Learning to Cook and Other Things

Filipino Christmas holidays will not be the same without hams. Rich, middle class or less privileged, all families just love the idea of including ham for the Christmas or New Year's eve festivities. I saw this site with excellent tips in selecting ham. So if you've run out of ham for New Years here are some practical tips in getting it good: "Ham comes from the rear leg of the pork carcass. Not all the cured product from the pork carcass is ham. The picnic (cured lower portion of the front leg), bacon (cured belly), and Canadian bacon (cured loin) are not considered ham. In curing, sodium nitrite, salt, and sugar are mixed with water to form the "brine" or curing solution. This solution is then "pumped" into the ham for uniform distribution of the brine. After several days of curing, the product is washed free of excess brine, cooked, and sometimes smoked. This process is known as a commercial cure." In the United States, "commercial proces

Shrimp & Green Onion Dumplings 1/2 kilo uncooked, peeled, deveined shrimp 3 green onions finely chopped 3 teaspoons of finely grated peeled fresh ginger 2 tablespoons of dry sherry 3 teaspoons of olive oil 2 teaspoons of chili oil 1 teaspoon of salt 1/2 teaspoon of white or black pepper 40 wonton skins 1 egg, slightly beaten To Prepare Filling: Combine all the first 8 ingredients to form the shrimp mixture. Brush wonton skin with egg. Place heaping teaspoonful of shrimp meat mixture in center of wonton skin. Prepare to steam on bamboo steamer. Steam for 20-30 minutes. Makes 40 appetizers. DIPPING SAUCE: 1/4 cup of soy sauce 1/4 cup balsamic or any cane vinegar 4 medium garlic cloves, minced

Here's one dish I would like to prepare for our Christmas dinner :-) Yuuum. Paella is Spanish in origin and is traditionally cooked in a "paellera" which is a round flat pan with two handles. Paella is usually prepared using shellfish but can also be made with chicken or both. This flavorful dish is quite flexible because if you don’t have the exact ingredients you can make practical substitutions. Reminder: ensure that shellfish and/or mollusks are fresh. If you are using the following seafood ingredients: 1. mussels should be washed thoroughly. Remove the beards. Open mollusks should be thrown away. 2. squid must be rubbed off the outer dark skin. Pull out the insides including the transparent back bone. Remove the eye and the tentacles and the ink. Cut into rings. 3. clams are washed thoroughly in water and then put in a bowl with some salt so that the sand comes out. Throw away those that are open. 4.prawns may be not be peeled. If you d

Its a festive season. Then why am I cooking a "lowly" fish dish? Shouldn't I be cooking fiesta like or holiday mood giving eats? Excuse me. Think again :-) It's no ordinary fish. It is called dulong. That's why. The Philippines is home to d ulong, considered to be one of the smallest specie of tropical fresh water fish in the world. Scientifically, it is called Pandaca Pigmaea, but is also known as ‘ dwarf goby’. That sounds 'ew-ie'. Dulongs are almost microscopic in size, about 1.1 to 1.5 cm long with only its glistening eyes as distinctly recognizable. It iiiis considered a delicacy because you don't find it everyday even in large Philippine wet markets. So on days that it is available and after making sure that it is remains fresh, I grab it without really thinking how I am going to cook it. First order of the day is to make sure I got ½ kilo to be cooked as soon as I get home from the market. It is very important that the fish retain

This fruit salad recipe is as old as my children. It's their father's. Mind you, I'd like to give the exact measurements but that would be a sin as far as he is concerned because that is a biiiig secret. This fruit salad requires : buko (young coconut meat grated) , nata de coco , kaong (sweet sugar palm), fruit cocktail, canned lychees, cream, condensed milk, and kalamansi (calamondin) juice. After everything is mixed, the salad needs to be frozen. Taaaaste terrific.

Interested to find out more about Filipino food without the recipes? Look here and here . The first site provides an alphabetized listing of anything and everything about Filipino food. History of Filipino food info is found in the second. And try to see if the listing includes the following Philippine delicacies more often found in the streets of the Metro. Not for the faint at heart:-) 1. Balut - duck egg with the little duckling still cuddled inside the shell. (I say good. You say eew). I, myself do not eat the baby duck, too much hair) 2. Adidas - chicken feet, cooked and steamed in dark soy sauce and vinegar with lots of garlic and ground pepper. Good to go with beer. So they say. 3. Kwek kwek - quail eggs on a stick 4. Tok ne ne - chicken egg on a stick 5. Inihaw na Pusit - coal grilled baby squids. Best when dipped in spicy vinegar 6. Squid balls - Corned squid dipped in flour and deep fried. Best with spicy vinegar dip. Do you think Anthony Bourdain can pay the Philippines