Ginataang Kalabasa Or Squash Cooked in Coconut Milk

Estimated cooking & preparation time: 1 hour

* 1 kilo squash, cut into cubes (1"x1")
* 1/4 kilo shrimp, shelled and deveined
* 3 pieces tomatoes, diced
* 2 onions, chopped
* 1 head garlic, minced
* 2 tablespoons of ginger root, crushed and minced
* 4 tablespoons of cooking or olive oil
* 2 pieces long chilli peppers
* 2 tablespoons of shrimp paste (bagoong)
* 2 cups coconut milk
* 1 cups coconut cream (katang gata)
* 2 cups chicken stock
* 2 tablespoons of fish sauce (patis)

Cooking Instructions:

1. On a big pan, heal oil. Sauté garlic, onions until light brown then add ginger, cook until onions become translucent.

2. Add the tomatoes, squash, chicken stock, shrimp paste and the coconut milk. Let boil then simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until the liquid has reduced and the squash becomes tender.

3. Add the coconut cream, long chilli peppers and the shrimps. Bring again to a boil and simmer for a few more minutes.

4. Serve hot with plain rice.

Ginataang Kalabasa Cooking Tip:

* This ginataan recipe can be used on any vegetable, combination of vegetables, fish or meat.

Mixed Vegetables Or Pakbet

Estimated cooking time: 35 minutes

* 1/4 kilo pork with fat, cut into small pieces
* 2 Amapalya (bitter melons) sliced to bite size pieces
* 2 eggplants, sliced to bite size pieces
* 5 pieces of okra, cut in two
* 1 head garlic, minced
* 2 onions, diced
* 5 tomatoes, sliced
* 1 tablespoon of ginger, crushed and sliced
* 4 tablespoons bagoong isda or bagoong alamang
* 3 tablespoons of oil
* 1 1/2 cup water
* Salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Instructions:

1. In a cooking pan, heat oil and fry the pork until brown, remove the pork from the pan and set aside.

2. On the same pan, saute garlic, onion, ginger and tomatoes.

3. In a casserole, boil water and add bagoong.

4. Add the pork in the casserole and mix in the sautéed garlic, onion, ginger and tomatoes. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

5. Add in all the vegetables and cook until the vegetables are done, careful not to overcook.

6. Salt and pepper to taste.

7. Serve hot with plain rice.

Chopsuey

Estimated cooking & preparation time: 45 minutes.

* 1/4 kilo pork, sliced into small pieces
* 1/4 kilo shrimps, shelled, deveined and halved
* 1/4 kilo chicken liver and gizzard, sliced to small pieces
* 1/4 kilo cauliflower, broken to bite size
* 1/4 kilo string beans
* 1/4 kilo snow peas (sitsaro)
* 1/4 kilo cabbage, cut into squares
* 2 stalks of leeks, cut into 2" long pieces
* 3 stalks celery, cut into 2" long pieces
* 5 cloves garlic, diced
* 2 onions, diced
* 1 carrot, sliced thinly
* 1 piece red bell pepper, cut in strips
* 1 piece green bell pepper. cut in strips
* 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, dissolved in 1/4 cup of water
* 2 cups chicken stock (broth)
* 3 tablespoons of sesame oil
* 3 tablespoons of patis (fish sauce)
* 4 tablespoons of corn oil or vegetable oil
* Salt to taste

Cooking Instructions:

1. In a big pan or wok, sauté garlic, onions then add in the pork. chicken liver and gizzard. Add 1 cup of stock, pinch of salt and simmer for 15 minutes or until pork and chicken giblets are cooked.

2. Mix in the shrimp then all the vegetables. Add the remaining 1 cup of stock, patis and the dissolved cornstarch. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the vegetables are done. Add the sesame oil.

