Monggo/ Sauteed Mung Beans

uncooked mung beans

Ingredients:

Mung beans- about 250 mg.

3-4 cups of water

ampalaya leaves

1 cup ground or minced pork

1 large onions, minced

2 cloves garlic minced

1 tbsp sliced ginger

3-5 pcs tomatoes, cubed

Procedure:

1. Boil mung beans in 3-4 cups of water until tender, or better mashed in appearance. Set aside.

2. Fry pork until brown, saute ginger, garlic, onions, then tomatoes.

3. Add the mung beans including broth.

4. Let it boil, then season with salt or fish sauce.

5. Add in the ampalaya leaves.

6. Simmer for about 1 min, remove from heat.

Serve with Steamed rice.

Instead of ampalaya leaves, chinese pechay, or malunggay leaves can be used, also the kal-kalunay (local spinach), or the bag-bagkong. On some parts of the country, they prefer Monggo or Sauteed Mung Beans a little sour. So they use the young leaves or the flowers of the tamarind tree.

Paksiw

Paksiw is mostly fish cooked in vinegar. Almost every fish could be used. Here, I used this pink fish, I don't know the name, forgive me. But any fish will do.

Ingredients:

1/2 k fish (any fish will do)
5 pieces tomatoes
1 tbsp crushed, minced ginger
5-10 cloves garlic, crushed (the more the better)
2-4 pieces onion, sliced (the more the better)
siling tagalog or kutsay/ku chai/ chinese chives
2 tbsp red/sugar cane vinegar
1 1/2 cups water
salt to taste
ground pepper
pinch of brown sugar

Cooking directions:
1. In the pan, mix vinegar, salt, water and pinch of sugar. Check if you have achieved the desired saltiness and sourness, add salt, vinegar or water, according to your taste.

2. Add in the pepper, ginger, garlic and onions. Then add in the fish. On top the sliced tomatoes and chinese chives or the siling tagalog.

3. Cook until fish is done.

4. Served best with steamed rice.

More ways to cook Longganisa

Aside from what I have mentioned in my previous entry on Longganisa, the following are other excellent ways to enjoy this sausage.

Longganisa Pakbet

Longganisa Pakbet is easy, it’s the same ingredients as of the Pakbet, except for the pork cubes.

Ingredients:

½ k. eggplant (the round, green variety is best suited for this dish), quartered

4 pieces small bitter gurd/bitter lemon (ampalaya), sliced into wedges, remove the seeds

5 pieces tomatoes, sliced

1 tsp crushed ginger

4 pieces sweet potato, sliced into small cubes

1 onion, sliced

Okra (optional),

6-8 pieces longganisa (it could be lesser or more, depends upon you)

2 tbsp fish sauce (you can add more according to your taste) or salt about 1 -2 tbsp

How to cook:

1. Boil the longganisa in ½ cup of water until dry and its oil comes out. Brown the longganisa (using its own oil). Remove from heat.

2. Remove the oil, then add in the ginger, (add the ingredients in layers), onions, sweet potatoes, tomatoes,eggplant, okra, and last the bitter gurd.

3. Mix the fish sauce in 1 and ½ cup of water, and then add in with the rest of the ingredients.

4. Boil until vegetables are cooked.

5. Best served with steamed rice.

Philippine Sausage/ Longganisa

Longganisa is a mixture of ground pork, soy sauce, pepper, and native garlic. It's mostly cooked boiled then fried in its own oil. Filipinos love it for breakfast, but longgnisa for lunch and/or dinner is also good!

There are different kinds of longganisa, there's the lucban longganisa, vigan, and the alaminos. I love all of them but the best for me is my friend Marian's Longganisa. She uses the best ingredients, and true native Philippine garlic.

Some ways to cook longganisa aside from fried:

Longganisa with Potatoes

ingredients:

5 pcs. potatoes, sliced (wedges)

5-8 pcs. longanisa

chinese chives

crushed garlic

sliced onions

Boil longganisa until dry and its oil coming out then brown in its own oil. Set aside.

Saute in the pan used in browning the longganisa garlic and onion.

Add in the longganisa and potaoes.

Add about 2 cups water, then cook until potatoes are tender.

***Add chinese chives before serving.

Best with hot pandesal or fried rice.

*** Instead of chinese chives, you can use bay leaf or parsley.

Philippine Dessert/sweets: Ginataang Niruban at Togi

Ingredients:

1/2 k niruban

this is how a niruban looks like, it is a smoked glutinous rice.

1 kilo togi, peeled and sliced (according to your desired shape and size)

1/2 kilo brown sugar

about 375 ml coconut milk

about 375 ml evaporated milk

4 cups of water.

DIRECTIONS:

In a large sauce pan, combine all ingredients, then bring to a boil, stir until glutinous rice is soft and the togi is soft.

If too thick, add water, cup by cup until desired thickness is achieved.

best served hot or chilled.

Eggplant Dish- Poki-poki

Poki-Poki

An interesting eggplant dish and very easy to make!

Ingredients:

4 pcs eggplant big

4 pcs egg

4 pcs tomatoes, quartered

1 onion diced

2 cloves garlic minced

Directions

1. Grill eggplant until all its skin is burned, then peel it off.

2. Saute garlic until brown, then onions, cook until transparent.

3. Add in tomatoes, cook until soft, then add in peeled eggplant.

4. Cook until eggplant is throughly mashed, add oil if desired, then add in the egg.

5. Cook until dry.

Best served with boiled bananas, pandesal, or steamed rice.

Serves 5-6 people.

Pinoy Food - Pakbet

Pakbet

Pakbet is the ultimate Ilocano dish. Mainly of eggplant, bitter gurd, tomatoes, pork, onions, and flavored with fish paste, though some people add more vegetables like okra and squash and sometimes string beans. This dish is native in the Ilocos region, and the signature dish of the Ilocanos.

Preparation time: 5 mins.
Cooking time: 20 mins.

Ingredients:

½ k eggplant (as much as possible the small round variety)
5 pieces native bitter gurd
5 pieces tomatoes
5 pieces baby onions
¼ k pork cubes


Boil the pork cubes in 1 cup water for about 5 mins.
Slice eggplants, bitter gurd, and the tomatoes into 4 wedges each.
Slice the baby onions.

After boiling the pork in about 5 mins, remove from heat, add 1 tbsp of fish paste (add some more, or lesser according to taste) then add all the vegetables. Note: Place the bitter gurd on top to avoid making the dish too bitter. Cook for aboutb15-20 mins.
Serve with steamed rice.