Foods
Main Dish
The Good Eats
Arroz Valenciana
This entry is pretty much like fried rice but uses sweet rice instead of regular and has coconut milk stirred in. It really is a meal all by itself. We usually have it during major holidays.
BBQ Stick
Most associated as a street food back home in the Philippines, this sweet and salty dish can be either chicken or pork. Skewered with a handy bamboo stick, the meat is easily manageable right out of the grill once cooked. My marinate consists of soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic, brown sugar, and black pepper, pineapple. Whenever I grill these, you will know by the yummy aroma.
Beef Asparagus
A good stir-fry dish made with beef strips, asparagus, oyster sauce, and some cornstarch to give a thickness to the sauce. Sometimes, I substitude a mixture of soy sauce, brown sugar, and pinch salt for the oyster sauce.
Beef Broccoli
Known almost exclusively as a chinese restaurant entry, beef and broccoli is a very easy stir-fry dish to make. With the two named components added with onions, oyster sauce, water, black pepper, soy sauce, and garlic, the dish is only really completely cooked depending on how soft you want the broccoli.
Beef Steak
This entry is commonly known as bistek in my culture and is a favorite dish with a majority of my friends. The meat is first marinated with soy sauce, lemon juice, and pepper for at least an hour but a longer wait time is better. Sauteed onions are added when cooking the meat and then fresh ring slices of onions are garnished when served.
Binagoongan
The main ingredient that makes this dish is the shrimp paste or as we call it bagoong. Stewed with small cuts of pork, vinegar, sugar, eggplant, and chopped chilli peppers, this dish is good with just white rice.
Buro
This is a fermented rice entry which I typically add either shell-less shrimp or boneless fish. Invented from my home province of Pampanga, this dish brings back childhood memories. Just as a FYI, buro means pickled.
Chicken Curry
Cooked with coconut milk, curry powder, patis (fish sauce), green string beans, carrots, potatos, and fishballs, this entry is very flavorful. This is my ultimate favorite dish to be exact and I like to use the green curry powder or paste.
Chop Suey
Probably the easiest chinese influenced stir-fry dish to make with various vegetables and choice of meat. Shrimp is a typical favorite when requested with pork a close second choice.
Embutido
This is a rolled Filipino-style meatloaf dish wrapped in aluminum foil and steam cooked. Typically it is made with ground pork, finely chopped vegetables, raisins, and eggs.
Fried Rice
The best comfort food out there. Made best with day old steamed rice. I make it with oil in the pan and toss in the garlic first to get a nice aroma going. Then I add the choice meats to be fully cooked followed by vegetables. After a few stirs, the rice is added to the mix along with soy sauce, pepper, and garlic salt. And lastly, cut-up strands of scrambbled egg precooked earlier, on top. Now I'm hungry.
Longanisa
Never thought I could make this but after my husband bought the sausage maker attachment for the kitchen-aid, the links are so much sweeter homemade. I would even add a few chopped red chillis into the mix to bring some heat into each link. Breakfast would be much more spicier.
Palabok
Palabok is nice refreshing noodle dish made with shrimp based gravy, sliced hard-boiled egg, shredded chicharon, scallions, and skinless shrimp. Cuts of lemon wedges are added to be squeezed on top before consumption. The noodles can be either the regular Bihon rice noodles (clear & thin) or Palabok noodles made from cornstarch (white & thick).
Pancit Bihon
A rice noodle dish that has long been a staple in any special occasion. It is made with various vegetables and a choice of chicken, pork, or shrimp as meat options. Like other dishes, a nice dash of calamansi or lemon juice adds a refereshing boost to this delicious dish.
Pancit Canton
Typically served during birthdays as a symbol for long life and wellness, this noodle dish is a Filipino version equivalent to Chinese Lo Mein. With either beef, chicken, pork, or a combination of all three and the various vegetables used, the dish is very colorful and tasty. A fresh squeeze of lemon juice will add a nice freshness to compliment the other flavors.
Pinakbet
A favorite vegetable stew dish filled with colorfull vegetables and pork. Usually it is eaten as a side dish to fried fish, but can be enjoyed with any main course meats or just on it's own accompanied with nicely steamed rice.
Pork Belly
Cooked in various methods like fried, rotisserie, or baked, pork belly is cooked in these methods to get a nice crunch of skin, fat, and meat. The dish is sometimes left whole and cut up as required during mealtime. Some typical sauces to accompany the dish are "mang thomas" (lechon sauce), vinegar with garlic and pepper, or good-ole ketchup.
Sipo Egg
Another dish that has originated from my home province of Pampanga, this dish is made with quail eggs, mixed vegatbles, singkamas (jicama root),ham, shrimp, and nestle table cream. Occasionally it is served on special occasions but can be made and enjoyed at anytime.
Sweet Spaghetti
Made just like spaghetti, Filipino sweet spaghetti uses banana ketchup and hotdogs in addtion to the ingredients. Grated cheese is topped in abundance giving the spaghetti a nice creamy texture. Always a kids favorite food on any occasion.