3. Salt and pepper to taste.

4. Serve hot with rice.

Pork Barbeque

Estimated preparation: 20 minutes
Marinating: 30 minutes to 3 hours
Barbecue: 10 to 15 minutes each

* 1 kg. pork
* 20 bamboo skewers
* 1 cup soy sauce
* 1 head garlic, minced
* 1 onion, finely chopped
* 1/4 cup of calamansi juice or lemon juice
* 1/2 cup of 7up, sprite or beer (optional)
* 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 3 tablespoons of brown or white sugar
* 1/2 cup of banana or tomato catchup

Cooking Instructions:

1. Cut pork meat into thin and long slices - 1/4 inches thick and less than 2 inches wide.

2. In a mixing bowl, marinate the cut pork with the soy sauce, minced garlic, chopped onions, calamansi juice, ground pepper, sugar, banana catchup and the soda or beer (this tenderizes and adds flavour to the pork barbecue)

3. Mix well and keep in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes (turning occasionally).

4. Prepare the bamboo skewers by removing splinters and soaking in water to reduce burning during barbecue.

5. String the pork on the skewers.

6. Over live charcoals, barbecue the pork on skewers until each barbeque is cooked - turning every few minutes on each side and basting the leftover marinate on the barbecue.

Pork Menudo

Estimated preparation & cooking time: 50 minutes

* 1/2 kilo pork (cut into small chunks)
* 1/4 kilo pork liver (cut into small cubes)
* 5 pieces chorizo Bilbao (also cut in small pieces)
* 4 potatoes (peeled, cut in small cubes, fried)
* 1 green and 1 red bell pepper (diced)
* 1 cup chickpeas
* 1/4 cup raisins
* 1/2 teaspoon paprika
* 1 cup pork or chicken stock
* 2 teaspoons of patis (fish sauce)
* 3 tablespoons oil
* 1 tablespoon atsuete oil (optional)
* 3 tomatoes (diced)
* 1 small head of garlic (minced)
* 1 medium size onion (diced)

Cooking Instructions:

1. In a pan or wok, heat cooking oil and atsuete oil.

2. Saute garlic, onion. Then add the pork, liver, chorizo de Bilabo, tomatoes, bell pepper, paprika, patis and the stock.

3. Cover and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the pork is tender.

4. Add the chickpeas, potatoes and raisins. Boil of another 2 minutes.

5. Salt and pepper to taste.

6. Serve hot with white rice.

Pork Steak

Estimated time to prepare and cook: 50 minutes

* 3/4 kilo tender pork steaks, sliced
* 1 tablespoon kalamansi or lemon juice
* 5 tablespoons soy sauce
* 3 cloves of garlic
* 1 small piece ginger, crushed
* 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1/2 cup onions, sliced in rings
* 4 tablespoons cooking oil

Pork / Beef Steak Cooking Instructions:

1. Marinate the pork or beef steak in kalamansi (lemon) juice, garlic, ginger, soy sauce and pepper for 30 minutes.

2. In a frying, add cooking oil. Add the marinated pork or beef steak and cook slow until done.

3. Increase heat for a minute or two to brown steaks.

4. Add the sliced onions and continue to cook for another minute.

5. Serve on a platter including the oil and sauce.

6. Best served with hot plain rice.

Crispy Pata

Preparation & drying: 4 hours to 1 day
Estimated cooking time: 20 minutes

* 1 Pata (front or hind leg of a pig including the knuckles)
* 1 bottle of soda (7Up or sprite)
* 1 tablespoon of salt
* 2 tablespoons patis (fish sauce)
* 1/2 tablespoon baking soda
* 1 tablespoon of monosodium glutamate (MSG)
* 4 tablespoons of flour
* Enough oil for deep frying
* Enough water for boiling

Cooking Instructions:

1. Clean the pork pata by removing all hairs and by scraping the skin with a knife. Wash thoroughly.

2. Make four to five inch cuts on the sides of the pata.

3. On a deep stock pot, place the pata in water with soda and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Then add the baking soda and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes.

4. Remove the pata from the pot and hang and allow to drip dry for 24 hours. An alternative to this is to thoroughly drain the pork pata and refrigerate for a few hours.

5. After the above process, rub patis on the pata and sprinkle flour liberally.

6. In a deep frying pot, heat cooking oil and deep fry the pork pata until golden brown.

Crispy Pata Dip Sauce:

Mix 3/4 cup of vinegar, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 cloves of crushed garlic, 1 head of diced onion and 1 hot pepper. Salt and pepper to taste.

