point to simmer. Uncover the pot, then cook further for 10 minutes.

This is it! Inun-unan na Dilis sa Dahon

Secret Ingredients:

Pinakurat, proudly Philippine-made, and all-reliable Knorr
Liquid Seasoning

About Dilis

Dilis, or for a classy sound, anchovies, is also known in some parts of the Philippines as bolinao or gurayan.  They are one type of silvery, oily forage fish that usually go in large school or group. The importance of forage fish in the marine ecosystem is highly regarded because of their role in the underwater food chain as preys or food to bigger types of fish and other sea animals. 

--- Ireen ---

Raisin-Studded Green Salad

If you are looking for a light, guilt-free and healthy lunch, see this new concoction made by the Chef, which he tagged as Raisin-Studded Green Salad.

Because of the freshness flavor of the recipe, he finds it to be an effective way in striking out any signs of the body's sluggishness or weariness.  The recipe, he says, is a serious walk on the path to health and wellness, hence, he would like to share it with his readers.

Preparing "Raisin-Studded Green Salad" is like a morning breeze (fresh and easy) : a plate of pre-washed lettuce, topped with green tomatoes, raisin, and sauteed Century Tuna Lite.

To complete a meal, the Chef had it paired with two pieces of Nature's wheat loaf bread to incorporate the carb requirements of the body.

//rmism//

Almost Pinakbet

Eggplant, bitter gourd, red squash

With the all-meat Christmas holidays and the costly fish in the first ever month of 2011, the Chef really has no more stomach to continue this carnivorous eating escapade.  That is why, if you notice, his immediately preceding recipe was the Garlicky Butter-Grilled Cream Dory, trying to steer toward a healthy meal.

Returning one afternoon, he paced quite a while in the kitchen and looked many times inside the refrigerator.  What he found were two lonesomes -- bitter gourd (ampalaya) and eggplant -- and a big chunk of red squash. (Light Bulb!)

And what transpired next is this recipe he named "Almost Pinakbet," because of the lack of other ingredients to complete a real Pakbet or Pinakbet.

Cut the vegetables into bite sizes

Drizzle chicken and pork with Knorr Liquid Seasoning Original

An Ilocano staple dish, Pinakbet usually comprises of the following ingredients: bits of pork or beef, bitter melons, eggplant, string beans, okra, tomatoes, spices such as ginger, garlic and onion, and bagoong isda or bagoong alamang (shrimp paste or fish paste) to perfect the flavor.  Some cooks use  real shrimps, which the Chef highly recommends.

Cooking 'Almost Pinakbet'

In the absence of the other needed elements, the Chef sauteed in two tablespoons of oil handfuls of pork and chicken slices until they were brown, before adding about two cups of bite-sized cuts of squash. 

After two minutes of stir-frying, he poured two cups of water, put a half of Knorr shrimp cube, and added salt and pepper. He covered the pan and waited for the squash to become a bit tender then topped it with the ampalaya, eggplant, tomatoes, and red bell pepper. He placed back the lid and counted to about five more minutes while the dish simmered, and then, it's all done!

Chef Andrey's "Almost Pinakbet"

It seems like the Chef cannot really shy away from meat, in what ever form they are. But, with 'Almost Pinakbet', he surely was able to accomplish creating a very nutritious meal, despite of the meager ingredients available.

--- Ireen ---

Saturday Treat: Garlicky Butter-Grilled Cream Dory

Garlicky Butter-Grilled Cream Dory:
Best to eat with your SSS -- not Social Security System, but
 "Saturday Significant Someone"

For many people, Saturday is a great and special day.

For students, this is a no-class day, hence, a rest day for them. It's a good time to oversleep, to have fun at home or with friends, to watch a movie or play games.

For an employee who works on a five-straight-weekday schedule, this is relaxation day; a chance to replenish one's vitality and get ready for the following week.  It can also be a chance for home mending, gardening, or shopping. 

In terms of food, however, what makes a Saturday so restful, relaxed and comforting, all at the same time? For the Chef, it is having dinner with rice and very easy to cook, Garlicky Butter-grilled Cream Dory.

Garlicky 

Thaw your store-bought cream dory. While waiting for this, you can make your crispy garlic.

Mince one bulb of garlic.  Heat a frying pan then pour enough oil to fry the chopped garlic.  Oil must already be hot enough before putting on the garlic.  Fry, constantly mixing, until golden brown. 

Butter, Grill and Cream Dory

Heat your non-stick griller. On both sides of the fish, sprinkle with calamansi juice, salt and ground black pepper. 

Place one tablespoon of butter on the grill and spread it to coat. Once the butter has heated up, place the fish on the grill.  

Spoon away any liquid that comes from the thawed fish.  When the pan is cleared of the liquid, add another one tablespoon of butter to continue grilling.  Cover the fish to make cooking a little faster and to lock in moisture.

One side of the fish is considered cooked if the glossy texture has disappeared and is replaced by a bit of browning (as shown in the picture). 

Just don't overcook to retain the softness and creaminess of the fish.  Flip to cook the other side.  

Once all cooked, top with crispy fried garlic. Best paired by not-hard-to-find Hunt's pork and beans.

//rmism//

Chocolate Chip Cookies that Start with Cs

Chocolate Chip Cookies: Appealing
 to kids and all other ages

"C" is for Cookie that's good enough for me,

"C" is for cookie that's good enough for me,

"C" is for cookie that's good enough for me,

Oh! cookie, cookie, cookie starts with "C"!

Who can forget that cutey, contagious alphabet song made famous by Cookie Monster, one of the muppets in Jim Henson's Sesame Street? Well, I don't; because every time I am offered to eat this sometimes crunchy, crumbly, crispy, and at other times, chewy goodness, I get to sing this part of the song.  

But, not all cookies are created equal; there will always be "THE ONE" that will stand at par above the rest, and that is:  the Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Usually eaten with a glass of milk, this type of cookie never missed to satisfy and warm that tiny Cookie Monster in one's heart. 

For those who are newbies in the art of baking, this one is for you:

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 cup softened butter

3/4 cup white granulated sugar

3/4 cup muscovado sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.  Beat butter, sugar, and vanilla until creamy in a separate container, then add eggs one at a time. Beat in the flour mixture gradually until fully mixed. Combine the chocolate chips. 

Creamy mixture, chocolate chips dumped in

Drop teaspoon-fuls of the mixture to an ungreased cookie sheet with enough room in between each.

No need to grease the sheets since the mixture

 already has butter

Bake for 15 minutes or until browny.  Cool for at least three minutes before lifting them up from the sheets.

Now, are you ready to sing "C is for Cookie"?

//rmism//

Fried Fresh Lumpia

This recipe was unplanned, but maybe destined to land on this page.

Fried Fresh Lumpia: Dip in chili or plain vinegar

It so happened that your good Chef passed by the Carbon, Ermita market in Cebu and saw a mound of freshly-grated pith of young coconut for sale. So, without a fuss, he went home with two kilos of it.

What he had in mind was to make Lumpiang Ubod.  To do that, he had to make softy, home-made egg wrappers using a Teflon pan. Discovering that his Teflon pan had long retired, all scraped and scratched to its soul, he ended up frying them all.  

Better with fresh small shrimps,
rather than the dried ones locally called "hebe"

Of course, before the frying part, he simply sauteed the coco pith with garlic and onion then seasoned it with pork and shrimp Knorr cubes (2 pcs) and ground pepper.

He used market-bought lumpia wrapper to roll-wrap the mixture, then deep-fried the lumpia until golden brown.   

Total Yield: 75 lumpia

//rmism//