Daddy's Lechon Kawali - to die for!

Our potluck for tonight's homeowner's Christmas party.

Renato's Lechon Kawali

1 kg Pork belly
Water with some salt
Oil

Daddy's secret is the pork. He's very picky and meticulous with the meat he cooks with. He wants it ultra fresh, as much as possible. With this, less seasoning is needed. Just your usual and preferred 'sawsawan'.

Boil pork until soft. Tried asking Daddy how long but he can't determine a specific time. He insists 'just until it's soft.'

Drain meat, wrap in foil and then freeze overnight. Keep the pork broth for nilaga or sinigang.

How much oil is needed? A lot! Make sure that you're able to completely submerge the meat. Ensure that oil is really hot. Smoking hot - literally.

Straight from the freezer, cook meat until skin is crispy. If you wont serve it immediately, wrap again in foil. If you wish to reheat, use a turbo broiler. On high for 10-15 minutes.

Our preferred sawsawan is bagoong isda (not alamang) with calamansi or our new favorite Sukang Pinakurat

I've been getting requests and demands for Daddy's Lechon Kawali. Especially from those who've tasted it. That's why Daddy always has at least one pre-boiled pork inside the freezer. Ready to fry on demand!

Best Raisin Bread - Bag of Beans, Tagaytay

For years, the best raisin bread for me was Baguio Country Club's until I tried Bag of Beans' today. Fresh from the oven, so soft, and packed with raisins! Be purist or with butter and jam, still heavenly. Now, we don't have to drive 6 hours and spend P6k/night for a night's stay in a hotel; just an hour's drive (less if there's no traffic) and we have really good raisin bread.

Just make sure to enjoy it with freshly brewed coffee.

Home-mixed

Can't call it homemade. We bought everything and mixed them at home. So home-mixed halo-halo seem more appropriate.

This is how we celebrated Easter, while trying to beat the heat.

Highly recommended. Cheaper than having it in a restaurant or fast-food.

Next time will include minatamis na saba and Erwin's leche flan.

Bye, Jolo

Another death in the family.

They say it comes in threes. Uncle Bob, Lola Luz, now Jolo.

I hope this is the last in a very long time.

What Would You Do?

This was MMS'ed by my friend Rodger last Friday with the message "Kasabay ko sa bus. Sasabihan ko ba? (Riding the bus with this person. Will I tell him?)"

Looking at the picture closely, it's a grown man! If this were a kid, I might tell the mother or companion.

Had a good laugh, though.

Tuna Adobo

I had to figure out what to do with the fresh tuna I still had. I had two 5oz. packs of sashimi and 500 grams of tuna pieces. I was told to stay away from eating raw fish because I’m pregnant, so that’s goodbye to tuna sashimi and kinilaw na tuna – my original plans. I ended up doing my first Tuna Adobo for lunch today.

Tuna Adobo

Ingredients
500-700 grams of fresh tuna
1 head of garlic, minced
2 medium onions, chopped
½ cup light soy sauce
¼ to 1/3 of a 40g sabaw ng sinigang powder mix
Ground pepper
1/3 cup water
Oil for sautéing

Procedure
1. For the marinade, mix soy sauce, sabaw ng sinigang powder, ¼ of the minced garlic, ½ of the chopped onions and ground pepper. Mix until the sabaw ng sinigang powder is completely dissolved.
2. Marinate the fresh tuna for 2-3 minutes. Remove the tuna, drain and set aside.
3. In a hot skillet, sauté the remaining onions and garlic.
4. Add the tuna, and sauté for 3 minutes.
5. Add the marinade and simmer for 2 minutes.
6. Add water. If sauce is too rich, add more water.
7. Simmer for another minute.
8. Serve with steamed or garlic rice.

If you cut the liquid portions in half, this becomes Tuna Salpicao. My kids love adobo sauce so I made sure the recipe is saucy, almost a stew.

I was in the mood for presentation so I fried some garlic and topped the steamed rice with it for garnish.

First Recipe for 2009 - Sweet Chili Garlic Prawns

A very good friend of mine, Gani Mateos, asked how come I haven't updated my blog with new recipes. Not that I haven't been cooking but I haven't been really paying attention with what I cook. Sad to say, most of the time it's just a chore - to feed the family. Not too much heart into it.

I'm hoping to get my groove back. To start, let me share with you one of the dishes I prepared for noche buena. This was actually an impromptu dish. Kuya Jad and Mhea brought fresh prawns so we just had to find a way to cook them.

So, Gani, here's your first recipe for the year.

Sweet Chili Garlic Prawns

Ingredients
1 kg prawns (any size)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 heads of garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup butter
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons of sugar
3 siling labuyo, chopped finely, remove seeds if you want.

Procedures
1. Drain prawns well. In the refrigerator or chiller to keep it fresh. At least an hour or 2 before cooking. Otherwise, this recipe will become stew with all the liquid from the prawns.
2. Use a big pan to ensure even cooking of the prawns.
3. Heat pan very well then put oil. Lower fire so as not to burn the garlic.
4. Do not brown garlic! Make sure your fire is low. We just want the garlic flavor infused with the oil. Saute for 3-5 minutes.
5. Add butter, sugar and siling labuyo. Saute/mix well so all favors come together.
6. Add prawns. Cook until all turn orange. Do not overcook. Just wait until color of ALL prawns change.
7. Season with salt and pepper.

If you don't want it too spicy, add the labuyo at the end. You can also use siling haba or the long green chili used for siningang.

I also ordered lechon from Virgilio's (046-4712844, look for Tita Baby), a recommendation of my Tita Nina Medina (aka Lola Obang). It was really good - almost like lechon Cebu! Ate Fiona did her Pakbet - Inang style - which Ate Fiona can only do. Aside from lechon, Erwin ordered Paella from Paella Express, which was ok. Not comparable to paellas of Casa Armas or Terry's but ok for the price.

How To Eat A Very Long Hotdog Sandwich

Too cute not to post :)

A Happy Happy News

Image courtesy of The Endowment for Human Development


A few minutes ago I learned that one of my dearest cousins, Nadya, is 8 weeks in the family way! I am just so happy to hear this news.

After the passing of my Lola Luz and Uncle Bob, news of new life brings me so much happiness - overwhelming joy!

Nadz, praying for a safe pregnancy. Enjoy it!

Chubby Cuppy Cake Sam

I think he's adorable. My two boys, Ren and Irvin, say he's so cute! I think he is!