Pork Kilawin

* 1 kilo pork
* 1/3 cup soy sauce
* 1/2 cup Vinegar
* 2 medium onions, chopped
* 4 cups of water
* 1 teaspoon salt

Cooking Instructions:

1. In a casserole, put pork in water and some salt.

2. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes or until the pork is tender and the skin is soft.

3. Remove pork from water.

4. Slice the pork into bite sized pieces while still hot.

5. Place in a bowl and add vinegar, soy sauce and chopped, uncooked onions.

6. Serve immediately!

Pork Sinigang

Estimated cooking and preparation time: 1 hour

* 3/4 kilo Pork, cut into chunks
* 3 tomatoes, sliced
* 2 onions, diced
* 5 cloves of garlic, minced
* 100 grams Kangkong (river spinach)
* 100 grams String beans
* 2 pieces horse radishes, sliced
* 3 pieces gabi (taro), pealed
* 2 pieces sili pag sigang (green finger pepper)
* 200 grams sampalok (tamarind)
* 3 tablespoons of patis (fish sauce)
* 1 liter of rice wash or water

Cooking Instructions:

1. Boil sampalok in water until the shell shows cracks. Let cool then peal off the shells and with a strainer, pour samplalok (including water) into a bowl. Gently massage the sampalok meat off the seeds, strain again.

2. In a pot, sauté garlic and onion then add the tomatoes. Let simmer for 5 minutes.

3. Add pork and fish sauce then add the rice wash. Bring to a boil then simmer for 15 minutes then add the gabi. Continue to simmer for another 15 minutes or until the pork is tender.

4. Add the horse radish and simmer for 10 minutes then add the string beans, kangkong and sili (for spice-optional). Let boil for 2 minutes.

5. Serve piping hot.

Sinigang Cooking Tip:

* Instead of sampalok fruit (tamarind), you can substitute it with any commercial souring seasoning like Knorr sampalok seasoning or tamarind bouillon cubes for this pork sinigang recipe.

Chicken Barbeque

Estimated cooking time excluding preparation: 30-45 mins.

* 1 kilo chicken (whole or cut in pieces)
* 1 cup soy sauce
* 1 head garlic, minced
* 1 onion, finely chopped
* 3 tablespoons of calamansi juice or lemon juice
* 1/2 cup of sprite, 7up or beer
* 2 cups of tanglad (lemon grass) for whole chicken
* 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 3 tablespoons of brown or white sugar

Cooking Instructions:

1. Marinate the chicken in soy sauce, calamansi juice (or lemon juice), minced garlic, chopped onions, soda or beer, sugar and pepper.

2. Marinate in the refrigerator for 1 to 3 hours.

3. Stuff the chicken cavity with tanglad (lemon grass) if to be grilled whole.

4. Cook chicken on grill or in oven until golden brown

Cooking Notes:

* To barbeque chicken that are cut into pieces, follow the same procedure above but omit stuffing the leg with lemon grass. Thread the chicken pieces on barbeque skewers and grill on live charcoal until cooked.

* To check if the meat is cooked, slice a small piece of meat off and if there are no juice running off the meat and there no reddish (blood) areas on the inside of the meat, the chicken is cooked.

* Enjoy this delicious chicken recipe with family and friends!

Chicken Afritada

Estimated cooking time: 50 minutes

* 1 kilo chicken, cut into pieces
* 5 pieces potatoes, peeled and halved
* 1 red onion, diced
* 1 head garlic, minced
* 1 green bell pepper, sliced into strips
* 1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips
* 2 cups pork or chicken stock (broth)
* 1 cup tomato sauce
* 2 tablespoons of patis (fish sauce)
* 3 tablespoons of cooking oil

Cooking Instructions:

1. In a cooking pot or wok, heat oil.

2. Sauté garlic and onions.

3. Add chicken and slightly brown.

4. Pour the tomato sauce and stock. Bring to a boil and allow to simmer for 20 minutes or until the chicken is almost cooked.

5. Add potatoes and continue to cook for 10 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked.

6. Add the green and red bell peppers, simmer for an additional minute or two.

7. Salt and pepper to taste

8. Serve this chicken recipe hot with steamed rice.

Fried Chicken Pinoy Style

Estimated cooking time: 45 minutes

* 1 1/2 kilo chicken, cut into pieces
* 1/4 cup of white vinegar
* 5 cloves of garlic, crushed
* 1 cup of water
* 2 cups cooking oil
* Salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Instructions:

1. In a pot, simmer chicken in vinegar, garlic, water, salt and pepper.
2. Remove just before the chicken is fully cooked.
3. Strain off liquid.
4. In a frying pan or wok, heat oil and deep fry the chicken until golden brown
5. Place on paper towel to remove excess oil
6. Serve hot with rice and sliced cucumber or atchara on the side.

Chicken Pastel Recipe

Estimated cooking time for this chicken recipe: 1.5 hours

* One 1 1/2 kilo chicken, cut in pieces
* One can (14 ounces) Vienna sausage, sliced
* 3 potatoes, diced
* 1 carrot, diced
* 1 up mushrooms, cut in half
* 1 green bell pepper, sliced in strips
* 1/2 cup sweet peas
* 1 onion, minced
* 1/4 cup grated cheese
* 1 cup margarine
* 2 cups chicken stock (broth)
* 1/2 cup evaporated milk
* 4 tablespoons soy sauce
* 1 lemon extract (juice)
* 1 egg, beaten
* Salt and pepper to taste

Pie Crust

* 2 cups flour
* 1/2 cup corn oil or vegetable oil
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 cup of water

Procedure:
1. In a bowl, marinate chicken lemon juice and soy sauce for an hour.

2. In a skillet, melt margarine and brown chicken, set aside.

3. Sauté onion, bell pepper an mushrooms then add chicken broth. Simmer for 15 minutes then add potatoes, carrots, sweet peas, sausages, grated cheese and milk. Continue cooking for 10 minutes. Salt to taste.

4. Transfer to a baking dish.

5. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

6. On a bowl, combine the flour, salt, cold water and oil. Mix into a ball.

7. On a flat surface, roll flat the pastry and cover the chicken pastel mixture and seal the sides by pressing on the edges. Remove excess pastry.

8. Punch small holes on the pastry to let out steam during baking then brush with beaten egg.

9. Bake until golden brown (about 15 minutes).

Chicken Tinola (Tinolang Manok)

* 1 kilo whole chicken, cut into serving pieces
* 1 piece medium-sized unripe papaya, peeled and sliced
* 1/2 cup chili leaves (dahon ng sili)
* 2 tablespoons fish sauce (patis)
* 2 tablespoons ginger, julienned
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 medium-sized onion, chopped
* 5 cups water
* 3 tablespoons oil
* salt and pepper to taste

PROCEDURE :

1. In a casserole, heat oil and saute garlic, ginger, and onion until soft.
2. Add the chicken pieces and stir-fry for about 3 minutes.
3. Season with patis and pour in the water.
4. Bring to a boil then lower the heat and simmer until the chicken is tender.
5. Season with salt and pepper to your desired taste.
6. Add in the papaya and simmer for another 5 minutes or until the papaya is tender.
7. Remove from heat, put in the chili leaves and cover to allow the leaves to cook.
8. Serve hot.

Chicken and pork Adobo

* 1/2 kilo chicken, cut into serving pieces
* 1 kilo pork butt, cut into cubes
* 1 cup cane vinegar
* 1 cup water
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, ground
* 1 head garlic, crushed and peeled
* 2 pieces of bay leaves
* 1/2 cup soy sauce
* 2 tablespoons cooking oil

PROCEDURE :

1. Put all the ingredients except the soy sauce and oil in a casserole.
2. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 30 minutes.
3. Put in the soy sauce and simmer for another 10 minutes.
4. Remove the meat from the casserole to a plate.
5. Remove the sauce to a separate bowl.
6. Put the oil in the casserole and brown the meat.
7. Return the sauce back in the casserole with the meat.
8. Simmer until sauce thicken.